The effects of formalism on teacher trainees’ algebraic and geometric interpretation of the notions of linear dependency/independency

The aim of this study is to identify the effects of formalism in teaching on primary and secondary school mathematics teacher trainees’ algebraic and geometric interpretations of the notions of linear dependency/independency. Quantitative research methods are drawn in order to determine differences in success levels between algebraic and geometric interpretations of the linear dependency/independency of vectors presented in two- and three-dimensional space. On the other hand, qualitative research methods were utilized in order to investigate thinking modes involved in the geometric interpretation of the same notion. The participants were a total of 144 teacher trainees registered at the Selçuk University, Education Faculty in 2007–2008 academic year. 33 participants were first year students at Secondary Mathematics Education Department, while 111 were second year students at Primary Mathematics Education Department. The results indicated that correlations between the formal definition of the notions of linear dependency/independency and the items of the test which required algebraic and geometric interpretation were both low. Yet, the correlation for the algebraic dimension of the test was higher than the geometric dimension. Likewise, algebraic mean success score was significantly higher than the geometric mean score.