The Effect of Using Cabri 3D Program on the Achievement of the Eighth Grade Students in the Unit of Geometry and Their Motivation Towards it at the South of Nablus Schools

As the title indicates, this study sought to find out the effect of using Cabri 3D Program on the achievement of eighth grade in the unit of geometry and their motivation towards it at the south of Nablus schools. To this end, this study endeavored to answer the following question: What is the effect of using Cabri3 Program on eighth grades’ achievement in the geometry unit and their motivation to learn it? To answer this question and test the study hypothesis, the researcher conducted an experiment on a sample of 70 eight grade female students at Awarta Primary School for Girls. The sample was divided into two groups: control and experimental. The former studied the geometry unit in the mathematics textbook, using the traditional method of learning. The latter group studied the same unit, using the Cabri3 Program. The study experiment was conducted in the second semester of 2013/14. To collect data for the study, the researcher administered three instruments to the sample of the study. The first instrument was a posttest of achievement to measure the female students’ achievement after completion of the study/learning of the geometry unit. The results were verified through referees. The reliability coefficient, after calculation, was 0.80. The second instrument was a 29-item motivation scale to measure the two groups’ motivation towards learning geometry. This scale was administered to the sample before the teaching/learning of the unit and its completion. Its validity was verified by referring to referees. The reliability coefficient was found to be 0.96. The third method was a two-question interview to find out the participants’ and their teachers’ attitude towards the use of Cabri3D Program in the learning/teaching of geometry. The collected data were processed using One-Way Anova and Pearson Correlation Coefficient. After data analysis, it was found that there was a statistically significant difference at a= 0.05 between the mean scores of the female students in the experimental group and the female students in the control group. This difference, in the total score of the posttest of achievement, might be attributed to the method of teaching/learning used: traditional way versus Cabri 3D Program. The difference was in favor of the experimental group. It was also found that there was a statistically significant difference at a= 0.05 in the means of motivation between the experimental group and the control group which could also be attributed to the method of teaching: traditional way and Cabri 3D Program. The difference was also in favor of the experimental group. However, no statistical correlation at a=0.05 was found between academic achievement and motivation of eighth grade students towards learning geometry. In the light of the study findings, the researcher suggest making active use of them given the positive effect of using the Cabri 3D program in improving the students’ academic achievement in mathematics and increase of their motivation towards learning it. In addition, she recommends holding training courses for math teachers using the Cabri 3D Program.