Spatial-Visual Ability Profiles Across Mathematics Achievement Levels: Identifying Key Discriminating Dimensions

Source abstract

This study aims to describe students’ spatial-visual ability profiles across different levels of mathematics achievement, examine differences among high-, medium-, and low-achievement groups, and identify the spatial-ability dimension that most clearly distinguishes these groups. This mixed-methods study employed a sequential explanatory design involving 65 eleventh-grade students selected through purposive sampling. Quantitative data were collected using a spatial-visual ability test and analyzed using descriptive statistics, the Kruskal–Wallis test, effect size estimation, and pairwise comparisons with Bonferroni correction. Qualitative data were obtained through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with nine students selected using maximum variation sampling and were analyzed thematically. The results showed that students in the high- and medium-achievement groups obtained nearly identical mean scores (76.08 and 76.19, respectively), whereas the low-achievement group obtained a substantially lower mean score (39.40). The Kruskal–Wallis test revealed significant differences among the three groups, H(2) = 13.768, p = .001, with a medium effect size (ε² = .190). Pairwise comparisons showed significant differences between the low- and high-achievement groups (p = .014) and between the low- and medium-achievement groups (p = .003), but not between the high- and medium-achievement groups (p = .913). Spatial visualization emerged as the most distinctive dimension, particularly in multi-step transformation tasks. These findings contribute to mathematics education by demonstrating that achievement-based grouping may mask distinct spatial-visual ability profiles.