Examining Senior High School Girls’ Thinking Levels in Solving Problems on Circle Theorems

Victoria Felicia Aidoo Bervell; Peter Akayuure

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijsedu.20221004.11

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Examining Senior High School Girls’ Thinking Levels in Solving Problems on Circle Theorems

Victoria Felicia Aidoo Bervell, Peter Akayuure

Published in International Journal of Secondary Education (Volume 10, Issue 4)

Received: 17 September 2022 Accepted: 4 October 2022 Published: 17 October 2022

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Abstract

The learning of Circle theorems is frequently highlighted as one challenging geometric content area for students at Senior High Schools (SHS). However, it remain unclear how students, especially girls are reasoning when dealing with problems in circle theorems. This descriptive study examined students’ ability and reasoning in solving problems involving Circle theorems. Two objectives were set to guide the study, focusing on SHS students’ levels of thinking in problem solving involving Circle theorems. A test, covering four basic theorems of geometry of circles in SHS curriculum, was designed and used to collect data from a purposive sample of 80 3^rd-year students of Mfantsiman Girls’ SHS. The results showed that students’ thinking in Circle theorems follows the taxonomy of Uni-structural, Multi-structural, Relational and Extended abstract thinking levels. The study also found that about two-fifth of the students could not cope with problems involving relational and extended abstract reasoning, drawing of conclusions or even stating the four circle theorems. The study concludes that SHS mathematics teachers should reconsider how to teach deductively to improve the relational and abstract thinking levels of the 3^rd-year students before they write the SHS final examinations. This could be facilitated through the use of SOLO taxonomy with super-item model as a diagnostic tool to ensure the growth of the students’ problem solving and reasoning skills in circle theorems.

Published in	International Journal of Secondary Education (Volume 10, Issue 4)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijsedu.20221004.11
Page(s)	127-135
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Circle Theorems, Geometric Thinking, Senior High School Girls, SOLO

References

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[10]	Chimuka, A. (2017). The effect of integration of GeoGebra software in the teaching of circle geometry on grade 11 students’ achievement. Unpublished master’s thesis, University of South Africa. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/129899181.pdf.
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[16]	Adeniji, S. M., Baker, P., & Schmude, M. (2022). Structure of the Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) model: A mixed-method systematic review of research in mathematics education. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 18 (6), em 2119. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/12087
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APA Style

Victoria Felicia Aidoo Bervell, Peter Akayuure. (2022). Examining Senior High School Girls’ Thinking Levels in Solving Problems on Circle Theorems. International Journal of Secondary Education, 10(4), 127-135. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsedu.20221004.11

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ACS Style

Victoria Felicia Aidoo Bervell; Peter Akayuure. Examining Senior High School Girls’ Thinking Levels in Solving Problems on Circle Theorems. Int. J. Second. Educ. 2022, 10(4), 127-135. doi: 10.11648/j.ijsedu.20221004.11

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AMA Style

Victoria Felicia Aidoo Bervell, Peter Akayuure. Examining Senior High School Girls’ Thinking Levels in Solving Problems on Circle Theorems. Int J Second Educ. 2022;10(4):127-135. doi: 10.11648/j.ijsedu.20221004.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ijsedu.20221004.11,
  author = {Victoria Felicia Aidoo Bervell and Peter Akayuure},
  title = {Examining Senior High School Girls’ Thinking Levels in Solving Problems on Circle Theorems},
  journal = {International Journal of Secondary Education},
  volume = {10},
  number = {4},
  pages = {127-135},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijsedu.20221004.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsedu.20221004.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijsedu.20221004.11},
  abstract = {The learning of Circle theorems is frequently highlighted as one challenging geometric content area for students at Senior High Schools (SHS). However, it remain unclear how students, especially girls are reasoning when dealing with problems in circle theorems. This descriptive study examined students’ ability and reasoning in solving problems involving Circle theorems. Two objectives were set to guide the study, focusing on SHS students’ levels of thinking in problem solving involving Circle theorems. A test, covering four basic theorems of geometry of circles in SHS curriculum, was designed and used to collect data from a purposive sample of 80 3rd-year students of Mfantsiman Girls’ SHS. The results showed that students’ thinking in Circle theorems follows the taxonomy of Uni-structural, Multi-structural, Relational and Extended abstract thinking levels. The study also found that about two-fifth of the students could not cope with problems involving relational and extended abstract reasoning, drawing of conclusions or even stating the four circle theorems. The study concludes that SHS mathematics teachers should reconsider how to teach deductively to improve the relational and abstract thinking levels of the 3rd-year students before they write the SHS final examinations. This could be facilitated through the use of SOLO taxonomy with super-item model as a diagnostic tool to ensure the growth of the students’ problem solving and reasoning skills in circle theorems.},
 year = {2022}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Examining Senior High School Girls’ Thinking Levels in Solving Problems on Circle Theorems
AU  - Victoria Felicia Aidoo Bervell
AU  - Peter Akayuure
Y1  - 2022/10/17
PY  - 2022
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsedu.20221004.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijsedu.20221004.11
T2  - International Journal of Secondary Education
JF  - International Journal of Secondary Education
JO  - International Journal of Secondary Education
SP  - 127
EP  - 135
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2376-7472
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsedu.20221004.11
AB  - The learning of Circle theorems is frequently highlighted as one challenging geometric content area for students at Senior High Schools (SHS). However, it remain unclear how students, especially girls are reasoning when dealing with problems in circle theorems. This descriptive study examined students’ ability and reasoning in solving problems involving Circle theorems. Two objectives were set to guide the study, focusing on SHS students’ levels of thinking in problem solving involving Circle theorems. A test, covering four basic theorems of geometry of circles in SHS curriculum, was designed and used to collect data from a purposive sample of 80 3rd-year students of Mfantsiman Girls’ SHS. The results showed that students’ thinking in Circle theorems follows the taxonomy of Uni-structural, Multi-structural, Relational and Extended abstract thinking levels. The study also found that about two-fifth of the students could not cope with problems involving relational and extended abstract reasoning, drawing of conclusions or even stating the four circle theorems. The study concludes that SHS mathematics teachers should reconsider how to teach deductively to improve the relational and abstract thinking levels of the 3rd-year students before they write the SHS final examinations. This could be facilitated through the use of SOLO taxonomy with super-item model as a diagnostic tool to ensure the growth of the students’ problem solving and reasoning skills in circle theorems.
VL  - 10
IS  - 4
ER  -

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Author Information

Victoria Felicia Aidoo Bervell

Department of Mathematics, Mfantsiman Girls’ Senior High School, Mankessim, Ghana
Peter Akayuure

Department of Mathematics Education, University of Education, Winneba, Ghana

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Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Victoria Felicia Aidoo Bervell, Peter Akayuure. (2022). Examining Senior High School Girls’ Thinking Levels in Solving Problems on Circle Theorems. International Journal of Secondary Education, 10(4), 127-135. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsedu.20221004.11

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ACS Style

Victoria Felicia Aidoo Bervell; Peter Akayuure. Examining Senior High School Girls’ Thinking Levels in Solving Problems on Circle Theorems. Int. J. Second. Educ. 2022, 10(4), 127-135. doi: 10.11648/j.ijsedu.20221004.11

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AMA Style

Victoria Felicia Aidoo Bervell, Peter Akayuure. Examining Senior High School Girls’ Thinking Levels in Solving Problems on Circle Theorems. Int J Second Educ. 2022;10(4):127-135. doi: 10.11648/j.ijsedu.20221004.11

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ijsedu.20221004.11,
  author = {Victoria Felicia Aidoo Bervell and Peter Akayuure},
  title = {Examining Senior High School Girls’ Thinking Levels in Solving Problems on Circle Theorems},
  journal = {International Journal of Secondary Education},
  volume = {10},
  number = {4},
  pages = {127-135},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijsedu.20221004.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsedu.20221004.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijsedu.20221004.11},
  abstract = {The learning of Circle theorems is frequently highlighted as one challenging geometric content area for students at Senior High Schools (SHS). However, it remain unclear how students, especially girls are reasoning when dealing with problems in circle theorems. This descriptive study examined students’ ability and reasoning in solving problems involving Circle theorems. Two objectives were set to guide the study, focusing on SHS students’ levels of thinking in problem solving involving Circle theorems. A test, covering four basic theorems of geometry of circles in SHS curriculum, was designed and used to collect data from a purposive sample of 80 3rd-year students of Mfantsiman Girls’ SHS. The results showed that students’ thinking in Circle theorems follows the taxonomy of Uni-structural, Multi-structural, Relational and Extended abstract thinking levels. The study also found that about two-fifth of the students could not cope with problems involving relational and extended abstract reasoning, drawing of conclusions or even stating the four circle theorems. The study concludes that SHS mathematics teachers should reconsider how to teach deductively to improve the relational and abstract thinking levels of the 3rd-year students before they write the SHS final examinations. This could be facilitated through the use of SOLO taxonomy with super-item model as a diagnostic tool to ensure the growth of the students’ problem solving and reasoning skills in circle theorems.},
 year = {2022}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Examining Senior High School Girls’ Thinking Levels in Solving Problems on Circle Theorems
AU  - Victoria Felicia Aidoo Bervell
AU  - Peter Akayuure
Y1  - 2022/10/17
PY  - 2022
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsedu.20221004.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijsedu.20221004.11
T2  - International Journal of Secondary Education
JF  - International Journal of Secondary Education
JO  - International Journal of Secondary Education
SP  - 127
EP  - 135
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2376-7472
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsedu.20221004.11
AB  - The learning of Circle theorems is frequently highlighted as one challenging geometric content area for students at Senior High Schools (SHS). However, it remain unclear how students, especially girls are reasoning when dealing with problems in circle theorems. This descriptive study examined students’ ability and reasoning in solving problems involving Circle theorems. Two objectives were set to guide the study, focusing on SHS students’ levels of thinking in problem solving involving Circle theorems. A test, covering four basic theorems of geometry of circles in SHS curriculum, was designed and used to collect data from a purposive sample of 80 3rd-year students of Mfantsiman Girls’ SHS. The results showed that students’ thinking in Circle theorems follows the taxonomy of Uni-structural, Multi-structural, Relational and Extended abstract thinking levels. The study also found that about two-fifth of the students could not cope with problems involving relational and extended abstract reasoning, drawing of conclusions or even stating the four circle theorems. The study concludes that SHS mathematics teachers should reconsider how to teach deductively to improve the relational and abstract thinking levels of the 3rd-year students before they write the SHS final examinations. This could be facilitated through the use of SOLO taxonomy with super-item model as a diagnostic tool to ensure the growth of the students’ problem solving and reasoning skills in circle theorems.
VL  - 10
IS  - 4
ER  -

Copy | Download