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Doctoral Dissertation Announcement
Candidate: Dana C. Cox
Degree of:
Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Mathematics
Title: Understanding Similarity: Bridging Geometric and Numeric Contexts for Proportional Reasoning
Committee:
Dr. Steven W. Ziebarth, Chair
Dr. Jane-Jane Lo
Dr. Tabitha T.Y. Mingus
Dr. Rebecca K. Walker
Date: Friday, June 20, 2008 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Alavi Commons, Everett Tower
Abstract:
The concept of similarity is uniquely situated at the crossroads of geometric and proportional reasoning. Although studies have documented the existence and nature of student difficulties with the topic, there exists a gap between documenting the useful visual perceptions of younger children and the quantitative inadequacies of older ones. This clinical interview investigated the visual and pre-proportional strategies that are used by middle-school students to differentiate and construct similar figures. Unique strategies were identified in both contexts. The findings of the study pointed to the importance of including complex figures and various types of distortion when designing tasks to instruct and assess student conceptions of similarity.