Enhancing secondary school students' productive disposition using GeoGebra software integrated process oriented guided inquiry learning in geometry

Abstract Ethiopian secondary school students have been noted to show low interactions, lack of confidence and feelings negativity towards geometry because they are taught geometry through traditional methods, which focus on memorization rather than conceptual learning. This paper addressed the effects of integrating GeoGebra software with Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (GGS-POGIL) with respect to productive disposition of secondary school students of geometry in the context of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, exploring their enjoyment, confidence and perceptions of mathematics. Using the Productive Disposition Questionnaire, a quasi-experimental pre- and post-test design was used to compare a GGS-POGIL group, a POGIL-only group, and a comparison group. The findings showed that GGS-POGIL group showed considerable gains in mathematics enjoyment and confidence over the other groups which supports the synergistic effect of interactive visualization and inquiry-based learning. Nevertheless, there was no gross enhancement in the perceptions of the students about the value of mathematics which implies that it may be necessary to have strategies to enable the students to be able to make a direct linkage between the concepts and the real world. The positive effect of GGS-POGIL on productive disposition was supported by effect size analyses. Although it is effective, some of the challenges like teacher training and access to technology highlight the importance of professional development and support with infrastructure. These results confirm the importance of technology-enhanced inquiry learning to form positive attitudes in mathematics and provide suggestions to the educators and policymakers. Future studies need to explore the long-term effects and generalizability in a broad range of educational environments, especially in those with limited resources.