Investigating the benefits of integrating GeoGebra as a teaching aid in circle geometry in Grade 11

Abstract

This research investigated learners’ comprehension of the various grade 11 circle theorems and addressed possible common misconceptions that learner may have experienced in the experimental group. Common misconceptions related to tangents, chords and cyclic quadrilaterals were identified through pre-test analysis. This was done with the aid of GeoGebra, a dynamic mathematics software program that was deployed in combination with self-directed learning. The study further examined how learners at different performance levels (low, medium, and High) responded to the intervention. The integration of technologies such as GeoGebra into the teaching and learning of circle geometry has the potential to act as a constructive stimulus to learning. In this study, learners exposed to GeoGebra-based instruction demonstrated higher post-test performance than those taught through conventional methods. This study showed how high school learners' conceptual understanding of circle geometry was affected when GeoGebra was used as a technological teaching tool in conjunction with self-directed learning. This study employed a constructivism theoretical framework, namely Piaget's cognitive constructivism and Vygotsky's social constructivism. These have been selected because both theories are based on the idea that learners are ultimately masters of their own learning experience.