Evaluation of learning activities in primary school mathematics textbooks by class teachers

The purpose of this research is to collect the views of the primary school teachers about the learning activities in the mathematics textbook and to evaluate their educational values with regards to their appropriateness to the curriculum and their contribution to the curriculum objectives. The study was conducted with a mixed method, where both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used together. The descriptive survey model, as quantitative research method, and semi-structured interview technique, as the qualitative research method, were used to collect data in the study. SPSS software program was used for the analysis of the quantitative data and content analysis was conducted for the analysis of the qualitative data. The findings of the research show that the existing learning activities in the textbooks are found, by the teachers, to be appropriate in terms of being suitable to the curriculum objectives, students' prior knowledge, the equipment used and being well-planned. However, they are regarded as inadequate in terms of not being open-ended and concept-based and not encouraging creativity and social interaction. Furthermore, teachers did not seem to have a common understanding about learning activities and they undertake an evaluative role for the learning activities. The significant differences were found with respect to teachers' the place of duty and the class levels they teach. Keywords: learning activities, mathematics, primary school