Teaching Mathematics and Its Applications
Teaching Mathematics and Its Applications (2009) 28, 69^76 doi:10.1093/teamat/hrp003 Advance Access publication 13 March 2009
GeoGebra ç freedom to explore and learn*
LINDA FAHLBERG-STOJANOVSKAy
Department of Mathematics and Computer Sciences, University of St. Clement of Ohrid, Bitola, FYR Macedonia
Downloaded from http://teamat.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Melbourne Library on October 23, 2011
VITOMIR STOJANOVSKI
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of St. Clement of Ohrid, Bitola, FYR Macedonia [Submitted November 2008; accepted January 2009]
We start by visiting the maths section of the web site answers.yahoo.com. Here, anybody can ask a question from anywhere in the world at every possible level. Answers are given by anyone who wants to contribute and then askers/readers rate the responses. A brief look here and it is starkly clear that our young people are struggling and their ability to think logicallyçthat is understand a problem, organize data into knowns and unknowns, explore possibilities and assess solutions is definitely on the decline. In our opinion, this is more insidious than the actual decline in their overall mathematics skills. Further, one is struck by the fact that technology seems to be contributing to this decline when in fact it should be the opposite. We then examine two question/answer cycles in detail and show how the freeware GeoGebra (www.geogebra.org GeoGebraWiki: www.geogebra.org/ wiki GeoGebraForum: www.geogebra.org/forum)çwhich gives the freedom to explore and learn to everyone, everywhere and at any timeçcan be of tremendous value to pupils and students in their understanding of mathematics from the smallest ages on up.
1. Introduction
There is no question that there is a decline both in the skill and interest level in mathematics and science among our young people. Many argue that these skills are not needed in everyday life and others argue that without these skills, we cannot compete in a
GeoGebra ç freedom to explore and learn*
LINDA FAHLBERG-STOJANOVSKAy
Department of Mathematics and Computer Sciences, University of St. Clement of Ohrid, Bitola, FYR Macedonia
Downloaded from http://teamat.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Melbourne Library on October 23, 2011
VITOMIR STOJANOVSKI
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of St. Clement of Ohrid, Bitola, FYR Macedonia [Submitted November 2008; accepted January 2009]
We start by visiting the maths section of the web site answers.yahoo.com. Here, anybody can ask a question from anywhere in the world at every possible level. Answers are given by anyone who wants to contribute and then askers/readers rate the responses. A brief look here and it is starkly clear that our young people are struggling and their ability to think logicallyçthat is understand a problem, organize data into knowns and unknowns, explore possibilities and assess solutions is definitely on the decline. In our opinion, this is more insidious than the actual decline in their overall mathematics skills. Further, one is struck by the fact that technology seems to be contributing to this decline when in fact it should be the opposite. We then examine two question/answer cycles in detail and show how the freeware GeoGebra (www.geogebra.org GeoGebraWiki: www.geogebra.org/ wiki GeoGebraForum: www.geogebra.org/forum)çwhich gives the freedom to explore and learn to everyone, everywhere and at any timeçcan be of tremendous value to pupils and students in their understanding of mathematics from the smallest ages on up.
1. Introduction
There is no question that there is a decline both in the skill and interest level in mathematics and science among our young people. Many argue that these skills are not needed in everyday life and others argue that without these skills, we cannot compete in a
References: FAHLBERG-STOJANOVSKA, L., STOJANOVSKI, V. & BOCEVSKA, A. (2008) ICT in math education – small interactivities & specific goals. Proceedings of the 6th Intl CIIT 2008. Bitola, MK. FAHLBERG-STOJANOVSKA, L. (2003–2007) The Boat Landing Problem Presentation for Simlab 2007. Bitola, MK: DAAD (see http://www.mathcasts.org/mtwiki/GgbActivity/BoatLanding1 [accessed 9 March 2009]. Linda Fahlberg-Stojanovska is a professor of Mathematics and Computer Sciences at the University of St. Clement of Ohrid, Bitola, FYR Macedonia. Vitomir Stojanovski is a professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of St. Clement of Ohrid, Bitola, FYR Macedonia.