An investigation of seventh grade students’ misconceptions regarding the concept of percentages

This study investigates seventh-grade students’ misconceptions about percentages and theunderlying causes of these misconceptions. The topic of percentages stands out as a concept frequentlyencountered both in mathematics and in daily life, yet one that many students find difficult to comprehend.The purpose of the research is to identify students’ misconceptions regarding percentages and to examinethe reasons behind their occurrence. An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was employed,integrating both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The qualitative component of the study wasstructured as a case study. In the first phase, quantitative data were collected through a 22-item diagnostictest, while in the second phase, semi-structured interviews were conducted to gain deeper insights into thefindings. The study was carried out with 255 seventh-grade students from three schools in Turkey’s Aegeanregion, representing different socio-economic backgrounds. Students were given two class periods tocomplete the diagnostic test, and ten students with varying achievement levels were selected for interviews.The collected data were analyzed using qualitative methods supported by quantitative findings andinterpreted through content analysis. Results revealed that students’ misconceptions stemmed mainly fromdeficiencies in understanding fractions and decimals, misconstructed ratio–proportion concepts, difficultiesin interpreting the percent symbol, operational errors, preconceptions, and incorrect generalizations transferred from prior learning. The findings suggest that conceptual gaps in previous mathematical topicspersist in learning percentages, leading to more complex misunderstandings. Keywords: The percentages, Concept, The misconceptions.