International Journal of Mathematical Education in

Science and Technology

ISSN: 0020-739X (Print) 1464-5211 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tmes20

Effect of inquiry-based instruction enriched

with origami activities on achievement, and self-
efficacy in geometry

Semanur Kandil & Mine Işıksal-Bostan

To cite this article: Semanur Kandil & Mine Işıksal-Bostan (2018): Effect of inquiry-
based instruction enriched with origami activities on achievement, and self-efficacy in
geometry, International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, DOI:
10.1080/0020739X.2018.1527407

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Published online: 28 Sep 2018.

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MATHEMATICAL EDUCATION IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
https://doi.org/10.1080/0020739X.2018.1527407

Effect of inquiry-based instruction enriched with origami

activities on achievement, and self-efficacy in geometry
Semanur Kandil a and Mine Işıksal-Bostanb
a Department of Mathematics and Science Education, Bartın University, Bartın, Turkey; b Department of
Mathematics and Science Education, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of inquiry- Received 10 July 2018
based instruction enriched with origami activities on 7th grade stu-
KEYWORDS
dents’ achievement in reflection symmetry and self-efficacy in geom- Inquiry-based instruction;
etry. Two classes, instructed by the first author of the paper, were origami; reflection
randomly assigned as experimental and control groups. In order symmetry; geometry
to gather data, participants were administered Reflection Symme- self-efficacy
try Achievement Test, and Geometry Self-Efficacy Scale as pre-test
and post-test. The Analysis of Covariance was performed in order
to answer the research questions. Moreover, five participants were
interviewed to examine self-efficacy sources which are determi-
nant of the change in self-efficacy levels. Findings revealed that the
inquiry-based instruction enriched with origami activities had a sig-
nificantly positive effect on students’ achievement in reflection sym-
metry and self-efficacy in geometry. Interviews showed that all four
sources were influenced by the intervention.

1. Introduction
Constructivism is a theory which postulates that each student directs and constructs
his/her own understanding through his/her cognitive processes while interacting with the
social environment [1]. Constructivism maintains that students should discuss, reflect and
transfer meanings [2]. According to this theory, the teacher’s role is to provide students
with a learning environment in which they can direct and assess their own learning by
questioning their reasoning, strategies and the methods used for learning. Studies related
to constructivism have shown that students’ learning processes in a constructivist set-
ting are better than those in a traditional setting in terms of understanding mathematics
[3]. While setting a constructivist learning environment, it is important to decide on an
applicable instructional approach. Inquiry-based instruction is a pedagogical approach
grounded in constructivism, promoting that learners should be active while constructing
their own learning processes [4]. This approach is an appropriate method for constructivist

CONTACT Semanur Kandil semanur@metu.edu.tr Department of Mathematics and Science Education, Bartın
University, Bartın, Turkey

© 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

2 S. KANDİL AND M. IŞIKSAL-BOSTAN

classrooms since it enables students to think mathematically and understand mathemat-

ics conceptually [2,5]. In this sense, selection of activities for the inquiry process during
instruction is of great importance to draw students’ attention and involve them in the pro-
cess. These activities should be active, realistic, experiential, meaningful and focused on
higher-order thinking [6]. Thus, origami, which meets all these functions, can be employed
as a suitable instructional method within the scope of the inquiry approach since it requires
drawing students’ attention and curiosity to discover the product through the process of
posing questions, getting data, and evaluating [7]. Therefore, in the present study, origami
was used as the tool for the inquiry-based instruction designed to examine its influence on
students’ achievement and self-efficacy in geometry.

1.1. Inquiry
Inquiry is a learner-centered teaching method grounded in constructivism. It is defined
as a pedagogy in which real-life problems are used to provide students with an investiga-
tive environment so that teachers can gain insight into students’ thinking processes [8]. As
opposed to passively receiving or collecting facts, students engaged in the inquiry process
pose questions, seek for answers and establish a bridge between prior and new knowl-
edge [9]. In other words, the inquiry approach encourages students to generate solutions,
share and explain their ideas, and extend and revise them through argumentation. The
National Research Council reported five features of inquiry-based instruction that can be
applied across all grade levels [7]. Through inquiry-based instruction, students (1) pose
scientific questions, (2) gather evidence, (3) formulate, (4) evaluate and (5) communicate
their explanations. Although these features are explained especially in terms of examples
set on scientific phenomena, they are also valid in mathematics education and thus can
be applied. That is, inquiry is applied in not only science education but also mathematics
education by means of questions arising from real life with the purpose of understanding
the natural, social and cultural world [10].
In the light of the features of constructivism and inquiry-based instruction, attempts
were made to modify the objectives and activities in curricula to emphasize scientific
inquiry [11]. Studies that examined educational programmes in various countries reported
that students who used the inquiry approach were more successful in science and other
courses as a result of their instructional method grounded in constructivism [12]. With
this regard, revolutionary changes were made in the middle school mathematics curricu-
lum in Turkey to move away from a didactic model (i.e. instructor-centered) towards a
constructivist model (i.e. learner-centered) [13,14]. The new constructivist curriculum not
only focuses on exploration, communication and conceptualization but also supports the
inquiry fostering critical thinking skills through constructing solution strategies to prob-
lems [14]. In other words, in parallel with the inquiry approach, the revised curriculum
aims to encourage students to ask scientifically meaningful and appropriate questions,
plan procedures and materials to solve problems, estimate the results of problems, con-
sider unexpected situations, test results and justify their explanations [13,14]. In the
current study, an inquiry-based instruction was implemented and its impact on students’
achievement and self-efficacy was investigated.
There are several studies conducted on the effect of inquiry-based instruction, espe-
cially on achievement both in national and international arenas. These studies on inquiry
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MATHEMATICAL EDUCATION IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 3

which is integrated in educational programmes emphasized that this approach improves

students’ achievement while engaging them deeply in the learning process [15–19]. Among
these studies, Marshall and his colleagues [16] emphasized, as in prior research studies,
that inquiry increases conceptual knowledge and fosters deeper understanding, which
in turn, boosts achievement. In inquiry-based instruction, students interpret and dis-
cuss the meaning of the problem, make connections to relevant mathematical knowledge,
decide on methods of solution, and plan, carry out and defend their solutions by support-
ing them with mathematical evidence. Therefore, students develop higher-order under-
standing while constructing their own knowledge and thus increase their levels of their
achievement.
In another research study by Cheung [20], it was emphasized that although teach-
ers advocate the use of inquiry-based laboratory works, they are reluctant to implement
inquiry as they find it very difficult to manage. Cheung studied with seven teachers and
investigated the barriers which the teachers experienced while implementing inquiry and
identified their major concerns, such as time limitation, material demands and crowded
classrooms. He also identified creating well-contextualized inquiry problems in line with
the educational programme as the most challenging part of the study. He concluded that the
material demand for inquiry should be considered in further studies, and students should
be encouraged to engage in the inquiry process and try out their ideas for an effective
teaching and learning environment.
Inquiry-based instruction is an approach rather than a specific method since it is a
cluster of teaching and learning strategies allowing students to inquire into the nature of
problems [21]. It is the role of the teacher, as the learning architect, to not only create mean-
ingful activities and tasks but also develop students’ curiosity and capture their attention so
that they are motivated to learn and discover by asking questions and then sharing that new
knowledge with others in meaningful ways, by which they develop inquiry skills [21,22].
In this sense, origami can be used as an appropriate tool for the inquiry approach so that
students can learn content as well as develop reasoning skills and practices by engaging in
origami activities collaboratively.

1.2. Origami
Origami, the art of paper folding [23], offers many educational benefits in terms of
behavioural skills, cooperative learning, understanding mathematics, multicultural aware-
ness and community building [24], through activities [25]. Origami, which improves
cognitive development, has been accepted and used as a teaching tool in mathematics
education by many researchers and authors [25–35] since origami has a huge mathemat-
ical potential [31], especially in geometry [36]. For instance, it was reported that origami
could be helpful in the instruction of fractions by means of creased patterns on unfolded
models constructed through proportional reasoning [35,37] and for modelling of algebraic
equations and for properties of triangles [38] and quadrilaterals [39].
Inquiry-based instructional approach entails learning activities which have some fea-
tures in common: requiring active student engagement, and being authentic, experien-
tial, meaningful and focused on higher-order thinking [21]. Meaningful and worthwhile
origami activities provide students with a rich learning environment where they are actively
engaged in critical thinking and creativity and involved in the learning process, as stated in
4 S. KANDİL AND M. IŞIKSAL-BOSTAN

inquiry-oriented activities. With these features, origami can be accepted as an effective tool
for inquiry since working on origami activities includes a series of well-established steps to
arrive at a solution to a problem. Therefore, it is believed that origami will be an effective
method in both the cognitive and affective domains [26,29] in mathematics teaching based
on the inquiry approach.
Some of the studies related to inquiry-based instruction, focused not only on achieve-
ment and students’ understanding but also on affective domains such as self-efficacy
[40–42] since it is impossible to consider cognitive and affective domains separately. In
other words, every affective objective has a cognitive component while every cognitive
objective has an affective component [43]. Therefore, self-efficacy could be considered
another variable – affective variable – involved in the study.

1.3. Affective variables

In the literature, it is emphasized that particular instructional approaches influence emo-
tional states. Therefore, researchers administer interventions including these approaches
and different instruction types to test their effect on emotional states [44]. As an affec-
tive variable, self-efficacy takes place in the literature since it affects students’ choice of
activities, goal orientations, the effort they put into learning and success from several
aspects [45,46]. Self-efficacy is defined as ‘perceived ability or belief in one’s personal capa-
bilities or performance in a particular future task’ [47, p.391]. Bandura [48] stated that
self-efficacy is constructed on four main sources. Mastery experiences are the most powerful
source to affect self-efficacy since students’ previous performances determine to increase or
decrease in self-efficacy as a result of being successful or unsuccessful. Self-efficacy beliefs
are also affected by vicarious experiences since students’ belief in their self-performance
is influenced by what they observed related to the performance of others. Students make
inferences from the success or failure of others so that they believe in themselves to manage
the task or feel desperate. Social persuasion is another source that refers to the comments
made by others in relation to students’ performance. Students’ self-efficacy may change
through encouragement or discouragement of friends, teachers, parents, etc. The final
source of self-efficacy is related to emotional and physiological states. Students’ emotional
responses such as anxiety, mood and tiredness may affect their beliefs in their capabilities
in completing a given task. These four theoretical sources of efficacy increase or decrease
a person’s expectation of mastery and influence the way people feel about a specific task
and their performance on the task [48]. To gain self-efficacy, inquiry-oriented learning is
regarded as an essential approach allowing students to use prior knowledge and expand
new knowledge [22]. In this sense, several studies were conducted to investigate whether
inquiry influences self-efficacy, and it was revealed that inquiry is an effective method to
improve self-efficacy of students and teachers [49–52].

1.4. Rationale for the study

The results of international examinations such as Trends in International Mathematics
and Science Study (TIMSS) showed that Turkish students were not at the desired level in
terms of their achievement in mathematics [53]. This failure may have stemmed from both
instructional methods and the affective domain [54]. In this regard, self-efficacy is given
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MATHEMATICAL EDUCATION IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 5

importance as it affects mathematics achievement since it is a determinant of students’

activity choices, goal orientations, effort, learning and success from several aspects [45,46].
Thus, not only achievement but also the self-efficacy of the students should be considered
while deciding on the teaching method affecting self-efficacy [55,56] and achievement
[18,57]. In this sense, inquiry-based instruction is emphasized in publications as an effec-
tive instructional method to increase students’ achievement, and self-efficacy toward a
course. Therefore, presenting an inquiry environment is believed to increase students’
success with the support of an increased self-efficacy.
When studies related to the effect of the inquiry approach on students’ cognitive and
affective developments were examined, it could be observed that these studies were gener-
ally conducted on science courses. However, studies in mathematics education are limited
in terms of providing detailed information related to cognitively rich activities based on
the inquiry approach. It is also difficult to infer the effect of the inquiry approach on the
affective domain, specifically on self-efficacy sources. In this sense, the current study may
serve to fill this gap in the literature by providing comprehensive information about the
influence of inquiry on self-efficacy sources. In this way, the benefits of inquiry instruc-
tion in mathematics classrooms will be investigated more effectively and an example of an
instructional model for mathematics teachers will be provided.
To conduct this study, choosing which resources to use (e.g. models, tools, realistic
problems) based on the inquiry approach was crucial [58]. In this regard, origami was
chosen to be used as an instructional method in line with the inquiry approach. The
already existing origami activities in publication were considered; however, they were not
found to be appropriate for inquiry-based instruction in terms of the role of the teacher
and the student. In other words, the lesson plans and activity templates revealed that
students were guided by the instructor by means of a step-by-step process in construct-
ing the related origami figure, which is more appropriate for regular instruction. In this
sense, the aim of the current study was to generate origami activities based on the inquiry
approach.
Therefore, the main purpose of the present study was to contribute to the literature
by providing an inquiry-based instruction model to increase students’ proficiency and
self-efficacy in mathematics, suggesting guidance for mathematics teachers to develop a
teaching environment based on inquiry, and providing origami activities on reflection sym-
metry in a multicultural context so that they can be used in other countries as well. As the
inquiry approach has become increasingly important in mathematics education, the find-
ings are believed to offer useful information for other researchers, curriculum developers,
mathematics teachers and teacher candidates in planning instructional activities within an
inquiry-based instruction environment.
In accordance with this purpose, the following research questions were investigated:

(1) What is the effect of inquiry-based instruction enriched with origami activities on the
7th grade students’ achievement in reflection symmetry?
(2) What is the effect of inquiry-based instruction enriched with origami activities on 7th
grade students’ self-efficacy in geometry?
• How do self-efficacy sources influence 7th grade students’ self-efficacy levels in
inquiry-based instructional setting?
6 S. KANDİL AND M. IŞIKSAL-BOSTAN

2. Methodology
2.1. Design of the study
In the current study, both quantitative and qualitative methodologies were used to inves-
tigate the effect of inquiry-based instruction. While quantitative methods were admin-
istered to investigate the influence of inquiry on 7th grade students’ achievement in
reflection symmetry, and self-efficacy in geometry, qualitative methods were used to
examine the self-efficacy sources which enhance or inhibit students’ self-efficacy in
geometry. To this end, a static group pre-test-post-test control group design which is a
type of experimental research design [59], was utilized. Intact groups were used; stu-
dents from two already-existing classes were randomly assigned to either the inquiry-
based (experimental) or the regular (control) instruction group. The dependent vari-
ables were students’ post-test scores gathered by means of the Reflection Symmetry
Achievement Test (RSAT) and the Geometry Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES). The related
instruments were carried out before and after the interventions as pre-tests and post-
tests. Time schedule related to the design of the study is provided in Table 1 below.
At the end of the study, interview sessions were settled with five students in the
experimental group whose self-efficacy levels changed during the instruction. More
specifically, the sources of efficacy were observed to determine which sources might
be effective on the change of students’ self-efficacy levels either negatively or posi-
tively.

2.2. Participants
Data were collected from 7th grade students enrolled in a public school in Ankara, Turkey
purposefully. The school was located in a district where there were refugees, gypsies and
people who had immigrated from all around Turkey. There were two classrooms of sev-
enth graders, including 23 (16 females and 7 males) in one and 25 students (14 females
and 11 males) in the other; one of them – the experimental group – received inquiry-
based instruction and the other one – the control group – received regular instruction.
Participants of the study were from a low socio-cultural background. For the interview
session, five participants whose self-efficacy levels increased or decreased more than that
of others at the end of instruction were selected from the experimental group to be
interviewed.

Table 1. Time schedule for the design of the study.

Implementation

Time Experimental group Control group

1st Week Pilot study for the Activities for the Experimental Group
2nd Week Pilot study for RSAT
3rd Week Administration of pre-tests of RSAT and GSES
4th Week Instruction on prerequisite objectives
5th Week Buttered toast activity Activities in the textbook
6th Week Painted handkerchief activity Activities in the textbook
7th Week Paper chain activities Activities in the textbook
8th Week Administration of post-tests of RSAT and GSES
9th Week post-interviews
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MATHEMATICAL EDUCATION IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 7

Figure 1. The first item for RSAT.

2.3. Data collection instruments

In the current study the RSAT, and the GSES were used to collect data. More detailed
information related to these tests are presented in the following sections.

2.3.1. RSAT
The RSAT was developed by the researchers specifically to examine 7th grade students’
achievement levels related to reflection symmetry concept. The instrument was consisted
of 10 open-ended reflection symmetry problems. Two of the items were adapted from
TIMMS (2011) and the other items were written by the researchers. While adapting already
existing problems and writing new problems, Middle School Mathematics Education Cur-
riculum [14] in Turkey was taken into account. There were three objectives specific to
reflection symmetry in 7th grade mathematics curriculum. In addition, the literature
related to the topic was reviewed to be able to develop appropriate items for the instru-
ments. Therefore, in the light of the objectives, a table of specification was prepared and
the items of RSAT were developed. A sample item is presented in the Figure 1.
The instrument was piloted with approximately 160 students from 8th graders in
four public schools in Ankara. According to students’ responses, some of the items were
detected that they required some modifications generally in terms of wording to make them
clear and understandable by the students and they were revised. Furthermore, for the reli-
ability of the test scores, the inter-rater reliability study was conducted through the scores
of 35 students who were scored by two coders; the first author and a four year experienced
teacher. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was found as 0.99 which represents high reliability.

2.3.2. GSES
GSES developed by Günhan and Başer [60] was administered to the participants as pre-
and post-tests in order to measure students’ self-efficacy in geometry. The GSES consisted
of 18 positive and 7 negative items in the form of five-point likert scale, ranging from
strongly agree (5) to strongly disagree (1). The scale measures three dimensions: positive
self-efficacy beliefs, beliefs on the use of geometry knowledge, and negative self-efficacy
8 S. KANDİL AND M. IŞIKSAL-BOSTAN

Table 2. Sample items for the dimensions of GSES.

Dimension Sample Item Cronbach Alphas
Positive self-efficacy beliefs I can understand the concepts in geometry easily. .872
Negative self-efficacy beliefs I think that I am not good at geometry as my .694
friends are.
Beliefs on the use of geometry knowledge I can use knowledge of geometry in other courses. .734

beliefs. Moreover, the reliability of the scale was tested by Günhan and Başer [60] on mid-
dle school students and the Cronbach alpha coefficient was found to be .90 which means
it is highly reliable. In the current study, the GSES was found to be reliable with Cronbach
alpha value of .868. A sample item is presented for each dimension in Table 2.

2.3.3. Interview
Five participants were chosen according to the difference between their self-efficacy scores
of pre-test and post-test for interviews to provide evidence for changes in self-efficacy based
on self-efficacy sources. At the end of the lessons, self-efficacy level of four of them (P2,
P3, P4 and P5) increased from medium level (between 61 and 88 points) to high level
(between 103 and 125 points) while one of them (P1) decreased from high level (between
88 and 125 points) to medium level (between 67 and 102 points). These five participants
were interviewed so that each interview session lasted about 15 minutes was audiotaped.
The participants were asked questions which were written by the authors referring to each
source such as ‘How do you feel during mathematics course? (emotional and physiological
states)’, ‘How was your performance in mathematics? (mastery experiences)’, ‘What is the
effect of your friends’ performance on you? (vicarious experiences)’ and ‘What is the atti-
tude of your instructor towards you while you are working on a task? (social persuasion)’.
Such questions were asked to the interviewees to make them evaluate their previous experi-
ences in mathematics course and the instructions administered by the first researcher. The
aim was to decide on the reason(s) of change in self-efficacy of the participants in exper-
imental group by evaluating through the interpretation of sources which were affected by
the inquiry-based instruction.

2.4. Data collection procedure

At the beginning of the study, students were administered RSAT and GSES as pre-tests.
Following the pre-test administrations, while students in the experimental group were
implemented inquiry-based instruction, students in control group were implemented
regular instruction for three weeks. At the end of the instructions, students were admin-
istered RSAT and GSES as post-tests. After testing the changes caused by inquiry, partic-
ipants whose self-efficacy levels were affected negatively or positively were interviewed to
determine which source influenced primarily their self-efficacy in geometry.

2.4.1. Inquiry-based instruction

Inquiry-based instruction and regular instruction were administered to the experimen-
tal and control group, respectively, as 7 hours of mathematics instruction in each week
during three weeks as it can be seen in Table 1. During implementation of inquiry-based
instruction in experimental group, activities and questions based on real-life situations
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MATHEMATICAL EDUCATION IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 9

were prepared by the researchers. The activities were prepared by choosing the paper
folding activities including origami figures in line with the objectives related to reflection
symmetry. After deciding on the figures, problems were written as related to these figures
for students to go through the inquiry process. Some activities and questions were con-
structed on well-known origami figures, such as an origami fish, a fox and paper doll chains
(see Appendix A). Totally seven activities were developed in order to provide students in
the experimental group with the opportunity to relate folding and reflection symmetry.
While administering the activities in the experimental group, the researcher made the
students think and discuss by posing some questions which constitutes the initial require-
ment of inquiry. These questions were like ‘How can you be sure that it is correct?’, ‘How
did you decide to fold from that crease?’, ‘Is there any other way to fold?’, ‘How did you
decide the place of the paint on handkerchief?’, ‘Is it the only way to fold?’, ‘What happens if
you fold in the way that your friend used?’. During each activity, students were asked such
questions by the instructor who is the first author of this paper and sometimes by their
classmates as a principle of inquiry. Students were expected to justify their explanations by
communicating with origami and emphasized the mathematical explanation behind it. At
the end of the activity, one of the students explained the solution and then the whole class
discussed the solution. The purpose of discussion sessions was to make students to make
explanations through evidence and evaluate their explanations through other’s responses
which constitute the process of inquiry-based instruction.

2.4.2. An example for the origami activities

The activity of ‘Let’s find the fox’ was created as related to the following objective: ‘students
will be able to discover the equality between the distance of a shape and its image to the
symmetry line’ [14]. In this activity, students were given crease patterns to construct a fox.
Crease patterns mean the collection of crease lines and vertices in the unfolded paper [61].
These crease patterns consisted of two types of creases: mountain creases and valley creases
which are shown in Figure 2 [62]. The mountain creases were drawn with a dot-dash-dot
line, and valley creases were drawn with a dashed line.
According to this information, students were given a square paper with creases drawn
on it. The meanings of the colours were explained to them, that green meant mountain
crease and red meant valley crease as shown in Figure 3.
Students were asked to fold the paper with respect to these ceases to construct the given
fox under the philosophy of inquiry-based instruction. They were expected to see that
valley creases and mountain creases were reflection symmetries of each other with respect
to one crease which divides the paper into two diagonally. This single crease represented
the first fold. Since the paper was folded into two with respect to this crease, each of the

Figure 2. A mountain crease (left) and a valley crease (right).

10 S. KANDİL AND M. IŞIKSAL-BOSTAN

Figure 3. Origami fox and its creases.

following folds results in two creases, which were symmetric to each other. The colours of
the creases were another critical point that students had to consider while working on fox
model. They were expected to explain the reason why the colours of the symmetric creases
were different.

2.5. Data analysis

In order to decide on the effect of inquiry-based instruction enriched with origami activi-
ties on 7th grade students’ achievement in reflection symmetry and self-efficacy in geom-
etry, quantitative analysis techniques were used. Both descriptive and inferential statistics
were evaluated. According to the analysis results in the SPSS programme, descriptive statis-
tics, namely the means, standard deviations, skewness and kurtosis values of RSAT and
GSES scores were examined for both experimental and control groups. To investigate the
differences between the mean scores of the experimental and control groups on RSAT
and GSES, Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was performed while controlling the pre-
test scores since it was found that independent variables are significantly correlated with
the dependent variables. The key assumptions of ANCOVA which are independence of
observation, normality and outliers, reliability of covariates, multicollinearity, linearity,
homogeneity of regression and homogeneity of variance [63, p.201] were checked and
seen that they are not violated. The hypotheses were tested at a level of significance of .05.
Moreover, eta squared values were calculated to determine the effect size which shows the
practical significance of the results [64]. Moreover, interviews with five participants were
transcribed. Data were analysed and coded according to four sources of mastery expe-
riences, vicarious experiences, social persuasion, and emotional and physiological states
which are taken from the literature on self-efficacy.

3. Findings
In order to answer the first research question related to the effect of inquiry-based instruc-
tion enriched with origami activities on the 7th grade students’ achievement in reflection
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MATHEMATICAL EDUCATION IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 11

Table 3. Results of descriptive and inferential statistics for RSAT and GSES.
Pre-test Post-test Gain score

Test Group Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD P value

Achievement Test (RSAT) Experimental 22.65 17.31 42.54 14.86 19.89 9.08 0.000
Control 26.46 17.10 33.30 18.65 6.84 10.36
Self-efficacy Test (GSES) Experimental 80.20 15.42 92.26 16.97 12.06 1.55 0.003
Control 77.03 13.83 78.76 15.67 1.73 1.84

symmetry, descriptive and inferential statistics shown in the Table 3 were evaluated.
Descriptive statistics revealed that mean scores of both groups increased after the treat-
ments; however, gain score of experimental group (19.89) was higher than those of control
group (6.84). In order to test whether this difference between the groups is significant or
not, ANCOVA was carried out since pre-test scores were correlated with post-test scores.
The result of the analysis indicated that there was a statistically significant effect of inquiry-
based instruction on 7th grade students’ achievement scores in the concept of reflection
symmetry (F (1, 43) = 21.01, p = 0.00), when students’ pre-test scores were controlled.
Regarding the second research question – what is the effect of inquiry-based instruc-
tion enriched with origami activities on 7th grade students’ self-efficacy in geometry-,
descriptive and inferential statistics shown in Table 3 were evaluated. Descriptive statistics
revealed that mean scores of both groups increased after the treatment, however, gain score
of experimental group (12.06) was higher than those of control group (1.73). In order to
test whether this difference between the groups is significant or not, ANCOVA was carried
out since pre-test scores were found to be correlated with post-test scores. The result of the
analysis indicated that there was a statistically significant effect of inquiry-based instruc-
tion on 7th grade students’ self-efficacy in geometry (F (1, 44) = 9.77, p = .003), when
students’ pre-test scores were controlled.
In order to answer the third question, the findings from the interviews with five par-
ticipants were presented. Therefore, the researchers detected the self-efficacy sources (i.e.
mastery experience) activated by inquiry-based instruction through the interviews to
examine how self-efficacy sources influenced self-efficacy levels of the participants. The
sources are explained in the following parts in detail.

3.1. Mastery experience

Two of the participants in the experimental group emphasized the importance of mastery
experience in their evaluations of the intervention. Sample explanations are as follow:
. . . I was not like this in the lessons before. I was hiding myself since I had difficulty in under-
standing and solving the problems. However, the activities implemented were enjoyable and
I realized the mathematics behind a simple folding. In the first activity, I saw that I could use
folding to complete the activity and support my answers with mathematics. Thus, I didn’t
hide myself during instruction. I knew that I could do it again and I was going to be directed
through questions . . . (P5)
As it can be understood from the explanation, the student felt more confident as he was
experiencing origami activities. Since he realized how simple a fold and how rich it is in
12 S. KANDİL AND M. IŞIKSAL-BOSTAN

terms of mathematics, he felt himself ready and well-prepared for the next activities. More-
over, he also trusted the researcher that she was going to help them to understand the topic
and guide them whenever they needed.

3.2. Vicarious experience

Vicarious experiences of the students were found as a critical source which affected self-
efficacy both positively and negatively. Four students whose self-efficacy levels increased
through vicarious experience stated that they tried their best when they observed others’
performance on the given task. Sample explanations are as follow:
. . . In the past, I was not interested in the performance of others . . . During origami activities,
I saw that others can fold and find something. For that reason, I also tried to find out how to
fold to be able to manage the activity as they did . . . (P2)

. . . when others completed origami activities while I couldn’t, I was getting angry. I tried
harder and asked for help . . . (P5)

. . . Before you came to our classroom (to the researcher) I was not interested in others and I
was not involved in a competition with others. However, in your lesson, I tried to do my best
and get involved in a competition . . . (P4)
On the other hand, the vicarious experience is the only source which can also affect self-
efficacy negatively. When students cannot benefit from the feeling they have when they
observe others to manage a task while they cannot, this may cause them to feel down and
lose their self-efficacy. Explanation of a student whose self-efficacy decreased as a result of
vicarious experience as follow:
. . . When I saw the ones who can manage to fold the paper correctly, I was affected nega-
tively. Because, when the others completed a work and I could not, I felt down and lost my
confidence. I was getting sad. This caused me to give up and feel desperate. I am so sensitive
in this because I am always the one who solves a problem correctly and answers the questions
from the teachers. I am used to be praised. Therefore, when I experienced that others can do
something while I cannot, I lose self-confidence. I believe that I won’t be able to complete the
work . . . (P1)
Therefore, it can be concluded that vicarious experience is a critical source which may
cause increase in self-efficacy when it is used as an effective force to work harder while it
may cause decrease in self-efficacy when it is ignored or it causes students to feel desperate.

3.3. Social persuasion

Social persuasion is found to be an effective source to increase three students’ self-efficacy
in geometry. Students emphasized attitudes towards them when they were asked. Their
explanations were as follow:
. . . Our teacher does not motivate us. My parents also think that I am not successful
enough . . . We were behaved gently and encouraged whenever we needed. Thus, I believed
that I can do origami and see the mathematics behind the folds . . . (P5)

. . . when I was not sure on my answer, I was asked me to explain in front of the classroom.
I felt better. Because, I have low self-confidence. Now, I know that I can manage the activities
and support my solution . . . (P3)
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MATHEMATICAL EDUCATION IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 13

. . . I expected you to get angry when I could not solve the problem correctly. However, you
didn’t. We were behaved well and encouraged. I felt better and I did not feel stressed so I guess
this influenced my performance. I am not afraid of mathematics with origami activities and I
know that I have potential to do it . . . (P2)
It is observed that some students reflected that they felt more confident, believed them-
selves and overcame the fear of mathematics through the attitudes and comments of the
others. Therefore, students emphasized the importance of the instructor on development
of their self-efficacy through supporting and encouraging.

3.4. Emotional and physiological states

This final source was found to be an effective component to enhance the development of
two students’ self-efficacy levels. Students generally talked about how they had felt during
the previous lessons and the ones with the first researcher. Their explanations related to
this source are as follow:
. . . I was afraid of my teacher and I found the course as difficult and boring. However, while
we were working on origami activities, I liked the activities so much. I had fun. I was not so
much confident in the previous lessons, but I feel confident now. I want to have such activities
in mathematics and even in other courses. I believe I can understand well . . . (P3)
. . . the lessons were easy however I was afraid of my teacher. For that reason, I was always in
panic. The instructions with origami activities were enjoyable so that I did feel as if I was not
in a mathematics course. I was not in panic and did not hide myself. I felt that I can manage
and I realized that mathematics was not difficult to understand . . . (P2)
As it can be understood from the reflections by the participants, their emotional states
towards the teacher and consequently to the course have an influence on their belief in
learning mathematics negatively. As long as they feel comfortable and relax, they can
concentrate on the topic and the instruction so that they believe that they can manage.

4. Discussion and conclusion

Findings of the current study confirmed the findings and the inferences reported in pre-
vious studies especially in the area of science education in terms of the effectiveness of
inquiry-based instruction in terms of student achievement. During inquiry, students work
on problems, pose questions, make observations and assumptions, collect data, and repre-
sent their findings by establishing connections with their prior knowledge [6]. In addition,
during class discussions, they explain their solutions to the problems to support their rea-
soning. Thus, they have an active role in their own learning process. While working on the
activities in the present study, students initially worked individually and then discussed
with their peers their origami figures by using the mathematics behind the process of
folding. During the interviews, students provided the feedback that producing their own
mathematical product helped them to see reflection symmetry and its properties well.
Therefore, it is possible to attribute the students’ increasing achievement scores to their
active role in the learning process, which involved communicating with others especially
through peer interaction and a whole class discussion of mathematical ideas.
Origami is another variable which might have influenced students’ achievement levels
since students can observe many mathematical concepts while folding a piece of paper [65].
14 S. KANDİL AND M. IŞIKSAL-BOSTAN

Piaget [66] stated that students should not be presented abstract mathematical concepts
presented in words or in symbolic representation since they are not cognitively mature
enough. Thus, the use of concrete materials is suggested so that students can visualize
abstract concepts in concrete mode and build their own cognitive models [67]. In this
sense, the participants of the study stated that they had never used such tools in the math-
ematics course, and had never thought that mathematics was something which could be
observed in the real objects in their hands. Therefore, it can maintain that origami might
have improved students’ understanding of the concept, which in turn increased their suc-
cess in the topic, since students communicated by using a piece of paper to explain their
inferences and solutions.
Inquiry and problem-solving are emphasized as overlapping approaches in terms of
their philosophy [68–70]. Parallel to this idea, origami activities in this study were pre-
sented to the students in a real-life problem context so that the context could be familiar to
them (e.g. painted handkerchief, buttered toast). Rather than giving directions and asking
students to fold the paper to construct a figure, the directions were presented in such a way
that they felt the necessity to fold the paper themselves in order to find the answer and sup-
port their solutions. The reason of constructing such activities was to enable students to
establish a connection between their real-life experiences and mathematical concepts since
the realistic approach enables them to understand abstract concepts [6]. Therefore, work-
ing on real-life context to solve problems might be another reason underlying the increase
in their achievement scores related to reflection symmetry.
The participants of the study were familiar with reflection symmetry since it is addressed
in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade curricula as well. The objectives regarding reflection sym-
metry in these grade levels require students to explain reflection symmetry, find the line of
symmetry and reflect a figure over a line [71]. When these objectives are examined more
closely, it can be deduced that these objectives ensure that students attain the characteris-
tics level 0 of geometric thinking levels through the van Hiele theory. In the 7th grade, the
objectives which require students to describe reflection symmetry by using the moves of
a figure and to justify the procedure of reflecting ensure that student attain the character-
istics of the analysis level (level 1) and the informal deduction level (level 2) [14]. While
students were working on origami activities, they were encouraged to explain their solu-
tions by means of folding (level 1) and support their reasoning by using the procedures of
reflection symmetry (level 2). When the objectives and the nature of the inquiry instruc-
tion are considered, it can be postulated that students’ van Hiele geometric thinking levels
might have increased at the end of the instruction. Therefore, this possible increase in stu-
dents’ geometric thinking level might have led to an increase in their achievement scores
in reflection symmetry.
In addition to the effect of the inquiry-based instruction on students’ achievement in
the concept of reflection symmetry, the effect of this method on self-efficacy was also
examined. As in this study, providing students with the opportunity to practice ‘doing
mathematics’ is valued so that they can have a feeling for mathematical practices [72].
During the inquiry-based instruction, it was observed that students had a productive dis-
position towards origami activities. Indeed, it was initially difficult for the students to
solve the problems. However, although they experienced difficulties most of the time,
they showed a high level of self-efficacy and refused to get help from the others who had
completed the activity. Most of the students made significant progress in the activities in
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MATHEMATICAL EDUCATION IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 15

that they had a productive disposition- a ‘can do’ attitude [73]. Therefore, having a pro-
ductive disposition enabled the students in class to be completely involved in the activities,
and consequently, this increased their level of self-efficacy in geometry since they were
willing to complete the given activities. The impact of inquiry-based instruction on self-
efficacy has been explained in a variety of disciplines and settings in the accessible literature
[49–52,55,56,74]. Parallel to the findings of the current study, these studies revealed that
professional development programmes related to the application of this method changed
teachers’ beliefs in this method and their level of self-efficacy in using it for instruction. In
addition, this instructional method has a positive influence on the self-efficacy of students
in related courses.
Another concern of the study was to investigate the effect of inquiry instruction on
students’ self-efficacy in geometry. In this regard, students were given the advantage of
practicing ‘doing mathematics’ within the inquiry process. The problems that the students
were required to solve were not easy at first glance, so the participants experienced difficulty
most of the time. However, students expended a significant amount of effort to complete
the activities and refused any help from others by displaying a highly productive dispo-
sition. Students with a productive disposition towards geometry showed self-efficacy in
geometry and an increased interest towards the activities. As it is stated in previous stud-
ies, findings confirmed that the implementation of this instructional method had an impact
on the self-efficacy of students in related courses.
The reason underlying the change in self-efficacy might have stemmed from the appro-
priate guidance provided by the first researcher [49] and the difficulty levels of the activities
[50]. During the inquiry process, students were asked questions which enabled them to
explain their reasoning. As students also emphasized in the interview sessions, such guid-
ing questions required them to rethink about their strategies and engage in mathematical
reasoning. This helped students to activate mastery experiences, to observe the others
(vicarious experience) and to get feedback from others and the researcher (social per-
suasion). Moreover, students gained confidence in constructing origami figures since they
experienced and realized that they were capable of folding and using mathematical lan-
guage for reasoning. Hence, they believed that they would be better in activities to follow.
Finally, students mentioned that the source of vicarious experience affected their self-
efficacy positively, while it was also the only source which affected self-efficacy negatively.
Some students provided the feedback that they felt forced to complete the work when they
observed others’ performance. However, one student said that she felt pressure and des-
perate since she could not perform as the others did. Thus, it can be stated that the nature
of the inquiry approach and the materials used during inquiry affect students’ self-efficacy
sources.
In conclusion, it is believed that the current study may yield valuable implications
for teachers, curriculum developers and teacher educators in mathematics education.
Although inquiry and paper folding activities are present in mathematics education pro-
grammes, there is no sample activity in the Turkish middle school mathematics pro-
gramme or information on how to construct and use such activities [75]. This study can
provide sample activities and guidance on how to create a learning environment which
can be constructed on cheap and accessible material and make students talk about their
product. Teachers can use these activities or extend them in line with other concepts for
students in other grade levels through the requirements of inquiry approach to encourage
16 S. KANDİL AND M. IŞIKSAL-BOSTAN

students to construct their own knowledge. Moreover, based on the current study, cur-
riculum developers can offer in curricula sample activities and guidance in the use of
the inquiry approach. In addition, the activities in the study can be used by teachers and
textbook writers in both Turkey and other countries since they are constructed on multi-
cultural contexts. Finally, teacher educators can highlight the influence and importance of
inquiry by providing sample classroom practices in methodology courses.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID
Semanur Kandil http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7591-4980

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20 S. KANDİL AND M. IŞIKSAL-BOSTAN

Appendix A
AYŞE’S SCISSOR
Ayşe wants to cut the given flower out of the paper. However, the scissor is small for her fingers, thus
it hurts while cutting. For that reason, she wants to use the scissor as minimal as possible. Can you
help her to cut the flower out of the paper with minimal cut? (You can work on the flower below)

a) Explain your strategy to cut the flower out.

b) Evaluate your strategy by using mathematical language.