Exploring middle school mathematics teachers’ treatment of rational number examples in their classrooms : a multiple case study

Download
index.pdf
2014
Avcu, Ramazan
Show full item record
235
views
146
downloads
The purpose of this study was to explore middle school mathematics teachers’ treatment of rational number examples in their seventh grade classrooms. The data were collected from four middle school mathematics teachers who were teaching in different public schools in Aksaray during the fall semester of 2013-2014 education year. Data were mainly based on classroom observations, post lessons interviews, the student textbook and the middle school mathematics curriculum. The analysis of data revealed that teachers used 704 mathematically correct and 14 mathematically incorrect examples during the teaching of rational number concepts. Among the correct examples, 361 of them were spontaneous and 343 of them were pre-planned. Besides, teachers used 9 non-examples and 5 counter-examples. More importantly, findings showed that teachers employed the following principles or considerations when choosing or using rational number examples: starting with a simple or familiar case; drawing attention to students’ difficulty, error or misconception; keeping unnecessary work to minimum; taking account of examinations; including uncommon cases; and drawing attention to relevant features. Finally, this study revealed teachers’ three different poor choices of examples as mathematically incorrect examples, examples with improper language or terminology, and examples that are to be avoided in the teaching of rational number concepts. The findings of the study suggested that mathematics teachers could be provided information or training with different uses of examples in the mathematics classroom in order to enhance students’ learning experiences. The effects of national policies were also discussed.
Mathematics, Science, Teaching, Learning, Psychology of., Education, Elementary.
http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12618285/index.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/24277
Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis

Suggestions

Investigation into prospective middle school mathematics teachers' noticing of students' algebraic thinking within the context of pattern generalization
Özel, Zeynep.; Işıksal Bostan, Mine; Department of Secondary Science and Mathematics Education (2019)
The purpose of this study was to investigate prospective middle school mathematics teachers’ noticing skills of students’ algebraic thinking within the context of pattern generalization. In order to obtain in- depth exploration and understanding of issue, the qualitative research method, in particular, the case study design was used. Thirty-two prospective teachers who were studying at one of the public universities located in Ankara were selected via purposive sampling as participants. Data was collected i...
Exploring mathematical creativity in the fractions topic in a fifth grade mathematics class
Adıgüzel, Çağla; Haser, Çiğdem; Department of Elementary Science and Mathematics Education (2017)
The purpose of this study was to investigate of 5th grade students‟ mathematical creativity examples related to fractions topic. Therefore, a 5th grade class in a private school in which the mathematics teacher was also the researcher of the study was studied. Basic qualitative research design was used as a research method with convenience sampling at researcher‟s convenience. Data were gathered through observation protocol, paper tasks including two quizzes and a questionnaire, and inclass short interviews...
Exploring secondary mathematics teachers’ conceptions of mathematical literacy
Genç, Murat; Erbaş, Ayhan Kürşat; Department of Secondary Science and Mathematics Education (2017)
The purpose of this research study was to investigate secondary mathematics teachers’ conceptions of mathematical literacy. In doing so, the following three crucial interrelated issues were addressed: (i) teachers’ conceptions of what the notion of mathematical literacy means, (ii) teachers’ conceptions of how the development of mathematical literacy could be facilitated, and (iii) teachers’ conceptions of what a mathematics curriculum emphasizing mathematical literacy should look like. The data gathered fo...
The nature of prospective mathematics teachers' pedagogical content knowledge: the case of multiplication of fractions
Işıksal Bostan, Mine; Çakıroğlu, Erdinç (Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2011-06-01)
The purpose of this study was to investigate prospective mathematics teachers' knowledge of common conceptions and misconceptions that sixth and seventh grade students had about multiplication of fractions. In addition, prospective teachers' knowledge of the sources of these misconceptions and strategies they knew to overcome these misconceptions was examined. Data were collected from 17 Turkish prospective teachers at the end of the spring semester of the 2004-2005 academic year. A case study design was us...
Developing mathematical practices in a social context: a hypothetical learning trajectory to support preservice middle school mathematics teachers’ learning of triangles
Uygun, Tuğba; Akyüz, Didem; Department of Elementary Education (2015)
The purpose of the current study was to document preservice middle school mathematics teachers’ (PMSMT) classroom mathematical practices emerged through six-week instructional sequence about triangles. In this respect, the research question of “What are the classroom mathematical practices that are developed within design research environment using problem-based learning for teaching triangles to preservice middle school mathematics teachers?” guided the present study. In order to answer this research quest...
Citation Formats
R. Avcu, “Exploring middle school mathematics teachers’ treatment of rational number examples in their classrooms : a multiple case study,” Ph.D. - Doctoral Program, Middle East Technical University, 2014.
METU IIS - Integrated Information Service open@metu.edu.tr