Bråkundervisning åk 7

: En intervjustudie om hur speciallärare i matematik undervisar åk 7-elever om bråk

Abstract

Fractions and rational numbers are an important part of arithmetic but are experienced by many students as a difficult area and incomplete knowledge of fractions affects students' opportunities to develop basic number skills. The purpose of this study is to contribute knowledge about how special mathematics teachers teach year 7 - students with mathematical difficulties, how they describe the conditions, challenges, and opportunities in working with the students. Within the teaching of arithmetic, fractions and rational numbers are an important part as students' conceptual and procedural knowledge of fractions affects their further studies in mathematics. The method in the study is qualitative interviews with special mathematics teachers.
The results from the interviews have been compiled and analyzed based on Vygotsky's socio-cultural perspective and Bruner's teaching theory. The results of the study show that students with mathematics difficulties, MD, can order fractions by size and have some understanding of different forms of representation, but lack understanding of the part - whole concept, the multiplication tables, the connection between multiplication - division, which makes it difficult to understand the form of fractions and that different fraction expressions can represent same number. Many students have difficulty placing fractions on the number line. The special teachers describe how, with a varied working method, they create an explicit teaching where the students encounter a nuanced and rich language. With physical tools such as fractional models, card-games and Cuisenaire roods, and mediating tools such as symbols and mathematical terms, the special teachers tailor the teaching with didactic positions that can be linked to current research, the students are given the opportunity to gradually develop and deepen their understanding of fractional expressions. The activities described, which are largely governed by organization and time, take place in the classroom with the regular teacher but mainly with smaller groups of students, where scaffolding was an important part of the teaching

Date of Award	2022-Jun
Original language	Swedish
Supervisor	Catarina Wästerlid (Supervisor), Cecilia Segerby (Assessor) & Daniel Östlund (Examiner)