DATA of Constructionist Microworld for Higher Technical Education: Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Descriptive Geometry Assistant on Student Performance

Descriptive Geometry (DG) provides methods for solving problems of three-dimensional space through their representation on a two-dimensional drawing plane. Mastery of DG requires the development of spatial skills, an objective that has repeatedly proven difficult to achieve through traditional paper-and-pencil instruction. A paradigm change in DG teaching is therefore needed, one that may be facilitated through the use of virtual environments that provide highly interactive visual learning experiences. The present study aimed to analyze the influence of a constructionist microworld, the Descriptive Geometry Assistant (DGA), on DG learning. Two complementary analyses were conducted. First, performance was compared among first-year engineering students at the University of León (Spain) who completed a paper-based exercise, with total scores evaluated across experimental and control (DGA vs. paper). Results showed significantly higher performance for the experimental group. Second, within DGA, four parameterized exercises (two point-based, two line-based) were analyzed among students from Spain and Portugal, considering country, sex, and exercise type. Results indicated systematic performance differences, with higher scores in Spain than Portugal and for men compared to women, particularly in point-construction tasks.画法几何（Descriptive Geometry，DG）是一类通过将三维空间中的问题表征于二维绘图平面之上，从而实现相关问题求解的方法体系。掌握画法几何需要具备空间思维能力，而传统的纸笔教学模式往往难以达成这一能力培养目标。因此，画法几何教学亟需一场范式变革，而可提供高交互性可视化学习体验的虚拟环境，可为该变革提供有力支撑。本研究旨在探究一款基于建构主义理念的微世界工具——画法几何助手（Descriptive Geometry Assistant，DGA）对画法几何学习的影响。本研究开展了两项互补性分析：其一，针对西班牙莱昂大学的一年级工科学生展开对比实验，将完成练习的学生分为实验组（使用DGA）与对照组（采用纸笔教学），并对两组的综合得分进行评估。实验结果显示，实验组的学业表现显著优于对照组。其二，针对西班牙与葡萄牙的学生群体，在DGA工具的使用场景下，对四项参数化练习（两项基于点的构造任务、两项基于线的构造任务）展开分析，分析维度涵盖国家、性别与练习类型。分析结果表明，学业表现存在系统性差异：西班牙学生的得分显著高于葡萄牙学生，男性学生的得分亦高于女性学生，这一差异在点构造类练习中尤为突出。