Investigation of problems regarding multiplication and division with natural numbers in primary school mathematics textbooks

The aim of the study is to analyze the problems in terms of their features, such as, number of steps, response type, context and cognitive expectations on the topics multiplication and division with natural numbers in primary school 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade mathematics textbooks published according to 2017-2018 primary mathematics curriculums. One book each in grade 2 and 4, two books in grade 3 were examined by descriptive analysis technique. At first, the problems in these textbooks were analyzed by taking into account all four determined features and then compared to each other according to their grade levels. The findings revealed that majority of the problems on the topics multiplication and division in all textbooks, need only a numerical answer resulting from a single step computation, are not associated with visual representations and real-life situations. It has been seen that problems in division exhibit a more balanced distribution than problems in multiplication in all features. In addition, the ratios of problems that require high level cognitive skills such as mathematical reasoning and problem posing have been found to be low in all grade levels. It is suggested that for the development of students' mathematical process skills such as problem solving, reasoning, association and communication, mathematics textbooks should include higher number of problems that contribute to the development of these skills.