Enactive and Iconic Representations in Student Intellectual Development in Mathematics: The Mediating Role of Cognitive Flexibility
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69569/jip.2026.147Keywords:
Enactive and iconic representations, Cognitive flexibility, Mathematics, Mediating role, Student intellectual developmentAbstract
Low intellectual development in mathematics persists globally, with many students struggling to progress from concrete to abstract reasoning. While prior research has focused on mathematical performance, few studies have explored the instructional and cognitive barriers underlying this issue. Addressing this gap, the present study examines cognitive flexibility as a mediator between enactive and iconic representations and students’ intellectual development in mathematics. A quantitative, correlational design with mediation analysis was employed, and data were collected from 250 Grade 11 Technical Vocational–Livelihood students. Grounded in Bruner’s Theory of Representation, the findings reveal that both enactive and iconic representations have significant direct and indirect effects on students’ intellectual development through cognitive flexibility. Mediation analysis showed that cognitive flexibility accounted for 16.80% and 54.78% of the effects of enactive and iconic representations, respectively, highlighting the role of adaptive reasoning in enhancing the benefits of hands-on and visual learning. These findings emphasize the instructional value of integrating multiple representations with cognitive flexibility in mathematics education. Further studies may explore additional mediating variables to explain the remaining variance in the relationships between enactive and iconic representations and intellectual development that is not accounted for by cognitive flexibility. Potential mediators may be identified from a qualitative study.
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