PROCEEDINGS OF THE 21ST ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2018
San Diego, California
Themes in Undergraduate Students’ Conceptions of Central Angle and Inscribed Angle
Page: 549
Researchers have investigated students’ multifaceted conceptions of angle and their difficulties with connecting angle measure to arcs or circles. In this study, we investigated three undergraduate students’ thinking about angles in the context of circle geometry, specifically their conceptions of central and inscribed angle. Conceptual analysis of the data revealed that students involved in the tasks and interviews had various conceptions of these angles that either supported or constrained their ability to complete the tasks. Particularly, conceiving the dynamic transformation of both central and inscribed angles, or identifying their common subtended arc was productive, while considering angle as area or ray pair constrained their thinking.