Technology supported teaching implementations designed to improve critical thinking skills

Abstract

This research evaluated the influence of technology-based teaching models on the development of critical thinking abilities in elementary school mathematics teacher candidates, as measured using Facione's (1990) criteria. The research was conducted with fourth-grade students studying in the Faculty of Education, Elementary Mathematics Education at a state university in the Marmara Region of Türkiye during the 2019-2020 Fall Semester. A case study research design was used to obtain a qualitative understanding of the participants' experiences. Two pre-service teachers were video-recorded throughout the research implementation process (5 weeks in total, from the 3rd week when the teaching model practices started to the 7th week when it ended). The dialogues in the video recording were analyzed using the descriptive analysis technique. Keywords and sentences describing the critical thinking sub-skills identified by Facione (1990) were observed to be included in the student dialogues, especially in the implementations of the designed teaching model that required the use of GeoGebra. These dialogues concluded that the proposed instructional model programs are consistent with the critical thinking competencies, include activities to use critical thinking skills, and can provide opportunities for developing critical thinking skills.