A comparison of the mathematical potential of activities in mathematics textbooks prepared according to the 2018 and 2024 curricula

Given the evolving conditions of each era, the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to be cultivated through teaching and learning must be continually reviewed and updated. Accordingly, in 2024 a new middle school mathematics curriculum was enacted under the Türkiye Century Education Model. Initially, only the fifth-grade mathematics textbook was developed and implemented. Its introduction has necessitated empirical investigation into the book's effectiveness. Therefore, this study seeks to compare the mathematical potential of the mathematical activities featured in fifth grade mathematics textbooks prepared under the 2024 and 2018 curricula. 349 mathematical activities in these five textbooks were evaluated according to the components of mathematical potential using the analytical rubric from the "Framework for Mathematical Activities" (FfMA) developed by Bozkurt et al. (2022). These components include depth, mathematical focus, and complexity. Descriptive statistics and the Fisher-Freeman-Halton exact test were used in the data analysis. Among the four textbooks prepared according to the 2018 curriculum, only one showed no statistically significant difference in the mathematical focus when compared with the 2024 textbook. According to two other components, the mathematical activities in the textbook aligned with the 2024 curriculum demonstrated higher levels of mathematical potential compared to those in the 2018 textbooks. Based on these results, it is recommended that mathematical activities in textbooks for other grade levels, to be developed in line with the renewed curriculum, should also be designed to exhibit a high level of mathematical potential.