Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to reveal primary mathematics teachers and primary teachers' views about the challenges in using materials mathematics teaching and causes of the challenges. The study is carried out with 107 teachers working in a city in South of Turkey and a questionnaire that included three parts was used as a data collection tool. In data analysis qualitative methods and quantitative methods was used. It was found that difficulties of using materials and causes of these difficulties according to classes' grades. In general the major difficulties of using materials were observed as 1)students mainly focus on the physical appearance of the materials rather than their functions in learning mathematics and 2) not show everything on the material related to the subject 3)the materials weren't appealing to the students. The reasons behind the challenges are 1)the materials aren't open to modifications, 2)teachers don't know well how to use them, 3)teachers use some of the materials too often and it isn't possible to show all aspects of a mathematics concept with a single material. The teachers reported that they don't use materials for some mathematics topics because they cannot find the required materials or don't need to use any material or they feel that they couldn't cover all topics. Key words: Mathematics teaching, the challenges of material usage, material usage causes of difficulties

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