Visual Thinking in Fractions: Exploring Elementary Students' Conceptual Understanding through Representation Strategies.
This study explores fifth-grade students' use of visual representations in their understanding of fraction operations and what their drawings show us about their underlying conceptual understanding. A new and comprehensive exploratory qualitative collective case study was carried out with 15 student...
| Publicado en: | Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities Vol. 34; no. 2; pp. 1013 - 1031 |
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| Autores principales: | , , , , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
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Universiti Putra Malaysia
Apr2026
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=193950349&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 193950349 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 01287702 TKQ jtl: Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities issn: 01287702 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Apr2026 vid: 34 iid: 2 pid: 20751 pub: Universiti Putra Malaysia artinfo: ui: 193950349 10.47836/pjssh.34.2.21 ppf: 1013 ppct: 18 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P size: 3.1MB tig: atl: Visual Thinking in Fractions: Exploring Elementary Students' Conceptual Understanding through Representation Strategies. aug: au: Sirajuddin Mutmainnah Latief, Syekh Adiwijaya Arsyad, Arie Arma Yunus, Yusra affil: Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Universitas Muhammadiyah Makassar, Jl. Sultan Alauddin No.259, Gn. Sari, Kec. Rappocini, Kota Makassar, 90221 Sulawesi Selatan, Indonesia Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, State University of Makassar, Jl. A. P. Pettarani, Tidung, Kec. Rappocini, Kota Makassar, 90222 Sulawesi Selatan, Indonesia Senior High School 1 Sinjai, Sinjai Regency, Jl. Persatuan Raya Komp. SMUN 1 No.13, Balangnipa, Kec. Sinjai Utara, Kabupaten Sinjai, 92612 Sulawesi Selatan, Indonesia su: Elementary education Visualization Rational numbers Qualitative research Teacher development Mathematics education Indonesia sug: subj: Indonesia Elementary education Visualization Rational numbers Qualitative research Teacher development Mathematics education keyword: Conceptual understanding elementary mathematics fraction operations visual representation ab: This study explores fifth-grade students' use of visual representations in their understanding of fraction operations and what their drawings show us about their underlying conceptual understanding. A new and comprehensive exploratory qualitative collective case study was carried out with 15 students from three public elementary schools in Makassar, Indonesia. Data were obtained through a visual fraction addition representation task, think-aloud problem-solving, and semi-structured student and teacher interviews. Based on a thematic analysis by interactive methods, the study discovered various strategies of representation, including area diagrams, number lines, bar models, and hybrids of the diagrams and bars. Students made good use of visual representations consistently and in numbers, especially area diagrams and combined representations and had a strong concept for fraction equivalence, common denominators, and magnitude and had a higher flexibility in transitioning between representations. Students who could not keep the unit consistent or scale proportionally consistently often resulted in critical conceptual errors, on the contrary. The results imply that visual representation is not something we can just use to decorate a diagram when reasoning about fractions, but rather it needs to form an intrinsic part of students' brains' thinking toolkit to help students interpret and apply fractions. The research thus suggests a need for targeted teacher professional development that is focussed on the design, interpretation, and scaffolding of visual models for fraction instruction, which allows teachers to scaffold deeper conceptual understanding and support students' overall mathematical literacy. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities is the property of Universiti Putra Malaysia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities holder: Universiti Putra Malaysia dt: @attributes: year: 2026 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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