The Degree of Conformity of Tenth Grade Male and Female Students' Apprehensions of Geometrical Figures with the Problems of Geometry Textbook

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Assistant Professor

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate 10th-grade students’ understanding of geometric shapes based on Duval’s theory, as well as to examine the 10th-grade geometry textbook in terms of how it addresses each dimension of understanding geometric shapes. The study employed survey and content analysis methods. The statistical population for the survey section consisted of 10th-grade mathematics students in Pakdasht County, with a sample of 235 students selected through cluster random sampling. In the content analysis section, the statistical population included all problems in the 10th-grade geometry textbook, with the sample being identical to the population. The data collection tool for the survey was a test designed based on related studies, the validity of which was confirmed by experts, and its reliability verified using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. The findings indicated that the percentage of incorrect and unanswered responses was higher for reasoning and operational problems compared to perceptual and sequential problems, and there was no significant difference between the performance of male and female students. The analysis of the geometry textbook also revealed that most of its problems are related to reasoning and operational understanding. In fact, although most of the problems in the 10th-grade geometry textbook focus on reasoning and operational tasks, students’ performance in these areas was below expectations. It is suggested that either the presentation of the textbook content or the teaching methods of geometry be revised to better support the development of all four dimensions of students’ geometric understanding.

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