Investigation of 7th grade school students' geometrics habits of mind in the multiple representations-based instruction process

Geometry is one of the important branches of mathematics. Individuals' geometric thinking develops with the use of the geometry learning area in which the associations with other disciplines are established in daily life problems. Another concept that enables the development of geometry thinking is geometric habits. Geometric habits of the mind are one of the productive ways of thinking that support individuals' geometric thinking skills (Driscoll, 2007). How to develop students' geometric thinking through these ways of thinking is explained according to habit components. According to the theoretical framework of geometric habits of mind, students are supported to choose and use appropriate ways of thinking while solving geometric problems. Another situation that is effective in learning different ways of thinking is the use of multiple representations in making sense of mathematical concepts. It is thought that with dynamic software that offers the opportunity to observe the properties of geometric shapes in a dynamic environment, students can use multiple representations and see the relationships between representations, and this will be effective in making sense of geometric concepts. Therefore, in this study, students' geometric habits of mind in multiple representation-based teaching processes were examined. In the Geogebra activities used in these processes, students' use of representation was supported by allowing them to discuss in a comfortable and friendly environment. The research was carried out by four 7th-grade students studying in the second semester of the 2020-2021 academic year. GeoGebra-supported activities and geometric questions were used as data collection tools to examine the geometric habits of the students' minds. This study, which includes Geogebra-supported activities and problems, was conducted with an online teaching experiment using qualitative methods through distance education. Through the geometric activities used in these teaching experiments, students were given the opportunity to discuss, use multiple representations, and observe their ideas in a dynamic environment. After these activities, individual interviews were conducted with each student, and their geometric habits were examined. The data collected from the students were interpreted with content analysis. As a result of the research, in the later stages of the multiple representation-based teaching processes in which the GeoGebra program was used, it was observed that the students' mathematical languages and discussions improved when they could easily apply their ideas and experienced improvements in their geometric habits towards relevant learning areas.