Content Analysis of the APOS Theory Studies on Mathematics Education Conducted in Turkey and Internationally: A Meta-Synthesis Study

Abstract

Studies on the APOS Theory, which was developed within the context of conceptual understanding as one of the main aims of mathematics education, have been increasing in recent years. The content analysis of these studies can be useful both for the development of the APOS Theory and for identifying the needs for future research. This study aimed to review the APOS Theory studies in the field of mathematics education. For this purpose, the studies with national and international samples related to the APOS Theory were subjected to descriptive content analysis, and a systematic summary was presented. As a result of the analysis, three themes, namely the purpose of using the theory, the use of genetic decomposition, and the aim of the study were identified. It was determined that genetic decomposition, which is the main component of the APOS Theory, was not used in 13 percent of the studies reviewed. Although the theory was mainly used for data analysis, it can be said that not using genetic decomposition in data analysis is not compatible with the purpose of the theory. On the other hand, there are descriptive studies (39%) in the literature that determine the mental structures and mechanisms predicted by the APOS Theory rather than the structure of mathematical concepts. It can be said that such studies are weak in terms of the theory’s aim of reinforcing conceptual understanding. As a result, it has been revealed that, the APOS Theory has an important place in concept teaching.