The Effect of Dynamic Mathematics Software Geogebra on Student’ Achievement: The Case of Differential Equations

Mohamed  Latifi; Khalid  Hattaf; Naceur  Achtaich

doi:10.36941/jesr-2021-0141

Authors

Mohamed Latifi Laboratory of Analysis, Modeling and Simulation (LAMS), Faculty of Sciences Ben M'sik, Hassan II University of Casablanca, P.O Box 7955 Sidi Othman, Casablanca, Morocco Center of Training Education’ Inspectors, Morocco
Khalid Hattaf Laboratory of Analysis, Modeling and Simulation (LAMS), Faculty of Sciences Ben M'sik, Hassan II University of Casablanca, P.O Box 7955 Sidi Othman, Casablanca, MoroccoCentre Régional des Métiers de l'Education et de la Formation (CRMEF), Casablanca, Morocco
Naceur Achtaich Laboratory of Analysis, Modeling and Simulation (LAMS), Faculty of Sciences Ben M'sik, Hassan II University of Casablanca, P.O Box 7955 Sidi Othman, Casablanca, Morocco

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36941/jesr-2021-0141

Keywords:

Differential equations (DE), conceptual knowledge, Geogebra, procedural knowledge, Mathematical Thinking Style (MTS)

Abstract

In mathematics, a differential equation uses important mathematical concepts like function, derivative, integral, etc. Geogebra is a dynamic mathematical software uniting geometry, algebra and differential calculus. There are two objectives in this study. The first objective is to examine the impact of the use of Geogebra on the students’ understanding of differential equations. The second objective is to see how the students interact with a Geogebra environment according to their styles of mathematical thinking. The subjects of this research were 35 and 32 students for the experimental and control group, respectively of 12th grade at a government school, west of Morocco, in the academic year 2020-2021. These participants have different mathematical thinking styles (MTS): visual, analytic, and integrated. The results show that teaching differential equations with GeoGebra is more efficient in terms of conceptual knowledge than the conventional method. In procedural knowledge, students in both groups were in similar achievement levels. We can conclude that Geogebra was more beneficial for students with integrated thinking, especially for conceptual knowledge.

Received: 19 July 2021 / Accepted: 3 October 2021 / Published: 5 November 2021