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RESEARCH PAPER
Misconception on addition and subtraction of fractions in seventh-grade middle school students
1
Emirates College for Advanced Education, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2
Higher Colleges of Technology, United Arab Emirates University, Alain, UAE
Publication date: 2022-05-07
EURASIA J. Math., Sci Tech. Ed 2022;18(6):em2115
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
As national and international assessments continue to show students struggle with rational
concepts, which are seen as a major stumbling block for future career in STEM fields, we used the
certainty of response index (CRI) as a method of analysis to investigate a group of 40 United Arab
Emirates (UAE) seventh grade students’ understanding of basic fraction concepts. The types of
errors and misconceptions displayed by students show that over 60% of all participants assumed
that adding fractions procedurally is the same as adding whole numbers with many not being
able to distinguish a numerator from a denominator. The results lead us to believe that the manner
in which students were taught did not ensure the necessary transitional shift from learning whole
numbers to learning rational numbers. Applying the theories of Dienes (1960) and Bruner (1966),
we propose a method of teaching addition and subtraction of fractions that will allow students to
build their own understanding of the rules using the graphing calculator as the medium for
concept formation.
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