Final answer:
The answer to the student's question is −28, which represents the player's backward movement of 28 spaces over four turns.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find the number that represents the player's movements in the board game for four turns where the player had to move back 7 spaces each turn, we need to calculate the total movement. The player moved back 7 spaces during one turn. Since this happened during four consecutive turns, we need to multiply 7 spaces by 4 turns.
The calculation is: 7 spaces × 4 turns = 28 spaces.
Therefore, the number −28 represents the total movement for that player over those turns, indicating a backward movement of 28 spaces in total.