The Effect of Mistake-Handling Activities in Mathematics Education: Example of Proof

The purpose of this study is identifying the effect of mistake-handling activities applied on the subject of proof which would be accepted as mathematics content knowledge of the teachers over the progress of the teachers about the proof. The applications of mistake-handling activities (MHA) were realized with a group composed of 5 teachers intended for this purpose based on voluntariness. The data collection tools as "getting written reflection", "semi-structured face-to-face interview" and "diaries" were used in the study. The focus group discussions were realized during the application progress and application was colored by arguments. The acquired data were analyzed by document review method and codes, categories and themes were identified. The findings obtained showed that; Mistake-handling activities applications result some affective affirmativenesses as; increasing the relevance and curiosity of the teachers, critical thinking, self-reliance, awareness, different point of view and some cognitive affirmativeness as distinguishing the deficiencies, understanding the importance of theorems expression and proofs using them.