Turkish Journal of Computer and Mathematics Education

31-53

Authors: Yasemin Deringöl

The present study aims to identify and examine prospective classroom teachers’ beliefs in solving mathematical problems and their self-efficacy beliefs about posing mathematical problems through various different variables. To this end, the study has been conducted with the participation of 171 prospective classroom teachers currently studying at a state university. The following data collection tools have been used in the study: “Personal Information Form”, “Belief Scale for Mathematical Problem Solving” and the “Belief Scale for Problem Posing Self-Efficacy”. The data thus obtained has been analyzed by using Independent Sample t Test, One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Pearson Product Correlation Coefficient technique. As a result of the study, it has been established that the prospective classroom teachers have a moderate level of belief in solving mathematical problems while maintaining a higher level of self-efficacy belief in posing mathematical problems. It has also been established that there is a moderately positive and statistically significant relationship between the prospective classroom teachers’ beliefs in solving mathematical problems and their self-efficacy beliefs posing mathematical problems. The results of this study suggest that the introduction of curricular activities that may help prospective classroom teachers improve their beliefs in solving problems and their self-efficacy beliefs in posing problems during their university years may bring about positive outcomes.

72-96

Authors: Ali Bozkurt, Semra Polat

This study examines sixth grade students’ mathematical thinking,through comparing their teacher's questions and their answers to thees questions. Five class videos taken consecutively in a particular sixth-grade classroom taught by a mathematics teacher were used as data resource. The dialogues in the videos were transcribed. The data were qualitatively analyzed. Within the scope of the analysis, codes were formed out of the participants’ answers, and their frequencies were calculated. According to the results, the teacher often used specific questions to remove students' missing, incorrect or uncertain answers, while they rarely used leading question types. Also, he used general questions to allow the students to elaborate their explanations, thereby encouraging them to rethink their answers. Moreover, when the students answers were accurate and sufficient, the teacher preferred general question types.

122-146

Authors: Gülşah Özdemir Baki, Ahmet Işık

The purpose of the study is to investigate the noticing levels of six teachers about students’ mathematical thinking. The four of teachers participated in the lesson study professional development process, and the rest did not participate in the process of lesson study. Nearly two months after the lesson study implementations were completed with the participant teachers, these six teachers were asked to write a report to evaluate the teaching process after they would watch the video recorded lessons. The data collection tools of this case study were the video recordings which the participants watched, participants’ evaluation reports and unstructured interviews. The theoretical framework developed by van Es (2011) was used to interpret the effects of lesson study process on the teachers’ noticing levels towards their students’ mathematical thinking. The findings showed that the noticing levels of the teachers, who participated in the lesson study process, appeared to be higher than the non-participant teachers. The findings also showed that lesson study professional development process increased teachers’ noticing levels on students’ mathematical thinking.

378-407

Authors: Emre Ev Çimen, Şafak Yıldız

The purpose of this study is to determine how much and what type of problem posing activities are included in the secondary school mathematics textbooks. In the study, secondary school mathematics textbooks of 2016-2017 academic year presented in the internet environment by the Training and Education Board were analyzed. A total of six mathematics books were analyzed in the research; two of them published by National Education Ministry and four of them published by private publishers. The books were evaluated in terms of the extent and types of problem posing activities included. As the results of the research, it was seen that there were limited number and variety of problem posing activities in all the books except the 8th grade textbook published by a private publisher. Furthermore, in the books analyzed, it was found that there was no balanced distribution of problem posing activities in the sub-learning areas and that there was not a book including all types of problem posing activities that cover all of the learning areas. Based on these results, to be able to in accordance with the purpose of the curriculum, it is suggested that secondary school mathematics textbooks should include more and diverse problem posing activities in the manner that will cover the learning areas in a balanced way. It was also found that there was no balanced distribution of problem posing activities in the lower learning areas, and no publishing house where all of the problem-setting types are used. In a similar vein, it was seen that there were no publishing houses that provided problem-setting activities for the entire learning area. In the study, textbooks were suggested to provide problem-setting activities more appropriately in accordance with the purpose of the curriculum, and to diversify problem-building activities.

438-458

Authors: Meriç Özgeldi, Aslıhan Osmanoğlu

In recent years, it has been drawn attention to the real life connections with mathematics as an important topic. Although the majority of the studies in the literature point that building the real life connection is vital, only some of them examine how and why teachers and prospective teachers build this connection. The participants of this study were the third-year prospective mathematics teachers who were studying in the department of mathematics teaching at a medium-sized state university and who take the Special Teaching Methods-II course in spring 2015-2016. 57 prospective secondary mathematics teachers were asked to establish real life connections in the direction of objectives from the teaching program, and to explain their reasons. The codes obtained from the study of Gainsburg (2008) and Lee (2012) were used for the data analysis. The findings indicated that prospective teachers were able to make explicit connections between mathematics and real life, understand the relation of mathematics to real life, and appreciate the use of building connections for the students.

481-512

Authors: Ebru Albayrak Özer, Mübin Kıyıcı

The aim of the research is to examine the relationship between students’ personality types (extraversion, introversion, openness to experience and closeness to experience) and their preference of various Web 2.0 tools to describe how these tools can be utilized in educational settings. Specifically, the study investigates which of the Web 2.0 tools are preferred and best meet the need of the different personality types. The participants included 22 students who were in their third year in the Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technologies of the Sakarya University during the semester of Fall 2014. Five of these students were introvert, five were extrovert, six of them were open to experience and six were closed to experience. These students were selected with the purposive sampling method out of 30 students who were subjected to the Adjective-Based Personality Test. According to the results, students’ preferences of using social media differed by their personality types. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram were the most popular tools among students. Results from the study also indicate that it is critical to utilize the most preferable and practical web 2.0 tools so that students with different personality traits could adapt to the class. Furthermore, measures need to be taken to prevent possible negative consequences of using these tools.

244-260

Authors: Hacer Özyurt, Özcan Özyurt

This study aims to investigation of students’ opinions about project based learning approach implemented in Visual Programing Course. The study was conducted in Technology Faculty, Software Engineering Department of a university in Turkey in 2015-2016 fall semester. 11 students taking Visual Programing Course were chosen as sample group. In the scope of the course 5 students studied independently, 6 students studied in groups consisting of two students. Students produced projects for the subjects they choice in visual programing environment. During the study an individual participant working alone and 2 groups left the study. Qualitative research method was used in the study, and interviews were conducted with 6 students in total - four individual students and two students studying in a group. The data obtained from interviews were subjected to content analysis. The results of the study show that project based learning approach contributes the learning process of the students at a significant level. However, even if they are in limited numbers there are also negative views about the approach.

284-322

Authors: Melike Yiğit Koyunkaya

The main purpose of this study was to examine pre-service secondary mathematics teachers’ (PSMTs) levels and development of technological, pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK). In line with this purpose, this study was designed to use teaching experiment methodology within a course. Therefore, while examining PSMTs’ development of TPACK, an appropriate teaching method that supported development of PSMTs’ TPACK was shared in this article. The participants of the study were 28 fourth grade PSMTs. The teaching experiment methodology, one of the methods of qualitative research design, was used in the study. By using this method, PSMTs were taught about how to integrate technology into mathematics education, how to use varios mathematics and geometry dynamic software, interactive applications that are used in mathematics education and various websites related to education during 16 weeks and four hours in each week. The data was collected during the experiment, and analyzed by using content analysis and document analysis methods. The results show that PSMTs’ TPACK levels were developed by applying the teaching experiment methodology. Particularly, in the activities they designed, lesson plans, reflections and free writings, it was observed that PSMTS’ skills about how to integrate technology in order to ease the learning and teaching of mathematics and utilizing it were developed. Within this context, it is thought that technology integrated courses or technology based courses should be taught in the education programs.

28-51

Authors: Sacide Güzin Mazman Akar, Osman Birgin, Büşra Göksu, Kübra Uzun, Büşra Gümüş, Elif Seval Peker

The purpose of this study is to adapt “Student Engagement in Mathematics Scale”, developed by Rimm-Kauffman (2010), into Turkish and to determine validity and reliability of the scale in Turkish form. The study group is consisted of 602 secondary school students. The original scale consisted of 13 items with three factors (social, emotional and cognitive). Adapted scale’s test-retest reliability coefficient was found .591 and Cronbach alpha value was found .872. Item-total correlations of scale items ranged between .30 to .66. First order and second order confirmatory factor analyses were executed for construct validity. As a result of confirmatory factor analyses, the scale was confirmed consisting of three factors namely “social”, “cognitive” and “emotional” as in original scale. These results showed that Turkish form of the scale, being reliable and valid, can be used in studies related to mathematics engagement.

83-102

Authors: Zeynep Dursun Sürmeli, Gülsen Ünver

In this study, the correlation between math achievement and self-regulating learning strategies, epistemological beliefs, academic self-concept of 9th grade student was examined. In 2013-2014 academic year, the study was performed on 630 students of 9th grade that receive education in high schools chosen from the institution of secondary education in European side of İstanbul through random cluster sampling. In study of correlational survey model, the sub-scales of “Self-regulation” and “The Cognitive Strategy Use”, as “The Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire”, was used. The epistemological beliefs of students were evaluated through “The Mathematics-Oriented Epistemological Beliefs Scale”. To evaluate the academic self-concept of students, “Academics Self-concepts Scale” was used. The math achievement of the students was evaluated by grade that they obtained from math achievement test. In the direction of the study purpose, the relation between regressive variables and regressing variables was examined by regression analysis techniques. The result of this study proved that there was statistically a meaningful correlation between the use of cognitive strategy, academics self-concept and the math achievement. In addition, it was shown that the math achievement was not present any statistical meaningful correlation with self-regulation and epistemological beliefs. In the result of this study, it was shown that the math achievement was significantly predicted (10%) by the variable of academics self-concept whereas it was not significantly predicted by variables of self-regulating learning strategies and epistemological beliefs.

130-160

Authors: İbrahim Bayazit, Servet Merve Kırnap-Dönmez

This study investigates prospective elementary school teachers’ proficiencies at problem posing. The research employed qualitative case study method in order to examine the case in its natural setting and from the participants’ perspectives. The research was carried out with 162 prospective elementary mathematics teachers. A written exam, which included 10 open-ended tasks, was administered to the participants; and then semi-structured interview was conducted with 8 participants. Data were analyzed through content and discourse analysis methods. The results indicated that most of the participants were not proficient enough at posing conceptually rich and cognitively challenging problems. They displayed relatively better success at generating problems through re-formulation tasks; yet, they did this by changing story of the original tasks or the numerical values in it. Their success declined gradually when they were generating problems from semi-structured and free problem posing situations. The problems that they constructed excluded mathematical reasoning and creativity; these tasks could be resolved by the application of rules, procedures and factual knowledge. The participants’ lack of proficiency at problem posing seems to be resulting from their educational backgrounds. Thus, it is suggested that engaging prospective teachers in problem posing activities, especially in semi-structured and free situations, during their undergraduate education will contribute to the solution of this problem.

188-217

Authors: Mahmut Kertil, Ayhan Kürşat Erbaş, Bülent Çetinkaya

As a part of a larger study aiming at developing pre-service teachers’ pedagogical knowledge about mathematical modeling, this study investigates pre-service elementary mathematics teachers’ ways of thinking regarding rate of change in the context of a modeling task on population growth. The participants of the study were 9 prospective middle school mathematics teachers in their senior year attending a public university. The study was conducted as a part of an undergraduate course on mathematical modeling for prospective teachers. Data were collected through the prospective teachers’ written group work and reports regarding their solution to the modeling activity, individual reflection papers, and researchers’ field-notes. The results showed that participants demonstrated two different ways of thinking about the expression “rate of change in population with respect to time”: (i) percentage of change in population, and (ii) per year change in population (slope). Even though “percentage” interpretation was dominant, some of the participants were directed to “per year change in population” interpretation as the year intervals in the problem context were not given with equal intervals. The results revealed about prospective teachers’ difficulties in conceiving the difference and the mathematical relationship between “percentage” and “slope” interpretations. The results also revealed about the problematic aspect of expressing the term/concept “rate of change” in Turkish. As possible sources of these difficulties, the results are discussed in light of the distinction between rate and ratio.

510-535

Authors: Candaş Uygan, Aytaç Kurtuluş

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of teaching activities supported by Google SketchUp, which is a 3–Dimensional modeling software, and concrete models on the basic skills related to spatial ability in teaching geometric solids. The study sample consisted of 72 preservice teachers who were studying elementary mathematics education in 2009-2010 academic year in a state-funded university in Central Anatolia, Turkey. This was an experimental study. The study used a pretest posttest control group design and included two experimental groups and a control group. One of the experimental groups was taught using Google SketchUp while the other one was taught with concrete model-aided teaching activities. The activities, designed for the control group, were carried out with some traditional teaching tools such as paper, pencil and classroom writing board. The Santa Barbara Solids Test (SBST) and the Purdue Spatial Visualization Test (PSVT) were used to measure spatial ability. The SBST measures the ability to mentally visualize the cross-sections of 3D objects. The PSVT consists of three parts: “Developments”, which measures skills to visualize a 3D object based on its surface development; “Rotations”, which measures skills to mentally rotate 3D objects; and “Views”, which measures skills to visualize different views of 3D objects. The study identified significant increases in the scores received for all of the tests by the group using Google SketchUp, in the scores received for the SBST and Developments part by the group using concrete models, and in the scores received for only the Developments part by the control group. Also, the posttest average score received for the “Views” part by the experimental group using Google SketchUp was significantly higher than the score of the experimental group using concrete models and the control group.

553-577

Authors: Ayhan Sarı, Taner Altun

This study aimed to examine high school students’ views about effects of gamification on their interests, motivation towards and participation in to lessons. Case study designation within qualitative research approach was adopted in the study. The study was carried out in a Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School with 27 students who attend to Information Technologies Department at that school. “Number Systems” and “Logical Gate Circuits” topics were instructed by the teacher for 4 weeks and some gamification elements were included in the lessons. Formerly module was taught by using traditional teaching methods but this time some of the gamification elements such as based on students’ performances some materials (stars, badges, league tables etc.,) and electronic result graphs were shared with students both in the class and on the Internet vis social media. Within the process students’ actions in the class were observed and recorded through semi-structured observation forms. At the end of 4 weeks randomly selected 7 participated students were interviewed about the learning activities which included gamification. According to data analysis results it is found that gamification elements increases students’ interests and motivation towards computer lessons and makes them more active in terms of participating into lessons. At the end of the study some recommendations about effective use of gamification in lessons were made for researchers and teachers.

601-620

Authors: Mustafa Sarıtepeci, Hatice Durak, S. Sadi Seferoğlu

This study aimed at determining the situations/issues that teachers need to be supported through in-service activities within the scope of the project at secondary schools where FATİH Project is implemented. The participants of the study included 60 teachers of different subjects which teach at the schools where FATİH project was implemented and that had participated in “FATİH Training on Technology Use”. A survey, which was entitled “Teachers’ in-service training needs and views within the scope of FATİH project”, developed by the researchers, was used as the data collection instrument in the study. The findings showed that, according to participant teachers, the topics which need to be covered during the in-service training activities are reported as follows: “Use of technology in education”, “The use of internet for educational purposes”, and “Effective use of teaching materials”. Based on the results, it can be stated that although the participant teachers took part in the in-service training activity titled “FATİH Project – In-service Training on the use of Technology”, which covered most of the topics listed above, it is clear that their needs were not met. Thus, it could be emphasized the fact that an effective need analysis is important before a training activity is implemented.

646-658

Authors: Mehmet Hayri Sarı

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the spatial skills and anxiety levels of pre-service primary-school teachers. Gender that was considered as an important variable on spatial ability and spatial anxiety was also taken into account in the study. Totally 267 pre-service primary-school teachers studying at the third grades of totally four universities including two in the province and two in the district area participated into the research. “Spatial Visualization Test” and “Spatial Anxiety Scale” were used for collecting the data from pre-service teachers. It was determined as result of the study that pre-service male teachers were more successful rather than the female pre-service teachers in terms of spatial skills. Furthermore, female pre-service teachers were noticed to have higher spatial anxiety rather than the male pre-service teachers. Also it was found a significant negative correlation between the spatial anxiety and spatial skill. Some suggestions were offered within the framework of obtained findings.