Primary School Students' Explanatory Activities in Geometry
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| Title: | Primary School Students' Explanatory Activities in Geometry |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Taro Fujita (ORCID |
| Source: | International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education. 2025 23(8):3789-3814. |
| Availability: | Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link.springer.com/ |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 26 |
| Publication Date: | 2025 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Education Level: | Elementary Education |
| Descriptors: | Elementary School Students, Geometry, Elementary School Mathematics, Mathematics Activities, Mathematics Instruction, Cognitive Processes, Thinking Skills |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s10763-025-10588-1 |
| ISSN: | 1571-0068 1573-1774 |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to evaluate students' explanatory activities in geometry so that we can gain insights into designing attractive and effective tasks in geometry. We consider an explanatory activity in geometry an attempt by a student to explain their thinking process about how they knew or noticed something. In order to explore students' explanatory activities in classrooms, we prepared two geometry tasks with overlapping polygons and conducted 10 lessons in a primary school. Through a commognition framework, we identified discourses related to the explanatory activities and then evaluated them, focusing on how students' geometric reasoning in their explanatory activities were developed from visual to deductive-based. Our analysis showed that the students initially produced their explanations which were not sufficient to explain what they had noticed to other students in the classroom. This evoked commognitive conflicts among students, but through class discussions, some of the students managed to produce more deductive explanations. We discussed implications for future research and design principles for promoting explanatory activities in geometry. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1501540 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to evaluate students' explanatory activities in geometry so that we can gain insights into designing attractive and effective tasks in geometry. We consider an explanatory activity in geometry an attempt by a student to explain their thinking process about how they knew or noticed something. In order to explore students' explanatory activities in classrooms, we prepared two geometry tasks with overlapping polygons and conducted 10 lessons in a primary school. Through a commognition framework, we identified discourses related to the explanatory activities and then evaluated them, focusing on how students' geometric reasoning in their explanatory activities were developed from visual to deductive-based. Our analysis showed that the students initially produced their explanations which were not sufficient to explain what they had noticed to other students in the classroom. This evoked commognitive conflicts among students, but through class discussions, some of the students managed to produce more deductive explanations. We discussed implications for future research and design principles for promoting explanatory activities in geometry. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1571-0068 1573-1774 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s10763-025-10588-1 |
