Contributions of technology assisted teaching of transformation geometry to critical thinking dispositions of prospective mathematics teachers

In this study, the contribution of technology-supported teaching model applications designed to contribute to the development of critical thinking skills determined by Facione (1990) on the critical thinking skills and dispositions of pre-service mathematics teachers was examined. Instructional model applications are designed for the transformation geometry acquisitions in the secondary school mathematics curriculum. Technology support in the teaching model was provided by the GeoGebra program. The mixed research method was used in the study. The research is predominantly qualitative, and quantitative data were used to support qualitative data. The research was conducted with 56 teacher candidates from the Faculty of Education, Primary Mathematics Education, 4th grade, of a state university in the Marmara Region in the fall semester of the 2019-2020 academic year. The sample of the study was determined with the appropriate sampling method. In the quantitative dimension of the study, the Critical Thinking Disposition Scale was used as a pre-test and a post-test. In the qualitative dimension of the study, designed lesson plans, teacher candidates' lecture diaries, video footage, evaluation questions and semi-structured interview questions were used. IBM SPSS 22 package program was used in the analysis of quantitative data. Since the measurement made to the same data group is concerned, the t test was applied for dependent samples to see if there is a statistical difference. The qualitative analysis of the research was carried out with the data obtained from the worksheets that form the lesson plans, lecture diaries, video footage, evaluation questions and interview questions. These data obtained were interpreted with content analysis and descriptive analysis. According to the results of the research; According to the findings obtained from the designed teaching model, the critical thinking disposition scale, it was concluded that there was a significant difference between the pre-test data and the post-test data, that is, the designed transformation geometry course contributed statistically to the development of students' critical thinking dispositions. (p <0.05) The designed lesson plans were evaluated in terms of the teacher candidates' response findings on the worksheets and the dialogue findings of the in-class teacher candidates obtained from the video recording data. Consistent with observations and daily findings, it was concluded that the lesson plans included activities aimed at using the critical thinking skills of the teacher candidates. In line with these data, it can be said that the designed teaching model contributes to the development of students' critical thinking skills.