Xu, C., Di Lonardo Burr, S. orcid.org/0000-0001-6338-9621, McNally-Edwards, N. et al. (3 more authors) (2024) A holistic investigation of fraction learning: examining the hierarchy of fraction skills, misconceptions, mathematics anxiety and response confidence. Journal of Cognitive Psychology. ISSN 2044-5911
Abstract
This study aimed to holistically investigate fraction knowledge by considering pupils’ fraction performance on various tasks (i.e. mapping, equivalence, comparison, and arithmetic) and in relation to whole number arithmetic, fraction misconceptions, mathematics anxiety, and confidence in responses. Northern Irish pupils (N = 123; 77 girls; Mage = 11.1 years) demonstrated a strong understanding of fraction magnitudes with few pupils showcasing misconceptions across magnitude tasks. In contrast, fraction arithmetic knowledge, which was uniquely predicted by whole number arithmetic and fraction comparison, was still developing with many pupils incorrectly applying whole number strategies to arithmetic problems. Mathematics anxiety was low, but negatively correlated with performance, and confidence reports were more closely aligned with performance on whole number arithmetic compared to fraction tasks. Overall, researchers and educators need to consider not just fraction performance, but also foundational skills, the presence of misconceptions, and pupils’ feelings and beliefs to better understand fraction learning.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent. |
Keywords: | Arithmetic; fraction knowledge; fraction misconceptions; mathematics anxiety; mathematics confidence |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > Department of Psychology (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 12 Aug 2024 14:08 |
Last Modified: | 12 Aug 2024 14:08 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Taylor and Francis Group |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/20445911.2024.2388907 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:215922 |