Source of inquiry

For my third professional experience placement, I was primarily tasked with two
mathematics classes; one Year 7 class and one Year 10 class, in which I taught algebra and
trigonometry units, respectively. These two branches of mathematics share a common
element in that they both require the students to algebraically manipulate fractions in order to
solve an unknown. The majority of students in both year groups appeared to have little
difficulty in rearranging fractions in which the unknown was on the numerator (e.g. solving

for x in the equation 2 =

x
3 ), but difficulties arose in both groups when the unknown was

on the denominator of the equation they were trying to solve (e.g. solving for x in the

equation 2 =

6
x ). Where the two year groups differed, however, was in how they

responded to my explanations of how to solve the latter type of problem. My efforts to

explain the rearrangement of fractions from a fundamental level were generally received
positively by the Year 7 students; they appeared to understand how to solve the problems
once given an explanation, and could solve future problems without requiring teacher
assistance. The Year 10 students, however, usually responded with confusion, and generally
showed little to no improvement in questions involving this type of rearrangement.
After a few lessons, I decided to talk to my colleague teacher about this experience,
and he stated that, in his experience, this is not an uncommon situation. His belief as to why
this was the case boiled down to two main, interlinked, reasons. Firstly, the Year 10 students
have had a longer period of time pass since their introduction to the foundations of fractions
(generally around Year 5), so they are more likely to have lost the conceptual knowledge they
may once have had. Secondly, rural areas will generally not have enough mathematics-

qualified teachers to have all age groups taught by such a teacher, and these teachers will
generally be assigned to teach years 9-10, rather than years 7-8. This, according to my
colleague teacher, results in students being less likely to learn much in the way of conceptual
understanding of mathematics in the junior secondary years (as such understanding is often
lacking in out-of-area teachers), resulting in students learning the how-to rather than the
why. These two factors combined make me wonder if it is possible for students in Year 10
to learn the basic principles behind algebraic manipulation of fractions, or if it is simply too
late by this stage, and simple rote memorisation is more practical.
This lack of conceptual understanding of fractions gives me cause for concern for
several reasons. Firstly, fractions are an integral component of almost every branch of
mathematics, and difficulties with fractions will likely transition into difficulties with these
branches of mathematics; a viewpoint supported by Goos, Stillman &Vale (2007). Secondly,
conceptual understanding is more likely to develop real-life mathematical skills than
simple memorisation techniques.
Literature review
My scan of the academic literature appears to strongly confirm what I have learnt
throughout my university studies; namely that in terms of developing lifelong mathematical
skills, it is better to develop conceptual understanding in mathematics than to simply rely on
rote memorisation (Sidenvall, Lithner & Jder, 2015; Booth & Davenport, 2013). The
literature also suggests that, in practise, teaching for conceptual understanding is not as
commonplace as research advocates (Lewis, 2016; Sidenvall, Lithner & Jder, 2015).
One notable feature of my foray into the literature is that my colleague teachers
concerns that junior secondary teachers conceptual understanding of algebra may impact
students learning appear to be well-founded. Huang & Kulm (2012) found that the majority
of prospective middle school mathematics teachers in the United States had a substantial lack
of algebraic understanding. While this study was US-focused, it is my belief that a similar
problem persists in Australia; a view supported by Lewis (2016), who, when discussing the

teaching of fractions with upper-primary and junior secondary teachers in Tasmania, found
that students were rarely exposed to proofs of the concepts they were being taught. In this
regard, the students had learned the what and how, but not the why of using arithmetic
with fractions.
When it comes to the practicality of teaching conceptual understanding of algebra and
fractions to older students whose conceptual understanding of algebra and fractions is
limited, the research is somewhat divided. The heart of the debate appears to be in whether it
is possible to teach such remedial skills to older students without sacrificing time spent
teaching more advanced mathematical concepts. In a study of fifteen Year 10 students in
South Africa, Makonye & Khanyile (2015) suggested that a relatively brief interview, in
which the students were probed about their mathematical reasoning, was sufficient to
address many misunderstandings the students had. The obvious flaw with this study is the
small sample size; it is difficult to know whether this would extend to a more general
teaching context. Additionally, Lewis (2016) holds the belief that giving proof-based
instruction need not be overly time-consuming, but little in the way of data is given as
evidence in this regard.
On the other side of the debate, Booth & Davenport (2013) make the proposition that
the conceptual misunderstandings of students are often more deep-rooted than teachers
initially assume, such as misunderstanding the meanings of basic arithmetical operators. Such
foundational misunderstandings may prove to take too much time to address, particularly in a
non-streamed class, where there is a wide range of ability levels. Such deep-rooted
misunderstandings were found by Sidenvall, Lithner & Jder (2015) to cause afflicted
students to be more inclined to simply ask their peers how to solve a particular mathematics
problem, rather than attempt to rectify their misunderstandings. These reports raise the
possibility that when teachers attempt to explain why a problem is solved in a certain way, the

explanation given is aimed at too high a level of understanding (i.e. the basic arithmetical
operations are overlooked, due to being obvious).
Final question
As the literature appears to have a unanimous verdict on conceptual understanding vs.
rote memorisation, the focus should not be on the effectiveness of teaching conceptual
understanding. The more debatable aspect is the practicality of teaching conceptual
understanding to older students. For this reason, my focus question is articulated as follows:
To what extent is it practical to teach conceptual understanding of the fundamental
concepts of fractions and algebra to struggling Year 10 students, without impacting the time
spent on more advanced mathematical concepts?

References
Booth, J. & Davenport, J. (2013). The role of problem representation and feature knowledge
in algebraic equation-solving. The Journal of Mathematical Behaviour, 32(3), 415423.
Goos, M., Stillman, G., & Vale, C. (2007). Teaching secondary school mathematics:
Research and practice for the 21st century. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin.
Huang, R. & Kulm, G. (2012). Prospective middle grade mathematics teachers knowledge of
algebra for teaching. The Journal of Mathematical Behaviour, 31(4), 417-430.
Lewis, R. (2016). Dividing fractions: A pedagogical technique. Australian Mathematics
Teacher, 72(1), 18-19.
Makonye, J. & Khanyile, D. (2015). Probing grade 10 students about their mathematical
errors on simplifying algebraic fractions. Research in Education, 94, 55-70.

Sidenvall, J., Lithner, J., & Jder, J. (2015). Students reasoning in mathematics textbook
task-solving. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and
Technology, 46(4), 533-552. doi: 10.1080/0020739X.2014.992986