Knowledge of fractions and long division `predicts future math success`

Washington - For long-term success in mathematics, knowledge of fractions and long division is important and also teaching of maths need to be improved for that to happen, a new study has revealed.

From factory workers to Wall Street bankers, a reasonable proficiency in maths is a crucial requirement for most well-paying profession in a modern economy.

Yet, over the past 30 years, mathematics achievement of US high school students has remained stagnant and is significantly behind many other countries, including China, Japan, Finland, the Netherlands and Canada.

A research team led by Carnegie Mellon University’s Robert Siegler has identified a major source of the gap - US students’ inadequate knowledge of fractions and divisions.

Although fractions and division are taught in elementary school, even many college students have poor knowledge of them.

The research team found that fifth graders’ understanding of fractions and division predicted high school students’ knowledge of algebra and overall math achievement, even after statistically controlling for parents’ education and income and for the children’s own age, gender, I.Q., reading comprehension, working memory, and knowledge of whole number addition, subtraction and multiplication., the findings demonstrate an immediate need to improve teaching and learning of fractions and division.

“We suspected that early knowledge in these areas was absolutely crucial to later learning of more advanced mathematics, but did not have any evidence until now,” Siegler, the Teresa Heinz Professor of Cognitive Psychology at Carnegie Mellon, said.

“The clear message is that we need to improve instruction in long division and fractions, which will require helping teachers to gain a deeper understanding of the concepts that underlie these mathematical operations,” Seigler said.

At present, many teachers lack this understanding. Because mastery of fractions, ratios and proportions is necessary in a high percentage of contemporary occupations, we need to start making these improvements now.”

For the study, the team had examined two nationally representative data sets, one from the US and one from the United Kingdom.

The US set included 599 children who were tested in 1997 as 10-12 year-olds and again in 2002 as 15-17-year-olds. The set from the UK included 3,677 children who were tested in 1980 as 10-year-olds and in 1986 as 16-year-olds.

The importance of fractions and division for long-term mathematics learning was evident in both data sets, despite the data being collected in two different countries almost 20 years apart.

“This research is a good demonstration of what collaborations between psychologists, economists, public policy analysts and education scientists can create,” Davis-Kean, associate professor of psychology at Michigan said.

“Instead of relying on results from a single study, this study replicates findings across two national data sets in two different countries, which strengthens our confidence in the results,” Davis-Kean added

The study is published in Psychological Science.