Elementary Freshmen’s Mathematical Attitudes in Teaching Incorporating Free Problem Posing Activities

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the impact that teaching incorporating free problem posing activities has on elementary freshmen's attitudes toward mathematics. As such, this study employs an embedded mixed methods design which includes quasi-experimental design. The participants of this study consisted of 33 elementary freshmen at a university in the Marmara region of Turkey during the fall semester of the 2017-2018 school year. The participants were selected using convenience sampling. The study's data were collected using two instruments: the mathematical problem posing performance file and the mathematics attitudes scale. Quantitative data of the study were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistic while qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis. Quantitative findings revealed there to be a statistically significant difference between the pretest and the posttest scores for the entire mathematics attitudes scale and for the interest-love sub factor. The qualitative findings, however, indicated that freshmen's opinions could be grouped into two main categories: the affective dimension and the cognitive dimension.