Ortaokul Öğretmenlerinin Matematiksel Yaratıcılığı Destekleme Süreçlerinin İncelenmesi

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine middle school teachers' mathematical creativity development processes. The case study design, which is one of the qualitative research designs, was used in the research. Purposive sampling method was used to determine the participants. To determine the participants in the research, nine hundred middle school mathematics teachers were sent the Creativity Encouraging Teacher Behaviors Index. Ninety-two of these teachers answered the index. Then, semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten teachers who got high scores from the scale. In the interviews, the teachers were asked questions about what mathematical creativity is and how mathematical creativity can be fostered. From these interviews, a teacher who gave the most overlapping view with the literature was selected. To obtain more detailed data from the selected teacher, three activities that she thought fostered mathematical creativity were asked, and the activities she chose were interviewed and examined in detail. Finally, to examine the creativity-promoting behaviors of the selected teacher in the classroom, they were observed in their classes for six hours and post-observation interviews were conducted. The obtained data were analyzed with descriptive analysis. As a result of the research, it was seen that the teachers had misconceptions as well as their views that overlap with the literature. Moreover, it was concluded that the views of the selected teacher overlap with the literature, but they could not fully reflect these views on their in-class behaviors for many reasons.