Teachers’ Initial Orchestration of Students’ Dynamic Geometry Software Use: Consequences for Students’ Opportunities to Learn Mathematics

Abstract

This paper reports from a case study with teachers at two schools in Norway participating in developmental projects aiming for inquiry communities in mathematics teaching and learning. In the reported case study, the teachers participated in one of the developmental projects focusing on implementation and use of computer software in mathematics teaching. I study teachers’ initial orchestration of dynamic geometry software (DGS) in mathematics teaching at lower secondary school. By utilising the notion of ‘instrumental orchestration’ from the theoretical perspective known as the ‘instrumental approach’ (Drijvers et al., in Educ Stud Math 75:213–234, 2010; Trouche, in Int J Comput Math Learn 9:281–307, 2004), I examine how teachers in their initial teaching with DGS empower students’ mathematics learning with the DGS software. According to this perspective, it involves teachers’ orchestration of two interrelated processes instrumentation and instrumentalisation. Analytical findings indicate that a difference in teachers’ empowerment is evident and consequences for students’ opportunities to engage with mathematics represented by the DGS are presented.