ERIC Number: EJ1133294
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 22
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0020-739X
EISSN: N/A
Exploring High-Achieving Sixth Grade Students' Erroneous Answers and Misconceptions on the Angle Concept
International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, v48 n4 p533-554 2017
The aim of this research was to investigate high achievers' erroneous answers and misconceptions on the angle concept. The participants consisted of 233 grade 6 students drawn from eight classes in two well-established elementary schools of Trabzon, Turkey. All the participants were considered to be current achievers in mathematics, graded 4 or 5 out of 5, and selected via a purposive sampling method. Data were collected through six questions reflecting the learning competencies set out in the grade 6 curriculum in Turkey and the findings of previous studies that aimed to identify students' misconceptions of the angle concept. This questionnaire was then applied over a 40-minute period in each class. The findings were analysed by two researchers whose inter-rater agreement was computed as 0.97, or almost perfect. Thereafter, coding discrepancies were resolved, and consensus was established. We found that although the participants in this study were high achievers, they still held several misconceptions on the angle concept such as recognizing a straight angle or a right angle in different orientations. We also show how some of these misconceptions could have arisen due to the definitions or representations used in the textbook, and offer suggestions concerning their content in the future.
Descriptors: High Achievement, Grade 6, Misconceptions, Foreign Countries, Elementary School Students, Mathematics Instruction, Data Collection, Geometry, Geometric Concepts, Elementary School Mathematics, Textbooks, Pilot Projects, Measurement Equipment, Instrumentation
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Grade 6; Intermediate Grades; Middle Schools; Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Turkey
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A