The effect of using concrete materials in teaching of geometric objects on students' achievement, attitudes and self-efficacy

The use of concrete materials makes the student active, offers richer learning opportunities, makes teaching mathematics enjoyable and increases the motivation of the student. Geometry learning area contains more abstract concepts than other learning areas of mathematics. Especially the subject of geometric objects in the content requires students to use their imagination. It is important that teachers' using concrete materials while they teach these objects in order to visualize students these concepts in their minds. In this respect, the purpose of the study is to determine the effect of using concrete materials in teaching of geometric objects on students' achievement, attitudes and self-efficacy. Accordingly, a total of 60 students from 8/D and 8/E classes of a public middle school in Ankara constitute the sample of the study. In this study, quasi-experimental design based on quantitative approach was used. In the analysis of the data, quantitative data analysis techniques were used by using SPSS package program. It was found that while there was no a statistically significant difference between the pre-test achievement scores of the students in the experiment and the control group; after the implementation a statistically significant difference between the post-test achievement scores of the students in the experiment and the control group was found. A statistically significant difference was found between the pre-test attitude towards geometry scores of the students in the experiment and the control group. After the implementation, a statistically significant difference was found between the post-test attitude towards geometry scores of the students in the experiment and the control group. A statistically significant difference was found between the pre-test self-efficacy towards geometry scores of the students in the experiment and the control group. After the implementation, a statistically significant difference was found between the post-test self-efficacy towards geometry scores of the students in the experiment and the control group. In addition, it was observed that the majority of the students in the experiment group had positive opinions about teaching mathematics with the support of concrete materials.