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Fractional Measurement Paper
Fractional Measurement Paper
numbers and how numbers relate to a physical object. I structured this activity with
a middle school audience in mind although it would be effective with older and
younger students as well. The website is structured so that students can work
through the lessons on their own although I have included lesson planning and
structures for teachers to follow as well. It would be a good idea for teachers to
take a minute and familiarise themselves with the format before teaching the
included lessons.
Learning goals
with the use of a ruler to measure using imperial and metric (SI) codes. Measuring
and using fractions can be a difficult area to teach if students are taught through a
have been taught to use an algorithm to work with fractions and often do not have a
place in Mathematics curricula. Considering its vital role in math, science and in our
life, students should fully understand not only “how to measure” but also “what it
that the skills gained would be easily applied to other forms of measurement. Liquid
The International System of Units (SI) was adopted in most countries as early
was the meter and most countries still use this system. Imperial measurement was
adopted in Britain before SI units were in wide use and are still used in the United
system is very much in use in many trades throughout the world. The construction
industry typically uses the inch and foot base of measurement and not the SI
equivalent of a meter. Machinists use the 1/1000” measure of inch while building,;
seldom using millimeters. It is therefore important as a purely practical skill for our
students to understand and use fractional imperial measurement by foot, inch and
inch, our students need to have a full and coherent picture of a fraction. Most
students understand fractional measurement more clearly than we give them credit
for. Any kid will know that having 2 quarters is better than one, or a ½ of a pie is a
bigger piece than a 1/3 of a pie. The problem is that when we make the “logical”
leap from a piece of pie or counting money to linear measurement and fractions,
confusion often arises. I hope to address this gap of knowledge through the
accompanying website.
I also intend to provide the opportunity for students to learn how to use a
ruler or scale in a practical way. The student will gain familiarity and avoid the
Problems
The learning gap for fractional measurement is two-fold. The actual physical
use of a ruler and the comprehension of units and divisors of units is one gap,
students have difficulty visualising and understanding what a fraction is but also
many teachers do not either. Tanheiser, Browning (2014). I would suggest that as a
The first issue is that of understanding fractions. Our students have shown
that while they can use procedure to solve problems they lack true comprehension.
the gap in knowledge is made clear by reviewing a few questions posed to the
students. One question asks, “Which of the two figures shows 2/3 of the figures
shaded?” The student response showed 58% thought that 2/3 meant 2 parts
unshaded. 5% were correct which leads to “the evidence that the students do not
have the idea that there are 3 parts, out of which two are shaded.” Ghulam, (2016)
Students also could not demonstrate the ability to tell which is bigger, ¼ or 2/9ths
with 6.5% correct. They also could not convert 18/7 into a mixed fraction. The tests
that our teachers understand it as well. Of 5 areas in math studied; Whole Numbers
content has the highest number of published work. Yang, Reys, (2008) “Despite the
multiply, divide and compare fractions but were unable to explain why these
procedures worked, or to stray from them, even if using number sense seemed more
method rather than a more internalised Conceptual Knowledge. Lee, Orrill, (2009)
Learning how to work with fractions without understanding the “how” of use,
quantity. Moyer, Mailley, (2004) This lack of comprehension is only naturally passed
to the students who learn to use fractions as procedural knowledge, which is not
although most could use the “invert and multiply” method to solve the problem.
“solved” rather than understood. The other common problem is that very basic
point but in the meantime I would like to use linear measurement as a way of
several ways to address the problems associated with learning fractions and
measurement.
starting from 1, rather than 0, Ignoring or mixing units, incorrect ruler alignment,
counting hash marks or lines rather than spaces and focusing on the endpoint.
Tansisman, Aksu (2016) During testing, 40% of 6th grade students had difficulty
grasping the idea of a zero point and ruler structure. 55% of the students thought
that a broken ruler could not be used to measure a 2m cloth. During the test with a
longer than the object being measured, a broken ruler has lost its function,
centimeters are not to be used to measure meters and centimeters can only be used
explained that he “counted the line”, meaning the line in the middle. I tried the same
turns out, given a similar test, answers can vary widely. Some students will say “8”
(the last number), “21” (6,7 and 8 added), and the answer Rupert and Anna gave
which happens when students count the lines, or hash marks, rather than counting
the spaces. Tansisman, Aksu (2016) Incidentally, I asked Rupert if he thought that
his answer was right (in a leading, questioning way) and after a bit of thought he
realised the correct answer, which is 2. Anna also realised the correct answer very
quickly, after which she walked around the class trying out the test on other
students.
The two primary issues of not fully understanding, or not having a picture of
fractions and the practical use of a ruler will be addressed in tandem throughout my
website. I believe the two areas are problems that are well addressed together; the
comprehension of one supporting the other. The format of a website such as this
will allow for a simple base level of comprehension upon which more complicated
The format of the website will be designed so that a teacher can use the
everything individually. I would hope that teachers work through the format to
fractions. The students will be challenged to try the method in the video as they
measure objects in the room. The following videos will answer problems as they
arise by making the move to the next logical step. Students can work at their own
pace or as a class, reviewing the videos on their own or having them projected to the
whole room. The intention is to avoid complicated language and have fun practical
involve pie shapes or grids. These methods may be traditional ways to teach
fractions but I would like to keep a consistent focus throughout instruction by using
a ruler or similar scale and shape. The reason I am doing this is that I have taught
fractions for many years using coin values (quarters, half dollars, etc.) and round
shapes such as pies but making the leap from fractions in one format (i.e. circular) to
I am also avoiding specific units until the end of the lessons. Students enjoy
coming up with their own names of units of measurement, which works well and
will be introduced in later steps. Using familiar objects as a unit reference such as
“inch”.
Students in my class struggle with the physical use of a ruler. They fall into
the traps I outlined earlier very quickly. One section of the website will allow the
students to try a ruler on the screen and enter answers. Correct answers will allow
the student to move to the next level or be provided with a support to allow moving
forward more clearly. Starting from a simple scale, which is made more complicated
by fractioning, will allow for gradual conceptual comprehension. This section is also
very practical because it allows the student to answer and move on without having
to seek guidance. I would also like to have the website structured so that incorrect
answers are used in a formative, productive way. Structuring lessons similar to this
in a live setting such as a classroom are difficult to achieve. A class set of rulers with
varying levels of scale and a way of monitoring their use and comprehension in a
class of 30 students is difficult indeed. My intention is that this website will address
these issues.
Assessment
introduces several activities that allow for an active learning process. Students will
be moving around and assessment must be made “on the fly”. The completion of the
activity will be timed so that if the teacher feels it is appropriate the exercise can be
set up as a competition. The website also suggests different objects to measure and
after the student enter their value, a typical value is shown. The website forms are
setup such that as students enter the information it is compared to an average and
totalled. If students get very low totals it is a clear indication that the student either
The second section involves “virtual measuring”. Students can move on only
when they complete a step. Assessment is very simple because the learner cannot
understanding.
References
Teachers of Mathematics
of Educational Resources
content knowledge.
Yang, Reys (2010). Promoting sixth grades number sense and learning attitudes via