Learning from The Didactic Transposition Process: Insights for Curriculum Improvement in Geometry Education

• Herizal Herizal

  Indonesia University of Education

  Author

• Nanang Priatna

  Indonesia University of Education

  Author

• Sufyani Prabawanto

  Indonesia University of Education

  Author

• Al Jupri

  Indonesia University of Education

  Author

This study investigated the gap between the scholarly knowledge and understanding of pre-service mathematics teachers in geometry, specifically on the topic of angle pairs formed when two lines were intersected by a transversal. This gap arose from a didactic transposition process that simplified and reorganized scholarly knowledge into knowledge to be taught (curriculum) without considering the underlying conceptual structure. The purpose of this study was to identify the form of this gap and to propose an alternative curriculum design that could strengthen students' conceptual understanding. This study used a qualitative approach with a hermeneutic phenomenological design. Data were obtained from the analysis of textbooks, teaching materials, and test results of 35 students at a state university in Aceh, Indonesia. The results showed that the existing curriculum did not emphasize the process of forming the concept of angle pairs meaningfully, but only emphasized visual recognition. As a result, students tend to understand the concept intuitively and experience difficulties when faced with representations that differ from standard illustrations as usually shown in books or lessons. This finding emphasizes the importance of designing knowledge to be taught that allows students' learned knowledge to align with scholarly knowledge. Learning from the didactic transposition process, this research provides theoretical basis and empirical example for the development of a more meaningful and coherent geometry curriculum without neglecting the axiomatic-deductive nature of geometry.

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