Investigating the contextual realism levels of the mathematics contents in curriculum resources in Türkiye

Purpose: The current study aims to investigate the realistic level of curriculum resources (textbooks and national examinations) in Turkey. Design/Methodology/Approach: Being qualitative in nature, the current study utilized the document analysis method to examine contextual reality aspects of curriculum resources. The source for this study comprises the centralized assessments for secondary education institutions (CASEI) implemented since 2018 and a middle school mathematics textbook. 749 content items (609 from textbooks and 140 from examinations) were investigated in order to determine the realistic structure of the curriculum resources. In order to reveal the contextual reality level of mathematical problems, I have utilized a rubric including event, question, language use, existence of information/data, realism of information/data, specificity of information/data, and affective purpose aspects. Findings: The results indicated that a significant portion (more than 90%) of the questions in textbooks and in exams remain at the poor-fit level. In contrast, the number of questions reaching the good-fit level in terms of contextual realism is quite limited, with only 3 items in textbooks and 4 items in CASEI. The results of the current study also reveal that some items from both sources fall into the stereotyped score level in terms of total score but are categorized as poor-fit contextual reality due to inadequacies in one or more core components of contextual realism. When evaluating the competency statuses of the contextual reality components in the CASEI and textbook questions, it is observed that the majority of questions are largely inadequate in components other than language use. In particular, the rate of inadequate problems is notably higher in the question, specificity of information, and affective purpose components. On the other hand, in addition to the language use component, it can be said that the number of questions with acceptable competency in the realism of information and event components, although at low rates, is higher than the other components. Furthermore, compared to textbooks, the number of questions in CASEI with partial sufficient and sufficient competency for each component is higher. Highlights: The results of the study indicated curriculum resources’ in adequacy regarding contextual reality framework. The results discussed in detail, and suggestions were provided accordingly. Further research is required to gain a comprehensive understanding of the reflections of the inadequacies identified in this study on teachers and students. Additionally, intervention studies to enhance the contextual relevance levels of the problems will contribute to the existing literature on this topic. It is also recommended that research be conducted to examine the reflections of the competencies related to contextual realism in different curriculum resources.