Possible interactions with mathematically gifted students: Views of prospective teachers

Abstract

Teachers' interactions with mathematically gifted students in the classroom environment, and the elements of this interaction have become prominent recently. This qualitative study's purpose is to reveal the views of prospective secondary mathematics teachers about these interactions. The study participants were seven prospective teachers attending the fourth year of a secondary mathematics teaching programme in a public university in Turkey during the 2018-2019 academic year. These prospective teachers participated in a 90-minute focus group interview which was recorded with a video camera. During the interview, the researcher brought up possible classroom environment scenarios that could occur with mathematically gifted students who may have the characteristics that the participants described. The prospective teachers' views about the kinds of behaviours they can exhibit, and what methods they can reveal in these theoretical interactions were analysed with the descriptive analysis method. The study results indicated that the participants exhibited different approaches to situations they might encounter in the classroom. For example, some prospective mathematics teachers asserted that mathematically gifted students should be assisted in the classroom context; others stated that such students should be supported with out-of-class activities rather than helping them in the classroom. Besides, the participants suggested that the history of mathematics and advanced mathematics subjects could also be used to educate mathematically gifted students.