Investigation of self-efficacy towards geometry and geometric thinking levels of secondary school students according to some variables

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the self-efficacy of secondary middle school students towards geometry and their geometric thinking levels in terms of some variables. Method: In this study, the survey model, one of the quantitative research methods, was used. The study group of the research consisted of 771 5th-grade, 6th-grade, 7th-grade, and 8th-grade middle school students studying in public schools in the Osmangazi district of Bursa province in the spring term of the 2022-2023 academic year. Personal information form, the self-efficacy scale for geometry developed by Cantürk-Günhan, Başer (2007), and Van Hiele geometry test developed by Usiskin (1982) and adapted into Turkish by Duatepe (2000) were used as data collection tools. The data were analyzed using Spss 23.0 Results: In this study, no significant differences were found between all sub-dimensions of self-efficacy towards geometry in terms of the gender of middle school students. Statistically significant differences were found between all sub-dimensions of self-efficacy concerning grade level, mathematics report card grade, and father's education status. It was determined that there was a noticeable difference in the sub-dimensions of "positive self-efficacy beliefs" and "negative self-efficacy beliefs" in terms of the mother's educational status and preschool education status, but there was no difference in the sub-dimension of "using geometry knowledge" in terms of mother's educational status and preschool education status. No differences were found between Van Hiele's geometric thinking weighted scores in terms of gender. A remarkable difference was found between Van Hiele's geometric thinking weighted scores in terms of preschool education, grade level, mathematics report card grade, and mother and father education status. A positive, weak, and significant relationship was found between geometric thinking weighted scores of secondary school students and all sub-dimensions of self-efficacy. Conclusion and Suggestions: In this study, students' geometric thinking levels were found to be below the expected level. Geometric thinking levels of students can be determined before starting education and course activities can be organized according to the results. Keywords: Geometry, Geometric thinking, Self-efficacy