Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to examine the prospective mathematics teachers' perceptions of lifelong learning competencies. The study group of the research consisted of 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th year prospective teachers studying at mathematics education undergraduate program of the education faculty of a public university. In this research, cross-sectional research method was used within the scope of descriptive research approach in order to reveal how mathematics teacher candidates' perceptions of lifelong learning competencies have improved. In the research, as a data collection tool "Key Competencies for Lifelong Learning" scale developed by Şahin, Akbaşlı and Yanpar-Yelken (2010) was used. Independent samples t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to compare the mean scores obtained from the scale by variables. The results obtained from the research indicated that the prospective mathematics teachers participated in the research have high level of life-long learning competencies. A significant difference was found in prospective mathematics teachers’ scores of life-long learning competencies as regards their genders and the high schools they graduate from. Participants graduated from Anatolian High School and Teacher Training High School had higher scores than the other participants. However, no significant difference was found in prospective mathematics teachers’ scores of life-long learning competencies regarding the year of their study.

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