Abstract:

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of the distance education during the Covid-19 pandemic on middle school students’ attitudes towards mathematics. To examine the effect of the distance education during Covid-19 more comprehensively, a mixed method research was used. Among the seventh-grade students studying in eight schools in the Aegean Region, 562 students voluntarily participated in the quantitative part and of these, 52 students participated in the qualitative part. While the Mathematics Attitude Scale was used as a quantitative data collection tool, qualitative data were collected with using 18-item open-ended questions prepared by the researchers. Statistical techniques such as descriptive and paired sample t-test were used in the analysis of quantitative data and qualitative data were analyzed with descriptive analysis technique. Quantitative findings showed that students' attitudes towards mathematics were at moderate level. In terms of face-to-face and distance education, significant differences were found in favor of face-to-face education in students' attitudes towards mathematics. Qualitative findings showed that students had difficulties in communicating with the teacher in distance education, were easily distracted, and therefore, they had difficulty in understanding the subjects in the mathematics. The results of this study, in which qualitative findings support quantitative findings, emphasize the importance of developing teachers' technological pedagogical content knowledge.

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