Preservice elementary mathematics teachers' efficacy beliefs about using manipulatives in teaching mathematics


Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Eğitim Fakültesi, Matematik ve Fen Bilimleri Eğitimi Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2007

Öğrenci: EZGİ BAKKALOĞLU

Danışman: ERDİNÇ ÇAKIROĞLU

Özet:

This study analyzes the preservice elementary mathematics teachers’ self efficacy beliefs and outcome expectancies about using manipulatives and investigates whether, or not, university and gender differences have any significant effect on their self efficacy and outcome expectancies. In mathematics education, students’ conceptions about abstract mathematical ideas and being able to convert them into concrete ideas are very important. For this reason, it is very beneficial to use manipulative materials in the mathematics lessons. However, most of the preservice mathematics teachers in Turkey lack knowledge about using manipulatives. The sample of present study consisted of 77 senior undergraduate students studying in Elementary Mathematics Teacher Education programs at 2 different universities located in Ankara and Izmir. Data were collected in spring term of 2006-2007 academic years. The survey items were adopted from previously developed teacher efficacy instrument, which partly ensures the items to be parallel with the existing theory about the construct. The survey consisted of three parts; demographic information, knowledge about the manipulatives, and ‘The Instrument of Preservice Mathematics Teachers’ Efficacy Beliefs about Using Manipulatives’(EBMU). The present study demonstrated that the gender differences did not effect preservice elementary mathematics teachers’ personal manipulative use teaching efficacy whereas the university differences had a significant effect on their personal manipulative use teaching efficacy. In addition, the gender and university attended produced statistically significant main effect on preservice elementary mathematics teachers’ outcome expectancies.