Abstract:

Geometry is a fundamental mathematics’ area, but despite its unquestionable importance, students still reveal many difficulties in learning it. Additionally, the learning of geometric content can become more active and meaningful if developed in an experimental and investigative environment in which students could formulate and test conjectures, especially when supported by software/digital tools. In this context, a study was conducted to analyse the influence of the use of a learning object in the learning of geometric concepts, specifically in the approach of the well-known Pythagorean Theorem. The concept of learning objects emerged in the early years of the 21st century, becoming a central theme in debates around distance education. It can be defined as any digital resource, which can be reproduced and addressed, and used to carry out learning activities or learning support activities, made available for others to use. The methodology adopted has a descriptive and exploratory nature, focusing on a quantitative paradigm. Eighteen students, aged between 12 and 15 years, belonging to an 8th grade class from a school in the north of Portugal, participated in the study. A pre-test and a post-test were used as data collection instruments through a didactic sequence with the learning object retrieved from https://www.geogebra.org/m/c4x6bwp5, as an educational resource, which took place in November 2021. It consisted of the application of a pre-test, containing four questions taken from tests or national exams, followed by three working sessions on the topic under study and has been concluded with the application of the post-test, the same as the pre-test. The results of the students' pre- and post-tests suggest that this didactics sequence had a significant impact on their learning of the Pythagorean Theorem, since the average normalized gain was 53.49%. Even with the obvious limitations of this study and the impossibility of generalising the results, it contributed favourably to the confirmation of the use of learning objects as a valid resource in promoting the meaningful learning of geometric concepts.

Keywords:

Learning, Geometry, Learning objects, Pythagorean theorem.