Investigating the misunderstandings of seventh grade students about their perception of the concepts of negative numbers in mathematics

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Mathematics, Aligudarz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Aligudarz, Iran.

2 Department of Educational Management, Aligudarz Branch, Islamic Azad University.

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to investigate and describe the types of students' misunderstandings in the concept of negative numbers. This research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-survey in terms of method. The statistical population of seventh grade students of rural high schools in Aliguderz city in the academic year of 2022-2023 is 376 people, and 180 people (124 boys and 56 girls) were selected as a sample using cluster random sampling.

The measurement tool is a researcher-made test that includes 8 questions. The test questions were analyzed in three groups, each group corresponding to one of the goals and questions of the research.



The results of the research showed that some students do not know the difference between single, double and negative sign symmetry and consider the negative sign as a reduction operator. Some students do not understand the difference between the value and size of two integers. Students often divide numbers into two categories:

The first group considers zero to be the smallest number and the second group considers negative numbers to be smaller than positive numbers and zero, but they are unable to sort negative numbers.

Although some students are aware of the rules governing signs, they are not able to implement their knowledge in solving problems. Some students have problems and misunderstandings in transferring from calculus to algebra due to a misunderstanding in the basic concepts of negative numbers.

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History

  • Receive Date: 28 January 2024
  • Revise Date: 02 April 2024
  • Accept Date: 02 April 2024

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