• School Mathematics
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.59-75
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• 2017

This study analyzed the $6^{th}$ graders' constructions about fraction operations and schemes and figured out the relationships quantitatively between operations and schemes through the written test of 432 students. The results of this study showed that most of students could do partitioning operation well, however, there were many students who had difficulties on iterating operation. There were more students who constructed partitioning operation prior to iterating operation than the opposite. The rate of students who constructed high schemes was lower than that of students who constructed low schemes according to the hierarchy of fraction schemes. Especially, there were many students who construct partitive unit fraction scheme but not partitive fraction scheme, because they could compose unit fraction but not do iterating it. And there were the high correlations between fraction operations and schemes. Given these result, this paper suggests implications about the teaching and learning of fraction.

• Journal of Elementary Mathematics Education in Korea
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.323-345
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• 2019

This study examines the introduction of fractions in the third grade mathematics textbooks focusing on stages of units coordination and suggests alternative activities to help students develop their understanding of fractions. As results, the sessions of introduction units in textbooks was well organized to allow students to construct more extensive fraction schemes (i.e., Part-whole fraction scheme → Partitive unit fraction scheme → Partitive fraction scheme). However, most of the activities in textbooks were related to stages 1 and 2 of units coordination. In particular, the operations and partitioning schemes (i.e., equi-partitioning and splitting schemes), which are key to the development of students' fraction knowledge, were not explicitly revealed. Fraction schemes also did not extend to the Iterative fraction scheme, which is central to the construction of improper fractions. Based on these results, this study is expected to provide implications for the introduction of fractions in textbooks focusing on stages of units coordination to teachers and textbook developers.

• Education of Primary School Mathematics
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.87-116
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• 2020

The purpose of this study is to explore how units-coordination ability is related to understanding fraction concepts. For this purpose, a teaching experiment was conducted with one fourth grade student, Eunseo for four months(2019.3. ~ 2019.6.). We analyzed in details how Eunseo's units-coordinating operations related to her understanding of fraction changed during the teaching experiment. At an early stage, Eunseo with a partitive fraction scheme recognized fractions as another kind of natural numbers by manipulating fractions within a two-levels-of-units structure. As she simultaneously recognized proper fraction and a referent whole unit as a multiple of the unit fraction, she became to distinguish fractions from natural numbers in manipulating proper fractions. Eunseo with a reversible partitive fraction scheme constructed a natural number greater than 1, as having an interiorized three-levels-of-units structure and established an improper fraction with three levels of units in activity. Based on the results of this study, conclusions and pedagogical implications were presented.

• School Mathematics
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.411-424
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• 2010

The fractional concept consists of various meaning, so that it is difficult to understand in primary school mathematics. In this article, we intend to analyze the cognition of 54 pre-service elementary teachers about the operations of partitioning and iterating that are based on Steffe's fraction schemes. The following fraction problem is used in this analysis: If the bar $\Box$ represent 3/8, then create a bar that is equivalent to 4/3. In our analysis, the 43% of pre-service elementary teachers can be well to treat the operations of partitioning and iteration. The 33% are use the equivalent fractions. But the 19% is not good. From the our analysis, it is important that pre-service elementary teachers must be have experimental(operational) thinking as the science education. And in this study we apply the operations of partitioning and iterating to the fraction activity of textbooks.