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<p>Spatial reasoning is a critical skill underpinning mathematical understanding, with research indicating that enhancing spatial skills can positively influence students’ mathematical performance. Spatial reasoning skills should therefore be integrated more fully within the mathematics curriculum, especially in elementary school textbooks, which serve as essential resources for teachers. This study, using an expanded application of the Experience, Language, Pictorial, Symbolic, Application (ELPSA) framework, examines the representation of spatial reasoning skills in kindergarten through second-grade (K-2) mathematics textbooks in the United States. Focusing on geometry and measurement tasks, we employed descriptive analysis and chi-square tests to evaluate how spatial reasoning is incorporated across these early grade levels. The results show that while pictorial elements that support spatial reasoning are prominently featured in kindergarten and first grade, their presence diminishes considerably in second grade. Notably, drawing tasks — crucial for enabling students to communicate spatial ideas by converting mental representations into visual forms — decline markedly from kindergarten to second grade. Our results suggest a reduction in these opportunities to foster spatial reasoning, highlighting the need for a more intentional and balanced inclusion of spatial reasoning tasks in early mathematics textbooks to strengthen these foundational skills.</p>

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Investigating spatial reasoning in elementary mathematics textbooks: an expanded ELPSA framework approach

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年2月25日

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  • Maryam Zolfaghari,
  • Hadi Rahmati,
  • Peter Oluwaseyi Oyewole,
  • Seyedehkhadijeh Azimi Asmaroud

摘要

Spatial reasoning is a critical skill underpinning mathematical understanding, with research indicating that enhancing spatial skills can positively influence students’ mathematical performance. Spatial reasoning skills should therefore be integrated more fully within the mathematics curriculum, especially in elementary school textbooks, which serve as essential resources for teachers. This study, using an expanded application of the Experience, Language, Pictorial, Symbolic, Application (ELPSA) framework, examines the representation of spatial reasoning skills in kindergarten through second-grade (K-2) mathematics textbooks in the United States. Focusing on geometry and measurement tasks, we employed descriptive analysis and chi-square tests to evaluate how spatial reasoning is incorporated across these early grade levels. The results show that while pictorial elements that support spatial reasoning are prominently featured in kindergarten and first grade, their presence diminishes considerably in second grade. Notably, drawing tasks — crucial for enabling students to communicate spatial ideas by converting mental representations into visual forms — decline markedly from kindergarten to second grade. Our results suggest a reduction in these opportunities to foster spatial reasoning, highlighting the need for a more intentional and balanced inclusion of spatial reasoning tasks in early mathematics textbooks to strengthen these foundational skills.