Evaluation by Experts and Designated Users on the Learning Strategy using SketchUp Make for Elevating Visual Spatial Skills and Geometry Thinking

Abstract

The teaching and learning of Geometry should be meaningful and not merely reacting to the teacher's stimuli. Hence, students should be given opportunities to experiment when learning mathematics through exploration and investigation of geometric shapes by themselves. For that reason, a Learning Strategy for 3-dimensional Geometry using the SketchUp Make dynamic software, called LSPE-SUM was designed through a step-by-step instruction to help students to improve their visual spatial skills and geometric thinking. Visual spatial skills were carefully integrated onto each van Hiele levels of Geometry thinking through specific arrangement of specially crafted learning activities. Such arrangement was vital to ensure that students could achieve better cognitive enhancement in visual spatial skills by communicating and interacting physically and socially according to the hierarchical van Hiele model of Geometry thinking. LSPE-SUM capitalized the dynamic features of SketchUp Make to facilitate the elevation of visual spatial skills and Geometry thinking during the learning processes. The whole process of designing and developing the LSPE-SUM adopted the five cyclic stages of ADDIE instructional design model. The purpose of this article was to report the details of the final two stages, more specifically, implementation and evaluation of LSPE-SUM. This learning strategy was tried out twice upon twelve different students in a classroom setting over a period of 3 weeks each. Besides that, LSPE-SUM was also given to experts to obtain their views and evaluation on its functionality. Quantitative and qualitative approaches were used to collect data as well as to analyze the experts and students' views on the suitability of LSPE-SUM. Analysis of students' views suggested that LSPE-SUM has assisted most of them in ResumoO ensino e a aprendizagem da geometria devem ser significativos para os alunos, não consistindo, apenas, numa reação a estímulos do professor. Por conseguinte, os alunos devem ter oportunidades de experimentação na aprendizagem da matemática, através da exploração e da investigação de formas geométricas. Nesse sentido, uma estratégia de aprendizagem de geometria tridimensional, usando o software dinâmico SketchUp, o LSPE-SUM, foi projetada através de instruções passo a passo para ajudar os alunos a melhorar suas competências visoespaciais e de pensamento geométrico. As competências visoespaciais foram cuidadosamente integradas a cada nível proposto pelo Modelo de van Hiele, relativo ao desenvolvimento do pensamento geométrico, através de atividades especificas de aprendizagem. Esse arranjo foi vital para garantir que os alunos pudessem alcançar maior aperfeiçoamento cognitivo das competências visoespaciais ao comunicar e interagir, demonstrativa e socialmente, de acordo com o modelo hierárquico de pensamento geométrico de van Hiele. O LSPE-SUM capitalizou recursos dinâmicos de SketchUp para facilitar a melhoria das competências e do pensamento geométrico visoespacial durante os processos de aprendizage...

Design and Development of VH-iSTEM Learning Strategy on Geometric Thinking: An Experts’ Evaluation

“…Therefore, this study attempt was made to determine the validity of the developed learning strategy called VH-iSTEM which was develop based on the connections between the iSTEM approach (engineering design phases) and van Hiele phases of learning geometry before its effectiveness was determined in the implementation stage. More so, to ensure the achievement of module objective as well as the activities provided in the learning strategy a pre-test and post-test were conducted as suggested Meyer in [34].…”

“…To gain the validity of a module Meryer in Wahab et al [34], suggested the conduct of simple analysis to determine the quality and effectiveness of activity develop in learning strategy. To achieve this, evaluation forms were provided to experts to rate the content, based on its objectives, sufficiency, students-center, the integration of STEM with strategy, and also based on lesson activity organization that covers, connections between iSTEM and van Hiele phases of learning geometry; collaborative and independent learning on the activities, orderliness in the connection of the phases in VH-iSTEM learning strategy.…”

“…Thus, the van Hiele test of geometric thinking was used, where 15 questions were adopted with permission. Substantial research used the test to determine the students' level of geometric thinking [7], [34], [44].…”

Evaluation by Experts and Designated Users on the Learning Strategy using SketchUp Make for Elevating Visual Spatial Skills and Geometry Thinking

“…The decline in achievement in Geometry as shown in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) assessment was a 'wakeup call' to Malaysians educators, generally and specifically. It was reported by Mullis et al (2012) that only 33% of Malaysian students could answer Geometry questions successfully. The achievement rate in the cognitive Geometry domain was 53% at knowledge and 28% at reasoning.…”

“…As pointed by Mullis et al (2012), the current approaches and teaching methods in the classrooms were still confined to the traditional teacher-centered approach. Similar findings were also reported by Noraini (2006) and Abdul Halim and Effandi (2013) who found that teachers' Geometry learning activities were uncreative and boring due to merely using blackboard to explain definitions, concepts, and specific theorems.…”