THE EFFECT OF MATHEMATICS TEACHING SUPPORTED BY MATHEMATICS STORIES ON 3RD-GRADE STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT AND ATTITUDES

Abstract

Integrating mathematics with children’s literature, which appeals to children’s emotions, thoughts, and imagination, can contribute to children’s view of mathematics from a different perspective and help them see the fun aspects of mathematics. This study examined the effect of mathematics lessons supported by mathematics stories on 3rd-grade students’ mathematics achievement and attitudes towards mathematics. The study evaluated students using a quasi-experimental design with the pretest-posttest control group. The study group consisted of 39 third-grade students, 19 in the experimental group and 20 in the control group. The "3rd-Grade Mathematics Achievement Test" was used to measure students’ achievement, and the "Attitude Scale towards Mathematics Course" was used to measure their attitudes toward mathematics. In analyzing the data obtained from the students, the normality of the data was first checked. Since the data showed normal distribution, parametric tests were used to analyze the data. In the research, the "Independent Samples T-test" was used for intergroup comparisons, and the "Dependent Samples T-test" was used for intragroup comparisons. As a result of the data analysis, it was found that the mathematics achievement and attitude towards mathematics scores of the experimental group students differed significantly in mathematics lessons supported by mathematical stories in intergroup and intragroup comparisons. This result shows that including children’s literature containing mathematical stories in mathematics lessons will positively affect students’ mathematics achievement and attitudes toward mathematics.