Special Education Teachers’ Knowledge of Fraction Division.

Abstract

According to research, fraction division remains a topic of great difficulty for many students as well as teachers. In addition, it takes longer for special needs students to understand fractions, especially fraction division. Special education teachers are the main source for providing remediation programs for students with difficulties in learning mathematics. Teachers must know the subject they teach. Most current research on fraction division studied prospective teachers in regular education. This article integrates three important aspects that were understudied in the past in mathematics education: special education teachers, in-service teachers, and fraction division in special education. This study is significant because it investigated both procedural and conceptual knowledge in fraction division among Taiwanese special education in-service teachers. The teachers were given a written test consisting of 10 mathematical problems. This article contains in-depth analyses of one problem (1¾÷½) from the test in two aspects. The first involves procedural knowledge of solving the arithmetic problem. The second requires conceptual knowledge based on posing a word problem for the fraction division question that was solved. Most teachers possess adequate procedural knowledge but lack a solid understanding of fraction division. The models and errors of the word problem types are further analyzed. Implications for future research and instruction on fraction division and/or for special education teachers are included in the discussions.