Mathematics, Mathematics Teachers and Students in Math-Related Cartoons

This research aimed to investigate how mathematics, mathematics teachers and students were presented in math-related cartoons. To accomplish this, 75 mathematics cartoons were drawn five websites, some of which were in Turkish and some others were in English. The document analysis method was employed to gather math-related cartoons. The cartoons were organized in a qualitative data analysis software, MAXQDA (VERBI Software, 2018), and examined through conte nt analysis. It involved coding and constructing the categories from these codes. It was found that school mathematics was presented as consisting of just arithmetic calculations and people were shown with a lack of basic math skills needed to use in real-life situations. In addition, there were cartoons that presented teachers keeping direct eye contact with students and struggling students. We also found that students solving math problems were drawn with anxious facial expressions on the cartoons. To sum up, the results of the study indicated that mathematics was presented as making life more difficult, mathematics teachers were oppressive rather than encouraging, and students were anxious in math-related cartoons. Considering the widespread use of cartoons in virtual platforms, the way in which mathematics and math-related issues are presented in the cartoons is important.