Egyptian Fractions and Representation Registers in the Construction of the Fraction Concept

Francisco Clemente; Josep Maria Fortuny

doi:10.29333/ejmste/10992

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Francisco Clemente ¹ ^* , Josep Maria Fortuny ¹

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¹ Departament de Didàctica de la Matemàtica i de les Ciències Experimentals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, SPAIN^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

In this work we will analyze the relation between registers of representation and the construction of the fraction concept. Ninety-six students from first year of compulsory secondary education participated in the study, and performed equal share tasks in the context of Egyptian fractions (unit fractions with different denominators). The aim was to determine if, with these types of tasks, students could improve their learning of the different meanings of the fraction concept. Our results indicate that there seems to be a relationship between the meaning used and the representation chosen. Similarly, we found that—with these tasks—students significantly increased the number of registers of representation they used. Students who used distinct representations had to coordinate several registers, which might be interpreted as proof of the development of conceptual understanding.

Keywords

Egyptian fractions
fractions
rational numbers
registers of representation
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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, Volume 17, Issue 7, July 2021, Article No: em1984

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/10992

Publication date: 19 Jun 2021

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Article Downloads: 2027

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Declaration of Conflict of Interest: No conflict of interest is declared by author(s).

Data sharing statement: Data supporting the findings and conclusions are available upon request from the corresponding author(s).

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How to cite this article

APA

Clemente, F., & Fortuny, J. M. (2021). Egyptian Fractions and Representation Registers in the Construction of the Fraction Concept. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 17(7), em1984. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/10992

Vancouver

Clemente F, Fortuny JM. Egyptian Fractions and Representation Registers in the Construction of the Fraction Concept. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2021;17(7):em1984. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/10992

AMA

Clemente F, Fortuny JM. Egyptian Fractions and Representation Registers in the Construction of the Fraction Concept. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2021;17(7), em1984. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/10992

Chicago

Clemente, Francisco, and Josep Maria Fortuny. "Egyptian Fractions and Representation Registers in the Construction of the Fraction Concept". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2021 17 no. 7 (2021): em1984. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/10992

Harvard

Clemente, F., and Fortuny, J. M. (2021). Egyptian Fractions and Representation Registers in the Construction of the Fraction Concept. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 17(7), em1984. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/10992

MLA

Clemente, Francisco et al. "Egyptian Fractions and Representation Registers in the Construction of the Fraction Concept". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 17, no. 7, 2021, em1984. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/10992