An Exploration of Middle School Mathematics Teachers’ Beliefs and Goals Regarding a Dynamic Tool in Mathematics Lessons: Case of GeoGebra

Abstract

Currently, teaching with technology has become crucial. This case study investigated the beliefs and goals of four middle school mathematics teachers regarding a dynamic mathematics software: GeoGebra. The participants of the study were four mathematics teachers working in public middle schools in Turkey. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews, lesson observations and perceived technology, pedagogy and content knowledge surveys. Data analysis revealed a consensus on GeoGebra’s usefulness in teaching units that link geometry and algebra. Most of the participants integrated GeoGebra to provide students with an explorative environment in which students were supported with feedback. Teachers’ goals of using the software were found to be providing visual representations, facilitating students’ learning, increasing students’ engagement, as well as decreasing their workload and saving time. Moreover, teachers listed several challenges such as classroom management and lesson planning. Despite the challenges they faced, teachers were willing to integrate the software into their lessons. Therefore, complementary workshops were seemed to be necessary to overcome these challenges. These workshops might aim at providing the necessary 21st-century competencies for mathematics teachers to integrate the software into their lessons effectively.

A Systematic Review of GeoGebra in Mathematics Education

“…The results of this study show that most users hold favourable views of GeoGebra and find it an effective pedagogical tool. Most researchers found that users have positive perspectives and perceptions about using GeoGebra (Owusu et al, 2023;Saralar-Aras, 2022;Bedada & Machaba, 2022;Handayani et al, 2022;Manganyana et al, 2020;Rafi & Sabrina, 2019;Machromah et al, 2019;Belgheis & Kamalludeen, 2018). Users believe that this software can enhance their understanding of mathematics concepts and increase their motivation and performance in learning mathematics.…”

“…This software is among the most important ones in Malaysia's high school mathematics curriculum (Za'ba et al, 2020). Other than Malaysia, it also is widely use in the many countries such as Indonesia (Diva et al, 2023), South Africa (Manganyana et al, 2020), Austria (Weinhandl et al, 2020), and Turkey (Saralar-Aras, 2022). Its use all over the world is due to the fact that this software is free without requiring a licence and is easy to use compared to other mathematics education software.…”