The Role of Dynamic Geometry Software in Teacher–Student Interactions: Stories from Three Chinese Mathematics Teachers

Abstract

Teacher–student interactions are critical for effective mathematics teaching and learning. Certain technologies, especially dynamic geometry software (DGS), can have a great impact on interactions between teachers and students. In Chinese mathematics educational environments, we selected three mathematics teachers as examples to analyze how DGS impacts their method of teaching and feedback and what role it plays in their interactions with students. Based on the data, we found mathematics to be the main focus for Chinese teachers, even though DGS was widely used in their lessons. DGS was mainly used as a projector to present geometric properties. This implies that the interactivity of the DGS was simply used for pressing buttons on the screen during lessons. Although teachers may have used DGS for many years, they still lack sufficient skills to integrate this software into mathematics teaching.