Misconceptions of sixth grade secondary school students on fractions

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine the misconceptions of 6th-grade secondary school students in terms of part-whole relation in fractions, representation of fractions on the number line, comparison of fractions and operations in fractions. The sample of this study is composed of 104 students who are being educated in 6th-grade of five secondary schools in 2017-2018 teaching year in a province which takes place in the north part of Turkey. Fractional information test, which consists of 5 open-ended questions developed by researchers, was used as data collection tool. The data of the study were analyzed using the content analysis method and in this method frequency/percentage tables were used. By examining the explanations that the students have made, the incorrect answers are divided into categories, and the misconceptions in each question are presented separately. As a result of the study, it has been seen that students have misconceptions in terms of parts-whole relation in fractions, representation of fractions on the number line, comparison of fractions and operations in fractions.