Van Hieles Learning Theory

Mara Alagic

Levels of Geometric Thinking

Precognition Level 0: Visualization/Recognition Level 1: Analysis/Descriptive Level 2: Informal Deduction Level 3: Deduction Level 4: Rigor

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Mara Alagic

Learning Theory Phases

Information Guided Orientation Explication Free Orientation Integration

June 2004

Mara Alagic

Outline

Learning theory phases

Information Guided Orientation Explication Free Orientation Integration

Example
Theme: Properties of two-dimensional shapes Tools: Seven tangram shapes

June 2004

Mara Alagic

Information

Students should be encouraged to freely explore the materials; they will discover some properties & structures While students are playing, the teacher can observe and informally assess students thinking and language
Give each student a tangram set and ask 'What can you do with these pieces?' Encourage students to share and talk about the shapes and pictures they have made Students begin to see how pieces fit together; they begin to discover the properties and relationships

June 2004

Mara Alagic

Guided Orientation

Activities are presented so that students attention is focused on particular characteristics of the shapes; Questions might be generated from the first phase:
Choose two shapes. How many different shapes can you make with them? Use three shapes to make a new shape. How many ways can you make this shape? Which pieces can be made from three other pieces?

Have students record what they find by tracing around the shapes, and share with others One activity will often lead to another, e.g.
June 2004

Mara Alagic

Explication

Tasks and games that deliberately develop the vocabulary associated with the ideas that have been encountered so far The teacher clarifies terms the children are already using and introduces new terms Questions provide opportunities for the terms to be used:
Which shapes have a right angle? How many lines of symmetry does each shape have? What is the same about all the triangles? Which shapes have parallel sides?

June 2004

Mara Alagic

Free Orientation

Students engage in more challenging tasks that draw on the knowledge and skills previously developed Activities and problem-solving tasks are openended or can be completed in different ways The aim is to apply what they have learned and become more skillful
How many ways can you make a square from some or all of the pieces? Complete classic tangram puzzles of outlines of animals Draw a tangram square (like the one illustrated above) on an 8x8 square grid, examine the pieces carefully in relation to the grid, then work out a way to enlarge all the pieces

June 2004

Mara Alagic

Integration

Opportunities are given for the students to pull together their new knowledge and reflect on it as a whole They should be able to express or summarize what they have learned in some way:

For example, small groups of children can design charts, class books and displays that present what they have learned about the tangram shapes Small groups, pairs of students and individuals can design presentations (posters, class books, technology aided), games and lists of questions about what they have learned about the tangram shapes

This will help students to logically organize their knowledge of properties of the shapes
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References

Van Hiele, P. M. (1959). Development and learning process. Acta Paedogogica Ultrajectina (pp. 1-31). Groningen: J. B. Wolters. A method of initiation into geometry at secondary schools. In H. Freudenthal (Ed.). Report on methods of initiation into geometry (pp.67-80). Groningen: J. B. Wolters. Fuys, D., Geddes, D., & Tischler, R. (1988). The van Hiele model of Thinking in Geometry Among Adolescents. JRME Monograph Number 3.

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