ANALYSIS OF THE RESULTS OF A SURVEY ON THE GEOMETRIC KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS OF STUDENTS-PEDAGOGUES

Abstract

In primary classes, geometry is an integral part of mathematics education. The main purpose of teaching geometry in primary school is to give pupils a clear and correct idea of studied geometric shapes and their properties; to develop spatial concepts, logical thinking and imagination; to instil knowledge, skills and habits in drawing and measuring.

Geometric knowledge introduced to primary school pupils is abstract and must, in addition to having an educational nature, be tailored to the pupils’ age-specific characteristics, in particular the dominance of concrete thinking in their young minds.

Teaching mathematics at the initial stage of elementary education is aimed at mastering basic knowledge, skills and relations in the field of arithmetic and geometry, which build elementary mathematical literacy and are important for the formation of modern key competencies (MON, 2015).

According to the author, G. Kirova, “geometrical knowledge gained in the preparatory group/class and the primary classes has a propaedeutic character – as a vital basis for the systematic study of a course in geometry in the next classes” (Kirova, 2018). This requires improving the quality of education of students-pedagogues with the purpose of gaining more practical experience and skills for their future professional work with primary school students. Modern teachers need to prepare their students in view of their social realization. It is good to assess students-pedagogues’ knowledge and skills related to the teaching material in geometry for primary classes after the students-pedagogues have got acquainted with the basic geometric concepts and the methods of work for proper formation of geometric knowledge and skills of primary school students on the topic “Geometry” in the lecture course on the subject Didactics of Mathematics.

This article is an analysis of the results obtained after a survey/test with students-pedagogues from two different programs at the Faculty of Educational Studies and the Arts, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. The surveyed students, future primary teachers, were in their third year of bachelor’s studies. The purpose of the test was to establish the preparation and knowledge of the students-pedagogues towards the geometric learning material for primary classes after getting acquainted with the topic of “Geometry” in the lecture course in the discipline.

In the seminars and practical exercises on the subject Didactics of Mathematics a test was conducted to students from two different specialities Pre-school and Primary School Education and Primary School Education and Foreign Language Teaching. The test includes 14 close-ended questions from the study material – geometric knowledge and skills studied from first to fourth grade.

The survey disclosed the knowledge of the students-pedagogues. The results were used for scientific purposes in order to formulate conclusions and recommendations related to improving the quality of training of students-pedagogues in the seminar and practical exercises in the respective discipline.

This article is part of the research work on the National Science Program “Young Scientists and Postdoctoral Students” (2018-2020) - https://www.mon.bg/bg/100542. The program aims at stimulating, attracting and retaining young scientists and postdoctoral students with the purpose of ensuring quality reproduction of human potential for research activities.