DR. GEO II: Adding Interactivity Planes in Interactive Dynamic Geometry

Abstract

Interactive geometry environments support the creation and exploitation of interactive geometric sketches. However, such environments are often driven in a rigid manner, following a well specified construction path. This rigidity is not always compatible with: i. the internal cognitive representation of the learner about the geometric domain and ii. the way a geometric sketch is used in a paper-pen environment. This rigidity is therefore a source of internal tension for the learner and it can reduce the pedagogical added value of the interactive geometry environments. We think additional interactive planes to manipulate a geometric sketch differently can help the learner. We have developed DR. Geo II, an interactive geometry framework that is able to receive additional interactive planes such as a free sketching and a command-based one. We have experimented it in a junior high school class and we report here our first results.