Determination of students' mistakes and misconceptions about equations and teacher views on reasons and solutions of these mistakes and misconceptions

Aim of this study is determining the mistakes and misconceptions of seventh grade students about equations and examining the view of teachers on these mistakes and misconceptions. Research is performed in two parts by utilizing quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitative part of the research is carried out with 193 seventh grade students of 6 secondary schools in a city and qualitative part of the research is carried out with 6 mathematics teachers who work in different secondary schools in the same city. In collection of quantitative data, 'Rating Scale for Mistakes and Misconceptions about Equations', which is developed via utilizing literature, is used. This scale consists of 21 questions, 15 of which is multiple choice and two phased and 6 of which is open ended. For collection of qualitative data, semi structured interviews on reasons and solutions of mistakes and misconceptions about equations with six teachers and students are performed. SPSS is used for analyzing quantitative data and descriptive analysis method is used for analyzing qualitative data. At the end of analyses, it is determined that seventh grade students have some mistakes and misconceptions about equations with one unknown; teachers relate these mistakes and misconceptions with ages of students and lack of time for curriculum and their solutions strategy for removing mistakes and misconceptions are classical. Keywords: Mathematics Teaching, Equation, Mistake, Misconception, Student and Teacher.