Objectifying the Inclusion Relationship of Quadrilaterals in a Synchronic-Interactive and Collaborative Computer Supported Environment

This study aims at understanding the role of synchronous collaborative computer supported environments in objectifying the inclusion relationships of quadrilaterals. We choose the inclusion relationships of quadrilaterals since, on one hand, this topic has the potential for promoting the development of geometrical thinking, and on the other hand, several studies have clearly shown that a great number of students have problems with learning this complicated concept. The study reports on six ninth grade students working with the Virtual Math Team environment (VMT) while coping with three tasks that were meticulously designed to motivate collaboration among them. The study is guided by the theory of knowledge objectification and the data were analyzed using the semiotic tools of attention and awareness. The analysis of the data suggests that the students objectified the inclusion relationships of quadrilaterals. The study shed light on the nature of the social interactions between the students and the technological artifact during the objectification processes. Insights for re-designing the learning tasks and for further research were also drawn.