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In search of strategies used by primary school pupils for developing fraction sense

Purpose - Most literature has focused solely on either knowledge about number sense or understanding of fractions. To fill the research gap, this study examined pupils' abilities in both number sense and fractions. In particular, it investigated Year 4 and Year 5 pupils use of strategies in dev...

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Main Authors: Teoh, Sian Hoon, Mohamed, Siti Syardia Erdina, Singh, Parmjit, Kor, Liew Kee
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universiti Utara Malaysia Press 2020
Subjects:
LB1501 Primary Education
Online Access:https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/28917/1/MJLI%2017%2002%202020%2025-61.pdf
https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/28917/
https://doi.org/10.32890/mjli2020.17.2.2
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spelling my.uum.repo.289172022-10-06T00:49:34Z https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/28917/ In search of strategies used by primary school pupils for developing fraction sense Teoh, Sian Hoon Mohamed, Siti Syardia Erdina Singh, Parmjit Kor, Liew Kee LB1501 Primary Education Purpose - Most literature has focused solely on either knowledge about number sense or understanding of fractions. To fill the research gap, this study examined pupils' abilities in both number sense and fractions. In particular, it investigated Year 4 and Year 5 pupils use of strategies in developing their fraction sense. Methodology - This study adopted a descriptive research design, utilising a mixed approach in data collection. An instrument called the Fraction Sense Test (FST), and a clinical interview were used to collect data. The FST comprised 3 strands: fraction concept, fraction representation and effect of operation. A two-stage cluster sampling method was employed to select 396 Year 4 and Year 5 pupils. The sampling involved random selection of the primary schools in the first stage, followed by pupils within the selected schools in the second stage. In addition to descriptive statistics, content analysis of interview transcripts was conducted to identify the presence of concepts and strategies applied among the pupils. Findings - The study found that the pupils scored lowest in effect of operation. It was also revealed that there were four strategies which helped the pupils to develop fraction sense, namely (1) comparing fractions using benchmark fractions of common fractions such as ½, ¼, zero and 1, (2) understanding denominators to determine the size of equal parts, (3) comparing fractions using unit fraction, and (4) applying the strategies in (1) and (2) to manipulate fractions in effect of operation. Significance - The findings provide useful input to facilitate the development of fraction sense ability. Universiti Utara Malaysia Press 2020 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/28917/1/MJLI%2017%2002%202020%2025-61.pdf Teoh, Sian Hoon and Mohamed, Siti Syardia Erdina and Singh, Parmjit and Kor, Liew Kee (2020) In search of strategies used by primary school pupils for developing fraction sense. Malaysian Journal of Learning and Instruction (MJLI), 17 (2). pp. 25-61. ISSN 1675-8110 https://doi.org/10.32890/mjli2020.17.2.2
institution Universiti Utara Malaysia
building UUM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Utara Malaysia
content_source UUM Institutional Repository
url_provider http://repo.uum.edu.my/
language English
topic LB1501 Primary Education
spellingShingle LB1501 Primary Education
Teoh, Sian Hoon
Mohamed, Siti Syardia Erdina
Singh, Parmjit
Kor, Liew Kee
In search of strategies used by primary school pupils for developing fraction sense
description Purpose - Most literature has focused solely on either knowledge about number sense or understanding of fractions. To fill the research gap, this study examined pupils' abilities in both number sense and fractions. In particular, it investigated Year 4 and Year 5 pupils use of strategies in developing their fraction sense. Methodology - This study adopted a descriptive research design, utilising a mixed approach in data collection. An instrument called the Fraction Sense Test (FST), and a clinical interview were used to collect data. The FST comprised 3 strands: fraction concept, fraction representation and effect of operation. A two-stage cluster sampling method was employed to select 396 Year 4 and Year 5 pupils. The sampling involved random selection of the primary schools in the first stage, followed by pupils within the selected schools in the second stage. In addition to descriptive statistics, content analysis of interview transcripts was conducted to identify the presence of concepts and strategies applied among the pupils. Findings - The study found that the pupils scored lowest in effect of operation. It was also revealed that there were four strategies which helped the pupils to develop fraction sense, namely (1) comparing fractions using benchmark fractions of common fractions such as ½, ¼, zero and 1, (2) understanding denominators to determine the size of equal parts, (3) comparing fractions using unit fraction, and (4) applying the strategies in (1) and (2) to manipulate fractions in effect of operation. Significance - The findings provide useful input to facilitate the development of fraction sense ability.
format Article
author Teoh, Sian Hoon
Mohamed, Siti Syardia Erdina
Singh, Parmjit
Kor, Liew Kee
author_facet Teoh, Sian Hoon
Mohamed, Siti Syardia Erdina
Singh, Parmjit
Kor, Liew Kee
author_sort Teoh, Sian Hoon
title In search of strategies used by primary school pupils for developing fraction sense
title_short In search of strategies used by primary school pupils for developing fraction sense
title_full In search of strategies used by primary school pupils for developing fraction sense
title_fullStr In search of strategies used by primary school pupils for developing fraction sense
title_full_unstemmed In search of strategies used by primary school pupils for developing fraction sense
title_sort in search of strategies used by primary school pupils for developing fraction sense
publisher Universiti Utara Malaysia Press
publishDate 2020
url https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/28917/1/MJLI%2017%2002%202020%2025-61.pdf
https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/28917/
https://doi.org/10.32890/mjli2020.17.2.2
_version_ 1746212602183155712
score 13.211869

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