An instrumental approach to modelling the derivative in Sketchpad
Pythagoras
| Field | Value | |
| Title | An instrumental approach to modelling the derivative in Sketchpad | |
| Creator | Ndlovu, Mdutshekelwa Wessels, Dirk de Villiers, Michael | |
| Description | Encouragement to integrate information and communication technologies into mathematics education curricula is an increasingly universal phenomenon. As a contribution to the discourse, this article discusses the potential use in the classroom of The Geometer’s Sketchpad® (Key Curriculum Press, Emeryville, CA, United States) mathematics software in modelling the derivative and related concepts in introductory calculus. In an empirical study involving first-year non-mathematics major undergraduate science students, a hypothetical learning trajectory (HLT) was conjectured and implemented for students to experience the visualisation and multiple representations of calculus concepts on the Cartesian plane with a computer graphic interface. The utilisation scheme is interpreted through the lens of the instrumental1 approach proposed by Trouche. The HLT was partly informed by the historical development of the derivative as synthesised from the literature on the history of calculus and partly by the affordances, enablements, constraints and potentialities of Sketchpad itself. The findings of the study suggest that when exposed to the capabilities of this software, learners can experience Geometer’s Sketchpad® as an effective visualisation tool or instrument for the representation and learning of the derivative and related concepts in introductory calculus. However, the effectiveness of this tool is not a given or a foregone conclusion − it is a product of the teacher’s instrumental orchestration, gradual learner mastery of the software syntax and careful resolution of theoretical-computational conflicts that can arise during early use of the instrument. | |
| Publisher | AOSIS Publishing | |
| Date | 2011-11-23 | |
| Identifier | 10.4102/pythagoras.v32i2.52 | |
| Source | Pythagoras; Vol 32, No 2 (2011); 15 pages 2223-7895 1012-2346 | |
| Language | eng | |
| Relation |
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