Uso de material concreto para el desarrollo del pensamiento lógico-matemático en educación básica

This study analyzed the impact of the planned use of concrete materials on the development of logical-mathematical thinking and complex problem-solving skills among lower secondary students in public schools in Ecuador. A quantitative approach with a quasi-experimental pretest–posttest design and non-equivalent control group was employed. The sample consisted of 155 students from eighth, ninth, and tenth grades in the provinces of Manabí, El Oro, and Guayas, distributed into an experimental group (n = 78) and a control group (n = 77). The ten-week intervention was structured under the Concrete–Representational–Abstract (CRA) approach and incorporated Cuisenaire rods, base-ten blocks, geoboards, and fraction manipulatives into problem-solving sequences. ANCOVA results revealed statistically significant differences in favor of the experimental group (p < .001; ηp² = .18). Improvements were also observed in mathematical argumentation, strategy transfer, and self-regulation. Findings confirm that the systematic and pedagogically mediated use of concrete materials enhances conceptual understanding and mathematical reasoning when explicit connections between concrete and symbolic representations are emphasized. The study concludes that the CRA approach constitutes an effective and sustainable instructional strategy to foster logical-mathematical thinking in lower secondary education, providing empirical evidence for pedagogical innovation in public educational contexts.