| Abstract |
Fraction Scale is an innovation for teaching fraction arithmetic. The concepts
of fraction are important for learners to build a better foundation to work on
related concepts such as ratio, proportion, rate and probability. However,
many research studies have documented learners’ weak understanding of
fraction especially on fraction arithmetic. Failure to master these concepts is
not only hindering the understanding of advance mathematics, but also makes
the learnings of other related subjects and applications become difficult. The
main drawback of the existing teaching innovations on the topic is that they
are emphasizing on the understanding of individual fractions, but not fraction
arithmetic. The Fraction Scale is introduced to fill in this gap. The main
breakthrough of Fraction Scale is that it uses liquid in teaching fraction
arithmetic. Its main advantages are two-fold: (i) it visualises fraction arithmetic
by flexible and physical manipulative, (ii) it can be extended to arithmetic that
involves improper fraction and mixed number, not confined to only part of a
whole. Fraction Scale has great potential to be commercialised as a teaching
aid in schools because of the usefulness and low cost. |