EXAMINING THE ATTITUDE CHANGE OF PRE-SERVICE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS TOWARDS A COURSE OF MATHEMATICS EDUCATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THEORY OF DIDACTICAL SITUATIONS
This study investigated whether the training program given within the framework of the Theory of Didactical Situations (TDS) within a mathematics education course could change the pre-service elementary teachers’ attitudes towards a mathematics education course in an 11-week teaching process. In the study, the mixed method was used. The participants were 86 pre-service elementary teachers (52 female and 34 male). In the study, the quantitative research data were collected using the Attitude Scale for Mathematics Education Courses (ASMEC), and the qualitative data were collected using semi-structured interviews. For the analysis of the quantitative data, paired samples t-test was applied, and for the analysis of the qualitative data, content analysis was conducted. The results revealed that the training program given in line with TDS created a statistically significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of the pre-service elementary school teachers with respect to their attitudes towards courses of mathematics education (t(85)=-2.22, p=.029) and that there was no statistically significant difference in terms of gender, though (t(84)=.987, p=.327 and t(84)=1.108, p=.258). It was found that the training program given in accordance with TDS had a positive influence on changing and developing the attitudes of the pre-service elementary teachers towards mathematics education courses
