Geometry Vol.2-221 A CONCEPTUAL-BASED CURRICULAR ANALYSIS OF THE CONCEPT OF SIMILARITY

As they engage with activities in mathematics textbooks, students have a variety of opportunities to make sense of the concept of similarity. The nature and sequence of these activities have an impact on the development of concept images that support students as they make sense of the terms “similar figures ” or “scale drawings ” and the properties they hold. In this analysis of the treatment of similarity in three middle grade textbook series, the authors share their analysis of the concept definitions and concept images supported by these texts. The term “curriculum ” has different meanings in different contexts. According to the Center for the Study of Mathematics Curriculum, the most familiar terms include the ideal curriculum, the intended curriculum, the enacted curriculum, the achieved curriculum and the assessed curriculum. The focus of the present study was on the intended curriculum, which typically includes teacher’s manuals, student books, and additional resources such as technology, assessment, etc. On the basis of goals, prior curriculum content analyses can be divided into two major categories. One goal is to evaluate the alignment or effectiveness of a given curriculum against a set of pre-determined criteria. Typically, a score or a grade will be assigned as the results o