TECHNOLOGY IN SPHERICAL GEOMETRY INVESTIGATIONS: REFLECTIONS ON SPONTANEOUS USE AND MOTIVATION

摘要

This paper concerns the spontaneous adoption and use (outside of class) of two special forms of dynamic software by adult students in a masters program for teachers. The conceptualizations discussed here emerged out of the author's examination, using grounded theory principles, of course assignments of students in a graduate geometry course who chose to utilize Cinderella or Spherical Sketchpad as additional exploratory tools. The adult students in the course were novices to the investigative study of geometric concepts on a sphere. Henderson's (2001) text Experiencing Geometry, and in-class activities that focused on the manipulation and analysis of concrete models, and discussion around geometric ideas, challenged participants' views of geometry as formal, abstract, and logic-based. To supplement the models, early in the course students were briefly introduced to two software programs that permitted the dynamic exploration of spherical geometry concepts - Cinderella, and Spherical Sketchpad. There was neither subsequent use of the programs in class, nor any requirement that they be used; yet program screen-shots appeared in assignments. Not all students adopted these tools - and even those who did, modified the printouts to suit their needs. This raised a question that is the focus of this paper: What motivated some students to spontaneously engage with the software?