INVESTIGATION OF GRAPHIC READING AND INTERPRETATION SKILLS IN SOCIO-SCIENTIFIC-BASED PROBLEM SITUATIONS: THE EXAMPLE OF COVID-19 PARABOLIC GRAPH

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the graphic reading and interpretation skills of teacher candidates with problem situations prepared in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, which is a socio-scientific situation. The study is conducted with case study of qualitative research methods. The participants of the study consisted of 52 elementary school mathematics pre-service teachers studying in the third year. Participants were determined via the typical case sampling method, one of the purposive sampling methods. As a data collection tool, an open-ended question form consisting of five options based on a socio-scientific situation-based scenario with a vital aspect was used. In the analysis of the data, content analysis method was used together with descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage). When the data obtained from the research were examined, it was seen that a significant part of the pre-service teachers had the skills to read and interpret the parabola graphs given in the context of Covid-19. However, it was determined that most of the pre-service teachers who gave wrong answers to the questions about graphic reading and interpretation were at the level of visual or quantitative perception and had difficulties in transitioning between representations. For this reason, drawing activities that require more context-based qualitative understanding or technology-assisted teaching applications can be made in the teaching of graphics.