Prospective Teachers’ Beliefs about Problem Solving in Multiple Ways

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze whether prospective teachers believe solving a mathematics problem involves in using different solution methods. 60 mathematics prospective teachers who take the pedagogic training program in a state university were participated in this study. Five open-ended questions were asked. The study was carried out by collecting data through interviews among qualitative research methods and content analysis technique through analyzing the data. The study started with a pre-implementation. In pre-implementation, prospective teachers solved a geometry problem at class with multiple methods and then they exchanged their ideas with each other. Findings of the study revealed that while 90 % of the prospective teachers stated that they believe the importance of solving problems with multiple methods, 10 % of them stated that they preferred solving many problems with a single method rather solving a problem by using multiple methods.