A New Laboratory Practice for Improving Reasoning Skills and Achievement

Reasoning skills play an important role in overcoming difficult problems in geometry. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a new laboratory application integrating physical and technological contents on the development of Reasoning Skills (RS) and Geometry Achievement (GA). The study was designed according to a mixed-type, pretest-posttest control group true experimental design. The study was conducted with 52 students in the experimental group where laboratory interventions were applied and 50 students in the control group where no intervention was applied. The experimental implementation lasted fifteen weeks. The study data were collected with the Reasoning Skills on Geometric Shapes (RSGS) Test and the Interview Form (IF) together with the GA test. Quantitative data were analyzed using paired samples t-test, analysis of covariance and Benferroni test, and qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis. The results showed that the post-test scores of the RSGS and the GA differed significantly between the experimental and control groups in favor of the experimental group. In addition, the results proved that the laboratory practices developed reasoning skills on spatial, mathematical, proportional, geometric shapes and technological, supported associating with different disciplines, using technology, modeling, concretization and making connections with daily life.