Researching of the middle school math teachers' course processes

The aim of this research is analyzing of the middle school mathematics teachers' teaching and learning process during the course. The research was carried out with a case study design of the qualitative research method. In this study, snowball sampling method, one of the purposeful sampling methods, was used to identify individuals who could be a rich source of information. The study group of the research consists of 15 middle school mathematics teachers working in Duzce city center in the 2018-2019 academic year and the students who attended these classes. The data was collected by interviews with some middle school mathematics teachers, and observations in their classrooms and focus group interviews with their students. The content analysis method was used in the analysis and interpretation of data. According to the results of research it was found that, the middle school mathematics teachers do not make any plans on paper about the process of their classes, they continue the course processes randomly without depending on any plan. Although it varies from teacher to teacher it was found that at the beginning of the class middle school mathematics teachers enter the class with a smile and greet the students, establish relationships with students, check homework and materials, measure the readiness of students, complete the lack of their knowledge, give information about the subject that will be learned and motivate the students by explaining the importance of the subject. According to the results of the research, it was seen that mathematics teachers make arrangements in their classes more often for the purpose of supporting the instructions than for the purpose of instruction. In the research, it is found that teachers mostly use presentation method rather than the invention method in the teaching and learning process. They mostly use lectures and after that question-answer and peer tutoring methods are among the frequently used methods. Mostly they prefer solving problems on their owns, but sometimes they prefer making students solve problems by themselves and solving problems together. It was seen that the majority of teachers do not use any activities in their lessons. Some of them do some activities to increase academic achievements and to develop a positive attitude towards the class. But rather than teaching through activities, they mostly use activities at the end of the subjects and at the end of the term. In addition to using different types of activities for structuring and reinforcing knowledge, teachers mostly benefit from game activities. It was concluded that there is a large group of teachers who do not prefer to use any materials. They benefit mainly from smart boards and resource books and after than various written, technological, mathematical and geometric materials. They use these materials in both teacher-centered and student-centered applications according to their structure and subject. They carry out some activities let the students develop problem solving and mathematical process abilities (contacting, reasoning, associating), and sensual-psychomotor skills indicated in the Mathematics Curriculum. In order to ensure the participation of students in the class, they draw attention, offer reinforcements and create a competitive environment in the classroom. On the other hand, it was concluded that physical well-being of students, the success and failure of students, active/passive positions of students in class, teachers' effective/ineffective managements of the learning and teaching process and competition environments' impacts on students are the factors having effect on attending the class. According to the results of the research, middle school mathematics teachers provide the motivation of the students by supporting external motivation and intrinsic motivation during the lesson process. They identify incomplete and incorrect learnings of students by solving questions, observing and measuring and they try to complete these with guidance and by practicing some activities. Although it varies from teacher to teacher it has been concluded that at the end of the class, the middle school mathematics teachers continue teaching intensively, summarize the subject, evaluate the students, make preparations for the next class, let students be free. Nearly all teachers give homework at the end of the lesson. Some of these homeworks are constructive and the majority of them are reflecting subject-centered educational approaches. The results of this research also showed that the middle school mathematics teachers have some opinions about learning and teaching process, students, themselves and parents. Effective teaching process, positive academic self-perception, curiosity, needing, valuing and character are factors that enable students to have a positive attitude towards mathematics course. Factors such as; negative experiences, weak self-efficacy, and dislike of teachers cause students to develop negative attitudes towards mathematics course. It was seen that the personal characteristics and professional skills of the teachers are effective in the positive and negative attitude of the students towards the teacher. At this point, it was seen that students have some expectation towards their teachers. Key Words: Math Lesson, Learning- Teaching Process, The Middle School Math Teachers, Mathematics Curriculum.