Research Critque Fernandez Joel
Research Critque Fernandez Joel
Research Critque Fernandez Joel
Graduate School
Shoe Ave., cor. Chanyungco St. Sta. Elena, Marikina City 1800
Introduction
The research paper dealt with the analysis of pupils’ concepts on Fractions
based on the modified TIMSS released items. According to the researcher,
learning fractions in elementary school mathematics is crucial and critical. The
area of fractions makes mathematics cognitively complicated and difficult to teach
(Litweller & Bright, 2002, p. 3). Understanding fractions requires understanding all
the five multifaceted constructs of fractions (Kieren, 1993). Failure to grasp these
constructs causes misconceptions and a limited understanding of its applications
(Kieren, 1993; Kilpatrick, Swafford & Findell, 2006). Missing out on four of these
sub constructs of fractions leads to a weak foundational understanding of
numbers. The fourth grade is a critical year in elementary mathematics because it
is during this time that students are exposed to the more formal nature and
convention of mathematics. The Mathematics Framework for Philippine Basic
Education (MATHTED & SEI, 2010) described the children at this stage to be
ready for a more experimental approach to learning, are more adept with whole
number operations and are ready to do more than explore. The cognitive
demands for these students are of higher levels which include the ability to
represent quantities. At this level, students encounter large arrays of
manipulations rules that are more sensitive to syntactic constraints (Hiebert &
Lefevre, 1986).
Methodology
The study used a mixed methods design. Two types of data were collected
and analyzed. The quantitative data consists of the test scores obtained by the
student respondents in a 12-item Test on Fractions. The qualitative data consist of
students’ explanations, interview responses, drawings and utterances.
The researcher used 36 pupils of a public school in Cainta, Rizal during the
SY 2016-2017. These students went through three years of primary school using
the mandated Mother Tongue Based-Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE). Twelve
released items on fractions from TIMSS 1995, 2003 and 2011 were modified in
two ways: first, Filipino translations and versions were provided and second,
students were asked to explain their answers. The 36 students were randomly
grouped into three groups to answer the modified All-Filipino (Group A),
Combined Filipino and English (Group B) and All-English (Group C) tests. To
further investigate, 5 interview questions were given to 12 randomly selected
participants, 4 students from each group.
The following were the findings derived from the analysis of the data from
the research conducted. On the research question that asks about the students’
understanding of fractions:
3. Students are incognizant of the key ideas of equal parts in the construct
of a fraction as part of a whole. This was seen in their responses to
Items 1, 2 and 3 of the Test on Fractions. It is also evident that students
work more easily with squares and rectangles and not as easily with
triangles. Several students use the construct of fractions as a ratio of
shaded to unshaded parts.
9. The students were more inclined to answer the test and interview
questions in Filipino. The group that answered in Filipino took lesser
time in completing the questionnaire.
On the research question that asks about the effect of the Language of the
Test on Fractions on the students’ performance in the test:
In line with the findings of this study, the following conclusions were
derived:
In line with the findings and conclusions of the study, the researcher
provided the following recommendations:
4. The use of the Mother Tongue has a lot of advantages. More studies
that look at how the Mother Tongue helps develop mathematical
concepts and skills among Filipino students will help educators in
mapping out their teaching approaches in the classroom.
References
Bruce, C., Chang, D. & Flynn, T. (2013), Foundations to Learning and Teaching
Fractions: Addition and Subtraction, Ontario Ministry of Education
Quijano, Y.S. & Eustaquio, O.H. (2008a) Current policies governing the use of
language in the Philippine public schools. A paper presented at the
Regional Consultative Workshop on “Using the Mother Tongue as Bridge
Language of Instruction in Southeast Asian Countries: Policy, Strategy and
Advocacy”. Bangkok, Thailand, 19 – 21 February 2008.
Quijano, Y.S. & Eustaquio, O.H. (2008b) Using the Mother Tongue as a Bridge
Language of Instruction in Two Schools in La Paz, Agusan del Sur,
Philippines: A case Study. A paper presented at the Regional Consultative
Workshop on “Using the Mother Tongue as Bridge Language of Instruction
in Southeast Asian Countries: Policy, Strategy and Advocacy”. Bangkok,
Thailand, 19 – 21 February 2008.