Development and evaluation of interactive teaching materials for mathematics education of students with intellectual disabilities in preschool period

Technology, which is rapidly involved in almost every area of daily life, has been integrated into the education system by combining different teaching models. Students with normal development were affected by this situation, but students with intellectual disabilities, who are a group of individuals with special needs, were also affected. Students with intellectual disabilities often learn a skill or concept later than their normal peers due to their characteristics. Progress is slower, especially learning skills that include abstract concepts and symbols such as mathematics. However, many teaching models and materials are used in the education process of these students to accelerate and facilitate the learning process. The aim of this thesis research is; To develop an interactive teaching material using a simultaneous hinting method to support the basic math skills of students with intellectual disabilities and determine the effect of this material on students' basic math skills. In the first stage of the research, which consists of two stages, an interactive teaching material named ZEYMATIKO was designed based on the design-based research method. In the second stage, the effect of the designed material on the students was investigated by using the ABA design, one of the single-subject research models. The study participants are four students with mild intellectual disability in the pre-school period, three teachers of these students, and five special education specialists. According to the findings obtained from the research, it was seen that the ZEYMATIKO application, which was prepared with the simultaneous hint method, supported the basic math skills of all students with mild intellectual disabilities. In addition, in the data obtained four weeks after completing the experimental process, it was concluded that the students largely preserved the knowledge they had acquired. The interviews held with the teachers at the end of the application concluded that the application was socially valid.