Opinions and evaluations of mathematics teachers on concrete models of their design in the context of positive psychology

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the opinions and evaluations of pre-service mathematics and pre-service primary school teachers regarding the concrete models of their design during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the context of positive psychology. In this study, a mixed research method, in which quantitative and qualitative research methods are used together was used. The participant group of the study consists of 441 pre-service mathematics and pre-service primary school teachers studying at universities. For the conduct of the qualitative research, 44 pre-service teachers were selected using the purposive sampling method. "Mathematics Teaching Practices Enriched with Concrete Models Perception Scale" developed by the researchers was used to collect the quantitative data to reveal the opinions of teachers regarding mathematics teaching practices enriched with concrete models. In this study, open-ended questions were used to obtain qualitative data, and the data were evaluated with content analysis. According to the results of the study, it was determined that the majority of the pre-service teachers had positive perceptions of concrete models. Pre-service teachers argued that they would use concrete models in their professional lives and that these models were indispensable for mathematics education. In addition, advantages and disadvantages for mathematics educators regarding the use of concrete models are presented.

Keywords: concrete models; positive psychology; pre-service teacher; primary mathematics education; teaching mathematics.