Fostering a measurement interpretation of fractions: a textbook analysis and RME-based teaching experiment in an elementary classroom in India
Date
2025
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
This two-part dissertation study explores how and which fractions are introduced in elementary class levels in the NCERT textbook series in India and examines the interpretations used. The results informed a teaching experiment investigating the potential of Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) to support students’ re-invention of measurement interpretation of fractions. First, an analysis of the fraction chapters in Class 3 and Class 4 textbooks in this series revealed that only two fractions, one-half and one-fourth, are introduced to students. The emphasis on the quotient interpretation in Class 3 and the part-whole interpretation in Class 4 presented very limited opportunities for students to conceptualize fractions as measures. This analysis established a need to support students’ understanding of fractions from a measurement perspective. In the second part, a teaching experiment with introductory RME tasks emphasizing the measurement interpretation was conducted in a Standard 4 classroom at an elementary school in India that followed this textbook series. The findings illustrated that prior to the RME tasks, students interpreted fractions as arrangements of whole numbers; however, after engaging with the RME tasks, they began to demonstrate an emerging understanding of fractions situated in the context of the RME tasks. Students’ development of fractions nomenclature reflected a four-stage re-invention process, ultimately connecting with the symbolic representation of fractions. The study highlights the significant role of students’ unanticipated ideas and the TR’s instructional moves in facilitating a deeper understanding of fractions. The overall results suggest that RME instructional theory has the potential to support Indian students’ understanding of fractions. This part of the study examined how the implementation of a series of RME-based instructional activities resulted in fostering students’ understanding of fractions from a measurement perspective.
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Keywords
Realistic Mathematics Education, Symbolic representations, Elementary class, Quotient interpretation