In mathematics, it is essential to utilize and apply engineering tools and digital technologies to teaching and learning in order to respond to changes in the digital and AI environment and develop capabilities required in future society. Among variou...
In mathematics, it is essential to utilize and apply engineering tools and digital technologies to teaching and learning in order to respond to changes in the digital and AI environment and develop capabilities required in future society. Among various engineering tools, dynamic geometry software can be effectively used in geometric areas where concrete manipulation activities and informal exploration activities are important. The dynamic geometry environment provided by dynamic geometry software improves students’ understanding of shapes and geometry learning level, and further contributes to the development of spatial sense(Yunsin Kwon, Seonglim Ryu, 2013).
The purpose of this study is to determine how students' understanding of shapes and their level of geometry learning change when a class using GeoGebra, a dynamic geometry software, is implemented for the 'Square' unit in the second semester of the fourth grade of elementary school. To this end, this study set the following research questions. First, what is students’ understanding of shapes when conducting elementary geometry classes using GeoGebra? Second, what is the students' geometry learning level when conducting elementary geometry classes using GeoGebra? Third, what is the relationship between students' understanding of shapes and their level of geometry learning in elementary geometry classes using GeoGebra?
Accordingly, this study examined the theoretical background based on previous research on understanding of shapes, geometry learning level, use of dynamic geometry software, geometry area of mathematics curriculum, planar geometry map, and square unit. The subjects of the study were 26 students from one fourth-grade class at B Elementary School located in Siheung-si, Gyeonggi-do. In order to effectively utilize dynamic geometry software in class, the class content was intended to reflect the content of existing textbooks as much as possible. In addition, the conceptual learning model was applied to the lesson of learning the core learning contents in the square unit, and the specific learning activities consisted of ‘observing and classifying, manipulating and exploring, defining, and constructing’. To examine changes in understanding of shapes, a pre-shape comprehension test consisting of the contents of the triangle unit was conducted before class, and a post-shape comprehension test consisting of the contents of the square unit was conducted after class. In order to determine whether there was a statistically significant difference between the two test results, a paired-samples t test was performed and analyzed using SPSS. In addition, as a supplement to the quantitative interpretation of understanding of shapes, changes in the degree of understanding of shapes were analyzed using the shape understanding analysis framework, GeoGebra results, activity sheets, recorded class materials, class impressions, and teacher observation logs. Meanwhile, to examine changes in geometry learning level, the van Hiele geometry learning level test was conducted using the same test sheet before and after class. Based on this, it is examined how students' geometry learning levels changed by prior geometry learning level and what changes there were in the correct and incorrect response rates for individual students' specific questions. Lastly, Pearson correlation analysis was conducted using SPSS to examine the correlation between the degree of understanding of shapes and the level of geometry learning.
To summarize the research results, in the first research question, students' understanding of shapes was maintained at a similar level or improved as the study progressed. This can be interpreted as learning shapes using GeoGebra has a positive effect on understanding of shapes. Additionally, the use of GeoGebra had a significant impact on concept understanding, property understanding, and drawing ability, which are sub-areas of understanding of shapes. GeoGebra's various functions were useful in forming geometric concepts and exploring and verifying the properties of shapes, strengthening the connection between learning contents and enabling the transfer of learning. In particular, through GeoGebra, we were able to discover that each sub-area of understanding of shapes influences each other, which shows that the concept, properties, and construction of shapes are organically related in shape learning.
In the second research question, students' geometry learning level was maintained at a similar level or improved as the study progressed. This can be interpreted to mean that geometry classes using GeoGebra had a positive effect on improving students' thinking levels by providing them with a variety of geometric experiences. In particular, the diversity and dynamism of dynamic geometry software, which allows shapes to be transformed into different shapes while maintaining unchanging parts, stimulated students' thinking and promoted improvement in the level of geometric thinking. In addition, the use of GeoGebra reduced the gap between the textbook level and students' geometry learning level, allowing students to better understand the contents of the curriculum, and helped students who had reached the geometry learning level discontinuously reach the level continuously.
In the third research question, there was a positive correlation between the degree of understanding of shapes and the level of geometry learning. In other words, the higher the student's understanding of shapes, the higher the level of geometry learning. However, there were cases where the understanding of shapes was low but the level of geometry learning was relatively high. This occurred because the students were unable to properly perform shape understanding activities using GeoGebra due to their low ability to use digital technology. Therefore, when designing classes using engineering tools, differences in students' digital technology levels should be taken into consideration.
This study examined the impact of geometry classes using dynamic geometry software on the understanding of shapes and the level of geometry learning, and it is meaningful in that it analyzed in-depth the process of students exploring and understanding shapes and examined students' responses according to their geometry learning level. However, since this study only examined the impact of the use of dynamic geometry software on cognitive aspects such as understanding the concepts and properties of shapes, it would also be meaningful to examine the impact of the use of the software on social and affective aspects. In addition, it is expected that this study will be helpful in designing student-centered geometry learning in the future by proposing to examine the impact on students' mathematics subject competency when applying dynamic geometry software to other areas of the mathematics department.