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RESEARCH PAPER
Profiles of young students’ understanding of fractions on number lines
1
Bongmyeong Elementary School, Daejeon, SOUTH KOREA
Online publication date: 2024-04-17
Publication date: 2024-05-01
EURASIA J. Math., Sci Tech. Ed 2024;20(5):em2444
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
Number lines are acknowledged as an effective model for understanding fractions, yet students
often face challenges in interpreting fractions on number lines. This study contributes to the field
by investigating students’ performance on fraction number line tasks that require the coordination
of their fraction and number line knowledge. To explore this, test items were developed, and 122
fourth-grade students participated in the assessment. Students’ written responses underwent
analysis in three phases: a descriptive overview of overall student performance, latent profile
analysis to identify subgroups with different competencies, and a qualitative analysis of each
latent profile. The findings indicated lower performance among students across the tasks,
revealing three distinct latent profiles with different competency characteristics: intuitive,
emergent, and advanced understanding of fractions on the number line. From these findings,
instructional implications were extrapolated for using number lines as a model for fractions.
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