Problem Solving and Problem Posing in a Dynamic Geometry Environment

In this study, we considered dynamic geometry software (DGS) as the tool that mediates students’ strategies in solving and posing problems. The purpose of the present study was twofold. First, to understand the way in which students can solve problems in the setting of a dynamic geometry environment, and second, to investigate how DGS provides opportunities for posing new problems. Two mathematical problems were presented to six pre-service teachers with prior experience in dynamic geometry. Each student participated in two interview sessions which were video recorded. The results of the study showed that DGS, as a mediation tool, encouraged students to use in problem solving and posing the processes of modeling, conjecturing, experimenting and generalizing. Furthermore, we found that DGS can play a significant role in engendering problem solving and posing by bringing about surprise and cognitive conflict as students use the dragging and measuring facilities of the software