Abstract:
There have been serious concerns about students' learning difficulty in geometry worldwide,
including Indonesia. Research findings suggest that such phenomenon is best explained by the
established van Hiele model of learning of geometry which associates the learning difficuhies with
the missing of predictable sequence of levels of development of knowledge and understanding
geometry concepts. The model has been widely adopted as framework in the design and
development of various technology-related applications designed to help learners to learn geometry
effectively. However, the suitability and effectiveness of such applications among most of the post-
SMP Indonesian school children is very likely to be dampen due to the lack of suitable
infrastructure and inappropriate educational emphasis and practices. In addition, most of the
applications were designed to help learners to develop knowledge and understanding across the
spectrum of geometric topics rather than to help them to progress through their van Hiele geometry
thinking on the level-by-level basis. This research paper discusses the needs to develop alternative
learning instructions which address these discrepancies. A conceptual framework of the design
and development of such instructions would also be discussed. The ultimate goal of the research is
to develop interactive learning instructions (called Interactive Visual Tools or IVT) which assist
post-SMP students in the region of Parepare to progress through van Hiele levels of geometry
thinking via utilization of limited local resources over a minimal technology-oriented educational
environment.
