|Asia-Pacific Forum on Science
Learning and Teaching, Volume 4, Issue 2, Article 8 (Dec., 2003)
On using Geometer's Sketchpad to teach relative velocity
Computer software and learning of Geometry
Some senior teachers groan over the fact that the rigor of geometric proofs, which is very useful to train the students in logical thinking, is no longer in the current curriculum. The introduction of computer software into the curriculum always invites fear among the teachers of the loss of students' basic mathematical ability. For example, with the introduction of calculators, some teachers complained that students might lose their sense of estimates for basic operations on simple numbers. The same reasoning extends to the use of computer in education: with the use of GSP, would the rigor of training in logical training and the students' ability to solve geometry problems be affected?
Hoehn (1997) gave sample activities of exploring worksheets that could be done with GSP. He suggested that activities that involve the proof of theorems on geometry could be done with the software. It is implied that more abstract results on geometry can be taught by focusing on improving students' spatial ability. Hoehn further suggested that students could be asked to attempt to generalize existing theorems and state and verify their conjectures. All this is in line with our new Problem-Solving Approach in the syllabus (Ministry of Education, 2000).
As Leong & Lim (2003) pointed out, the key features that make the software GSP suitable for teaching transformation geometry are
(a) it enables objects to be transformed on the screen;
(b) it allows easy measurement of distances, angles and areas;
(c) it has the click-and-drag feature that enables users to experiment different cases
(d) it allows animations of motion to be done.
Here the above features will be made use of to enable the teaching of concepts of mechanics more visual than rigorous proofs.
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