FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND LANGUAGES MAY SEMESTER /2012 CODE: HBMT4103 TITLE: TEACHING MATHEMATICS IN FORM THREE

NAME MATRICULTAION NU I/C NUMBER PHONE NU EMAIL ADDRESS LEARNING CENTRE

: : : : : :

NURULAIIN BT ZAIDUN 791122105438002 791122-10-5438 019-2371311 znurulaiin@yahoo.com OUM SHAH ALAM LEARNING CENTRE

Introduction A husband-and-wife team of Dutch educators, Pierre van Hiele and Dina van HieleGeldof, noticed the difficulties that their students had in learning geometry. These observations led them to develop a theory involving levels of thinking in geometry that students pass through as they progress from merely recognizing a figure to being able to write a formal geometric proof. Their theory explains why many students encounter difficulties in their geometry course, especially with formal proofs. The van Hieles believed that writing proofs requires thinking at a comparatively high level, and that many students need to have more experiences in thinking at lower levels before learning formal geometric concepts. The main theory emphasises that despite some natural development of spatial thinking, deliberate instruction is needed to move children through several levels of geometric understanding and reasoning skill. It is based on the firm belief that it is inappropriate to teach children Euclidean geometry following the same logical construction of axioms, definitions, theorems and proofs that Euclid used to construct the system. Children don't think on a formal deductive level, and therefore can only memorise geometric facts and 'rules', but not understand the relationships between the ideas, if taught using this approach. The van Hieles proposed five sequential phases of learning; inquiry, guided orientation, explication, free orientation and integration.

1. INQUIRY

5. INTEGRATION

THE VAN HIELE LEVELS OF GEOMETRIC THINKING

2. GUIDED ORIENTATION

4. FREE ORIENTATION

3. EXPLICATION

Subject Topic Learning objectives

: Mathematics Form 3 : Circles II : Students will be taught to understand and use the concepts of cyclic quadrilaterals.

Learning outcomes

: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to Identify cyclic quadrilaterals. Identify interior opposite angles of cyclic quadrilaterals. Determine the relationship between interior opposite angles of cyclic quadrilaterals. Identify exterior angles and the corresponding interior opposite angles of cyclic quadrilaterals.

Phase 1: Inquiry At this initial stage, the teacher and students engage in conversation and activity about the objects of study for this level. Observations are made, questions are raised, and level-specific vocabulary is introduced. Teacher asks students: What is a cyclic quadrilateral? How are the alike? Do you think a triangle could be a cyclic quadrilateral?

Teacher explains to students that a quadrilateral is said to be a cyclic quadrilateral if there is a circle passing through all its four vertices. Then, teacher will ask the students to identify which figures are cyclic quadrilateral.

Figure 1: Which are cyclic quadrilaterals?

The purpose of these activities is twofold: 1. The teacher learns what prior knowledge the students have about the topic. 2. The students learn what direction further study will be.

Phase 2: Directed orientation The students explore the topic of study through materials that the teacher has carefully sequenced. These activities should gradually reveal to the students the structures characteristics of this level. Thus, much of the material will be short tasks designed to elicit specific responses. Teacher asks students to construct a few cyclic quadrilaterals with interior angles.

Figure 2: The marked angles are called interior angles.

Phase 3: Explication Building on their previous experiences, students express and exchange their emerging views about the structures that have been observed. Other than to assist students in using accurate and appropriate language, the teachers role is minimal. It is during t his phase that the levels system of relations begins to become apparent. Students would discuss with each other and the teacher what figures and properties emerged in the activities above.

Figure 3: Interior opposite angles Teacher explains to students that the marked angles in (a) and (b) is called interior opposite angles. Teacher asks students to work in pairs. Let one of them draw three cyclic quadrilaterals. The other team member will mark the interior opposite angles. When they have finished, ask them to switch roles.

Phase 4: Free orientation The student encounters more complex tasks, tasks with many steps, tasks that can be completed in several ways, an open-ended task. In this phase, the will gain experience in finding their own way or resolving the tasks. By orienting themselves in the field of investigation, many relations between the objects of study become explicit to the students (Hoffer 1983, p. 208). Teacher tells the students to measure the two pairs of interior opposite angles. Let them add the angles in each figure. Ask them to make their deduction. The sum of each pair equals 180. We can conclude that the sum of the interior opposite angles in a cyclic quadrilateral is 180.

<P + <R = 180 and

<S + <Q = 180

Figure 4: Cyclic quadrilateral

Now, let the students to identify another type of angle. Figure 4 is a cyclic quadrilateral ABCD. ADE is a straight line.

Figure 5: Cyclic quadrilateral

6

Instruct the students to measure the marked angles and record the data.

Figure 6: Cyclic quadrilateral KLMN in Figure 6 is also a cyclic quadrilateral. Instruct the students to measure the marked angles and record the data. Ask the students, what they can deduce from the recorded data? From their answers, teacher can give the conclusion as: The interior angle of the cyclic quadrilateral = corresponding exterior angle

Exercise: Figure 7 shows you a cyclic quadrilateral ABCD. AC is a straight line. Calculate the value of x + y.

Figure 7
7

Figure 8 shows you a cyclic quadrilateral PQRS. Find the value of m + n.

Figure 8

Phase 5: Integration The students review and summarize what they have learned with the goal of forming and overview of the new network of objects and relations. The teacher can assist in this synthesis by furnishing global surveys of what the students have learned. It is important, however, that these summaries not present anything new. The properties of cyclic quadrilaterals are: Quadrilateral must be in a circle. Exterior angle is equal to the opposite interior angle. The sum of the opposite angles of a cyclic quadrilateral is 180. If a pair of opposite angles of a quadrilateral is supplementary, then the quadrilateral is cyclic.

At the end of the fifth phase, students have attained a new level of thought. The new domain of thinking replaces the old, and the students are ready to repeat the phases of learning at the next level.

Summary

In addition to furnishing insight into the thinking that is specific to each level of geometric thought, the van Hieles identified some generalities that characterize the model. These properties are particularly significant to educators because they provide guidance for making instructional decisions.

Sequential As with most developmental theories, a person must proceed through the levels in order. To function successfully at a particular level, a learner must have acquired the strategies of the preceding levels.

Advancement Progress from level to level depends more on the content and methods of instruction receive than on age.

Intrinsic and extrinsic The inherent objects at one level become the objects of study at the next level.

Linguistics Each level has its own linguistic symbols and its own systems of relations connecting these symbols. Thus, a relation that is correct at one level may be modified at another level.

Mismatch If the student is at one level and instruction is at different level, the desired learning and progress may not occur. In particular, if the teacher, instructional materials, contents, vocabulary, and others, are at a higher level than the learner, the student will not be able to follow the thought processes being used.

References Cheong, J. (2007). Koleksi peperiksaan sebenar PMR Matematik KBSM. Shah Alam, Selangor: Cerdik Publications Sdn. Bhd.

Curriculum Development Centre. (2003). Integrated curriculum for secondary schools: Curriculum specifications Mathematics Form 3. Kuala Lumpur: Ministry of Education Malaysia.

Nor Hayati Md Yusof & Dr Hj Mohd Nazari Yaakob. (2011). Teaching Mathematic in Form Three. (Ed. 6th) Kuala Lumpur: Open University Malaysia.

Rozaidi Mohd. Ali, & Siti Zuraidah Md. Bashah. (2005). Glossary for Mathematics: Form 1 to Form 3. Kajang, Selangor: Awan Metro (M) Sdn. Bhd.

Yoong, K. S., Sim, K. Y., Ding, H. E., Noorliah Ahmad, & Lai, J. S. (2004). Mathematics Form 3. Shah Alam, Selangor: Ebiza Sdn. Bhd.

10