شبكة المعلومات العربية التربوية

This study aimed to identify the extent to which the mathematics books for the lower basic stage include visual thinking skills, and the extent of students ’acquisition of these skills. The idea emerged as a result of practicing mathematics teaching for the fourth grade by the researcher. This experience confirmed the need to determine the extent to which the provided figures and images in the investigated mathematics book effectively contribute to developing the visual skills of students. This is essential giving that those visual skills are considered among the most important skills of mathematical communication. In addition, the study aimed to determine the level of the fourth grade students’ acquisition of those basic skills. To fulfill these aims, the study implemented the descriptive analytical method, and developed a content analysis tool to measure the level of visual thinking skills in the mathematics books of the lower basic stage. The study prepared a visual skills test which has been implemented on a sample of the fourth grade students in the schools of North Gaza Educational Zone. The sample included 0111 students who were conveniently selected through selecting division no. 1 in each school. The test was distributed to the students after teaching the unit of Geometry and Measurement (the first unit in the fourth basic grade mathematics curriculum, part 2) during the second semester of the 2016- 2017academic year. The most important results of the study were as follows: the primary grade mathematics books (from the first to the fourth grade) include some visual thinking skills. These skills are as follows, respectively: visual recognition, information representation, information interpretation, and information analysis. However, these books do not include the following skills: the skill of linking relationships, and the skill of extraction of meanings. The study found that the fourth grade students’ acquisition of visual thinking skills did not reach 75%. The most important recommendations of the study were as follows: 1) To review the figures and images provided in the primary grade mathematics curricula. 2) To determine the extent to which these curricula include the most important dimensions of visual thinking skills related to the investigated age groups. 3) To organize training courses for primary grade mathematics teachers to develop their understanding of the visual thinking content and skills, and to explain its importance in communicating information to students through figures and images and, in turn, improve their academic achievement. (Author's abstract)