Usability evaluation of dynamic geometry software through eye tracking and communication breakdown analysis

Download

index.pdf

Date

2014

Author

Yağmur, Serap

Metadata

Show full item record

Item Usage Stats

304
views

282
downloads

The use of information technology in mathematics education has become popular due to the increasing availability of software applications designed for constructing mathematical representations. In this study, we conducted a usability evaluation of GeoGebra, which is a commonly used math education tool that provides dynamic geometry, spreadsheet and algebra features. The study consists of three usability experiments. In the first experiment, an eye tracking study was conducted where individual participants performed basic geometric constructions by using the basic features of GeoGebra and a similar, well-known math education software called Geometer’s Sketchpad. Constructions completed in each interface were compared in terms of task completion times, accuracy and fixation durations in an effort to identify usability issues. According to results, there are no significant differences between GeoGebra and Geometer’s Sketchpad in terms of usability measures. In the second study, pairs of students collaboratively attempted more complex geometric constructions in the GeoGebra environment by using a mouse and a touch screen interface. The aim of the second experiment was to observe how different interfaces would influence the use of the GeoGebra tool in an ecologically more realistic setting. We hypothesized that the touch screen interface would help students with the geometry tasks as it resembles the familiar pen&paper based interaction with mathematical representations. Episodes where participants experienced breakdowns during their collaboration due to system usability issues were identified and analyzed with qualitative methods. Contrary to our expectation, the results indicated that participants experienced more breakdowns while using the touchscreen interface, due to the inadequate support GeoGebra provides for touch-based gestures. Finally, an eye tracking study was conducted on the mobile version of GeoGebra. Our findings suggest that the mobile version primarily replaced the function of the mouse in the desktop version with the finger, and did not take advantage of the gestures supported by the multi-touch screens of new generation tablet computers. Based on the empirical findings of the study, design ideas for improving the usability of the existing GeoGebra desktop and touch-based mobile interfaces are proposed.

Subject Keywords

Eye tracking., Visual perception., User interfaces (Computer systems)., Geometry, Mathematics, Computer-assisted instruction.

URI

http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12618027/index.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/24058

Collections

Graduate School of Informatics, Thesis

Suggestions

OpenMETU
Core

Usability Evaluation of a Dynamic Geometry Software Mobile Interface Through Eye Tracking Yağmur, Serap; Çakır, Murat Perit (2016-07-22) The use of information technology in mathematics education has become popular due to the increasing availability of software applications designed for constructing mathematical representations. In this study, we conducted a usability evaluation of GeoGebra, which is a commonly used math education tool that provides dynamic geometry, spreadsheet and algebra features. This study reports the findings of a usability experiment where we employed an eye tracker to evaluate the mobile version of GeoGebra. Our find...
Geospatial Object Detection Using Deep Networks Barut, Onur; Alatan, Abdullah Aydın (2019-01-01) In the last decade, deep learning has been drawing a huge interest due to the developments in the computational hardware and novel machine learning techniques. This progress also significantly effects satellite image analysis for various objectives, such as disaster and crisis management, forest cover, road mapping, city planning and even military purposes. For all these applications, detection of geospatial objects has crucial importance and some recent object detection techniques are still unexplored to b...
Learning Mathematics with Interactive Whiteboards and Computer-Based Graphing Utility Erbaş, Ayhan Kürşat; Kaya, Sukru (2015-04-01) The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of a technology-supported learning environment utilizing an interactive whiteboard (IWB) and NuCalc graphing software compared to a traditional direct instruction-based environment on student achievement in graphs of quadratic functions and attitudes towards mathematics and technology. Sixty-five high school graduates attending cram schools (called dershane in Turkish) to study for the university entrance examination participated in the study. The signific...
Secondary school students’ programming and computational thinking skills: traditional and interdisciplinary approaches to teaching programming Altın, Rükiye; Tokel, Saniye Tuğba; Department of Computer Education And Instructional Technology (2021-2-15) The focus on K-12 Computer Science education has increased in line with today’s need for a population skilled in computational thinking, and with the growth in careers that are within or at least related to the field of computer science. As such, young learners should be introduced to computer science from an early age, as programming is now considered by many to be an indispensable change to traditional learning methods, and is seen as playing a significant role in the future career choices of most school-...
Performance comparison of pattern discovery methods on web log data Bayir, Murat Ali; Toroslu, İsmail Hakkı; Coşar, Ahmet (2006-03-11) One of the popular trends in computer science has been development of intelligent web-based systems. Demand for such systems forces designers to make use of knowledge discovery techniques on web server logs. Web usage mining has become a major area of knowledge discovery on World Wide Web. Frequent pattern discovery is one of the main issues in web usage mining. These frequent patterns constitute the basic information source for intelligent web-based systems. In this paper; frequent pattern mining algorithm...

Citation Formats

S. Yağmur, “Usability evaluation of dynamic geometry software through eye tracking and communication breakdown analysis,” M.S. - Master of Science, Middle East Technical University, 2014.