Teaching polygons in the secondary school: a four country comparative study

Abstract

This study presents the analysis of four sequences of videotaped lessons on polygons in lower secondary schools (grades 7 and 8) taught by four different teachers in four different countries (Belgium, Flanders, England, Hungary and Spain). Our study is a part of the METE project (Mathematics Educational Traditions in Europe). The aims and methodology of the project are described briefly in the introduction. In the next section of this paper we describe various perspectives on teaching and learning polygons which were derived from the literature, concerning the objectives, conceptual aspects and didactic tools of the topic. The next two sections introduce the main outcomes of our study, a quantitative analysis of the collected data and a qualitative description linked to the perspectives on teaching polygons. We conclude by discussing some principal ideas related to the theoretical and educational significance of this research work.