Eric.ed.gov – Incorporating the Dragging Feature of Dynamic Geometry Environments in Teaching and Learning College Geometry

In a study about pre-service secondary mathematics teachers’ (PSMTs) understanding about the nature of theorems in geometry, the researcher noticed that it was challenging for the PSMTs to visualize and draw counterexamples to disprove the given mathematical statements. Meanwhile, the use of the dragging feature of dynamic geometry environments (DGEs), such as the Geometer’s Sketchpad and GeoGebra, in teaching and learning proof and reasoning has been widely discussed and become an ongoing research trend. In this paper, the researcher and her colleague will present a research design aimed at investigating PSMTs’ conceptions of counterexamples in geometric reasoning when using the dragging feature of DGEs. Expected results of the study are potentially beneficial to pre-service/in-service secondary math teachers as well as teacher educators.