Abstract:

This study aim to investigate the misconceptions that secondary school 7th and 8th graders have about the sub-learning areas of the equality and equation topics. The sample of the research consists of 154 secondary school students. The study adopted case study as its research methodology. The data collection tool was a knowledge test including 10 items, developed considering the misconceptions about equality and equation found in the literature, the acquisitions in the sub-learning areas of the equality and equation listed in the curriculum for secondary school mathematics. The data were analyzed descriptively. In this context, the responses of the students were analyzed under four headings: correct, incorrect, empty and misconception. The incorrect and misconception categories were distinguished considering the frequency of the same mistake, similarity in misconceptions that the students have and those already identified in the literature. Then, the responses stated in the category of misconception were analyzed in detail and focused on the possible reasons related to the mistakes. At the end of the research, it was found that the most frequent misconception was that the variables are always different, while the least frequent one was the significance of the parentheses in algebra least. In addition, the misconception of inability to create inter-variable correlation came forward both in the acquisition of establishing equation and in solving equation processes. It was found that the 7th graders have more misconceptions than the 8th graders when compared in terms of the class level.

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