Exploring evidence of mathematical tasks and representations in the drawings of middle school students

The drive to explore students’ experiences in mathematics classrooms remains imperative for mathematics education research in order to better understand how effective teaching and learning classroom practices lead to desirable learning outcomes. As part of a larger research project exploring a group of 120 Turkish middle school students’ (grades 6 to 8, aged 11 to 14) perceptions of their mathematics classroom experiences, this article presents an analysis of the nature of mathematical tasks and the forms of mathematical representations depicted in students’ drawings. An analysis of the data obtained from the students’ drawing task (Draw a Mathematics Classroom Test) revealed little to no variety in students’ classroom experiences in relation to the types of mathematical tasks and mathematical representations. The most common mathematical tasks were found to be tasks that focus on procedural skills, while the most common way students represented the mathematics was through symbolic representations. None of the student drawings involved physical or contextual representations. Findings raise concerns about whether Turkish students are well prepared for the demands of the 21^st century.