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Geometrical reasoning in the primary school, the case of parallel lines

Geometrical reasoning in the primary school, the case of parallel lines
Geometrical reasoning in the primary school, the case of parallel lines
During the primary school years, children are typically expected to develop ways of explaining their mathematical reasoning. This paper reports on ideas developed during an analysis of data from a project which involved young children (aged 5-7 years old) in a whole-class situation using dynamic geometry software (specifically Sketchpad). The focus is a classroom episode in which the children try to decide whether two lines that they know continue (but cannot see all of the continuation) will intersect, or not. The analysis illustrates how the children can move from an empirical, visual description of spatial relations to a more theoretical, abstract one. The arguments used by the children during the lesson transcend empirical arguments, providing evidence of how young children can be capable of engaging in aspects of deductive argumentation.
pedagogy, curriculum, teaching, learning, geometry, mathematics, geometric, geometrical, deductive reasoning, proof, proving, school, national curriculum, classroom, deduction, dgs, dge, dynamic geometry, gsp, sketchpad, spatial, argumentation
1463-6840
88-93
Sinclair, Nathalie
b07f665d-043d-4cb9-bb2c-57631a276f34
Jones, Keith
ea790452-883e-419b-87c1-cffad17f868f
Sinclair, Nathalie
b07f665d-043d-4cb9-bb2c-57631a276f34
Jones, Keith
ea790452-883e-419b-87c1-cffad17f868f

Sinclair, Nathalie and Jones, Keith (2009) Geometrical reasoning in the primary school, the case of parallel lines. Proceedings of the British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics, 29 (2), 88-93.

Record type: Article

Abstract

During the primary school years, children are typically expected to develop ways of explaining their mathematical reasoning. This paper reports on ideas developed during an analysis of data from a project which involved young children (aged 5-7 years old) in a whole-class situation using dynamic geometry software (specifically Sketchpad). The focus is a classroom episode in which the children try to decide whether two lines that they know continue (but cannot see all of the continuation) will intersect, or not. The analysis illustrates how the children can move from an empirical, visual description of spatial relations to a more theoretical, abstract one. The arguments used by the children during the lesson transcend empirical arguments, providing evidence of how young children can be capable of engaging in aspects of deductive argumentation.

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Sinclair&Jones_geom_reasoning_parallel_lines_2009 - Accepted Manuscript
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More information

Published date: June 2009
Keywords: pedagogy, curriculum, teaching, learning, geometry, mathematics, geometric, geometrical, deductive reasoning, proof, proving, school, national curriculum, classroom, deduction, dgs, dge, dynamic geometry, gsp, sketchpad, spatial, argumentation
Organisations: Mathematics, Science & Health Education

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 68743
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/68743
ISSN: 1463-6840
PURE UUID: 9f779971-0334-439f-bf33-310605aa0193
ORCID for Keith Jones: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-3677-8802

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 24 Sep 2009
Last modified: 13 Mar 2024 19:07

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Contributors

Author: Nathalie Sinclair
Author: Keith Jones ORCID iD

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