ABSTRACT
Origami has become a popular instructional method in the mathematics classroom. Numerous books and practitioner articles cite origami as a useful way to teach mathematics concepts, especially as it relates to geometry and spatial concepts [6, 16, 22, 27]. In addition, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) [20], in its Principles and Standards of School Mathematics, supports the use of such methods, suggesting that students engage in active exploration that allows students to study the construction and deconstruction of two-and three-dimensional figures. An examination of literature regarding origami as an instructional tool, however, reveals a lack of studies focusing on the impact of origami instruction within the mathematics classroom. With a continued need to find effective instructional methods in mathematics and the substantial support for origami as such a method, this study was designed and implemented to explore origami and its effect on student understanding.
