The Role of Spatial Reasoning in Growing and Spatial-Repeating Patterns in First and Second Graders’ Structural Development of Mathematics
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22046445 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Joanne Mulligan (0000-0002-1966-7441, Macquarie University, corresponding author), Joanne T Mulligan (Macquarie University) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue | 11 |
| Pages | 1479 |
| Publication date | 2025-11-03 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Education Sciences (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2227-7102 • E-ISSN: 2227-7102 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/educsci15111479 |
| OpenAlex | W4415819677 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 50 |
A cross-sectional qualitative study examined how different pattern types accounted for wide variation in children’s Awareness of Mathematical Pattern and Structure (AMPS), illustrating how spatial and patterning skills are interrelated. An interpretive descriptive analysis of responses was conducted for two interview-based Growing Square Array (GA) and Spatial-Repeating Pattern (SP) tasks with 405 children from Grade 1 (n = 189) and Grade 2 (n = 216). Analysis of developmental levels of AMPS indicated that advanced multiplicative spatial structures were employed in GA patterns for 20% of Grade 1 and 35% of Grade 2 children, respectively. Responses to SP tasks extended beyond the ‘unit of repeat’ to the use of dynamic visualization, and orientation and transformation skills for 60% of children. Responses showing advanced structural features moderately increased at Grade 2 for both tasks. Micro-level analyses of illustrations of interview responses and from a Pattern Construction task, drawn from five case studies, revealed how multiplicative and transformation skills were utilized in forming repetitions and growing patterns in complex and novel ways. While the ‘unit of repeat’ is fundamental, the integration of more complex multi-dimensional patterning with spatial concepts can re-focus learning and pedagogy on establishing interrelationships between patterning and spatial concepts, and broader mathematical knowledge
Mathematical logic · Multiplicative function · Spatial Ability · Spatial ecology · Spatial intelligence · Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills · Mathematics Education and Teaching Techniques · Spatial Cognition and Navigation
Embodied Learning in Early Mathematics Education
Research and Pedagogies for Early Math
Developing mathematical patterning in ECE classrooms
Helping preschoolers learn math
Stimulating preschoolers’ repeating patterning ability by means of dialogic picture book reading
Associations Between Repeating Patterning, Growing Patterning, and Numerical Ability
Four-year olds’ understanding of repeating and growing patterns and its association with early numerical ability
The roles of patterning and spatial skills in early mathematics development
Preschoolers’ strategies for solving visual pattern tasks
Beyond numeracy in preschool
Are preschoolers who spontaneously create patterns better in mathematics
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |