Abstract:

The aim of this study was to examine in-service elementary mathematics teachers’ conceptions of histogram and their difficulties about its teaching process. By using purposeful sampling method, participants were selected as six in-service elementary mathematics teachers teaching at different private or government schools in Ankara. Data was obtained via a semi-structured interview form which was prepared by the researchers. The interviews were conducted individually and recorded with a voice recorder. The results of the study indicated that some teachers did not make reasonable interpretations about the meaning of histogram, the width of the interval, and the number of the groups. In addition, they had problems in their teaching processes because of the mistakes in the eighth grade mathematics teachers’ book, problems encountering students, and out-of-school education factors. Especially, teachers stated that they found inconsistent the explanations about the width of the interval of a histogram in the teachers’ book for eighth grade level.

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