eJMT Abstract


Title A Symbolic Approach to Teaching Geometry
Author Miroslaw MAJEWSKI
Volume 1
Number 1


Teaching geometry with a computer was always based on Dynamic Geometry software, like Cabri, Cinderella or Geometers Sketchpad. Such software allows interactive manipulation of geometric objects and geometric constructions like those done with the help of ruler and compass. This approach is very fruitful. However, it lacks a number of things. One of them is limited ability of producing symbolic or numeric output.

In this paper we will show how we can use symbolic software for teaching and experimenting in analytic as well as in synthetic geometry. In this paper we will concentrate on two tools producing symbolic output—MuPAD and Geometry Expressions. We will show what kind of geometry problems we can solve with these tools and what are the benefits of this approach.