Browsing by Author "Ulusoy F."

Now showing 1 - 20 of 20

A new diagnostic character in the roots of the genus Grammosciadium DC. (Apiaceae)
(2017-01-25) Ulusoy F.; Karakaya M.A.; Mavi İdman D.Ö.; Bani B.
This study focuses on the root anatomical characteristics of the taxa of the genus Grammosciadium. Samples collected from plants gathered in 41 different localities in Turkey were studied. The results show that the general structure of the roots includes protective tissue (periderm), cortex and vascular tissue respectively from the outermost layer. The roots of G. subg. Grammosciadium include regularly arranged fibres within the protective tissue. Moreover, the existence, arrangement and density of the polyhedral sclereids just under the phellogen of the roots of G. subg. Caropodium reveal as remarkable characters. Among them, the density of all these sclerenchymatous layers is a diagnostic character for the taxa of the genus. This study remarks the importance of root anatomical characters in taxonomy of Grammosciadium.
Comparative vegetative anatomy of the genera Grammosciadium, Caropodium and Vinogradovia (Apiaceae) in Turkey
(2019-12-17) Maviidman D.Ö.; Karakaya M.A.; Ulusoy F.; Bani B.
This study includes the anatomical characters of the vegetative organs (stems, leaf sheats and leaf segments) of the genera Grammosciadium, Caropodium and Vinogradovia. All samples, collected from different localities in Turkey, were sectioned from the same part of the corresponding tissue. The results show that, although those three genera are closely related based on the studied characters, several features (such as the wing appearance, the presence of sclerenchyma above floem and the collenchyma under the epidermal layer of the stems) are the most prominent characters for genera differentiation. Similarly, the leaf sheath and leaf segments shown anatomical similarities, but they display remarkable differences in size that help to distinguish among genera.
Exploring prospective teachers’ noticing of students' understanding through micro-case videos
(2021-06-01) Ulusoy F.; Çakıroğlu E.
This paper explores the nature of prospective teachers’ noticing of students’ understanding as they analyze and discuss middle school students’ understandings of trapezoids in micro-case videos in the context of geometry. In this exploratory study, the data were obtained from eight prospective middle school mathematics teachers through individual video analysis, reflection papers, and group discussions. The results indicated that the use of purposeful micro-case video designs based on prospective teachers’ background knowledge of quadrilaterals allowed them to be productive in video analyses and discussions. In individual video analyses, prospective teachers attended to various mathematical elements to identify students’ responses but did not always use them to make interpretations of each student’s understanding of trapezoid. In the group discussions of the micro-case videos, in contrast, prospective teachers could provide alternative interpretations of students’ understanding by identifying links between the mathematical elements in students’ responses and the characteristics of students’ understandings. In the group discussions, they provided more detailed and specific instructional actions to support each student’s understanding of trapezoid than their individual video analyses. This study suggests practical implications for teacher education programs on how to use video cases (e.g., firstly, working individually and then having group discussions about the videos) to explore prospective teachers’ professional noticing skills. Considering prospective teachers’ background knowledge of related mathematical contents, this study can also inspire future studies on how to design effective videos about students’ mathematical understanding.
Investigating How Prospective Mathematics Teachers Prepare History Integrated Lesson Plans with Assessing Historical Elements in Mathematics Textbooks
(2023-01-01) Girit-Yildiz D.; Ulusoy F.
It is difficult for mathematics teachers to find and utilize relevant historical content for their students. In this study, we aimed to examine how prospective mathematics teachers (PMTs) evaluate the history of mathematics (HM) in curriculum resources and how they integrate the HM into lesson plans. We collected data through PMTs’ evaluation reports on the analysis of textbooks, lesson plans, and lesson plan reflections. PMTs evaluated textbooks critically, acknowledging the limits and recognizing the possibilities. They mostly provided negative evaluations and criticized the quality of HM in the textbooks. The findings revealed that PMTs’ evaluations of the analysis of HMs in textbooks served as a bridge to assist their utilization of HMs in lesson plans. When PMTs incorporated HM into their lesson plans in an effort to engage students in the learning of mathematics, the HM integration reached higher levels of cognitive demand. However, they performed less well when incorporating pedagogical instructions and student thinking. The theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.
Investigating mathematical creativity through the connection between creative abilities in problem posing and problem solving
(2022-09-01) Sadak M.; Incikabi L.; Ulusoy F.; Pektas M.
The majority of existing research have repeatedly embedded problem solving and problem posing in the assessment of students’ mathematical creativity, but there is a lack of studies focusing on the relationship between these two regarding mathematical creativity. In this study, we aimed to examine whether there is a relationship between the constructs of creative ability in mathematical problem posing (CAMPP) and creative ability in mathematical problem solving (CAMPS) and to examine the structure of this relationship through confirmatory factor analysis. The participants were 187 sixth-grade students in Turkey. Data were collected by two creative ability tests, namely CAMPP and CAMPS. We used a rubric to characterize mathematical creativity by interpreting scores of in the dimensions of creative ability (fluency, flexibility, and originality) in the context of problem solving and problem posing. The findings showed that mathematical problem posing and mathematical problem solving both constituted the constructs of CAMPP and CAMPS respectively, based on the dimensions of creative ability. Moreover, the structure of the relationship between the constructs of CAMPP and CAMPS can be explained better with a constituted higher-order factor of Creative Ability in Mathematics (CAM) rather than placing one of these factors as a sub-construct under the other one.
Matematik Öğretmeni Adaylarının Pergel-Cetvel ve Dinamik Geometri Yazılımı Kullanarak Yaptıkları Geometrik İnşalar
(2019-01-01) Ulusoy F.; Fadime ULUSOY
This study aimed to investigate prospective middle school mathematics teachers' geometric constructions and justifications to verify their constructions when they used compass-straightedge. In addition, it was examined that what prospective teachers noticed about geometric constructions in a classroom discussion where dynamic mathematics software (GeoGebra) was used. A total of 68 prospective teachers from middle school mathematics teacher education program participated to the study. Data were obtained by qualitative research ways such as written papers, reflective notes, and classroom discussions. The data were analyzed based on content analysis. The results showed that prospective teachers used four different methods in appropriate parallelism constructions such as perpendicular lines, angle copying, equilateral triangles and rhombus methods. Another important result was that more than half of the prospective teachers did not achieve the appropriate geometric constructions because they made incorrect assumptions in the geometric constructions. Finally, prospective teachers noticed following issues in GeoGebra-supported classroom discussions: (a) alternative construction methods, (b) the necessity of providing solid foundations, (c) the effect of incorrect assumptions in geometric constructions and (d) different roles of dynamic geometry software and compass-straightedge in the process of geometric constructions and justifications.
Matematik Öğretmeni Adaylarının Pergel-Cetvel ve Dinamik Geometri Yazılımı Kullanarak Yaptıkları Geometrik İnşalar
(2019-01-01) Ulusoy F.
This study aimed to investigate prospective middle school mathematics teachers' geometric constructions and justifications to verify their constructions when they used compass-straightedge. In addition, it was examined that what prospective teachers noticed about geometric constructions in a classroom discussion where dynamic mathematics software (GeoGebra) was used. A total of 68 prospective teachers from middle school mathematics teacher education program participated to the study. Data were obtained by qualitative research ways such as written papers, reflective notes, and classroom discussions. The data were analyzed based on content analysis. The results showed that prospective teachers used four different methods in appropriate parallelism constructions such as perpendicular lines, angle copying, equilateral triangles and rhombus methods. Another important result was that more than half of the prospective teachers did not achieve the appropriate geometric constructions because they made incorrect assumptions in the geometric constructions. Finally, prospective teachers noticed following issues in GeoGebra-supported classroom discussions: (a) alternative construction methods, (b) the necessity of providing solid foundations, (c) the effect of incorrect assumptions in geometric constructions and (d) different roles of dynamic geometry software and compass-straightedge in the process of geometric constructions and justifications.
Middle school students’ reasoning with regards to parallelism and perpendicularity of line segments
(2022-01-01) Ulusoy F.
This study investigates middle school students’ reasoning about parallelism and perpendicularity of two line segments. Data were collected from 83 middle school students through an identification task consisting of various examples and non-examples of the parallelism and perpendicularity of two line segments. One-to-one interviews were also conducted with fifteen students to support students’ written reasons. The results indicated that middle school students identify parallel/perpendicular line segments by using three types of reasoning: visual reasoning, attribute reasoning, and language-based reasoning. With the influence of the concept images shaped by prototypical and intuitive examples and linguistic factors, some students either focused on non-critical attributes of the concepts as the critical ones or omitted critical attributes of the concepts. Hence, they either identified examples of parallel line segments and perpendicular line segments as non-examples or considered non-examples of the concepts as examples.
Middle school students’ reasoning with regards to parallelism and perpendicularity of line segments
(2022-01-01) Ulusoy F.; Ulusoy, F
This study investigates middle school students’ reasoning about parallelism and perpendicularity of two line segments. Data were collected from 83 middle school students through an identification task consisting of various examples and non-examples of the parallelism and perpendicularity of two line segments. One-to-one interviews were also conducted with fifteen students to support students’ written reasons. The results indicated that middle school students identify parallel/perpendicular line segments by using three types of reasoning: visual reasoning, attribute reasoning, and language-based reasoning. With the influence of the concept images shaped by prototypical and intuitive examples and linguistic factors, some students either focused on non-critical attributes of the concepts as the critical ones or omitted critical attributes of the concepts. Hence, they either identified examples of parallel line segments and perpendicular line segments as non-examples or considered non-examples of the concepts as examples.
Preservice mathematics teachers’ selection of curriculum resources in individual and group lesson planning processes
(2023-01-01) Ulusoy F.; İncikabi L.
This study aims to identify what curriculum resources preservice teachers are using when planning a lesson individually and with a group. Moreover, it is interested in understanding the criteria they use when selecting curriculum resources in their lesson plans. The data were obtained from 28 preservice mathematics teachers through a written questionnaire, individual lesson plans, group lesson plans, and focus group interviews in a period of nine weeks. In the individual lesson planning process, most of the preservice teachers used both the activities from the prescribed textbook and ready-to-use internet-based resources. They included one type of curriculum resource in a phase of individual lesson plans. However, some groups used multiple curriculum resources in a phase of the group lesson plans. The groups produced a shared understanding of the selection of curriculum resources and produced a joint lesson plan by reviewing their choices in individual lesson plans. In both individual and group lesson planning, the frequency and types of curriculum resources used in the lesson plans notably varied according to the mathematics contents and the phases of the 5E (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate) lesson plans. When selecting curriculum resources, preservice teachers considered learner-related, teaching-related, mathematics-related, and constraints-related criteria.
Prospective Early Childhood and Elementary School Mathematics Teachers’ Concept Images and Concept Definitions of Triangles
(2021-06-01) Ulusoy F.; Ulusoy, F
This study presents a characterization of prospective early childhood teachers’ (ECEPTs) and prospective elementary school mathematics teachers’ (EMEPTs) concept images and concept definitions of triangles through a defining task and an example generation task. Data consisted of 62 EMEPTs’ and 72 ECEPTs’ written statements for the definition of a triangle, drawings for examples and non-examples of triangles, and written reasons for drawings. The results showed that most of the prospective teachers wrote inappropriate statements for the definitions of a triangle by using necessary but not sufficient conditions or using neither necessary nor sufficient conditions with frequent inaccurate terminology usage. The appropriate statements for the definition of a triangle included necessary and sufficient conditions, but were mostly considerably not minimal and/or included inappropriate mathematical terminology. A very large portion of the examples drawn by the prospective teachers consisted of acute triangles with typical positions rather than right and obtuse triangles, which can be evaluated as the indication of prototypical concept images. Drawings of non-triangles also revealed that the prospective teachers mostly drew non-triangular non-examples that can be immediately accepted as non-triangles with the lack of a relatively long list of missing critical attributes, but they provided a small number of triangular non-examples that bear significant similarity to valid examples of a triangle. This result indicates that the prospective teachers’ concept images regarding non-triangles also formed by intuitive non-examples which can be considered as prototypes for non-triangles.
Prospective Early Childhood and Elementary School Mathematics Teachers’ Concept Images and Concept Definitions of Triangles
(2021-06-01) Ulusoy F.
This study presents a characterization of prospective early childhood teachers’ (ECEPTs) and prospective elementary school mathematics teachers’ (EMEPTs) concept images and concept definitions of triangles through a defining task and an example generation task. Data consisted of 62 EMEPTs’ and 72 ECEPTs’ written statements for the definition of a triangle, drawings for examples and non-examples of triangles, and written reasons for drawings. The results showed that most of the prospective teachers wrote inappropriate statements for the definitions of a triangle by using necessary but not sufficient conditions or using neither necessary nor sufficient conditions with frequent inaccurate terminology usage. The appropriate statements for the definition of a triangle included necessary and sufficient conditions, but were mostly considerably not minimal and/or included inappropriate mathematical terminology. A very large portion of the examples drawn by the prospective teachers consisted of acute triangles with typical positions rather than right and obtuse triangles, which can be evaluated as the indication of prototypical concept images. Drawings of non-triangles also revealed that the prospective teachers mostly drew non-triangular non-examples that can be immediately accepted as non-triangles with the lack of a relatively long list of missing critical attributes, but they provided a small number of triangular non-examples that bear significant similarity to valid examples of a triangle. This result indicates that the prospective teachers’ concept images regarding non-triangles also formed by intuitive non-examples which can be considered as prototypes for non-triangles.
Prospective Middle School Mathematics Teachers’ Covariational Reasoning for Interpreting Dynamic Events During Peer Interactions
(2017-01-01) Yemen-Karpuzcu S.; Ulusoy F.; Işıksal-Bostan M.
This study investigated the covariational reasoning abilities of prospective middle school mathematics teachers in a task about dynamic functional events involving two simultaneously changing quantities in an individual process and also in a peer interaction process. The focus was the ways in which prospective teachers’ covariational reasoning abilities re-emerge in the peer interaction process in excess of their covariational reasoning. The data sources were taken from the individual written responses of prospective teachers, transcripts of individual comments, and transcripts of conversations in pairs. The data were analyzed for prospective teachers in terms of the cognitive and interactive aspects of individual behavior and also interaction. The findings revealed that prospective teachers at different levels working in pairs benefited from the process in terms of developing an awareness of their own individual and also a pair’s understanding of covarying quantities. Furthermore, the prospective teachers had opportunities to develop their knowledge on the connection between variables, rate of change, and slope. The prospective teachers’ work in pairs provided salient explanations for their reasoning about the task superior to their individual responses.
Prospective teachers’ skills of attending, interpreting and responding to content-specific characteristics of mathematics instruction in classroom videos
(2020-08-01) Ulusoy F.; Ulusoy, F
This study explores prospective teachers’ skills of attending, interpreting and responding to content-specific characteristics of mathematics instruction in classroom videos. Prospective teachers analyzed the mathematics instruction of two teachers through four video clips and proposed alternative instructional ways to support the teaching and learning of mathematics. The results indicated that as prospective teachers examined the teachers’ instructional practices, they increased their level of attending and interpretation to content-specific aspects of instruction rather than focusing on generic dimensions of the instruction. When they watched and compared different characteristics of teachers’ mathematics instruction, they provided more detailed and mathematical instructional suggestions.
Prospective teachers’ skills of attending, interpreting and responding to content-specific characteristics of mathematics instruction in classroom videos
(2020-08-01) Ulusoy F.
This study explores prospective teachers’ skills of attending, interpreting and responding to content-specific characteristics of mathematics instruction in classroom videos. Prospective teachers analyzed the mathematics instruction of two teachers through four video clips and proposed alternative instructional ways to support the teaching and learning of mathematics. The results indicated that as prospective teachers examined the teachers’ instructional practices, they increased their level of attending and interpretation to content-specific aspects of instruction rather than focusing on generic dimensions of the instruction. When they watched and compared different characteristics of teachers’ mathematics instruction, they provided more detailed and mathematical instructional suggestions.
Secondary school students’ representations for solving geometric word problems in different clinical interviews
(2019-01-01) Ulusoy F.; Argun Z.
This paper aimed to investigate secondary school students’ representations for solving geometric word problems in different clinical interviewing processes. More specifically, the focus was to understand the changes/developments in students’ representations through think-aloud interviews (TAIs) and open-ended prompting interviews (OEPIs). Three secondary school students were selected as the participants via maximum variation sampling method. The data sources were obtained from written responses of secondary students for geometric word problems, transcripts of TAIs and transcripts of OEPIs. The results revealed that students generally began to solve word problems by translating verbal representations to pictorial representations without making a complete and careful reading of the problems in TAIs. Due to the local understanding of the problem, they produced useless or incorrect representations. However, the interviewer’s prompting questions in OEPIs increased students’ awareness and attention to the problems. By this means, students had opportunities to change their pictorial and symbolic representations by making a complete and accurate reading of the statements in the problems, verifying and monitoring their solutions, and realizing their own errors or inadequate geometrical knowledge. Considering the results, we recommend to researchers/teachers who wish to understand students’ mathematical thinking in a deeper way to utilize of both clinical interviews together.
Serious obstacles hindering middle school students’ understanding of integer exponents
(2019-12-01) Ulusoy F.
This study aims to investigate the obstacles in eighth-grade students’ understanding of integer exponents using a mixed method research design. A total of 165 eighth-grade students were given a paper-pencil task and clinical interviews were conducted with 12 students. The findings indicated that achievement of the participants was low, especially in the zero and negative exponents. Students made errors that generally originated from the definition of exponentiation as repeated multiplication with natural numbers and underdeveloped conceptions of additive and multiplicative structures. As a result, the students overgeneralized the rules that are true for positive integer exponents to the other exponent expressions. Another crucial result was that most of the students did not know the meaning of zero exponents due to various obstacles due to the identity element of addition or the absorbing element of multiplication. Furthermore, students made various errors when undertaking operations with exponent expressions due to the confusion with additive and multiplicative structures in the operations of exponential expressions.
Taxonomic implications from morphological and anatomical studies in the section Stenodiptera from the genus Grammosciadium (Apiaceae)
(2016-01-01) Bani B.; Ulusoy F.; Karakaya M.A.; Koch M.A.
Grammosciadium pterocarpum subsp. bilgilii and G. pterocarpum subsp. sivasicum from Turkey are herein described as two new subspecies, and the species G. schischkinii is synonymied under G. pterocarpum subsp. pterocarpum. Quantitative variation of morphological and anatomical characters have been analysed to provide discriminative characters between the taxa of section Stenodiptera and to provide a key to the species. The taxonomic status of the taxa has been discussed in light of these morphological and fruit anatomical data using multivariate statistics such as MANOVA and Principal Component Analysis. The results are also used to present a critical discussion of characters used to distinguish and determine different taxa within Grammosciadium. MANOVA showed that ten characters, except stylopodium and style length, differed significantly among the taxa, and the results were confirmed by Tukey tests and PCA analysis (except the character of fruit number). However, only ranges of the characters of sepal length, fruit length, fruit width, fruit width/wing width ratio, and width of fruit wing are not overlapped. Qualitative characters of petiolate stipular segments of lower leaves and presence of funicular oil ducts in transvers section of mericarps were found as diagnostic characters.
The mathematical and technological nature of tasks containing the use of dynamic geometry software in middle and secondary school mathematics textbooks
(2022-09-01) Ulusoy F.; Turuş İ.B.
This study investigates the quality of tasks containing the use of dynamic geometry software (DGS) in the middle (5th–8th grade) and secondary school (9th–12th grade) mathematics textbooks in terms of mathematical and technological aspects. The DGS-related tasks in twenty-seven Turkish mathematics textbooks, approved by the Ministry of National Education, were analyzed according to the Dynamic Geometry Task Analysis Framework (Trocki & Hollebrands, Digital Experiences in Mathematics Education, 4(2), 110-138, 2018). Data analyses were conducted by using both qualitative and quantitative (descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test, and ANOVA) methods. The findings showed that DGS-related tasks were more common in the secondary school mathematics textbooks than in middle school mathematics textbooks. The mathematical depth level of DGS-related tasks in the middle school textbooks was significantly different from the mathematical depth level of DGS-related tasks in the secondary school textbooks. The mathematical depth levels of DGS-related tasks are quite low in middle school mathematics textbooks, and these tasks mostly cannot go beyond the practice of “drawing a shape according to the given steps”. In terms of technological actions, most of the DGS-related tasks often required only drawing. Sliding and dragging, which are required to see invariant relationships within geometrical obje cts, were uncommon in textbook DGS-related tasks. The quantitative results also showed that DGS-related tasks with a high level of mathematical depth have a high number of technological actions. Based on the results of this study, recommendations are given for improving the use of DGSs in textbooks as well as for further research on this topic.
Using video cases and small-scale research projects to explore prospective mathematics teachers' noticing of student thinking
(2018-01-01) Ulusoy F.; Çakiroğlu E.
This study investigated how prospective teachers notice student mathematical thinking in a video-based learning environment and in analyzing students' thinking when they conduct a research in their practice schools in the scope of a 14-week elective course program. Instructional process of the course had two phases. In the first phase, a group of eight prospective mathematics teachers analysed video cases related to students' mathematical thinking. In the second phase, they explored actual students' mathematical thinking through diagnostic interviews in their practice schools in order to conduct a small-scale research project. The results indicated that while prospective teachers tended to be more simplistic in analysing students' thinking in their early video-case analyses, they came up with deeper analysis of student thinking by making sound inferences from data and proposing pedagogical strategies. Moreover, prospective teachers stated that micro-case videos functioned as a catalyst for enhancing their noticing of student thinking before conducting small-scale research projects.