Abstract
This study used metaphors as a analysis tool to investigate elementary school students’ formation and development of angle concepts. For this purpose, the students were asked to write words associated with angle, right angle, acute angle and obtuse angle and to explain why. In case of angle and right angle, responses of 268 students from 3rd to 6th graders were analyzed and for acute angle and obtuse angle, those of 192 students from 4th to 6th graders were examined. As the results of categorizing the metaphors, they can be classified into categories such as; (1) qualitative aspects: ‘things metaphor’, ‘personality metaphor’, ‘emotions metaphor’ etc., (2) quantitative aspects: ‘motions metaphor’, ‘changes metaphor’, ‘emotions metaphor’ etc., and (3) relational aspects: ‘shape relations metaphor.’ The metaphoric expressions were prominent in ‘qualitative aspects’ associated with shapes. As for the other aspects, ‘quantitative aspect’- the size of angles and the amount of spread and ‘relational aspects’ - elements of angle and relationship with another shapes, the frequency increses were shown to as grade levels were up. In case of right angle and acute angle, ‘qualitative aspects’ associated with shapes were outstanding and the frequency of the metaphoric expressions of obtuse angle was distributed similarly in three aspects. As the figure strand and the measurement strand are integrated to an strand in the 2022 revised curriculum, we need more discussion of multifaced aspects of angle and the learning sequences in the ‘figure and measurement’ strand.
Figures & Tables
Figure 1.