Meet Jacob, an elementary-aged student who, up until now, really enjoyed math. Numbers always made sense to him, and why wouldn’t they? Whole numbers followed reliable patterns. After all, 2 always came after 1 when counting, and 4 was always greater than 3 when comparing. Then Jacob met fractions.
His teacher, Ms. Garcia, introduced these mysterious fractions as “slices” (parts of a whole) and taught him some rules about what a numerator and denominator represented. Jacob even decorated his own fractions pizza box in class to practice these new concepts. But those seemingly easy rules from Ms. Garcia got really confusing really fast as Jacob encountered more complex problems. “How can I possibly find a fraction between 1/4 and 2/4?” Jacob wondered. After all, there was no pizza slice between 1 and 2…
Then Jacob moved on to fifth grade, where he struggled to perform advanced operations such as adding and dividing fractions, making mistakes like choosing "19" as the closest number to the sum of 12/13 + 7/8 instead of "2." Later, middle and high school came, and algebra and advanced topics seemed even more confusing than those simple pepperoni slices years before. And Jacob’s not alone.
Addressing the fractions dilemma
Extensive research identifies whole number bias—applying natural number reasoning to fractions—as a common error made with magnitude comparisons that often persists into later grades.
Without a foundational understanding that fractions are numbers (each with a location on the number line), students can only succeed with fraction arithmetic by memorizing a growing set of seemingly disconnected procedures.
The new ExploreLearning Frax White Paper unveils why math often “stops making sense” for students when they encounter fractions.
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Make fractions make sense with Frax
In just 13 hours, students can build a foundational understanding of fractions to dramatically impact future math success using ExploreLearning Frax. Incorporating evidence-based methods like length models and number lines, Frax helps students develop fractions confidence through carefully scaffolded game-based tasks.
With a relatively modest investment of time (on average 13 hours to complete Frax Sector 1), students can succeed with fractions, experience achievement gains, and overcome barriers to future opportunities.