Constructions in Plane Euclidean Geometry: the Perspectives Opened by Didactic Strategies with Technologies

Abstract

The study presented in this article is linked to a qualitative research carried out with a group of primary school students, whose main purpose was to study the processes of knowledge construction in Euclidean plane geometry, considering, as main subject, the Pythagorean theorem. The research is based on the proposition of problematized activities in a didactic strategy that predicted the work with geometric constructions and the use of a version of the Logo software, in order to observe how and in what form this process is established in a significant way, and the way in which the fluency in digital technologies influences the construction of conjectures by the subjects. The assumptions derived from the Theory of Didactic Situations were adopted for the analysis, together with the Theory of Significant Learning, and influenced the construction of didactic sequences, composed of problems, which proposals of resolution were presented by the students. In this sense, it was possible to observe, as results obtained by investigation process, during the resolution trajectories chosen by the subjects, several characteristics of the subjects’ learning, including correct and wrong answers, evidenced by both the use of the software and written proposals in the protocols produced, which allowed, from this convergence, to indicate the main advances observed with the use of the strategy adopted.

Keywords:
Theory of Didactic Situations; Significant Learning Theory; Technologies in Education; Euclidean Plane Geometry; Pythagorean Theorem