PME-NA

Exploring students' difficulties in right triangle trigonometry: Errors in Pythagorean theorem and similarity

• In Event: Poster Session #1
  In Poster Session: Exploring students' difficulties in right triangle trigonometry: Errors in Pythagorean theorem and similarity

Description

Understanding students' challenges is essential for effective teaching. Understanding students' errors can help identify their learning difficulties, their causes, and guide teachers' remediation (Borasi, 1987). Teachers should address student misconceptions (Chua et al., 2016) and analyzing students’ errors can give insight into potential misunderstandings they may have. This study is part of a larger research effort exploring students' difficulties in right triangle trigonometry and identifies the types of errors they make in fundamental concepts. Specifically, it examines errors in using the Pythagorean Theorem and similarity of right triangles, based on the error analysis model provided by Movshovitz-Hadar et al. (1987). Results showed that all the errors were logical or involved misusing data. Assuming the hypotenuse as the unknown, guessed the answer and then used the Pythagorean Theorem to confirm that the other side was also 1 were common errors. Examples of student work and suggestions for improvement were provided.

Authors

• Seyedehkhadijeh Azimi Asmaroud, Virginia State University

• Azam Sadat Emadi, University of Mazandaran