Enhancing Creative Mathematical Thinking with GeoGebra : A Comparative Study of Secondary School Students

Developing students' creative mathematical thinking skills is essential for problem-solving and innovation in mathematics education. GeoGebra, as a dynamic geometry software, has been widely used to support conceptual understanding and visualization. However, limited studies have explored its impact on creative mathematical thinking in schools with different characteristics. This study aims to analyze and provide an overview of the improvement in students’ creative mathematical thinking skills using GeoGebra software in schools with different characteristics. This research uses a quasi-experimental method with a pre-test and post-test design without a control group. The sample consists of 90 eleventh-grade students from three high schools in Padang City. Data were collected through tests of creative mathematical thinking skills and classroom observations. Statistical analyses, including Wilcoxon and t-tests, were conducted to measure the significance of changes in students' creative thinking skills. The results indicate that most aspects of creative thinking skills showed significant improvement, particularly in originality and flexibility, although there was a decline in some aspects, namely fluency and elaboration, in these schools. The Wilcoxon and t-test analyses showed a significant difference (p < 0.05) between students' pre-test and post-test creative mathematical thinking scores. Therefore, there is an improvement in students’ creative mathematical thinking skills after learning using GeoGebra. This study demonstrates that integrating GeoGebra into mathematics instruction enhances students’ creative mathematical thinking. The results suggest that GeoGebra can be an effective tool for fostering creativity in mathematics education. Future research should focus on addressing the decline in fluency and elaboration to optimize its implementation.