ABSTRACT
The present study investigated the use of Geometer's Sketchpad, a computer software package, as a teaching tool to assist urban students in developing a conceptual understanding of the fundamental ideas associated with Euclidean geometry. The study also used a Conceptions of Mathematics Questionnaire as a pre-test and post-test to measure changes in students conceptions of mathematics across the seven dimensions of Composition of Mathematical Knowledge, Structure of Mathematical Knowledge, Status of Mathematical Knowledge, Doing Mathematics, Validating Ideas in Mathematics, Learning Mathematics and Usefulness of Mathematics. The findings did not support the hypothesis that the use of Geometer's Sketchpad, GSP, would improve student achievement as measured by chapter tests. The results of the study also found no statistically significant change in the way students from the experimental (who used GSP) or the control groups thought of mathematics. Suggestions resulting from this research include aligning current geometry curricula and expanding the capabilities of Geometer's Sketchpad so that each is more compatible with the other. Future research related to this topic might use a combined quantitative and qualitative approach, which would allow for intermitted use of tests that measured student achievement and interviews that assessed changes in students' conceptions. Additionally, longitudinal studies that collected and analyzed students' conceptions of mathematics over time would aide teachers' understanding of students' mathematical thinking. ^
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