An Evaluation of Middle School Mathematics Teaching Programs Based on TIMSS Cognitive Domains

Abstract

The aim of the current study was to analyse the cognitive qualifications of the behaviours defined in the middle school mathematics teaching program in terms of grade level and content domains. Being conducted as document analysis, the current study evaluated middle school mathematics teaching program (grades five through eight), approved by Board of Education and Discipline in Turkey, according to the cognitive domains with their sub-domains that were defined in TIMSS 2015 mathematics framework. According to the results of the study, distribution of the cognitive properties of the curriculum behaviours differs by the grade levels. Knowing cognitive domain is highly stated in the fifth grade behaviours, while its inclusion was gradually decreased without a significant change across the other grade levels. Among the grade levels, seventh grade curriculum was one that was stressed applying domain at most. Being similar to the distribution of knowing domain, applying skill were also included less in the seventh grade level, but the distribution did not change to much at the other grade levels. On the other hand, reasoning cognitive skill was mostly represented in the sixth grade curriculum, while it was least in the seventh grade curriculum. Results regarding distribution of the cognitive skills across the content domains indicated that numbers and operations content domain stressed knowing cognitive domain; algebra, geometry and measurement domains mostly employed applying; data analysis and probability content domain paid more attention to the reasoning
cognitive domain in their related behaviours. The middle school mathematics teaching program did not include any behaviour that was related with the sub-domains of recalling, deciding, generalizing, and justifying.