Students' fraction comparison strategies as a window into robust understanding and possible pointers for instruction
Clarke, Doug M. Roche, Anne
Clarke, Doug M.
Roche, Anne
Author
Abstract
As part of individual interviews incorporating whole number and rational number tasks, 323 grade 6 children in Victoria, Australia were asked to nominate the larger of two fractions for eight pairs, giving reasons for their choice. All tasks were expected to be undertaken mentally. The relative difficulty of the pairs was found to be close to that predicted, with the exception of fractions with the same numerators and different denominators, which proved surprisingly difficult. Students who demonstrated the greatest success were likely to use benchmark (transitive) and residual thinking. It is hypothesised that the methods of these successful students could form the basis of instructional approaches which may yield the kind of connected understanding promoted in various curriculum documents and required for the development of proportional reasoning in later years.
Keywords
Date
2009
Type
Journal article
Journal
Educational Studies in Mathematics
Book
Volume
72
Issue
1
Page Range
127-138
Article Number
ACU Department
School of Education
Faculty of Education and Arts
Faculty of Education and Arts