Why you have to probe to discover what Year 8 students really think about fractions

Many researchers have noted how children's whole number schemes can interfere with their efforts to learn fractions. This paper examines the persistence of whole number schemes among 14 year-old students who appear to have successfully mastered routine algorithms for working with fractions. Uncovering whole number thinking among such students is therefore difficult, and is illustrated through the use of several probing interview tasks, revealing quite different forms of whole number thinking. These forms of thinking can give correct answers also making it difficult for teachers to identify incorrect thinking about fractions. Representations of fractions using number lines can assist in identifying and correcting such thinking. [Author abstract] l