An investigation of classroom teachers' experiences regarding the use of digital stories in mathematics teaching

This master's thesis is aimed to examine the experiences of classroom teachers regarding the use of digital stories in the mathematics teaching process, and the phenomenology research pattern, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in this direction. The sample of the study consists of 25 classroom teachers whose opinions are examined. To determine the participants, convenience sampling case sampling was used from purposeful sampling methods. It was taken into account that the participants were actively teaching, could use digital stories in the course, and had sufficient equipment and skills in using multi-media tools. During the data collection process, digital stories and lesson plans prepared by the researcher for all levels of primary school within the scope of the mathematics course were distributed to the participating teachers. Teachers were asked to process their lessons together with a digital story that was appropriate for the class level they were teaching. The data were collected by conducting one-on-one interviews with teachers through interview questions organized after 4 expert evaluations. The interviews were recorded in audio with the permission of the teachers. The obtained data were analyzed by the content analysis method. As a result of the research, it was found that many teachers define a digital story as transferring a traditional story to the digital environment, integrating the old one with the new one, allowing embodying it, teaching the subject by video, and making it easier to transfer the teaching. It is seen that they express an opinion that they can use digital stories for drawing attention at the introductory stage of the course, mobilize preliminary information and preparing for the course, learn by doing it at the development stage, and formative evaluation at the evaluation stage, and each stage of the course according to the content of the digital stories if it is in the educational use of digital stories. In addition, regarding educational use, teachers have stated that it will be effective to use digital stories about problems because students have difficulty understanding what they are reading. According to the findings, it was found that teachers have a positive opinion that conducting mathematics teaching with a digital story allows them to embody abstract concepts, ensure memorability, attract attention to the lesson, and facilitate the transfer to life. Within the scope of the disadvantages of using digital history in mathematics teaching, it is seen that teachers are talking about the fact that the use of technology may become a habit, students' differences, technological equipment in the teaching environment may be insufficient and it may take a lot of time. It was determined that teachers stated that there is a need to provide technological equipment for conducting mathematics teaching with a digital story, to have a sufficient number of classrooms, to have students and teachers ready, and to support activities and materials that the student can be active in the process. As a result of the research, it is seen that teachers recommend arranging digital stories for each subject of mathematics, supporting the digital story process with concrete materials, and preparing digital stories for students. It is thought that digital stories and material support can be delivered to teachers via EBA. When creating digital stories, it may be suggested that students be prepared taking into account their differences, classroom availability, and infrastructure, that the content contains examples from everyday life, and that time is well planned. For future research, it may be suggested that the effect of mathematics teaching conducted with a digital story on students' course success, motivation, perceptions, attitudes, and the skills of teachers or prospective teachers in creating a digital story in mathematics teaching can be examined. Keywords: Digital story, mathematics teaching, form teacher.