The Role of Spatial Skills and Spatial Language in Math Word Problem-Solving

For many students in early elementary school, the introduction of math word problems is a difficult challenge. New research has shown that children's spatial skills—their ability to understand, visualize, and manipulate objects in the mind—are related to their math word problem-solving achievement. However, spatial word usage within math word problems has not been directly studied as a potential factor influencing the link between children's spatial skills and their word problem-solving accuracy. This study examines the influence of spatial skills on word problems with and without spatial words to better understand how spatial skills are related to math word problem-solving success. We predict that stronger spatial skills will predict better overall word problem-solving accuracy, with an even stronger effect on problems using spatial language. Increasing our understanding of why spatial skills are related to math word problem-solving has important implications for educators, curriculum developers, and other practitioners developing tools and strategies to improve students' word problem-solving performance.