This article presents a task providing college students opportunities to build on their high school knowledge of trigonometry to explore parametric equations and inverse trigonometric relationships within a contextual learning ladder problem.

This study investigates the interplay between student reasoning and instructional strategies in trigonometry education. A qualitative case study was conducted to examine how Grade 10 students employ various reasoning approaches -- deductive, inductive, abductive, analogical, and algorithmic -- when solving trigonometry problems. Each approach…

In this paper, we explored the type of mathematical connections Grade 11 learners make when solving two-dimensional (2D) trigonometric problems in an Activity-Based Learning (ABL) environment. We followed a qualitative case study design within an interpretive paradigm. Convenience sampling was used to select a whole class of 45 Grade 11 learners…

Educational technologies develop quickly. Which functions of face-to-face education can be substituted by technology for distance learning? One of the risks of online education is the lack of embodied interactions. We investigate what embodied interactive technologies might offer for teaching trigonometry when learning at a distance. In a multiple…

This study examines how joint exploration is established and maintained among students and the teacher in secondary mathematics classrooms. We use the theoretical perspective of positioning to conceptualize joint exploration as involving the negotiation and coordination among participants to position students with epistemic agency and authority.…

Including opportunities for students to experience uncertainty in solving mathematical tasks can prompt learners to resolve the uncertainty, leading to mathematical understanding. In this article, we examine how preservice secondary mathematics teachers' thinking about a trigonometric relationship was impacted by a series of tasks that prompted…

The answers offered by computer algebra systems (CAS) can sometimes differ from those expected by the students or teachers. The comparison of the students' answers and CAS answers could provide ground for discussion about equivalence and correctness. Investigating the students' comparison of the answers gives the possibility to study different…

Topics in trigonometry have not been well-studied, especially with college-level students. Thus, despite providing a venue for important concepts such as notions of proof and algebraic skill, the process of verifying trigonometric identities, or VTI, has not been thoroughly explored. This study attempts to remedy this gap in the literature by…

This problem solving strategy is illustrated by examples from the fields of algebra, trigonometry, geometry, and calculus. (MP)

Details a lesson that utilizes trigonometric identities to determine the optimal angle between the atoms of covalent bonds. Generates a proof of the optimal angle for a molecule with four identical atoms bonded to a central atom that has a complete valence shell. (DDR)