AN INVESTIGATION OF A CASE OF TURKISH AND SYRIAN SEVENTH GRADE STUDENTS’ MATHEMATICAL MODELING PROCESSES

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2022-5-09
Mavi, Sinan
The aim of this study was to investigate a case of Turkish and Syrian seventh grade students’ mathematical modeling cycle in their collaborative work on Model Eliciting Activities (MEA). The study was conducted with a group of Turkish and Syrian students in a public middle school close to Syrian border in Gaziantep, Turkey. Two different Model Eliciting Activities (MEAs) were implemented in two weeks in spring semester of 2019-2020 school year. Video and audio data, written works, and fields notes were used as main data sources to determine the steps that the students took in modeling cycle during “Let’s Build Environmentally Friendly Structures with Plastic Bottles” and “Summer Job” MEAs. Findings were coded into categories. Moreover, during the modeling cycle, a new code list was prepared by arranging the codes seen in the students’ modeling cycle. Overall, this study showed that students understood real-life situations but were unable to make the necessary mathematical inferences to build models. In addition, Turkish students chose mathematical operations from the mathematical topics they just learned in the curriculum, while Syrian students tried to contribute to the modeling activity by using mathematical operations such as selecting, and sorting data. This study demonstrated that cultural differences between the students did not adversely affect the model-eliciting activities, as Turkish and Syrian students carried out the modeling cycle in collaboration. It showed that students’ academic, social, and cultural differences were not important in mathematical modeling activities, and even showed further that these differences were an asset as well as they supported the universality of mathematics. Hence, it can be concluded that multiple and sustained experience of MEAs is important for students and teachers who want to integrate MEAs into their instruction.

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Citation Formats
S. Mavi, “AN INVESTIGATION OF A CASE OF TURKISH AND SYRIAN SEVENTH GRADE STUDENTS’ MATHEMATICAL MODELING PROCESSES,” M.S. - Master of Science, Middle East Technical University, 2022.