Love is a mathematical journey: Memes as metaphors to unveil students’ emotions and identity in the mathematics classroom

In today's digital culture, memes play a significant role in communication, impacting collective identities and emotions. This study explores the educational value of mathematical memes and their effect on secondary students’ identities, emotions, and engagement in mathematics. Using Lakoff's framework of metaphors, it examines how students participate in the creation of mathematical memes and the implications of the activity for emotional responses and identity formation. Data from a mathematical meme tournament show a connection between students' emotional responses and their mathematical interpretations. This suggests that mathematical memes can intercept the interplay between emotions and cultural frameworks to provide students with meaningful learning experiences