An investigation of graduate theses on mathematical modelling in the field of elementary mathematics education in Turkey

In this study, it was aimed to conduct a document analysis of the graduate theses related to mathematical modelling published in the field of elementary mathematics education in Turkey. The study included 45 master's thesis and 15 doctoral dissertations published in the field of elementary mathematics education between 2000 - 2020, which can be accessed in the Higher Education Council. The classification form was used as the data collection tool, and it was used by making the necessary changes based on expert opinions. The form included general information about studies, distribution according to the results of the studies and categorization of model eliciting activities (MEA) according to content and class levels. In this study, which is a document analysis, the data were also analyzed with content analysis. When the results were classified in detail, it was found that MEA should be included more in mathematics education. Moreover, positive results were revealed in the examined studies that MEA develops high-level thinking and metacognitive skills, affects academic success and attitude positively, helps students learn concepts more meaningfully, is easy to associate with daily life, and provides a collaborative learning environment. Otherwise, negative results regarding the use of mathematical modeling revealed in the study included that, the problems were found to be difficult because of being long, complicated; and to be a time-consuming application in the course. Thus, the present study, 307 MEA were examined, and the subjects and learning areas included in each problem were grouped according to grade levels.