UsingGeoGebrato Address Students’ Misconceptions about the Transformation of Algebraic Hyperbola Functions

The literature shows that the integration of technological tools, like GeoGebra, has the potential to improve the teaching and learning of mathematics. The aim of this study was to see whether GeoGebra could be used to address identified, systematic misconceptions that National Certificate Vocational (NCV) students hold about the effects of parameters a and q on the transformation of hyperbola functions of the form y=(a/x)+q as prescribed in the NCV curriculum. The study is framed by Tharp and Gallimore’s four-stage expounded version of Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development [Tharp, R., & Gallimore, R. (1988). Rousing minds to life: Teaching, learning and schooling in social context. Cambridge University Press], which also neatly corresponds with the four stages of our GeoGebra intervention. A mixed-methods approach was used to collect data from 76 (NCV) students, using a combination of pre- and post-intervention tests and focus group interviews. The data confirmed that, through their engagement via GeoGebra, most students improved their understanding, visualisation and interpretation of algebraic hyperbola functions and that their systematic misconceptions about the transformation of hyperbola functions were addressed.