Abstract
This study investigated the utilarian value of GeoGebra as a pedagogical tool for understanding and moving to higher levels of abstraction while learning transformation of functions and graphs in mathematics. This study adopts the qualitative paradigm to understand the processes involved in using GeoGebra. The population for this study were students enrolled in the bridge programme offered by a University in South Africa. The study involved a purposeful sample of students enrolled in the bridging program at Stellenbosch University. The instrument for the study were observation schedules and in-depth/focus group interviews. Observation data revealed that utilizing GeoGebra as an instructional tool allowed for a variety of instrumental orchestrations, which proved to be particularly beneficial in the educational setting. Additionally, the findings from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions provided valuable insights into the students' experiences. Participants expressed that the visual affordances of GeoGebra, along with its potential for interactive engagement, facilitated a deeper comprehension of complex concepts related to function and graph transformations. Furthermore, the study highlighted the importance of these visual affordances in helping students connect rules of transformations given to them to visual representations of the rules, ultimately improving their overall mathematical understanding. Based on the conclusion of the study, engaging a guided interaction with GeoGebra during lessons, encouraging student-centered GeoGebra projects that require students to create and analyze their own GeoGebra constructions in graphs, sketches, and dynamic visualizations and designing learning activities that explicitly link concrete manipulation are recommended.