Meanings Expressed by Primary Schoolchildren When Solving a Partitioning Task
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Castro Rodríguez, Elena; Ferreira, Marisel; Montoro Medina, Ana Belén; Ruiz Hidalgo, Juan FranciscoEditorial
MDPI
Materia
Partitioning Distribution Semantic triangle Primary education Representation Strategies
Date
2022-04-18Referencia bibliográfica
Castro-Rodríguez, E... [et al.]. Meanings Expressed by Primary Schoolchildren When Solving a Partitioning Task. Mathematics 2022, 10, 1339. [https://doi.org/10.3390/math10081339]
Sponsorship
Junta de Andalucia FQM-193Abstract
This study entailed an in-depth exploration of the meanings identified by a group of
105 fourth year primary schoolchildren when solving a task involving partitioning. The research was
based on a semantic triangle consisting of a conceptual structure, representation systems, and sense.
The content of children’s answers was analysed qualitatively. One of the most prominent findings
was that purposes or usages were recognised based on multiple strategies, new categories of which,
not envisaged in earlier research, were defined. Most of the students deployed graphic, verbal, and
numerical representation and established relationships among them. Concepts such as the part-whole
relationship and fractioning appeared in their description of conceptual structure, although errors
were detected in terms of inequities and confusion between numerator and denominator.