Triangle Property Relationships: Making the Connections

Abstract

Thinking that is characteristic of Level 3 in the van Hiele theory is focused on therelationships that exist among figures and those that exist among the properties.Whilst such knowledge is considered an important base that appears to assist in theretention and usability of geometrical facts, it remains unclear how relationshipsbetween individual properties develop. This study, involving in-depth interviews with24 secondary students, addresses this issue by considering their attempts at providingminimum descriptions or definitions of particular triangles. The purpose of this paperis to report the findings of an initial exploration, utilising the SOLO model into thequality of the students' responses. The findings provide some light on thedevelopment of triangle property relationships.