Eureka! Institutional Repository

ABSTRACT This diploma thesis presents the development of a methodology for dealing with learning problems in Physics teaching, which are related to the understanding and management of graphs, whose importance in both, Physics science and Physics teaching is great. The methodology is addressed to students of the 1st Lyceum with prospects of expanding in the next Lyceum classes. Initially, the nature of these learning problems and the principles with which an educational software faces learning problems based on the theories of learning constructivism was explored. Existing software, such as Interactive Physics, does not focus on learning problems related to graphs and/or cannot be used from distance. For these reasons, GeoGebra Dynamic Geometry Software was selected and used to develop interactive dynamic graphing management applications. The design of these applications was based on the nature of the relevant learning problems and by applying the principles of software design with dynamic visualizations. In order to exploit applications remotely, the features of various types of educational information systems (CMS, LMS, LCMS and e-Learning Platforms) were explored and GeoGebra's online learning platform was chosen to create an educational information system which allows: • The management and reuse of educational content based on the applications of dynamic graphics and the cooperation of teachers in this field. • The creation of virtual classes for web-enhanced courses, with the ability to evaluate pupils' performance by teacher and give respective feedback to the students. The information system was used in teaching Physics in a school classroom and its usability was evaluated by the students. After exploring evaluation strategies and methods, the final, exploratory, quantitative, evaluation method was chosen using the existing “System Usability Scale (SUS)” questionnaire. The results of the evaluation showed that the usability of the system is “well acceptable”.