Researcher(s)
- Sophia Surdovel, Psychology, University of Delaware
Faculty Mentor(s)
- Nancy Jordan, School of Education, University of Delaware
Abstract
Early fraction learning is a task that comes with great difficulty for young learners, specifically with elementary students. Prior to fraction learning, students focus solely on whole number acquisition, learning the values of whole numbers, how to order them on a number line, and recognizing which number is larger or smaller. Such solidified understanding of whole numbers makes fraction learning especially difficult due to whole number bias, “the assumption that properties of whole numbers are properties of all numbers” (Siegler et al., 2013). With this assumption in mind, a qualitative analysis on the responses given by 45 first-grade students was conducted to see how their reasoning was influenced by whole number bias and if this reasoning evolved when tested again. This analysis utilized data from a training study conducted by the Early Fractions Lab, in which first grade students were tested on their fraction knowledge, specifically the data from two questions that tested for the students’ understanding of which fraction was greater than the other (i.e., ½ compared to ¼). A coding scheme was created to see what types of whole number biases students were displaying, in which they either added the denominator to the numerator, compared the values of the denominators, or combined the numerator and denominator (i.e., ½ = 12). As a result of this coding, it was seen that over 70% of the students’ responses for both questions were influenced by whole number bias. With such results, it can be seen that whole number bias affects the way elementary students understand and learn about fractions, taking their knowledge of whole number rules and applying them to fractions. This suggests that there may need to be changes to when and how children start learning about fractions, working sooner with their whole number knowledge rather than years later.