Gender differences in mental rotation tests: a geometry-teaching perspective

Isabel Ramírez-Uclés; Rafael Ramírez Uclés

doi:10.5944/educxx1.33150

Autores/as

Isabel Ramírez-Uclés Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3689-5999
Rafael Ramírez Uclés Universidad de Granada, Spain http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8462-5897

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5944/educxx1.33150

Palabras clave:

rotación mental, test PMA, resolución de problemas complejos, diferencias de género

Resumen

De acuerdo con la literatura, los hombres obtienen puntuaciones superiores a las mujeres en ciertas pruebas de rotación mental y en ejercicios de resolución de problemas complejos. Este estudio analiza los tipos de errores cometidos en la subprueba de relaciones espaciales de habilidades mentales primarias (PMA) por 328 estudiantes de secundaria (edades comprendidas entre los 13 y 16 años). De ellos, 143 participaban en un programa de estímulo del talento matemático, dado que habían mostrado habilidades en la resolución de problemas matemáticos complejos. Los tipos de errores detectados se definen en términos del ángulo de rotación del objeto y la presencia de simetrías en los ítems del test. Los resultados muestran un rendimiento significativamente mayor de los alumnos con alta habilidad matemática. Las diferencias de género únicamente se evidencian a favor de los chicos en la puntuación global del test y en el número de ítems no contestados. Sin embargo, no se encuentran diferencias de género en ninguno de los tipos de errores asociados a las propiedades geométricas de los ítems. Además, no existe interacción significativa entre las variables independientes género y habilidad para la resolución de problemas complejos. Las conclusiones extraídas de esos hallazgos introducen matices en la comprensión de las diferencias de género identificadas tradicionalmente en las habilidades de visualización, particularmente en relación con las propiedades geométricas en las pruebas de rotación mental. Se enfatiza que la investigación educativa puede focalizarse en otros aspectos, como pueden ser los emocionales o actitudinales que afectan al proceso de realización de los test, como la rapidez o el uso de estrategias menos eficientes.

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