Analyzing of Middle School Students' Perceptions of Concepts and Mathematical Language Skills Related to Dimension

Abstract

This study aims to investigate secondary school students' perceptions of dimension-related concepts and mathematical language skills. The sample of the study consists of students attending seventh and eighth grade of a middle school in terms of socio-economic and socio-cultural conditions in Kocasinan district of Kayseri.  In the study, which utilizes a mixed-method approach, data were collected using tests developed by the researcher with expert opinion support to measure students' mathematical language skills in the dimension domain and to determine their perceptions of related concepts. The data were collected and statistically analyzed for evaluation. According to the findings, there is a moderate, positive, and significant relationship between middle school students' perceptions of concepts related to dimension and their total scores on the mathematical language skills tests. Mathematical language skill scores were found to be close to the mean, and there was no statistically significant difference in mathematical language skill scores based on gender and grade level. Students had difficulty in making sense of the dimension and defining with words geometric concepts related to the subject, and generally resorted to explanation with figures. However, it was observed that their knowledge level was not sufficient to express the concepts.

Keywords: concept, dimension, mathematical language skills, secondary school student.

DOI: 10.7176/JEP/16-2-02

Publication date: February 28^th 2025