The Effectiveness of a Constructivist Learning Strategy for Development of Geometry Learning in the Middle School

Abstract

This study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of a constructivist learning strategy for remedying geometry learning mistakes for the middle school students, first graders during their study of the unit on trigonometry in the geometry course. Mistakes and special difficulties have been pinpointed and clearly defined from the experience of some teachers, and from an analysis of the test results they have provided to the researcher. The unit on trigonometry had been remodeled so as to be based on the strategy suggested for constructivist learning with the objective to remedy the mistakes students commonly make during their study of geometry. The remodeled unit was taught to an experimental group (62 in number) after the constructivist model of learning while the same unit was presented in a traditional fashion of teaching to the control group which was 62 in number. Findings of a t-test indicate that the unit having been constructively remodeled is effective in remediating mistakes commonly made in trigonometry by the students of geometry as there have been statistically significant differences between the two groups to the good of the experimental one on post-testing. No gender differences have been detected according to the post-testing results where both genders (males = 30 and females = 32) made very good use of the constructivist learning model. This means that the strategy suggested and the model of learning underpinning this strategy is gender effects-free.