Usability of GeoGebra and development of new software to learn maths through graphical representation for secondary school students

In 2008, the Digital Education Revolution (DER) funding provided secondary school students with computers, which were installed with educational programs (including GeoGebra). GeoGebra is an example of ‘Dynamic Geometry (DG) Software’ that is used for visualizing mathematics concepts. This thesis will investigate the usability of GeoGebra currently used by many Australian high schools for teaching mathematics. To examine ways of improving the system to increase engagement in the activity of learning geometry, the research questions addressed include: • For novice users, what are the usability and design issues that they have encountered in the current GeoGebra software? • Why does GeoGebra need to change? • How could the design of GeoGebra be improved to better visualize mathematical concepts for novice students? The theoretical framework of Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) (Sweller, 1988) informs the research which, according to Rourke (2007): “suggests ways of improving instructional design to take into account the limited capacity of working memory in order to promote the acquisition of schemas associated with learning” (p.2). CLT classifies cognitive load into three different types: intrinsic, extraneous and germane cognitive load. The intrinsic cognitive load is related to the complexity of a given task. Unlike intrinsic load, the other loads can be controlled. Therefore, to design an educational system that assists students to learn more effectively, it is important to create an interface that reduces the extraneous load, this can be achieved by increasing the germane load (Uzunosmanoğlu & Çakir, 2014). The initial text analysis of the responses regarding the use of sentiments indicates the dominant use of negative words describing the students’ feeling and experience about GeoGebra. Further analysis indicates deep gender difference in the responses. Typically, girls expressed more problems in using GeoGebra. Full details of the data and analysis will be shown by diagrams to illustrate the problems and ...