PROSPECTIVE TEACHERS UNDERSTANDING FRACTION DIVISION USING RECTANGLE REPRESENTATION

Abstract

Fraction division is one of the most difficult subjects in elementary school. Not only elementary students but many prospective teachers don’t understand the fraction division concept yet—most of them using a keep-change-flip algorithm to solve fraction division problems. A study using rectangle representation was conducted by us to prospective teachers. This study aims to see whether this rectangle representation will make prospective teachers understand or not. To do so, we made a mixed-method study with 80 prospective teachers as participants. The results show that 53,75% of prospective teachers use the keep-change-flip algorithm without understanding the concept of fraction division, and just 15% of prospective teachers understand fraction division. We assume that most prospective teachers still can’t imagine how fraction division works in a real-life context. They remember what they used to do to finish the fraction division problem that their teacher has introduced in primary school. Based on the results, we conclude that the study with rectangle representation still needs an improvement, whether the teacher’s explanation or the rectangle media.

Keywords

• fraction division
• keep-change-flip algorithm
• prospective teachers
• rectangle representation