CHAPTER 2

Learning geometry
THE INFLUENCE
OF EUCLID
• Founding of Mathematical Association in 1871.
• Practical introduction to geometry in school in Price 1994 and Howson 1973,1982.
• Professor John Perry(1850-1920) advocated much more practically based on school geometry course with far
less emphasis on the deductive proofs of Euclid but different to Charles Godfrey (1873-1924) developing many
theorems that feature in euclid but allowing variety method of proof and giving greater emphasis to riders.
• In 1923 Mathematical Association introduced 3 stages of learning geometry.
• First stage A is an experimental stage, stage B is a deductive stage and stage C is systematic stage.
 3

CURICULUM CHANGE FROM 1960S

• Informative account will be found in COOPER (1985) 
• SMP(1965) geometry was style of Godfrey and Siddons` Elementery
Geometry with stage A activities leading to a formal deductive approach to
arrange of standard theorems and their application to riders.
• 1980s widespread common curriculum had emerged where theorems and
their proofs in the style Euclid had very little place and the important 
Cockcroft report 1982.
• United stated ,France and Japan retained a geometry curriculum more in
Euclid than United Kingdom. 
STAGES IN LEARNING GEOMETRY

• Five levels proposed by van Hiele (1986)

1. Level 1- Visualization 

2. Level 2-Analysis 

3. Level 3Abstraction 

4.  Level 4-Deduction 

5.  Level 5- Rigor
• Sort progression that a teacher may expect as students develop
their geometrical understanding, more useful  how a curiculum  should be
structured than specific difficulties with a topic.
 5

SPATIAL AWARENESS AND

GEOMETRICAL INTUITION

• Common aspiration of school geometry is to develop

students' spatial awareness.
•  activities involving spatial skills might improve
performance such as task.
• Childhood experiences with constructional toys may more
influentional than school geometry,because them more likely
contribute in some measure to success with school geometry
as well.
• Fisghbein (1982) in discussing intuition in relative to
proof ,speaks of 'the quality of self-evidence
 6

MISCONCEPTION IN GEOMETRY
• the idea of angle is a fundementalgeometrical concept
• There is much evidence concerning students' misconceptrions about angles.
• APU (1987) where a large sample of 11 years ol students where asked to indicate which statement they thought was
correct.
• Length of the arms or the space or distance betweeen the arms into deciding that one angle was larger than the order.

• Angle BAG is bigger than angle DCH. 33 %

• Angle DCH is bigger than angle BAG. 4 %
• Angle DCH is same sizeangle BAG. 52%
• You cant tell. 4%
 7

LEARNING ABOUT
PROOF
• PROOF IN MATHEMATHICS IS COMMONLY USE
PRESENTED AS VERIFYING THE TRUTH OF CONJECTURE.
• THE FIRST CONCERNS WHAT IS TAKEN TO BE SELF-
EVIDENT.
• IN TRIANGLE ABC,AB AND AC ARE EQUAL
LENGTH.
• LET D BE THE MIDPOINTS.
• THEN TRIANGLE ABD AND ACD ARE
CONGRUENT,BECAUSE AB=AC, BD=CD AND AD
IS COMMON.
• HENCE, ANGLE ABD AND ACD ARE EQUAL.
 8

• The secondary difficulty is making distinction between

deductive proof and acceptance of a result on the evidence
of appearance or measurement, reffered to as naïve
empiricism by Balacheff (1988).
• Hoyles 1997 speaks of developing in student an inner
compulsion to understand why conjecture is true.
• Proof is more than argument to demonstrate thetruth of
proposition for as suggested by de Villiers (1998).
 9

THE ROLE OF COMPUTERS 

• This often allow students to practice skill in interesting ways which
are self-checking and may involve puzzles and games incorporating
several levels of difficulty.

• Generic software can used wide range of different task. Besides

plotting graphs, allow transformation geometry to be explored.

• Interactivity to collection of resources of a more imaginative and

flexible nature.
 CONCLUSION
• Conceptual difficulty and to be alert to issue of misunderstanding linked to the
use of technical language.
• Activities and deductive approaches should be strong so that each reinforces the
other.
• Helping student possibilities in a geometrical figure and providing them
• More than practice in solving routine problems or involvementin regularted
investment.
• Key aspect of school geometry and ofer advice to the teacher about appropriate
introductory tasks, common source of difficulty and ways of extending students’
ability to solve problems and generate proof.