Visuo-spatial abilities and geometry: a first proposal of a theoretical framework for interpreting processes of visualization

We propose a theoretical interpretation of visuo-spatial abilities, as classified in the field of Cognitive Psychology, in the domain of Euclidean Geometry. In this interpretation we make use of Fischbein’s theory of figural concepts and of Duval’s cognitive apprehensions. Our interpretation lays the foundations for a new theoretical framework that we propose as a tool for qualitative analysis of students’ processes of visualization as they carry out geometrical activities. In particular, we present analyses of excerpts from a set of activities designed and proposed in a didactical intervention aimed at strengthening visuo-spatial abilities of a group of students identified as the weakest from a selected 9th grade class of an Italian high school.