The opinions of classroom teachers and elementary mathematics teachers about mathematics teaching by distance education

In this study, it is aimed to compare the thoughts of classroom teachers and elementary mathematics teachers working in public schools in Turkey about distance education and mathematics teaching during the global pandemic. For this purpose, the materials, strategies and methods used by both classroom and elementary mathematics teachers in teaching mathematics by distance education, measurement and evaluation tools, difficulties experienced in distance education in general and difficulties experienced in classroom management, the benefits of distance education, the level of access to the mathematics curriculum by distance education, student-student and student-teacher interaction were asked to be compared by taking their opinions. Due to the importance of distance education in the global pandemic process, it is thought that obtaining teachers' opinions on distance education and mathematics teaching and comparing differences in terms of educational level can contribute to the field of literature. The case study model, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the study. The study was conducted with 60 elementary mathematics teachers and 60 classroom teachers working in public schools. The working group was formed by criterion sampling, one of the purposeful sampling methods. In the interview form, the questions used by Tican and Toksoy Gökoğlu (2021) in the study "Elementary mathematics teachers' Views on Distance Education Mathematics Course" were revised and applied. The necessary permission was obtained before the questions were used in the study. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 6 classroom teachers and 6 elementary mathematics teachers. The data obtained in the study were subjected to descriptive analysis and content analysis. According to the findings of the study, it has been observed that classroom teachers and elementary mathematics teachers use the materials, z-books and multiple choice questions included in the educational information network to a large extent in distance education. It has been stated that the question-answer method is the method most used by classroom teachers and elementary mathematics teachers in teaching mathematics by distance education. Elementary mathematics teachers and classroom teachers stated that they encountered problems such as tracking/controlling what students do in the lesson (camera, turning the sound on and off), actively involving students in the lesson, determining the students' comprehension levels in the math lessons they conduct remotely. Both elementary mathematics teachers and classroom teachers stated that student-student interaction remained limited during the distance mathematics education process, that the mathematics course conducted through distance education was not useful, and that the achievements in the curriculum were not sufficiently accessible.