The effect of real life problems used in mathematics on the benevolence attitudes and mathematics attitudes of 4th grade students

In this study, the effects of real life problems, in which the value of benevolence is used in the content of mathematics lesson, on the benevolence attitudes and math attitudes of primary school 4th grade students were examined. In the research using semi-experimental design with pretest-posttest control group, pne experiment and two control groups are included. In the research, lessons were carried out by the researcher in the control group in line with the activities in the curriculum in line with the activities with real life problems designed to include the benevolence value in the experimental group. In the other control group, lessons continued by the teacher of the class in line with the activities in the curriculum. The study group of the research consists of three classes 4th grade students (87 students) studying in an primary school in Adapazarı district of Sakarya province. The experimental study lasted 7 weeks, 5 hours a week in the experimental group and control groups. As the data collection tool in the research, the "An Attitude Scale of Benevolence" developed by Aktepe (2010) and "Attitude Scale for Towards Mathematics Short Form" adapted by Hacıömeroğlu (2014) were used. In the study, one- factor variance analysis (Oneway ANOVA) was used to examine the statistical significance of the difference between the mean scores obtained by the pretests of the six classes during the data analysis phase. Kolmogorov- Smirnov Test and Shapiro Wilk were used to analyze whether data was normally distributed before proceeding with statistical procedures for data analysis. Anova Test was used for mixed measurements to examine whether the increases in the benevolence and mathematics attitudes of the students in the experimental and control groups were significant after the experiment. Bonferroni Test was used to compare the pretest, posttest and retention mean scores. Unrelated samples T-Test was conducted to examine whether there is a significant difference in the pretest-posttest benevolence attitude scale and pretest-posttest towards mathematics attitude scale scores of students in the experimental group. As a result of the research, it was found that there was a statistically significant difference between the pretest-posttest scores of the students in the experimental group in terms of their benevolence and attitudes towards mathematics. It was found that there was no significant gender difference in terms of benevolence and mathematics attitudes of students in the experimental group. When all the findings are evaluated, it can be concluded that the real life problems used in mathematics lessons are effective in increasing the benevolence and mathematics attitudes of primary school 4th grade students.