INVESTIGATION OF STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS ON THE CONCEPT OF MATHEMATICS THROUGH METAPHORS

The research was conducted at one of the schools located in Baku in the second semester of 2022–2023 to determine the thoughts of V-IX grades regarding the concept of “mathematics” through metaphors. The phenomenological approach, which is one of the qualitative methods, was applied for the research involving 260 students, and the data obtained from the study was analyzed by using the content analysis method. A total of 215 metaphors had been created by students in the study. The 5 most frequently created metaphors are key (f=22), brain (f=7), life (f=7), space (f=6), and black color (f=6). All generated metaphors were examined separately and classified into 10 different categories according to their  common characteristics. These categories are named “need/necessity”, “control”, “power”, “entertainment”, “labor”, “permanence/infinity”, “relationship”, “guidance”, “dilemma” and  “difficulty/desperation”. As a consequence of the analysis, it can be concluded that some of the metaphors created by the students contain negative meanings. Recommendations were
presented in line with the results acquired from the study.