Abstract:

It is a general agreement that the traditional methods force students to learn mathematics by memorizing formulas and concepts. However, the traditional approach to mathematics content, teaching and assessment will not respond to the challenge of preparing students for the demands of a changing world. This implies the need for a new approach to the study of mathematics, where the use of ICT in the teaching process can play a key role. For example students are often asked to find area, perimeter and volume od 3d bodies. Calculating these values for different input parameters is usually slow and boring task. The idea of this paper is to bring visualization and dynamic presentation of problem of calculation of the triangular prism. We want to bring alive another approach of presenting and learning in math classroom with free interactive software Geogebra. The application allows dynamic presentation of algebraic problems and thus offers wide space for analyzing, comparing and calculating. Projection of 3d triangular prism in 2d Euclid geometry and changing the values of the input parameters (angles and sides) with Geogebra tool ”slider” helps students to better visualize the projection and analyse the conditions under which the area and volume of the prism reach different values. All the materials with the explanation of the constructions and analysis of different results for combinations of variaty of input values are placed on wikispaces wiki together with directions for interactivity. Representation of real world through visualization provides an understanding of the connection of the world that surrounds us with mathematics and makes mathematical concepts more understandable improving students’ motivation with positive impact.

Keywords:

Angle, side, perimeter, area, volume, projection, visualisation, Geogebra.