GEOMETRIC SPATIAL ABILITY AS AN ELEMENT OF COGNITIVE LEARNING PROCESS

Abstract

University professors more and more often face serious problems of learning geometry and graphic disciplines. In this regard, it is very relevant to obtain a maximum efficient method to teach geometry and graphic disciplines. The purpose of the study is to test the hypothesis that the cause of problems arising in the process of mastering the geometric and graphic disciplines is the violation of continuity of the educational material and the low level of spatial ability of students. In the research, interviewing method (testing) and statistic method have been applied to process the results. It is established that spatial imagination helps a person to perceive the shape of geometric objects by involving him/her into the cognitive process of feeling and control of spatial objects. Students who learned in school technical drawing the same as students who did not learn experience difficulties in mastering the geometric and graphic disciplines. For students who learned technical drawing in schools, the cause of bad retention of the material of the geometric and graphic discipline is low geometric spatial ability. For students who did not learn technical drawing in school, but who demonstrated a high geometric spatial ability, the cause of difficulties in the retention of the geometric and graphic disciplines are connected with the violation of continuity of the educational material. To effectively teach the geometric and graphic disciplines, it is necessary to apply methods of developments of the geometric spatial ability and to form the content of discipline using the principle of continuity.