Investigation of Preschool Children’s Process of Forming Basic Geometric Shapes with the Geoboard

Abstract

Learning basic geometric shapes in the preschool period begins with the stages of noticing the shapes and learning their names. As children progress in the development process, they can also see the similarities and differences between shapes. Children need to learn shapes with games and concrete materials in order to be able to establish relationships between shapes and perform more complex geometry operations in the later stages. One of the tools that support the acquisition of geometric shapes is the geometry board. In the current study, the processes of children’s recognizing and forming different types of triangle, square and rectangular shapes (with different position, aspect ratio and skewness) on the geometry board were examined. Individual interviews were conducted with 24 children attending kindergarten. While the children were following the instructions given on the geometry board, observations were made and these observation notes recorded in the evaluation form were evaluated through descriptive analysis. According to the findings, children recognize these shapes and mostly use the concepts of “side-angle” when explaining their properties. It was observed that while forming the shapes on the board, they tended to form the most well-known forms of these shapes. Materials such as geometry boards are thought to be important for children for hands-on learning on a concrete material without memorizing basic geometric shapes and their properties

Keywords

• Geometry in preschool
• Geoboard
• shapes
• use of materials in mathematics

Okul Öncesi Çocuklarının Geometri Tahtası İle Temel Geometrik Şekilleri Oluşturma Süreçlerinin İncelenmesi

Abstract

Okul öncesi dönemde temel geometrik şekillerin öğrenilmesi ilk önce şekillerin fark edilmesi ve isimlerinin öğrenilmesi aşamaları ile başlamaktadır. Çocuklar gelişim sürecinde ilerledikçe, şekiller arasındaki benzerlik ve farklılıkları da görebilmektedirler. Çocukların sonraki aşamalarda şekiller arasında ilişki kurabilmeleri ve daha karmaşık geometri işlemlerini yapabilmeleri için, oyun ve somut materyallerle şekilleri öğrenme gereksinimleri vardır. Geometrik şekillerin kazanılmasını destekleyen araçlardan biri geometri tahtasıdır. Bu araştırmada çocukların üçgen, kare ve dikdörtgen şekillerinin farklı türdeki örneklerini (farklı konum, basıklık ve çarpıklık özelliği olan) geometri tahtası üzerinde tanıma ve oluşturma süreçleri incelenmiştir. Anasınıfına devam eden 24 çocuk ile bireysel görüşmeler yapılmıştır. Çocuklar geometri tahtası üzerinde verilen yönergeleri uygularken gözlem yapılmış ve değerlendirme formuna kaydedilen bu gözlem notları betimsel analiz değerlendirilmiştir. Elde edilen bulgulara göre, çocuklar bu şekilleri tanımakta ve özelliklerini açıklarken en çok “kenar-köşe” kavramlarını kullanmaktadır. Tahta üzerinde şekilleri oluştururken bu şekillerin en çok bilinen biçimlerini oluşturma eğiliminde oldukları görülmüştür. Temel geometrik şekilleri ve özelliklerini ezberlemeden, somut bir materyal üzerinde uygulamalı öğrenilmesi için geometri tahtası gibi materyallerin çocuklar için önemli olduğu düşünülmektedir.

Keywords

• okul öncesinde geometri
• geometri tahtası
• şekiller
• matematikte materyal kullanımı

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