Number line unidimensionality is a critical feature for promoting fraction magnitude concepts

Publication date: November 2019Source: Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, Volume 187Author(s): Elizabeth A. Gunderson, Noora Hamdan, Lindsey Hildebrand, Victoria BartekAbstractChildren’s ability to estimate fractions on a number line is strongly related to algebra and overall high school math achievement, and number line training leads to better fraction magnitude comparisons compared with area model training. Here, we asked whether unidimensionality is necessary for the number line to promote fraction magnitude concepts and whether left-to-right orientation and labeled endpoints are sufficient. We randomly assigned second- and third-graders (N = 148) to one of four 15-min one-on-one, experimenter-led trainings. Three number line trainings had identical scripts, where the experimenter taught children to segment and shade the number line along the horizontal dimension. The number line conditions varied only in the vertical dimension of the training number line: pure unidimensional number line (17.5 cm horizontal line), hybrid unidimensional number line (17.5 × 0.6 cm rectangle), and square number line (17.5 × 17.5 cm). In the area model condition, children were taught to segment and shade a square (17.5 × 17.5 cm) along both dimensions. The conditions significantly differed in posttest fraction magnitude comparison accuracy (a transfer task), controlling for pretest accuracy, reading achievement, and age. In preregistered analyses, the hybri...
Source: Journal of Experimental Child Psychology - Category: Child Development Source Type: research