A Focus on Fractions: Bringing Research to the Classroom

by Petit; Marjorie M.

• ISBN13: 9780415801515
• ISBN10: 0415801516
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2010-05-10
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

A Focus on Fractions is the first book to make cognitive research on how students develop their understanding of fraction concepts readily accessible and understandable to pre- and in-service K' 8 mathematics educators. This important resource assists teachers in translating research findings into their classroom practice by conveying detailed information about how students develop fraction understandings as well as common student misconceptions, errors, preconceptions, and partial understandings that may interfere with students learning.? Using extensive annotated samples of student work, as well as vignettes characteristic of classroom teachers' experiences, this book equips educators with knowledge and tools to reveal students' thinking so that they can modify their teaching to improve student learning of fractions concepts.?Special Features:End of Chapter Questions provide teachers the opportunity to analyze student thinking and consider instructional strategies for their own students. Instructional Links help teachers relate concepts from the chapter to their own instructional materials and programs. Big Ideas and Research Reviews frame the chapters and provide a platform for meaningful exploration of the teaching of fractions. Answer Key posted online offers extensive explanations of in-chapter questions.A Focus on Fractions bridges the gap between what mathematics education researchers have discovered about the learning of fraction concepts and what teachers need to know to make effective instructional decisions.

Author Biography

Marjorie M. Petit is an educational consultant in mathematics curriculum, instruction, and assessment.
Robert E. Laird works with the Vermont Mathematics Initiative and is a Lecturer in Mathematics at the University of Vermont.
Edwin L. Marsden is Professor of Mathematics and former chair of the Department of Mathematics at Norwich University.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xiv
Modeling and Developing Understanding of Fractions	p. 1
Inappropriate Use of Whole Number Reasoning	p. 31
What is the Whole?	p. 41
Partitioning	p. 59
Comparing and Ordering Fractions	p. 83
Number Lines and Fractions	p. 99
The Density of Fractions	p. 119
Equivalent Fractions and Comparisons	p. 133
Addition and Subtraction of Fractions	p. 145
Multiplication and Division of Fractions	p. 161
References	p. 183
Index	p. 185
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