The Analysis of Grade 8 Fractions Errors Displayed by Learners Due to Deficient Mastery of Prerequisite Concepts

Yeyisani Evans Makhubele

doi:10.29333/iejme/11004

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Yeyisani Evans Makhubele ¹ ^*

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¹ University of Mpumalanga, Nelspruit, Mbombela, SOUTH AFRICA^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of fractions errors displayed by learners due to deficient mastery of prerequisite concepts. Fractions continue to pose a critical challenge for learners. Fractions can be a tricky concept for learners although they often use the concept of sharing in their daily lives. 30 purposefully sampled learners participated in this study. The research instrument consists of fractions test whose questions were selected from various Annual National Assessment examination papers containing in addition, subtraction multiplication and division of fractional operations. The different types of errors displayed by learners were then identified, coded and categorized. The analysis showed that the main sources for errors were lack of understanding of the basic concepts, learners’ prior knowledge, misconceptions and misapplication of rules. This study recommends that teachers should help their learners to develop fractions conceptual understanding. Learners need to be explicitly taught that errors are opportunities for learning, and that they are springboard of inquiry.

Keywords

errors
fractions
proper fractions
conceptual understanding

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

INT ELECT J MATH ED, 2021, Volume 16, Issue 3, Article No: em0645

https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/11004

Publication date: 23 Jun 2021

Article Views: 2376

Article Downloads: 3379

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Declaration of Conflict of Interest: No conflict of interest is declared by author(s).

Data sharing statement: Data supporting the findings and conclusions are available upon request from the corresponding author(s).

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How to cite this article

APA

Makhubele, Y. E. (2021). The Analysis of Grade 8 Fractions Errors Displayed by Learners Due to Deficient Mastery of Prerequisite Concepts. International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education, 16(3), em0645. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/11004

Vancouver

Makhubele YE. The Analysis of Grade 8 Fractions Errors Displayed by Learners Due to Deficient Mastery of Prerequisite Concepts. INT ELECT J MATH ED. 2021;16(3):em0645. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/11004

AMA

Makhubele YE. The Analysis of Grade 8 Fractions Errors Displayed by Learners Due to Deficient Mastery of Prerequisite Concepts. INT ELECT J MATH ED. 2021;16(3), em0645. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/11004

Chicago

Makhubele, Yeyisani Evans. "The Analysis of Grade 8 Fractions Errors Displayed by Learners Due to Deficient Mastery of Prerequisite Concepts". International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education 2021 16 no. 3 (2021): em0645. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/11004

Harvard

Makhubele, Y. E. (2021). The Analysis of Grade 8 Fractions Errors Displayed by Learners Due to Deficient Mastery of Prerequisite Concepts. International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education, 16(3), em0645. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/11004

MLA

Makhubele, Yeyisani Evans "The Analysis of Grade 8 Fractions Errors Displayed by Learners Due to Deficient Mastery of Prerequisite Concepts". International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education, vol. 16, no. 3, 2021, em0645. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/11004