Learning translation in geometric transformations through digital and manipulative artefacts in synergy

In this paper we report a study that aims to highlight the potentialities of the combined use of both digital and manipulative artefacts to construct and conceptualize mathematical meanings related to the notion of translation. The research hypothesis of our study is that, the alternating use of a digital and a manipulative artefact foster synergically the construction of mathematical meanings. Both the design and the analysis of data is framed by the Theory of Semiotic Mediation in a Vygotskijan perspective. The study involved a class of 20 students, aged 13-14, of a secondary school in the Apulia Region, Italy. Data collection of the study is based on student interaction transcriptions during experimental task execution, written answers to given questions, and finally the transcripts and video analysis of the collective discussions concluding each experimental cycle.