The processes of creating function concept of 9th grade students in the context of different representations

In this study, the processes of developing function concept knowledge of 9th grade students in the context of different representations were examined. The purpose of this study is to deeply examine the students' processes of acquiring the knowledge of function concept. This work is a case study, which is one of the qualitative research methods. The interviews with the students in the study were recorded in the written format by the researcher and an observer. In the study, the abstraction model called RBC (recognizing, building-with, constructing) was taken as a reference. The interviews, students' answer sheets, field notes were examined with document analysis methods. The study was conducted with a total of 6 students from two schools, one of which was a pilot school. In order to select the students, the results of "Participant Determination Exam" which was prepared and applied by the researcher, exam averages of the students and the opinions of the instructor were taken into consideration. According to the data obtained, it was determined that students differed among themselves in the process. It was seen that in the activities, students knew the structures that could be the basis of the problems. It was seen that, although students' mathematics achievement levels differ, how much they knew their prior knowledge of the problems and how much they could transfer them to the other steps of the process and also the communication among students in the study groups were effective in developing the knowledge. In addition, at the end of the study, it was seen that the students who had high and medium level of success in mathematics class were able to develop the function concept knowledge given according to the representation forms of algebraic-table-graphic. However, the students who had low level of success in mathematics class were partly able to develop the knowledge structures belonging to function concept.