Determination of primary school mathematics teacher candidates' conceptual images about transformation geometry through digital storytelling

Technology can be utilized in various learning domains within mathematics education. Transformation geometry, in particular, has seen frequent use and research of technology in mathematics education. Digital storytelling, which incorporates visuals, videos, and audio, has become especially popular and is widely used worldwide. Additionally, the concepts of "concept" and "concept image" have been extensively researched and emphasized in mathematics education in recent years. The general aim of this research is to investigate the concept images of pre-service elementary mathematics teachers regarding transformation geometry through the use of digital storytelling. The research employed the qualitative research method of case study. It was conducted with pre-service elementary mathematics teachers at a state university in the Mediterranean region during the 2022-2023 academic year. The digital storytelling was prepared by the researcher using visuals that encompassed the life and art of M.C. Escher. Visuals and scenario were obtained from the website of M.C. Escher's museum. The scenario, consisting of these pieces of information, was translated into Turkish and narrated by the researcher over a period of seven weeks. The transformation of the scenario into digital storytelling was also carried out by the researcher within a seven-week period. Prepared digital storytelling was presented to experts for their evaluation. To determine the pre-service teachers' concept images, a structured pre-interview form was prepared by the researcher. Through this pre-interview form, the participants were asked to provide detailed explanations of their understanding of symmetry, translation, reflection, and rotation, and how they would explain these concepts to secondary school students, thus providing preliminary information about their mathematical concept images. After the pre-interview form was presented to experts in the field of mathematics education, it was administered to 154 pre-service elementary mathematics teachers from the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade levels over a two-week period. In order to implement the digital storytelling study, a purposive sampling technique was used to select two teacher candidates from each grade level, resulting in a total of eight teacher candidates. Interviews with these participants were conducted over a two-week period, 360 minutes in total. Prepreation of digital story, pre-interview and digital story sessions were completed in 18 weeks. Descriptive analysis and content analysis techniques were used to analyze the data in this research. Research findings indicate that the prepared digital storytelling had a positive impact on the concept images of pre-service elementary mathematics teachers regarding transformation geometry. The focus group discussions during the digital storytelling process revealed that the concept images of pre-service teachers were developed in terms of transformation geometry concepts. Furthermore, the teacher candidates expressed their belief that the use of digital storytelling in elementary mathematics education would facilitate long-lasting and enjoyable learning, enhance spatial skills, provide different perspectives, reduce fear of mathematics, and increase curiosity. Participants also noted that through digital storytelling, they were able to engage in self-evaluation and identify their areas of improvement. The teacher candidates further suggested that digital storytelling instruction could be beneficial in teacher education programs, either as a separate course or as part of courses focusing on activity development, history of mathematics, problem-solving, and other related subjects.