Mathematics – How do students and teachers perceive it?

Abstract

The current study explored mathematics perceptions of teachers and high school students. The online survey consisting of three open-ended questions was answered by 104 high school students and 92 mathematics teachers. A qualitative descriptive research approach was applied to analyse the data. The results of this study showed that mathematics is seen as a branch of science, everything, explanations of concepts with numbers, language, universal language, language of nature, language of universe, life, method, numbers, and tool. Moreover, it was found that there are differences in perceptions between students and teachers as well as males and females. The results of this study extend what we know about student and teacher perceptions of mathematics and add an important contribution to mathematics education research.