Teaching fractions for understanding: addressing interrelated concepts

The concept of fractions is perceived as one of the most difficult areas in school mathematics to learn and teach. The most frequently mentioned factors contributing to the complexity is fractions having five interrelated constructs: part-whole, ratio, operator, quotient, and measure. In this study, we used this framework to investigate the practices in a New Zealand Year 7 classroom. Video recordings and transcribed audio-recordings were analysed through the lenses of the five integrated concepts of fraction. The findings showed that students often initiated unexpected uses of fractions as quotient and as operator, drawing on part-whole understanding when solving fraction problems