Tracing the Path: Exploring Learners’ Experiences in Acquiring Foundational Geometry Knowledge as a Pathway to Proofs

This qualitative research was conducted in Zarraga National High School among senior high school learners School Year 2024-2025. It aimed to determine the learners’ prior mathematical experiences, backgrounds, emotional and cognitive challenges, and experiences with instructional strategies in acquiring foundational geometry knowledge as a pathway to proofs. Data were gathered through interviews and analyzed using the thematic analysis. This study found that learners’ experiences with arithmetic and algebra were significant as arithmetic skills offer transferable knowledge for numeric calculations but do not transfer to the concepts required for geometry, and algebra offers crucial information and a start to geometric reasoning but is impeded by obstacles in the transition to the more conceptual shift demanded in geometry. Techniques such as the use of visuals, manipulatives, and concrete-abstract connections, models that promote meaning-making and increase learners’ self-confidence in geometry proof-writing procedures that support learners in constructing meaning step by step for proof-writing. The study pointed the need to introduce logical reasoning and proof-writing at the early stages of more mathematics learning coupled with the learning need to match individual learner needs. Furthermore, learning strategies to improve confidence in logical thinking were suggested when working with learners to eliminate learners’ affective and cognitive barriers to geometry acquisition.