Geogebra in Real-Life: Important Tips to Support Student Creative Thinking in Mathematics

Abstract

Creativity is an important personality trait to use in everyday life. This allows us to be flexible when facing real life situations. Mathematics education should be seen as an opportunity for creativity development, even though creativity is not traditionally associated with mathematics. One of the goals of education at every level is to encourage students to think creatively, think logically, and be able to solve problems. This study aimed to provide important tips to support the student creative thinking when studying mathematics. This study also described activities outside the classroom that could develop the student creativity related to geometry. The methods used were surveys, interviews, and classroom and outdoor observations. We used brainstorming in mathematics education. The results of the research during the survey were visible. Researchers collaborated with students aged 19 to 21 years. We asked them to search for “any geometry” and take pictures of interesting objects while they were doing the activity. Next, students created ideas for geometry assignments based on the photos they took. The large collection of photos collected represented the basis for creating mathematical problems without any specific steps related to geometric objects. These open problems could be solved by students. In conclusion, Geogebra could encourage the student creative thinking by providing the opportunity to experiment with their own ideas and find solutions to mathematical problems.