Primary School Students’ Spatial Orientation Strategies in an Outdoor Learning Activity supported by Mobile Technologies

Abstract

Students’ different learning performance on mathematical problem solving across contexts has attracted a number of researchers’ interest. The study investigates the spatial orientation ability of primary school students in an outdoor situation, where six pairs of grade six students are asked to coordinate themselves physically in terms of given distances with respect to two given points. Their spatial orientation performance is evaluated quantitatively, in terms of the number of attempts needed to reach the target points, as well as qualitatively by analyzing their strategies as described in their answers to a questionnaire. According to our findings the students enjoy and perform remarkably well in the outdoor setting, an observation that leads us to suggest that engaging students in outdoor activities may enhance their learning of mathematics.