George, L., & Voutsina, C. (2021). Variations in partitive quotient strategy use by children who have been taught the part-whole fraction sub-construct. Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, 1-24.

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https://doi.org/10.1007/s42330-021-00147-5

This paper presents findings from a study that examined the strategies that children, who had only been taught the part-whole fraction sub-construct at school, used for finding the fraction associated with solving varied partitive quotient problems. A qualitative, microgenetic research design was used involving Year 5 (aged 9–10) children engaged in eight individual task-based interviews over a 6-week period. The identified variations in children’s approaches to solving the problems revealed instances of when and how the part-whole fraction sub-construct interfered with children’s engagement with the partitive quotient tasks. The findings are significant, since they provide new, in-depth insights into emerging approaches to solving partitive quotient tasks that are influenced by children’s existing part-whole knowledge. The paper highlights for education, the need for teaching that introduces different fraction sub-constructs to learners early in their schooling so that one meaning of fractions does not become representative of all fraction knowledge.