THE VIEWS OF THE INSTRUCTORS OF ELEMENTARY MATHEMATICS TEACHING PROGRAM ON CONSTRUCTIVIST TEACHING

The aim of this study is to examine the views of the instructors who work in elementary mathematics teaching program at the faculties of education on teaching via the constructivist approach, and the degree to which they featured the activities based on this approach in their classroom teaching along with reasons for doing so. The case study method, which is among the qualitative research designs, was used throughout this study. The sample of the research is composed of 15 instructors who were working in elementary mathematics teaching program at the faculties of education located in two provinces of the Eastern Anatolia Region in the 2010-2011 academic year. The data was obtained with the help of semi-structured interviews and subjected to content analysis. In view of the analysis of research findings, it was concluded that the participants considered the constructivist approach positive, but they remained limited due to reasons such as lack of time, the structure of mathematics subjects, intensive curriculum and the fact that students and instructors were not accustomed to the activities based on the constructivist approach.