Examining Performance of Geometrical Thinking in Mathematics at Secondary School Level in Pakistan

Abstract

Geometrical thinking is important for students to perform well in
mathematics as a whole. This study aimed at assessing performance of
grade 9th students in Geometrical thinking. Furthermore, comparison
among students in different strata was made like sector wise, gender wise
and location wise. A test of reasoning was administered to a sample of
above 500 hundred. Sample of the study was taken with proportionate
approach from the whole population. The test was properly validated and
reliably checked using SPSS. Factor analysis of the test shows that all
items were statistically aligned with theoretical model. The results show
that the students perform in a variety of ways like performance of private
schools students was significantly better than students of public schools.
Similarly, male and urban students performed well than female and rural
students respectively. However, the difference between score of the
students in private and public schools were found significant. Interaction
analysis of gender, rural urban divide shows; that some items show
interaction effect by behaving differently in response to background
variables. It was recommended for further research to replicated this
study on different level with tools suitable for their level and also can be
better conducted using tools that involve diagrammatic reasoning.