The effect of using geometer sketchpad on grade 10 learners' understanding of geometry : a case of a school in a Village in Bojanala District

Abstract

The National Department of Education in South Africa for matric Examination Analysis and moderators reports (2014 and 2015) revealed that learners performance in Mathematics in general and geometry in particular was generally unbecoming. Only a few number of candidates who sat for the final National Senior Certificate Examination passed. This study employed the van Hiele's levels of mental development in geometry learning to investigate the effects of using GSP on grade IO learners· understanding of geometry learning in a rural secondary school. Both pre-and post-tests "vere written by both control and ex perimental groups and interviews for experimental group after the intervention was administered. were used to solicit information regarding learners· feelings about the teaching styles used in their classroom before the post-test was written. This information was collected from 80 learners from the Secondary School in Bojanala district in Rustenburg. Findings from the study revealed that learners had difficulties in identifying properties and naming geometric figures and/or concepts. Giving the reason why is the square a rectangle and the relationships among squares, rhombi, rectangles and parallelograms. Also, they had greater difficulties when using geometric terminologies to do proofs of theorems, for example, congruency, opposite sites, diagonals, parallel lines etc. The analysis showed that students mostly had difficulties at the level of Abstraction and Deduction. This gave an indication that the vast majority of the learners in grade 10 are reasoning at the lowest two levels of the van Hiele's model which are Visualization and Description. For these learners' difficulties to be curbed, the analysis demonstrated amongst others that teachers needed to use Information Communication Technology (ICT) during the process of teaching and learning. Manipulative materials, like GSP loaded computers provide expenence in which learners can transfer their understanding smoothly from one concept to another. The significant mean difference in post-test for both control and experimental groups showed that GSP used as an instructional tool yielded good results in the performance of geometry.