The first part of the diploma thesis considers the theoretical aspects of the meaning of concepts and definition of concepts. The focus is on the question ‘Why are definitions important and how should definitions look like?’. Then, the difference between the definition of a concept and the image of a concept is explained and the interactions between them considered.
The second part of this diploma thesis describes the results of a pilot study, which considered the extent to which seventh graders use definitions in geometry. The study was limited to the subject of quadrilaterals. A test, specifically designed for the research, is presented. The test measured the understanding of definitions of quadrilaterals and the quality of the concept image of quadrilaterals. In the analysis we considered whether the two aspects are correlated and whether they are correlated to the students’ general performance in maths.
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