A Test for Understanding Simple Fractions Among 5th Grade Students at the Beginning of Lower Secondary Education

Tímea Karika; Csaba Csíkos

doi:10.29333/ejmste/11654

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Tímea Karika ¹ , Csaba Csíkos ² ^*

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¹ Doctoral School in Mathematics, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, HUNGARY² Department of Educational Evaluation and Planning, University of Szeged, HUNGARY^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

In this research, a new test for understanding simple fractions has been developed for students at the beginning of lower secondary education. In many countries, mathematics education in Grade 5 builds on elementary students’ developing concepts of fractions. Understanding fractions causes many difficulties for students, and research on mental representations of fractions suggests that different visualizations may be helpful in teaching and learning. The sample consisted of 124 5^th-grade students, and the reliability of the test proved to be high (alpha=.95). Out of the three types of visualization, the pie chart was the easiest to recognize, and 1/2 (half) proved to be the easiest, and 1/3 (one-third) the most difficult to be recognized. The type of visualization has a stronger effect on students’ performance than the type of fraction (unit versus non-unit fractions). Most surprisingly, students were better at recognizing 2/4 and 2/3 than their unit fraction counterparts, 1/2 and 1/3. The test was supplemented by questions on attitude towards learning fractions.

Keywords

fractions
visualization
lower secondary students

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, Volume 18, Issue 2, February 2022, Article No: em2081

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/11654

Publication date: 01 Feb 2022

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Declaration of Conflict of Interest: No conflict of interest is declared by author(s).

Data sharing statement: Data supporting the findings and conclusions are available upon request from the corresponding author(s).

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How to cite this article

APA

Karika, T., & Csíkos, C. (2022). A Test for Understanding Simple Fractions Among 5th Grade Students at the Beginning of Lower Secondary Education. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 18(2), em2081. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/11654

Vancouver

Karika T, Csíkos C. A Test for Understanding Simple Fractions Among 5th Grade Students at the Beginning of Lower Secondary Education. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2022;18(2):em2081. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/11654

AMA

Karika T, Csíkos C. A Test for Understanding Simple Fractions Among 5th Grade Students at the Beginning of Lower Secondary Education. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2022;18(2), em2081. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/11654

Chicago

Karika, Tímea, and Csaba Csíkos. "A Test for Understanding Simple Fractions Among 5th Grade Students at the Beginning of Lower Secondary Education". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2022 18 no. 2 (2022): em2081. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/11654

Harvard

Karika, T., and Csíkos, C. (2022). A Test for Understanding Simple Fractions Among 5th Grade Students at the Beginning of Lower Secondary Education. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 18(2), em2081. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/11654

MLA

Karika, Tímea et al. "A Test for Understanding Simple Fractions Among 5th Grade Students at the Beginning of Lower Secondary Education". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 18, no. 2, 2022, em2081. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/11654