Investigation of algebratic thinking errors made by seventh grade students during the problem posing process in mathematics courses

The aim of this research is to examine the algebraic thinking errors of 7th grade students in the problem posing process in mathematics class. The study group consists of seventh grade students studying at İleri Secondary School in Siverek district of Şanlıurfa province in the 2022-2023 academic year. In this study, which is structured as a phenomenographic research from the qualitative research types, the algebraic thinking errors made by the students in the problem posing activity on equations were analyzed. In addition, interview questions were prepared in order to understand how the 7th grade students evaluated the problem posing processes and how it affected their course success. During the data collection process, structured, semi-structured and free problem posing activities were applied and evaluated separately. Algebraic thinking situations were revealed. These situations were categorized at each stage. As a result of the research, it was observed that the algebraic errors made by the seventh grade students while posing problems on equations were mostly in the structured and semi-structured problem posing process. When supported by the interview questions, it was concluded that the students' mistakes were due to their inability to reason while posing problems, their difficulty in thinking algebraically in problems posed based on an equation, and their inability to pose creative problems.