DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DYSLEXIC AND NON-DYSLEXIC STUDENTS IN THE PERFORMANCE OF SPATIAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL THINKING

Abstract

Dyslexia is a specific form of learning disability which comes along with diverse difficulties, both in learning and in social and emotional fields. It obstructs the development of the individual at all levels of education. This research investigates students’ spatial and geographical thinking and whether there is differentiation of these abilities between dyslexic and non-dyslexic ones. For this purpose, 50 questionnaires were distributed to 25 dyslexic and 25 non-dyslexic students aged 14. To implement this research, opportunity sampling from different areas (rural, urban) was used. The questionnaire included spatial thinking exercises like mental rotation, plan views, shapes folding - unfolding and mental manipulation of shapes and exercises by which geographical thinking are examined, according to the Greek geography curriculum. By using SPSSv.23.00 we codified children's answers. The results indicated that the non-dyslexic students had a better score than the dyslexic ones. The most significant difference was in the section of plan views and mental rotation, whereas in the folding and unfolding and shapes mental manipulation, it was found that both children’s groups faced difficulties. Although the research sample is limited, which does not allow for generalization of the conclusions, it was observed that through the students' answers we were led to conclusions that fully match the theoretical framework .