Examination in the Terms of Some Variables of Real Life Problems with Teacher Candidates’ Eyes

Abstract

One of the most important tools linking between schools and real life is real life problems. Real life problems are a type of problems that are prepared starting with the real life situations and necessitate an application of a real life. Solving thi s kind of problems allows students to apply theoretical knowledge, going beyond the formal nature of schools. It is an active process that places students at the center, constructing knowledge and applying the theoretical knowledge gained. It is believed that benefiting from using real life problems in learning-teaching contexts will both provide students with educational contexts that include real life situations and help them become individuals who can overcome difficulties by themselves by improving their critical problem-solving skills. In the study conducted, it is aimed to examine real life problems through various variables based on teacher candidates’ opinions. The participants included 30 senior teacher candidates studying Mathematics teaching at the department of primary education in the faculty of education at a university located in a middle-sized city. Case study was applied as the method of study. The teacher candidates were given semi-structured forms to provide their opinions and the data collected were transcribed and analyzed qualitatively. In the light of the analyses conducted, it is concluded that real life problems, according to teacher candidates, are used most in their field teaching courses, while they are least used in their field courses and the instructors highlight the link of course contents with real life. Moreover, another finding is that teacher candidates consider Mathematics very useful in solving the problems that we face in our daily life and appreciate Mathematics as it also covers real life problems, though they find it deficient in some perspectives.