Students' visual estimation of angles and their proficiency with angular measurement tools.

Abstract

This study examines students' perceptions of and skill with angular measurement. Its underlying purpose is to analyze students' level of proficiency and appropriate understanding of angular measurement and associated measurement tools. It was hypothesized that eighth grade students would more accurately determine the measurement of a given angle to the nearest degree using visual estimation as opposed to using a protractor. The remainder of this study compares eighth grade students' assessments with university students' assessments. It was further hypothesized that neither age nor gender would influence a student's estimate despite the size or position of the angle. Subsequently, it was proposed that students, regardless of their age or gender, would have the most difficulty estimating acute angles within 10° of 0° and obtuse angles within 10° of 180°. The results of this study indicate that eighth grade students do not have sufficient knowledge in using angular measurement tools. Additional results revealed that both gender and age were found to have statistical significance in the visual estimation of angles and overwhelming evidence suggested that the least difficult angles to estimate were those close to 90 degrees.