Investigation of primary school mathematics teacher candidates' opinions on the concept of mathematical activity and teaching with activities

In this study, primary school mathematics teacher candidates' perceptions of mathematical activity, their thoughts on activity-based teaching in line with constructivism, and their thoughts on the successful implementation of the activity were examined. A descriptive survey design, one of the qualitative research methods, was adopted in the research. The data of the study were collected by having prospective teachers fill out an activity evaluation form at the beginning of the semester within the scope of the "Developing Activity in Mathematics Teaching" course coded ME211. The study group of the research was students who were enrolled in Gaziantep University Faculty of Education Primary Mathematics Teaching undergraduate program and ıt consists of 66 teacher candidates who enrolled in the ME211 course, "Developing Activity in Mathematics Teaching", for the first time in the fall semester of the 2021-2022 academic year. Content analysis was used to analyze the data obtained. In this context, MAXQDA 2020 qualitative data analysis program, one of the qualitative data analysis programs, was used. While the codes were created here, some codes were found in the literature, while others were created to reflect the perceptions of teacher candidates. Among the codes created, those that were related to each other were grouped under the appropriate category. According to the findings, it was observed that there were differences in the effectiveness perceptions of the participants. They thought that teaching with activities in line with constructivism was beneficial and stated that it enabled them to be more active and provide permanent and effective learning, and it was revealed that they mentioned many criteria such as purpose, instructions, material, student responsibilities, inclusiveness and time for the successful implementation of an activity.