Session Information
24 SES 07 B, Curriculum Materials in the Mathematics Classroom
Paper Session
Contribution
Through the curriculum reform that started in 2004 in Turkey, the field of mathematics curriculum and curriculum materials has been a rapidly growing field. The curriculum reform emphasized the students’ developing interrelated understanding of mathematical concepts, principles, and processes. Increased importance has been placed on students’ doing mathematics which means exploring mathematical ideas, solving problems, making connections among mathematical ideas, and applying them in the real life situations (Talim ve Terbiye Kurulu (TTKB) [Board of Education and Discipline], 2008). Consequently, mathematics textbooks (with accompanying teacher guides) were redesigned due to the current curriculum development in response to curriculum reform.
Textbooks are among the most widely used and trusted written resources by students and teachers for school based learning in all parts of the world (Beaton, Mullis, Martin, Gonzalez, Kelly, & Smith, 1996). Teachers often rely heavily on textbooks for many decisions such as what to teach, how to teach it, what kinds of tasks and exercises to assign to their students ; and students often use for classroom exercise and homework assignment (Robitaille & Travers, 1992). Particularly, textbooks are used “as source of problem and exercises, as reference book, and as a teacher in themselves” (Howson, 1995, p.25). In fact, textbooks do not force teachers to use the same way for instruction; rather they capture the process of constructing mathematical topics and skills (Schmidt, McKnight, Valverde, Houang, & Wiley, 1997).
In this study, I examined how teachers’ use of textbook was changed after the curriculum reform. There are a number of frameworks that offer alternative perspectives about the relationship among the teacher, the textbook, and the curriculum (Brown, 2002; Remillard, 2005; Sosniak & Stodolsky, 1993). In particular, I used Remillard’s framework (2005) which synthesizes the previous empirical research and represents an attempt to reveal their theoretical roots. In this framework, there are four main constructs: the teacher, the curriculum, the participatory relationship between them, and the resulting planned and enacted curricula. The framework assumes a perspective that curriculum use involves “a participatory relationship between the teacher and the curriculum” (Remillard, 2005, p.236). These include teacher characteristics such as perceptions of students, beliefs, and subject matter knowledge; and curriculum characteristics such as representation of concepts and tasks, their structure, and look. Also, the enacted curriculum is the result of the participatory interactions between teacher and students, and the planned curriculum is the result of the participatory interactions between teacher and curriculum.
In European context the researchers investigated mathematics textbook and their use by teachers in the classroom (e.g. Haggarty & Pepin, 2002; Pepin & Haggarty, 2001). This study is considered to be a commencement in determining the use of mathematics textbooks in our country and will bring important contributions to the field. As a result, the study may be useful for the European context as well as in international context to provide information about the teachers’ use of textbooks.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Beaton, A. E., Mullis, I. V. S., Martin, M. O., Gonzalez, E. J., Kelly, D. L., & Smith, T. (1996). Mathematics achievement in middle school years: IEA’s Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Boston, MA: Centre for the Study of Testing, Evaluation, and Educational Policy, Boston College. Brown, M. W. (2002). Teaching by design: Understanding the interactions between teacher practice and the design of curricular innovation. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. Haggarty, L. & Pepin, B. (2002). An investigation of mathematics textbooks and their use in English, French and German classrooms: Who gets an opportunity to learn what? British Educational Research Journal, 28(4), 567-590. Howson, G (1995). Mathematics textbooks: A comparative study of grade 8 textbooks. TIMSS, Vancouver: Pacific Educational Press. Remillard, J. T. (2005). Examining key concepts in research on teachers’ use of mathematics curricula. Review of Educational Research, 75, 211–246. Robitaille, D. F., & Travers, K. J. (1992). International studies of achievement in mathematics. In D. A. Grouws (Ed.), Handbook of Research on mathematics Teaching and Learning (pp. 687-709). New York: Macmillan; Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Schmidt, W. H., McKnight, C.C., Valverde, G. A., Houang, R.T., & Wiley, D. E. (1997). Many Visions, Many Aims: A Cross-national Investigation of Curricular Intentions in School Mathematics: Vol. 1. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic. Sosniak, L. A., & Stodolsky, S. S. (1993). Teachers and textbooks: materials use in four fourth-grade classrooms. The Elementary School Journal, 93(3), 249-275. Pepin, B & Haggarty, L. (2001). Mathematics textbooks and their use in English, French and German classrooms: A way to understand teaching and learning cultures. Zentralblatt for the Didactics of Mathematics, 33(5), 158-175. Talim ve Terbiye Kurulu (TTKB) (2008). İlkögretim Matematik Dersi 6–8 Sınıflar Öğretim Programı ve Kılavuzu [Teaching Syllabus and Curriculum Guidebook for Elementary School Mathematics Course: Grades 6 to 8]. Ankara: Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı. http://iogm.meb.gov.tr/pages.php?page=program. Accessed September 2009.
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