Reflections of mathematical thinking on the classroom environment: The case of 8th grade

In the light of the progress of knowledge, technological developments and rapid change in the daily life, it is required to prepare students to adapt to social, economic, scientific, and technological areas. In this context it has become important to raise students as individuals who think, question, and make interpretations. Also in the area of mathematics it is important for students to acquire a variety of thinking skills in order to develop their mathematical skills. One of these thinking skills is the mathematical thinking skill. The purpose of this study is to determine how the mathematical thinking activities used in grade eight mathematics lessons affect the learning environments. Action research method was used in the study. The participants of the study comprised 27 grade eight students from a middle school in the province of Ordu district of Altınordu in the 2018-2019 school year. The data of the study were collected via worksheets, views about mathematical thinking scale, semi-structured interviews, and observations. The qualitative data was analyzed using descriptive and content analysis methods, while the quantitative data was analyzed using methods such as tables, diagram and mean. As a result of the study it was observed that the learning environments enriched with mathematical thinking activities, enhanced the teacherstudent and student-student interaction. It was found that the success of the students in their mathematical thinking skills decreased as it went from the specializing stage toward the proving stage. In addition, the mean scores of the students regarding the views about mathematical thinking scale had increased after the teaching applications enriched with mathematical thinking. In the light of the results obtained from the study; some suggestions were made about how to use the mathematical thinking activities in lessons, adding proof-related studies to the secondary mathematics curriculum and the future studies.