How Current Literature on the Fourth Industrial Revolution Can Be Used to Enhance Learners’ Self-Regulated Skills Required to Solve Circle Geometry Problems

Using qualitative research approached where data was collected from learners’ responses to cyclic geometry tasks the study attempted to provide explanations to meaning and use of self-regulated learning. Research asserts that if learners in Mathematics classrooms are to be self-regulated in content and conceptions, they need to be presented with learning opportunities that enable metacognition: being able to represent and evaluate their own thinking. Learners must also be able to critique, observe and mirror other learners’ self-regulated constructs. This chapter presents self-regulated learning as it relates to mathematics problem solving. The researcher explored the problem-solving strategies and self-efficacy beliefs exhibited by students during Euclidean geometry problem solving in grade 12. The problems were solved using the usual textbook-developed approaches and compared with the literature on solving tasks using GeoGebra. The students were drawn from the cohort of National Certificate (Vocational) level 4 students engaged with mathematical problem-solving tasks; and the findings were that using the GeoGebra mathematical software, students were able to solve Euclidian geometry problems with minimal exhibition of errors. The finding revealed several knowledge gaps that exist among learners and the various errors they made. Using the literature on one of the technological developments of 4IR to enhance self-regulated learning, GeoGebra mathematical software, I explored further how students can benefit from using it. The literature further revealed that students’ conceptual knowledge of Euclidian geometry was better understood using effective instructional approaches accompanied by appropriate mathematical software such as GeoGebra. The conclusion reached is that self-regulation on mathematical topics such as Euclidean geometry problem solving is difficult for NC(V) level 4 students to enact when their content knowledge is weak; but it can be improved using effective instructional approaches advanced in modern educational technologies.