Investigation of Geometric Habits of Undergraduate Students in Secondary Mathematics Education: Trigonometry Example

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to examine undergraduate students’, who were enrolled in secondary mathematics education, geometric habits of mind related to the concepts of unit circle and trigonometric ratios. The framework of "Geometric Habits of the Mind" was identified as the theoretical background of the study. This study was designed considering a case study method and the participants were twelve first grade students. The data group of the study consists of questions on the concepts of unit circle and trigonometric ratios and the students were required to answer the question on the paper. The data were analyzed with the descriptive analysis method in the light of the adopted framework. As a result of the findings, the students most frequently used reasoning with relationships and investigating invariants and the least used balancing exploration with reflection. The findings of the study showed that almost all of the students were not at a sufficient level in using geometric habits.