An Evaluation of The Preservice-Teacher Training for Children’s Literature and Mathematics Integration

Abstract

This study aims to examine the change in the teachers’ beliefs about the training, presented as an online education for the children’s literature and mathematics teaching to pre-service pre-school, primary and elementary teachers. The participants of the research consisted of 54 pre-service teachers who were selected by purposive sampling method. A weak experimental pre-test post-test design without a control group was used in the study. The data collection tools were the belief scale for the integration of mathematics and children's literature, mathematics teaching self-efficacy belief, and mathematics literacy self-efficacy scales. The study findings revealed that the training enabled the pre-service teachers to gain positive inputs within the context of all the variables. Besides, the pre-service teachers’ scores varied across their branches. In addition, the training was identified to have a significant effect on the difference scores obtained from all factors except for the practitioner competencies complicating the integration process and social norms. Based on the findings, various studies such as face-to-face and experimental studies on a single field/branch basis may be conducted to examine the changes in the pre-service teachers' beliefs and competencies towards integrating mathematics and children's literature.