The examination of 5-6 year-old children’s ability to use simple maps

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to assess children?s skill in using a simple map. The study was conducted among 262 children (141 girls and 121 boys), aged between 61-78 months (average 71 months), attending to 4 public pre-schools in Istanbul, Turkey. The simple map skills (requiring mental rotation and understanding spatial relation) of the participants were tested through five different experimental trials. Children?s skills in using simple maps were analyzed by age, gender, and children?s performances in different experimental conditions. The data were analyzed using logistic regression analysis. It was found that children?s performance in the experiments did not vary by gender. Likewise, their performance did not vary by age. However, there were significant differences in children?s performances in the five different experimental conditions. According to findings, children were more successful in trial 1 which is requiring the understanding of spatial relations compared to the trial 2 and 3 which are requiring mental rotation. Finally results are discussed in terms of variables which may lead to the researchers and educators working on spatial abilities of children.