The Effect of Verbalizer, Spatial and Object Visualizer Cognitive Style to Students’ Algebraic Thinking: Insights from Empirical Study Focusing on Middle School Students

Abstract

Everyone has a preferred approach and different habits in organizing and representing the information they received. It is known as cognitive style. The theory of verbalizer and visualizer cognitive style developed into three dimensions; verbalizer, object visualizer and spatial visualizer. Algebraic thinking consists of four components, namely generalized arithmetic (GA), functional thinking (FT), modeling languages (M), and algebraic proof (AP). Previous research has shown that spatial visualizers have a more significant relationship with numbers sense and algebraic reasoning compared to verbalizers and object visualizers. However, there is no empirical research that shows the effect of three-dimensional cognitive style on the 4 components of algebra, especially for students in junior high school. The subjects of this study were 149 8th grade students in Gresik and Sidoarjo regencies, Indonesia. This study uses Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) data analysis with AMOS 24. The instrument used is an adaptation of the Object- Spatial Imagery and Verbal Questionnaire (OSIVQ) Blazhenkova & Kozhevnikov (2009) and an algebraic thinking test instrument. The results of this study indicate that three-dimensional cognitive style affects the components of algebraic thinking, especially in mathematical modeling (M). In addition, functional thinking (FT) has the greatest contribution to algebraic thinking skills compared to GA, M and AP.