Insights from Paper Folding: Spatial Visualization Processes and Their Link to Mathematics

Spatial visualization (SV) involves transformations to the structure and relations of an object through a complex sequence of maneuvers. These skills are associated with mathematics performance. Research to date primarily involves analyzing psychometric measures to determine the nature of relations. Consequently, there is in a gap in knowledge around the process-based associations between SV and mathematics. In this study, 259 Grade 8 students (52.9% female) completed tests of SV and mathematics, and open-ended paper folding tasks. They were categorized as High (HS), Mid (MS), or Low (LS) spatial. HS students completed most open-ended tasks with better than average success. Although LS students did not perform as well as HS students, those who completed the more complex open-ended fold task had higher success rates than MS students, indicating the use of effective strategies, regardless of spatial skill. There were differences in student responses for diagonal- compared with straight-fold tasks. Diagonal tasks were associated with spatial skill but not with mathematics performance. HS students used successful spatial strategies for the open-ended tasks and mathematics. For MS students, there was an association between spatial tasks and word and geometry-measurement problems. There was minimal association between the open-ended spatial tasks and mathematics for LS students. The paper concludes with a discussion around the functional role of spatial visualization in mathematics and avenues for future research.