During lesson study teachers collaborate to design, teach, observe, and reflect on a lesson with the overarching goals of improving instruction and increasing student learning. This article examines how a 6th grade mathematics lesson study project challenged teachers' ideas and assumptions about their students' understanding of fraction concepts.…

In this paper, we explore theoretical approaches to Japanese teachers' lesson designs involving the adaptation of mathematics textbooks for instructional change. In Japan, although most teachers use textbooks as the main resource for lesson planning, called "kyouzai kenkyuu," the ways in which they use textbooks can differ. In a…

Fraction knowledge has been found to predict later mathematical performance, but many students have difficulty with fractions. Virtual manipulatives (VM) and concrete manipulatives (CM) are effective approaches to teaching fractions, but previous research has not been able to reach a consensus on which manipulatives are the most effective. This…

Learning emphasizing fractions as a part-whole concept causes several limitations in developing fraction knowledge and inhibits proportional reasoning. We use fractions as quotients as the first context introduced in our learning trajectory. We report the teaching experiment results using the improved learning trajectory on thirty 4th grade…

Prior work exploring preschool-aged children's reasoning with repeating patterns has shown that patterning ability is an important predictor of math achievement; however, there is limited research exploring older children's growing pattern task performance. The current study tested whether presentation format impacts performance on growing pattern…

This document includes instructional tips on: (1) Building on students' informal understanding of sharing and proportionality to develop initial fraction concepts; (2) Helping students recognize that fractions are numbers that expand the number system beyond whole numbers, and using number lines to teach this and other fraction concepts; (3)…

Young children are capable of engaging with ratio, measurement and operator meanings of fractions earlier than many national curriculum standards indicate, yet current trends in children's understanding of fractions in Australia, remain weak. Research suggests that spatial reasoning can positively influence mathematical knowledge; however, the…

Understanding fraction magnitudes is important for achievement and in daily life. However, adults' fraction reasoning sometimes appears to reflect whole number bias and other times reflects accurate reasoning. In the current experiments, we examined how contextual factors and individual differences in executive functioning (Experiment 1),…

Although students' nonstandard strategies have great importance in understanding students' thinking and creating effective mathematics classrooms, much remains unexplored in the literature. This study investigated 22 middle school teachers' reasoning about a student's nonstandard strategy for the division of fractions. The data were collected…

We explore prospective elementary-school teachers' attempts to provide signs and symbols with mathematical meaning in a case involving non-integers as numerator or denominator. The data comprises 33 responses to a task inquiring about the existence of numbers between 1/6 and 1/7, in which the participants were asked to compose a hypothetical…

Research on cognitive obstacles related to fraction sense in preservice mathematics teachers is significant, because their success depends on their skills. The acquisition of fraction sense is a complicated problem requiring a strategy to solve it. This study presents cognitive obstacles with fraction sense tests in preservice who will teach in…

Competence in fractions is important in achieving advanced mathematics such as algebra and calculus. To foster students' understanding of fractions, intervention studies have found number lines to be an effective representational tool. Yet, it is unclear whether or not number lines are equally effective regardless of the ways in which they are…

Understanding fraction magnitudes is important for achievement and in daily life. However, adults' fraction reasoning sometimes appears to reflect whole number bias and other times reflects accurate reasoning. In the current experiments, we examined how contextual factors and individual differences in executive functioning (Experiment 1),…

"Fraction Face-Off!" is a supplemental math program designed to support fourth-grade students who need assistance solving fraction problems. Teachers use program materials with individual students or small groups to promote understanding of the magnitude of fractions, to compare two fractions, to put three fractions in order, and to…

"Fraction Face-Off!" is a supplemental math program designed to support fourth-grade students who need assistance solving fraction problems. Teachers use program materials with individual students or small groups to promote understanding of the magnitude of fractions, to compare two fractions, to put three fractions in order, and to…