GEOGEBRA DYNAMIC SOFTWARE AS MATHEMATICAL MODELING SUPPORT IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION
Keywords:
Engineering education, mathematical modeling, GeoGebra, motion problemAbstract
Engineers have always represented a pillar of development of any society that strives towards further
improvement and enhancement. Taking into account the importance of the role that engineers play in the
development of modern society, it is essential that the education of future engineers be at the highest possible level.
The perspective of engineering education tends towards functional knowledge as its main goal, which means
preparing students to use their knowledge in a professional environment and to apply it to solving problems from
various fields of engineering. In engineering, no matter its branch, mathematics has one of the most important roles
because it represents the universal language of communication in science and engineering. Everyday engineering
professional practice requires the application of many mathematical disciplines. Recent trends in engineering
education aim at improving the mathematical skills of students, and significant efforts have been made toward
creating new educational strategies for teaching mathematics in engineering. Computer technologies and
mathematical modeling have a significant role in engineering education. Future engineers depend upon the
experience of working with examples from real practice, which is often very hard to realize because of laboratory
restrictions, expenses, and safety problems. In this paper, we propose a new approach to teaching mathematics in
engineering, based on the use of mathematical modeling supported by computer technologies using the dynamical
software GeoGebra. The aim of the authors of this paper was to explore students’ perception of the influence of
mathematical modeling supported by computer technologies, on creating positive attitudes towards mathematics and
its usefulness in the engineering profession. For the purpose of the research mathematical model of motion problem
was created in GeoGebra software. All key elements of the simulation of the motion problems’ mathematical model
were highlighted and discussed. The teachers’ impressions after the teaching process clearly implied that students
had a very positive attitude toward teaching using mathematical modeling and GeoGebra. This confirmed that
students recognized the importance of the presented methods of approach and see the future of engineering
education in the application of real examples and visualization in the classroom. Considering the directions of the
further development of the presented method, the authors of this paper are strongly convinced that there are many
fields of mathematics and engineering where the application of mathematical modeling and GeoGebra is possible
and that there is a future for teaching approaches based on these principles.
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