Exploring students' reasoning about fraction magnitude

Numerous quantitative studies have shown that learners struggle to understand the magnitude of fractions. This is often explained by the natural number bias or the use of gap thinking. However, qualitative evidence that supports the interpretations of this quantitative research is scarce. We have carried out a qualitative study interviewing 52 seventh grade students from different profiles obtained in a previous quantitative study according to the way they reason about fraction and decimal comparison items. Results show a high consistency between students’ reasoning and verbalizations given during the interview and their profile, supporting the existence of the hypothesized different ways of thinking about the magnitude of fractions, and indicating that these ways of thinking are somewhat stable over time.

ISBN:978-0639821528

Jaar van publicatie:2019

Toegankelijkheid:Closed