Reconceptualizing Education on the Names of Geometric Figures in Elementary Mathematics

Source abstract

This study aims to critically examine conventional approaches to the education on the names of geometric figures in elementary mathematics and to propose a direction grounded in the perspective of constructing and interpreting terms. Until now, instruction has relied either on the presentation-acceptance approach, in which teachers or textbooks provide terms for students to adopt, or on the naming approach, in which students generate their own names for geometric figures. Both approaches, however, present significant limitations. In response, this study reconceptualizes the education on the names of geometric figures as an arena in which the construction and interpretation of terms interact productively. From this perspective, discrepancies between student-generated names and conventional mathematical terms are not regarded as obstacles that create confusion or dilemmas, but rather as catalysts for educational negotiation, cognitive transformation, and the reconstruction of meaning. To illustrate the feasibility and pedagogical significance of this approach, exemplar lessons on the equilateral triangle and the rhombus are presented, together with theoretical discussion.