Sixth-grade students’ procedural and conceptual understandings of division operation in a real-life context

Abstract

This study aimed to reveal the conceptual and operational conceptions of sixth-grade students in the process of division. The focus of the study included the strategies used in the division process, the students' understanding of the division algorithm, and their ability to interpret the remainder in a real-life context. Being qualitative in nature, the current study adopted the case study methodology. The sample of the study consisted of 64 sixth-grade students studying at two middle schools in the province of Kastamonu, Turkey in the 2018-2019 academic year. The data collection tool was a test consisting of five open-ended questions presented to the students. According to the research findings, while most of the students used the division operation in problemsolving, some students used different strategies, such as multiplication, addition, subtraction, and mental calculation. The majority of the students using the division algorithm were successful in applying the steps of the division operation but had difficulty in interpreting the remainder. In this research, it was also seen that the students had difficulties regarding the use of zero as a placeholder in the division operation. The students also encountered more difficulty in the division problems requiring the use of zeros in the last digits of the quotient than using zeros in other digits of the quotient.