Middle School Mathematics Teachers’ Opinions on Estimation

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to investigate 5-8th grades mathematics teachers’ opinions on estimation. The phenomenological research design is used. The semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven teachers who have been experienced in various mathematics curricula. According to analysis, definition of estimation, types of estimation, strategies of estimation, instructional activities in/out of the class, difficulties during teaching of estimation and importance of estimation are seven themes of the study. The results are revealed that most of the teachers could not define estimation and identify types and strategies of estimation. Even though they thought that estimation is an important skill for daily life but they do not provide appropriate teaching environments. The most important reason is that teachers do not believe the necessity of learning estimation, they think that estimations is not going to be asked in the national exams and they do not have enough competency about estimation