DO PRIMARY SCHOOL MATHEMATICS TEXTBOOKS CONNECT TO REAL LIFE? : THE CASE OF GERMANY AND TURKEY

Abstract

The main purpose of this research is to analyze the relationship between real-life activities in German and Turkey primary school 4th-grade mathematics textbooks, according to the classification proposed by Gainsburg (2008). For this purpose, document analysis, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the research. The data source of the research is "Fredo 4 Mathematics" in Germany and "Primary School 4th Grade Mathematics Textbook" in Turkey. In the research, descriptive analysis was used in the analysis of the data, and the results were reflected in frequency and percentage tables. The results of the research show that the activities in the mathematics textbooks of both countries are mostly "classical word problems" and the problems include real contexts. It has been revealed that the mathematics textbooks of both countries are strong in terms of activities such as "applied mathematical representations", and the number of activities in the type of real data analysis should be increased.