Abstract
GeoBlock is a micro-world software tool for learning and teaching geometry, and has been prototyped on personal computers. It was designed according to the concept of direct manipulation of geometric figures under geometric constraints. A block is constructed to correspond to each complicated figure that is under geometric constraints, and it can be changed, re-used, and observed interactively on the computer's display. From practical use in classrooms, we are convinced that GeoBlock is effective in two phases of geometry lessons. One is the phase of discovering rules among geometric webs that the students have not yet studied. The other is the phase of assimilating geometrical facts that they have already studied. GeoBlock shows one way in which a computer can help students to learn geometry, and can help teachers to give persuasive geometry lessons.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
K. Hidaka. A Tool for Learning Geometry, The Journal of Science Education in Japan, Vol. 14, No. 2, Japan Society for Science Education, 1990.
J. L. Schwartz. Intellectual Mirrors: A Step in the Direction of Making Schools Knowledge-Making Places, Harvard Educational Review, Vol. 59, No. 1, pp. 51–61, Harvard College, 1989.
L. P. McCoy. The Effect of Geometry Tool Software on High School Geometry Achievement, Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching, Vol. 10(3), Spring 1991.
Cabri-Geometre: An Interactive Notebook for Learning and Teaching Geometry, User's Manual for Version 2.0: Laboratoire de Structures Discretes et de Diadique: Institut D'Informatique et de Mathematiques Appliquees de Grenoble Universite Joseph Fourier-CNRS, 1988
I. E. Sutherland. Sketchpad: A Man-Machine Graphical Communication System, Lincoln Laboratory Technical Report, No. 296, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1963.
A. Borning. Graphically Defining New Building Blocks in ThingLab, Human-Computer Interaction, Vol. 2, pp. 269–295, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., 1986.
G. Nelson. Juno: A Constraint-Based Graphics System, SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics, Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 235–243, 1985.
R. A. Light. Symbolic Dimensioning in Computer-Aided Design, M.S. Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1980.
V. C. Lin, D. C. Gossard, and R. A. Light. Vanational Geometry in Computer-Aided Design, Computer Graphics, Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 171–177, 1981.
F. Arbab and J. M. Wing. Geometric Reasoning: A New Paradigm for Processing Geometric Information, Design Theory for CAD, International Federation for Information Processing, 1987.
M. Inui and F. Kimura. Geometric Constraint Solving for Constructing Geometric Models, Proceedings of Graphics and CAD Symposium, pp. 181–190, Information Processing Society of Japan, 1988.
B. V. Zanden and B: A. Myers. A Constraints Primer, Computer, pp. 74–75, November 1990.
Y. Nakayama. Mathematical Formula Editor for CAI, Proceedings of ACM CHI'89, pp. 387–392, 1989.
M. Sasaki. A Practical Use of a Computer in Mathematics Education, Tokyo Gakugei Journal of Mathematics Education, Vol. 3, pp. 87–97, 1991.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1992 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Hidaka, K. (1992). Development of GeoBlock: a micro-world for learning and teaching geometry. In: Tomek, I. (eds) Computer Assisted Learning. ICCAL 1992. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 602. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-55578-1_77
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-55578-1_77
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-55578-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-47221-6
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive