The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of spatial visualization skills when students solve area tasks. Spatial visualization is closely related to mathematics achievement, but little is known about how these skills link to task success. We examined middle school students’ representations and solutions to area problems (both non-metric and metric) through qualitative and quantitative task analysis. Task solutions were analyzed as a function of spatial visualization skills and links were made between student solutions on tasks with different goals (i.e., non-metric and metric). Findings suggest that strong spatial visualizers solved the tasks with relative ease, with evidence for conceptual and procedural understanding. By contrast, Low and Average Spatial students more frequently produced errors due to failure to correctly determine linear measurements or apply appropriate formula, despite adequate procedural knowledge. A novel finding was the facilitating role of spatial skills in the link between metric task representation and success in determining a solution. From a teaching and learning perspective, these results highlight the need to connect emergent spatial skills with mathematical content and support students to develop conceptual understanding in parallel with procedural competence.

本研究的目的是探讨学生解决区域任务时空间可视化技能的影响。空间可视化与数学成绩密切相关，但人们对这些技能如何与任务成功相关联知之甚少。我们通过定性和定量任务分析检查了中学生对区域问题（非度量和度量）的表示和解决方案。任务解决方案被分析为空间可视化技能的函数，并且在学生解决方案之间建立了不同目标（即非度量和度量）的任务。研究结果表明，强大的空间可视化能力相对容易地解决了任务，并提供了概念和程序理解的证据。相比之下，尽管有足够的程序知识，但由于未能正确确定线性测量值或应用适当的公式，低和平均空间学生更频繁地产生错误。一项新颖的发现是空间技能在度量任务表示与成功确定解决方案之间的联系中的促进作用。从教学和学习的角度来看，这些结果强调了将新兴空间技能与数学内容联系起来的必要性，并支持学生在培养程序能力的同时发展概念理解。