Abstract

In this paper we document and analyze the extent to which the systematic use of a Dynamic Geometry System (DGS) in problem solving activities can become a means to integrating the synthetic and analytical aspects of geometry. We analyze some solution paths for a task of geometric construction, implemented by three participants at a problem-solving seminar. We identify limitations of purely analytical approaches as well as the usefulness of integrating analytical and synthetic techniques to construct or justify a solution path. We observed that solving problems of geometric construction without the support offered by digital technology reduces the opportunities that a solver has to interpret algebraic procedures from a geometric perspective and to construct meaning for mathematical ideas and concepts.