Defragmenting Student’s Thinking Structures with Logical Errors in Solving STEAM-Based Geometry Problems through the Scaffolding Building Blocks Strategy

The purpose of this study was to investigate how Scaffolding Building Blocks facilitates the defragmentation of students’ thinking structures characterized by logical errors in solving STEAM-based geometry problems. This study employed a qualitative descriptive design involving one ninth-grade student selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected through a STEAM-based geometry problem-solving test, task-based semi-structured interviews, and documentation of students’ written work. Data analysis followed the Miles and Huberman model, consisting of data condensation, data display, and conclusion drawing. Data validity was ensured trough methodological triangulation. The findings indicate that the student’s logical errors did not stem from a lack of conceptual understanding, but from fragmented relationship among mathematical concept during problem solving. The student relied on intuitive selection of arithmetic operations, which resulted in incoherent reasoning chains across solution stages. The implementation of Scaffolding Building Blocks enabled the student to reconstruct conceptual relationships trough concrete geometric representations and guided questioning. This process progressively shifted the student’s thinking from fragmented and intuition-driven reasoning toward coherent, structured, and logically consistent problem-solving. The study concludes that Scaffolding Building Blocks is effective in facilitating the defragmentation of students’ thinking structures by reorganizing conceptual relationships in STEAM-based geometry problem solving. Beyond improving solution accuracy, the strategy promotes the reconstruction of logical reasoning structures, offering a pedagogically meaningful approach to addressing students’ logical errors in mathematics learning.