Investigation of the analogies of secondary school mathematics teachers in mathematics teaching

Mathematics is a discrete science; therefore, different types of methods and techniques are required for teaching it and one of those techniques is analogy technique. The purpose of this study is to investigale the analogies used by middle school mathematics teachers while teaching mathematics. The study is conducted with middle school mathematics teachers in a governmental school in a district in Western Black Sea Region. Case study, one of the types of qualitative research methods, is used for this study. Data is gathered by the use of two procedures. Secondly, a data collection tool is developed by the researcher and conducted on 41 middle school mathematics teachers in order to investigate the analogies used in mathematics lectures. The literature and views of the professionals are used for the construction of data collection tool. In order to get deeper information, semi-structured interviews are done with 6 participants. The data is investigated with content analysis method. Descriptive analyses are also made in order to examine the data gathered from the interviews. The analogies used by the participants are presented by the use of frequency tables and direct quotations. Results show that middle school mathematics teachers are not familiar with the use of analogy term. In more detail, they get the meaning of it after a brief explanation is made. Besides, teachers have positive attitude towards the use of analogies and the analogies used are scientifically applicable in general. As morever suggested, analogies are more frequently used in other classes in comparison to 5th grade. The investigation of different types of analogies used showed that simple analogies are widely used by teachers. Indheseveral place,storytelling and ımage analogıes ın egual numbers. The participant teachers state that the sources of the analogies they used are firstly themselves, then the websites and finally their colleques. They express that the textbooks are inadequate in relation with analogical examples. As they stated, analogies are more advantageous since they get discrete concepts become more concrete ones, provide permanent learning, develop positive attitudes on students towards mathematics, get students more interested in mathematics, get more attention, get their imagination develop, have students learn more conceptually, get teaching easier, and make it more easier. The disadvantageous are stated as not becoming compatible with objectives, the probability of creating contradiction on students' minds if it gets off the point, the probability of becoming time consuming for crowded classes, the probability of becoming boring if it is used more frequently, the probability of taking attention just on analogies rather then objectives, and the probability of causing misunderstandings. Finally, it is hoped that the investigation of the analogies used by middle school mathematics teachers while teaching mathematics will provide useful information for teachers and researchers.