Math tips: 4 Geometry hacks for school goers

Gaining proficiency in any subject including geometry is influenced by many factors. A crucial one among them is learning technique. This plays even more important a role in case of slightly tricky subjects like mathematics. Geometry is an area of mathematics that many students struggle with. Here are a few study techniques that can assist students in improving their understanding of geometrical concepts and questions related to it.  

Develop geometric thinking in students 
The study of how individuals (students in this case) think about using the qualities of geometric shapes and spatial relationships is known as geometric thinking. The goal is to provide them the ability to see the benefits of learning geometrical concepts and how they are used in different contexts.  

For helping students, teachers can use the Van Hiele model, a theory that describes how people learn geometry. The model works on the basis of five principles: Visualisation, analysis, abstraction, deduction and rigour. Teachers can plan some STEM activities based on these principles to help students understand shapes on the basis of their appearance and their properties, and recognise the importance of properties of different shapes and relationships between them. 

Use instructional aids related to visual recognition activities 
Making use of 2D and 3D shapes like tangrams and pattern shapes, geometric building sets and patterns with LEGO and peg boards, etc. can prove helpful for students while they begin to learn geometry. These will allow students to connect with the new and often confusing geometrical terms easily. Using online resources/ websites for learning geometry can also be explored by the teacher-student duo.  Rather than focussing on solving complex problems or rushing through the syllabus, students must be given time to identify and relate with these instructional materials for a stronger foundation in Geometry. 

Focus on drawing figures accurately for better conceptual clarity 

Diagrams and figures are an crucial elements of studying geometry. Teachers can encourage students to play games that allow them to convert words into diagrams and figures into words. For example, they can alternate between drawing a diagram from a word description and writing the word description from the diagram, with only the previous line visible. Each paper that makes it all the way around having kept the same line earns the team a point. When a player receives a diagram, they write a one sentence explanation. When a player receives an explanation, they draw the diagram. This activity will help them learn about points, planes, lines, angles and intersections, etc. 

Conduct quizzes related to geometrical properties 
Organising hands-on puzzles on different geometry shapes like circles and triangles can be a good way for students to learn about them. The puzzles could cover a range of difficulty levels such as beginner, intermediate and advanced.  Here, students can be asked to use certain theorems for finding the measure of missing angle in each figure. The quiz will serve as a departure from rote learning of boring geometry theorems and help in improved recapitulation of the topics learnt earlier.