Imagining and visualizing: 3D geometry with and without virtual reality

Piroi Margherita, Casi Raffaele, Sabena Cristina, Soldano Carlotta

In the workshop, which took place in Turin for the XI CONVEGNO NAZIONALE DI DIDATTICA DELLA FISICA E DELLA MATEMATICA, participants engaged in activities related to three-dimensional geometry. These activities allowed them to reflect on visualization processes, initially in a traditional environment, and then through the use of the virtual reality software Neotrie, developed by a team from the University of Almeria.

As emphasized by both mathematicians and mathematics education researchers, the ability to ‘see’ in mathematics is fundamental in preventing the reduction of the subject to a collection of meaningless concepts and procedures. The well-known challenge of visualizing and exploring the properties of three-dimensional figures makes this necessity particularly vital from a pedagogical perspective. Neotrie holds significant potential for supporting these processes. During the workshop, the participants were introduced to the software’s potentialities in terms of creation, manipulation, and interaction with 3d objects. The software is accessible in the Life laboratory at the University of Turin and may serve as the subject of future experiments in primary and secondary school classrooms.