Abstract

ARAYA RAMIREZ, Natalia. Thinking skills and significant learning in mathematics fifth grade students in Costa Rica. Rev. Actual. Investig. Educ [online]. 2014, vol.14, n.2, pp.66-95. ISSN 1409-4703.

This article discusses how thinking skills of observation, induction, hypothetical-deductive reasoning and abstraction in solving problems arise and strengthened in fifth grade students and how the learning process is impacted when they are stimulated during pedagogical mediation in a public school at San Jose Regional District, circuit 02 in 2012. The methodology for collecting data consists of applying a pretest and posttest to two groups of fifth graders (one was the control group and the other was the experimental one), for a total sample of sixty students. The test contained exercises to evaluate the processes involved in the skills that were investigated. After applying the pretest to the experimental group, an intelligent educational institutional plan with a constructivist approach in mathematics was administered, and the achievements of learners were systematized in a field diary and the roles of learners and teachers were recorded in an observation sheet as the lesson unfolded. Finally, a fifth grade math´s teacher from the control group was interviewed. The results obtained showed that, if the processes that involve thinking skills are enhanced, the learner acquires knowledge and complex skills, which allow them to be aware of how they learn. In conclusion, in learning mathematics, it is necessary to establish a gradual program to enhance thinking skills by school grade level, taking into account the maturity and cognitive level of learners.

Keywords : Meaningful Learning; School Curriculum; Primary Education; Mathematics; Skills; Thinking; Costa Rica.

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