Fifth-Grade Students' Conceptions of Number Lines: Coordinating Position and Length

• In Event: Hilton Roundtable Session 18
  In Roundtable Session: Pre-K and Elementary Students' Mathematical Reasoning Processes

Abstract

Number lines have become prevalent in elementary classrooms, yet there is little research on students’ understanding of this representation. In this study, we sought to determine how students attended to position and length when using number lines and in what ways coordinating position and length affected students’ ability to solve problems when using number lines. Findings from one-on-one interviews with eleven fifth grade students from a rural school in the Midwest showed that students’ conceptions of number lines were complex and multifacted and varied greatly between items and across students. Because number lines appear so often in standards and curricular materials, we argue that more work needs to be done to better understand the meanings students ascribe to this representation.

Authors

• Rebecca Sue Borowski, Indiana University - Bloomington

• Erik D. Jacobson, Indiana University - Bloomington