Developing Namibian Grade 8 Learners' Conceptions of Fractions Using Visual Models

Autor/inn/en	Albin, Simon; Brown, Bruce
Titel	Developing Namibian Grade 8 Learners' Conceptions of Fractions Using Visual Models
Quelle	In: African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 23 (2019) 2, S.206-218 (13 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1029-8457
DOI	10.1080/18117295.2019.1658443
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; Grade 8; Fractions; Visual Aids; Mathematics Instruction; Secondary School Mathematics; Number Concepts; Instructional Effectiveness; Models; Namibia + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; School year 08; 8. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 08; Bruchrechnung; Anschauungsmaterial; Mathematics lessons; Mathematikunterricht; Number concept; Zahlbegriff; Unterrichtserfolg; Analogiemodell
Abstract	Learning rational number concepts is acknowledged as an important task but many learners find it difficult to make sense of them. This paper reports on a case study of the learning in a short (nine-lesson) learning programme for Grade 8 learners in a Namibian school, which sought to use visual models (circle area, bar area and number line) to deepen learners' understanding of fractions as a means to represent rational quantities. The initial benchmark test indicated a number of ways of working with fraction representations, many of which were inappropriate to the rational quantity presented. Although most learners were able to use a fraction to appropriately describe a part-whole area diagram with a single whole, few were able to appropriately label a similar diagram with multiple wholes, or a quantity greater than 1 on the number line. In the learning programme learners worked with visual models that incorporated multiple reference wholes, to explicitly identify the reference whole, to quantify the size of appropriately subdivided units using unit fraction names and to use these units in a measurement process to quantify the quantities these models indicated. A final test showed a sound conceptualisation of the use of fractions to represent rational quantities less than and greater than 1, in such models. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01