ERIC Number: EJ972237
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Nov
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0360-1315
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Exploring Quadrilaterals in a Small Group Computing Environment
Lai, Kevin; White, Tobin
Computers & Education, v59 n3 p963-973 Nov 2012
Though cooperative learning has been a topic of considerable interest in educational research, there has been little study specific to learning in the mathematics content area of geometry. This paper seeks to address that gap through a design experiment featuring a novel small-group computing environment for supporting student learning about quadrilaterals. In this design, each student controls a unique point in a shared geometric space, and those points are linked such that a group of four students collectively forms a quadrilateral. We first present results from pre- and post-measures to show how the students learned from the activities and developed in terms of geometric reasoning. We then present three episodes, elaborated with the notion of appropriation, to explain how students took up ways of using the technological tools and of talking about geometric concepts from one another in the interactive environment. Our study found that students achieved learning gains in this novel environment, that the environment provided rich opportunities for peer interaction around geometric objects, and that student learning opportunities and interactions were characterized by processes of appropriating ways of talking about and using software features. (Contains 4 tables and 7 figures.)
Descriptors: Educational Research, Cooperative Learning, Computers, Geometric Concepts, Mathematics Instruction, Teaching Methods, Plane Geometry, Geometry, Research Design, Academic Achievement, Interaction
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
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Language: English
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