Construction and analysis of test in triangle and circle trigonometry

Trigonometry is an important part of secondary school mathematics, but it is usually challenging for students to understand and learn. Since trigonometry is learned and used at a university level in many fields, like physics or geodesy, it is important to have an insight into students’ trigonometry knowledge before the beginning of the university courses. This research aimed to develop a test in triangle and circle trigonometry, which can be used to test students’ prior knowledge of basic trigonometric concepts. A test with multiple-choice questions was developed based on content and learning outcomes from the secondary school curriculum. After a group of three experts evaluated the content validity of the test, the corrected version was given to 58 first-year students at the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science. After the test and item analysis, a final version of the test was made which can be used as a short initial test to measure students’ prior knowledge of trigonometry at the beginning of a university course.