Investigating the effect of teaching ratio-proportion subject by using multiple representations on the development of seventh-grade students' proportional reasoning skills

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of an instruction with multiple representations on the development of proportional reasoning skills of primary school seventh grade students. The participants of the study are 28 seventh grade students studying at a public school in Kırşehir in the 2021-2022 academic year. The study was designed according to the Pre-Test-Post-Test Control Group experimental model. The proportional reasoning pre-test was applied to the participants before the teaching process and the differences were analyzed with quantitative methods. In the teaching process that started with similar groups, traditional teaching techniques were used in the control group through teacher-centered presentation. In the same period, planned teaching techniques with multiple representations were used in the experimental group. Activities involving different types of representation were planned for the experimental group. After the instruction was completed, the proportional reasoning post-test was administered to both groups. According to the findings, a statistically significant difference was determined in favor of the experimental group. In addition, the teaching in the experimental group was video-recorded, and as a result of the qualitative analysis, it was determined that the teaching carried out with multiple representations supported the development of the proportional reasoning skills of the students. With this study, the positive effect of a teaching planned with multiple representations on the development of proportional reasoning skills will be seen. In addition, the planned activities will contribute to the work of teachers who want to use multiple representations in the subject of ratio-proportion.