Pre-Service Education on Differentiated Instruction: Elementary Teacher Candidates' Competences and Opinions on the Process

Abstract

Differentiated instruction is an instructional method complying with the constructivist approach that takes individual differences into consideration.  Importance of pre-service education becomes apparent so that the differentiated instruction of which positive contributions such as having positive effects on students' academic achievements and enabling them to develop a positive attitude toward mathematics have been shown in mathematics education research can be applied in an efficient way. In this context, the purpose of this study is to examine elementary mathematics teacher candidates' competence of differentiated instruction and their opinions on the process during a pre-service education which has the components through which they become informed of the differentiated instruction method, develop differentiated instructional activities, these activities are observed by teachers and they discuss the effectiveness of the practices. The study group of the research was composed of 49 pre-service elementary mathematics teachers. Accordingly, competence level of differentiated instruction was found to be a value very close to the high level. It is thought that this study will provide information on the points to be taken into consideration in future studies to be conducted on obstacles and conveniences presented by pre-service teachers regarding the use of differentiated instruction method and the learning environment in the light of the practices.

Keywords: differentiated instruction, elementary mathematics education, pre-service teacher opinions, pre-service education, differentiated instruction activities