Does a transformation approach improve students’ ability in constructing auxiliary lines for solving geometric problems? An intervention-based study with two Chinese classrooms

Abstract

We conducted an intervention-based study in secondary classrooms to explore whether the use of geometric transformations can help improve students’ ability in constructing auxiliary lines to solve geometric proof problems, especially high-level cognitive problems. A pre- and post-test quasi-experimental design was employed. The participants were 130 eighth-grade students in two classes with a comparable background that were taught by the same teacher. A two-week intervention was implemented in the experimental class aiming to help students learn how to use geometric transformations to draw auxiliary lines in solving geometric problems. The data were collected from a teacher interview, video-recordings of the intervention, and pre- and post-tests. The results revealed that there was a positive impact of using geometric transformations on the experimental students’ ability in solving high-level cognitive problems by adding auxiliary lines, though the impact on the students’ ability in solving general geometric problems as measured using the overall average scores was not statistically significant. Recommendations for future research are provided at the end of the article.