The effect of realistic mathematics education on achievement, motivation and retention about probability and statistical learning field

In this study, it has been aimed to investigate the effect of the Realistic Mathe-matics Education (RME) approach based instruction on the mathematical outcomes and motivations of the students in the eighth grade. For this purpose, an experimental study with pre-test and post-test control groups has been performed. The research has been conducted with 90 students who attended the eighth grade of a public secondary school in Adana province. The quantitative data of the study have been obtained using the mathematics achievement test attained with a perus-al of necessary literature by the researcher and the Motivation Scale for Mathematics Course. An experimental group and two control groups were established in the study to test the effectiveness of the RME approach compared to the current method. Groups were randomly assigned. In experimental group, the outcomes of the 'Probability and Statistics' learning field were taught with the RME approach, and the current instruction method was used in the control groups. The implementation has been done in 7 weeks. After 4 weeks, retention tests have been applied. In the evaluation of the quantitative data, the ANOVA for Mixed Measures has been used for the analysis of the scores from the mathematics achievement test, whereas non-parametric tests, i.e., the Kruskal Wallis H test and the Mann Whitney - U test have been used for the analysis of scores from the motivation scale. The results of the anal-yses showed that the RME approach was more effective in terms of academic achieve-ment and retention. In addition, it has been determined that the motivation for mathe-matics course, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation - subscales of the scale - scores in the experimental group differ statistically significant in positive direction from the control group. Keywords: Realistic mathematics education, motivation for mathematics course, math-ematics achievement