Demands Imposed on Primary-School Students by Geometric Models

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the effect completed geometric models can have on primary-school children. Two experiments were designed to test the prediction that a problem-solving strategy (means-ends analysis) conventionally used by novice problem solvers would be adopted by Year 4 students who viewed a model of the completed geometrical task if displayed during initial instruction. Experiment 1 indicated that a means-ends strategy was adopted by students who viewed a model of the completed geometrical task before and while studying the instructions. It also showed that removing the completed model enhanced the performance of students due to the reduction in the specificity of the goal. Experiment 2 indicated that the performance of students who were unaware of the completed model′s appearance was superior to that of students who examined a completed model and who were explicitly instructed to concentrate on the model or a combination of the model and the instructions. It was concluded that displaying a completed model of a geometric task can increase the cognitive processing load by encouraging the use of a means-ends strategy.