Abstract
This paper reports on a specific aspect of a broader geometry conceptualisation study that sought to explore and explicate learners’ knowledge of basic geometric terminology in selected Nigerian and South African high schools. It is framed by the notion that students’ acquisition of the correct terminology in school geometry is important for their success in the subject. The original study further aimed to determine the relationship that might exist between a learner’s ability in verbal geometry terminology tasks and his/her ability in visual geometry terminology tasks. A total of 144 learners (72 each from South Africa and Nigeria) were selected for the study, using both the stratified and the fish‐bowl sampling techniques. A questionnaire consisting of a sixty‐item multiple‐choice objective test provided the data for the study. An overall percentage mean score of 44,17% obtained in the test indicated that learners in this study had only a limited knowledge of basic geometric terminology. The Nigerian subsample in the study had a weaker understanding of basic geometric terminology than their South African counterparts. Importantly, there were high positive correlations between participants’ ability in verbal geometry terminology tasks and their ability in visual geometry terminology tasks. These results are consistent with those of several earlier studies, and provide a reasonably firm basis for certain recommendations to be made.
Highlights
Language is undoubtedly an essential tool in communication, and perhaps geometry stresses the use of language more than any other part of a mathematics curriculum (Ashfield & Prestage, 2006; Hoffer, 1981)
Given that the items that made up the Terminology in Plane Geometry Test (TPGT) were largely van Hiele level 1 in nature, and that the TPGT as a whole was a straightforward test of learners’ knowledge of the simplest and most common geometric terminology frequently encountered in junior and high school geometry, this rather low percentage mean score is an indication that this cohort of high school learners had a low level of terminology knowledge in this learning area
This study has investigated learners’ knowledge of basic geometric terminology in selected Nigerian and South African high schools
Summary
Language is undoubtedly an essential tool in communication, and perhaps geometry stresses the use of language more than any other part of a mathematics curriculum (Ashfield & Prestage, 2006; Hoffer, 1981). The problem of comprehension tends to arise when both the learner and the teacher know the meaning of a word at a basic semantic level and assumes that the word’s technical or conceptual meaning is shared This suggests that during teaching, the teacher uses certain words in a sense peculiar to the subject that is not precisely understood by the learners. Learners need to acquire the correct technical terms and be able to use them clearly to communicate their ideas about concepts in geometry Premised upon this statement, the present study was undertaken to explore learners’ knowledge of basic terminology in plane geometry in selected Nigerian and South African high schools. An emerging argument from research is that learners’ ability to classify geometrical objects in terms of their properties facilitates their acquisition of these mathematical process skills (Roberts, 2010), and few would argue that knowledge of the correct technical language plays an important role in the classification process. The learners’ repertoire of geometric terminology that we explore in this study is not synonymous with and does not replicate that investigated in any earlier studies: it draws upon their findings but breaks new ground in the field of enquiry
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