an investigation of the effect of origami-based instruction on elementary students' spatial ability in

133 Pages·2009·1.36 MB·English

AN INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECT OF ORIGAMI-BASED
INSTRUCTION ON ELEMENTARY STUDENTS’ SPATIAL ABILITY IN
MATHEMATICS

A THESIS SUBMITTED TO
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
OF
MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

BY

SEDANUR ÇAKMAK

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR
THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE
IN
THE DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS
EDUCATION

AUGUST 2009
Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences

Prof. Dr. Sencer AYATA

Director

I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of
Master of Science.

Prof. Dr. Hamide ERTEPINAR

Head of Department

This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully
adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science.

Assist. Prof. Dr. Mine IŞIKSAL

Supervisor

Examining Committee Members

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Safure BULUT (METU, SSME)
Assist. Prof. Dr. Mine IŞIKSAL (METU, ELE)
Assist. Prof. Dr. Çiğdem HASER (METU, ELE)
PLAGIARISM

I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and
presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also
declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and
referenced all material and results that are not original to this work.

Name, Last name: Sedanur ÇAKMAK

Signature :
ii i
ABSTRACT

AN INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECT OF ORIGAMI-BASED
INSTRUCTION ON ELEMENTARY STUDENTS’ SPATIAL ABILITY IN
MATHEMATICS

Çakmak, Sedanur

M.S., Department of Elementary Science and Mathematics Education
Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Dr. Mine IŞIKSAL

August 2009, 115 pages

The main purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of origami-
based instruction on fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students’ spatial ability in
mathematics. More specifically, how origami-based instruction affected students’
spatial visualization and spatial orientation ability was examined. In addition,
elementary students’ self-reported perceptions related to origami-based
instruction was investigated. In other words, students’ attitude towards origami-
based instruction, their views about the benefits of origami-based instruction and
its connection to mathematics, and the difficulties that students encountered while
making origami as well as by whom they overcame these difficulties were
investigated.
The data was collected from 38 fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students in a
private school in Eryaman neighborhood in Ankara. The participants were given a
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Spatial Ability Test (SAT) as pretest and posttest in order to assess the effect of
origami-based instruction on their spatial ability in terms of spatial visualization
and spatial orientation. In addition, the participants were asked to write reflection
papers related to origami-based instruction in order to examine their perceptions.
The results indicated that there was a significant positive effect of
origami-based instruction on elementary students’ both spatial visualization and
spatial orientation ability. Moreover, the findings showed that students had
positive attitude toward origami-based instruction where they wanted to continue
origami-based instruction. Students also thought that origami-based instruction
was beneficial for them especially in geometry topics in mathematics, and they
have common views that origami-based instruction was directly related with
mathematics. Furthermore, results revealed that students were generally
encountered with folding and assembling difficulties, and they overcame these
difficulties by themselves, by the help of the teacher, and by the help of their
friends.

Keywords: Spatial ability, spatial visualization ability, spatial orientation ability,
origami-based instruction, elementary students
v
ÖZ

ORİGAMİ-TABANLI ÖĞRETİMİN İLKÖĞRETİM ÖĞRENCİLERİNİN
MATEMATİKTEKİ UZAMSAL YETENEKLERİ ÜZERİNE ETKİSİNİN
İNCELENMESİ

Çakmak, Sedanur

Yüksek Lisans, İlköğretim Fen ve Matematik Alanları Eğitimi Bölümü
Tez Danışmanı: Yard. Doç. Dr. Mine IŞIKSAL

Ağustos 2009, 115 sayfa

Bu çalışmanın amacı, origami-tabanlı öğretimin ilköğretim dördüncü,
beşinci ve altıncı sınıf öğrencilerinin uzamsal yetenekleri üzerine etkilerini
incelemektir. Daha detaylı belirtmek gerekirse, origami-tabanlı öğretimin
öğrencilerin uzamsal görselleştirme ve uzamsal yönelim yeteneklerini nasıl
etkilediği incelenmiştir. Buna ek olarak, bu çalışmada ilköğretim öğrencilerinin
origami-tabanlı öğretim ile ilgili algıları da incelenmiştir. Diğer bir ifadeyle,
öğrencilerin origami-tabanlı öğretime yönelik tutumları, origami-tabanlı
öğretimin yararları ve matematikle bağlantısı hakkındaki görüşleri ile origami
yaparken karşılaştıkları zorluklar ve bu zorlukların üstesinden kimin yardımıyla
geldikleri incelenmiştir.
Bu çalışmanın verileri Ankara’nın Eryaman ilçesindeki bir özel okulda
öğrenim gören 38 dördüncü, beşinci ve altıncı sınıf öğrencisinden toplanmıştır.
v i
Origami-tabanlı öğretimin uzamsal görselleştirme ve uzamsal yönelim açısından
öğrencilerin uzamsal yetenekleri üzerine etkisini değerlendirmek için
katılımcılara öntest ve sontest olarak Uzamsal Yetenek Testi uygulanmıştır. Buna
ek olarak, katılımcıların origami-tabanlı öğretim ile ilgili algılarını incelemek
amacıyla görüşlerini belirten yazı yazmaları istenmiştir.
Çalışma sonuçları, origami-tabanlı öğretimin ilköğretim öğrencilerinin
hem uzamsal görselleştirme yetenekleri hem de uzamsal yönelim yetenekleri
üzerine anlamlı ve pozitif bir etkiye sahip olduğunu göstermektedir. Bunun yanı
sıra, bulgular öğrencilerin origami-tabanlı öğretime yönelik olumlu tutum
geliştirdiklerini ve origami-tabanlı öğretime devam etmek istediklerini
göstermektedir. Bulgular ayrıca, öğrencilerin origami-tabanlı öğretimin özellikle
geometri konularında kendileri için faydalı olduğunu düşündüklerini ve origami-
tabanlı öğretimin matematikle doğrudan ilişkili olduğunu belirtiklerini ortaya
koymuştur. Buna ek olarak, veri analiz sonuçları öğrencilerin genellikle katlarken
ve parçaları birleştirirken zorluk yaşadıklarını ve bu zorlukların üstesinden kendi
kendilerine ve öğretmen ile arkadaşlarının yardımlarıyla geldiklerini
göstermektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler: Uzamsal yetenek, uzamsal görselleştirme yeteneği, uzamsal
yönelim yeteneği, origami-tabanlı öğretim, ilköğretim öğrencileri
vi i
DEDICATION

To My Mother and Father
Asiye & Zeki ÇAKMAK
Who have always shown their trust in me
vi ii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The completion of my master degree and this study represent the work,
encouragement, and support of many people to whom I am very grateful.
I would like to thank first my supervisor Assist. Prof. Dr. Mine IŞIKSAL
for her valuable guidance, patience, and believe in me. She was always motivated
and encouraged me in every step of my study. I would like to express my
gratitude to my former supervisor, Dr. Yusuf KOÇ. It was not possible for me to
begin this thesis without his encouragement.
I extend my sincere thanks to my committee members Assoc. Prof. Dr.
Safure BULUT, and Assist. Prof. Dr. Çigdem HASER, for their willingness to
serve on the committee, and for their valuable contributions, suggestions, and
comments. I wish to express my deepest thanks to our project team
GEODÜNYA. Also, I would like to thank Dr. Cengiz S. AŞKUN for his
technical support.
I would like to thank İlkay SARIKAŞ HATUN for her valuable
suggestions, and comments about the study; Zeynep ERYAMAN for her support
in the study; and Aslıhan OSMANOĞLU for her encouragement, suggestions,
and friendship. I wish to present my thanks to Serap ER for her endless
friendship; and my cousin Duygu ŞEKERCİ for her never ending love. I am also
grateful to Selen AKEVREN for her friendship and hospitability at her sweet
home; and Neslihan ÖS SİPAHİ who makes the dormitory as a livable place.
In addition, my heartfelt and sincere thanks go to my best friends Selin
BORA, Mustafa TUNA and Zeliha GÜL KENAR. Selin, during the exhaustive
stages of my thesis, you make the life more sociable, I will never forget the
musicals, operas, arias, etc… I will also never forget your friendship. Mustafa,
you were always there with your endless support, motivation, and believe in me.
Thanks for being such a good friend. Zelişim, despite the distance between us,
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you are always near me. Thank you for your great understanding, patience,
endless support and long telephone calls. I feel very fortunate that I have a friend
like you.
Last but not least, grateful and heartfelt thanks to my family, my mother
Asiye ÇAKMAK, my father Zeki ÇAKMAK, and my brother Fatih ÇAKMAK
for their love, support, encouragement, patience and believe in me.
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