DATA of Constructionist Microworld for Higher Technical Education: Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Descriptive Geometry Assistant on Student Performance
Description
Descriptive Geometry (DG) provides methods for solving problems of three-dimensional space through their representation on a two-dimensional drawing plane. Mastery of DG requires the development of spatial skills, an objective that has repeatedly proven difficult to achieve through traditional paper-and-pencil instruction. A paradigm change in DG teaching is therefore needed, one that may be facilitated through the use of virtual environments that provide highly interactive visual learning experiences. The present study aimed to analyze the influence of a constructionist microworld, the Descriptive Geometry Assistant (DGA), on DG learning. Two complementary analyses were conducted. First, performance was compared among first-year engineering students at the University of León (Spain) who completed a paper-based exercise, with total scores evaluated across experimental and control (DGA vs. paper). Results showed significantly higher performance for the experimental group. Second, within DGA, four parameterized exercises (two point-based, two line-based) were analyzed among students from Spain and Portugal, considering country, sex, and exercise type. Results indicated systematic performance differences, with higher scores in Spain than Portugal and for men compared to women, particularly in point-construction tasks.
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Steps to reproduce
The steps to reproduce the analysis are described in the files: 4_1_Statistical Analysis CTR-EXP.pdf and 4_2_Statistical Analysis_ESP_POR.pdf