PEDAGOGICAL USABILITY OF THE GEOMETER’S SKETCHPAD (GSP) DIGITAL MODULE IN THE MATHEMATICS TEACHING

ABSTRACT

Teacher played an important role in ascertaining effective teaching of mathematics. The objective of this paper was to investigate the pedagogical usability of a digital module prototype that integrated a dynamic geometry software, Geometer’s Sketchpad (GSP) in mathematics teaching. The prototype was developed based on Reiser’s and Dick’s Instructional Design Model that integrated GSP software in the teaching of Quadratic Functions topic. The digital module was developed using Macromedia Authorware 7.0 as its platform. The pedagogical usability criteria included student control, student activities, objective-oriented, application, value-added, motivation, knowledge value, flexibility and response. This was a quantitative study that involved 34 mathematics secondary school teachers in Selangor, Malaysia as samples. The instrument used was pedagogical usability questionnaire. The results showed that the prototype digital modules met the requirements of the pedagogical usability criteria mentioned. It also facilitated the integration of GSP in mathematics teaching. It is suggested that a study on the applications of GSP in mathematics teaching to be carried out to promote higher order thinking skills among secondary school students.