Assessment of Pre-Service Secondary Mathematics Teachers’ Van Hiele Levels of Geometric Thinking

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess pre-service secondary mathematics teachers’ van Hiele levels of geometric thinking using the Van Hiele Geometry Test. The 25-item, multiple-choice, paper-and-pencil test was developed by the Cognitive Development and Achievement in Secondary School Geometry Project based on the van Hiele Theory of Geometric Thinking. The participants comprised 147 pre-service secondary mathematics teachers who attended a mathematics teaching methods course in a Malaysian public university. The data were analysed based on the ‘4 of 5 criterion’ to minimise the chance of a student being at a level by guessing. The results showed that 16 (10.9%) of the participants were at Level 0, 52 (35.4%) were at Level 1, 62 (42.2%) were at Level 2, 9 (6.1%) were at Level 3, 1 (0.7%) were at Level 4, none (0.0%) was at Level 5, and 7 (4.8%) could not be assigned a van Hiele level because their responses did not fit the ‘4 of 5 criterion.’ Most of the participants were at or below van Hiele Level 2. Very few participants were at van Hiele Level 3 which is the minimum level for pre-service secondary mathematics teachers to teach geometry because the Malaysian secondary school geometry contents are up to Level 3.