Identifying the concept “fraction” of primary school students: The investigation in Vietnam

Abstract

In Vietnam, primary school students explicitly learn the concept of fraction in Grade 4 and 5. Because this concept is introduced to them intuitionally, it is difficult for them to understand and apply it. Base on this point, we believe that the students will commit many errors when solving exercises related to this concept. The survey of 478 students showed that some remarkable errors were made by most students; when learning fractions, students still did not understand the nature of fractions as well as the equality of parts. Therefore, teachers should note the errors of students, and use the effective pedagogical measures to help them prevent, and correct the errors.