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Learning Geometry Requires Steps Or Levels

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Learning Geometry requires steps or levels that need to be completed by students. These levels of learning need to be completed in a particular order, so that students can progress and move along to the next level. Difficulties in grasping geometric concepts by students may be caused by the lack of exposure to a particular level or the lack of preparation by their leaning facilitator. A combination of the two needs to be present for students to learn and maximize the learning experience. Instructors need to be aware how students learn and determine if they are a level appropriate for their age. If they are not at that level then, it is up to the instructor to make sure that students reach the desired level. Instruction should be modified to incorporate ways to assist those students that are not at their level.
Van Hiele suggested that students must pass through five levels of learning in a sequence and must move level by level, so that they can learn appropriately. The levels are: visual, descriptive/analytic, abstract/relational, formal deduction, and rigor/mathematical. By the time a student enters high school they should be at formal deduction level and be able to create proofs. Students should know identify shapes, identify properties, and understand relationships. Having this levels of the Van Hiele model should be sufficient for students to comprehend high school geometry. Yet, educators feel that students are not at this level and emphasis should be

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