Ninth-Grade Students' Conceptual Understanding of the Number Line
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| Title: | Ninth-Grade Students' Conceptual Understanding of the Number Line |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Zehra E. Ünal, Asli M. Ala, Gamze Kartal, Serkan Özel, David C. Geary |
| Source: | Journal of Numerical Cognition. Article e12501 2024 10. |
| Availability: | Leibniz Institute for Psychology. Universitatsring 15, Trier, 54296, Germany. e-mail: support@psychopen.eu; Web site: https://jnc.psychopen.eu |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 22 |
| Publication Date: | 2024 |
| Sponsoring Agency: | National Science Foundation (NSF), Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL) |
| Contract Number: | 1659133 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research Tests/Questionnaires |
| Education Level: | Grade 9 High Schools Junior High Schools Middle Schools Secondary Education |
| Descriptors: | Grade 9, Numeracy, Number Concepts, Numbers, Concept Formation, Mathematics Instruction, High School Students, Foreign Countries |
| Geographic Terms: | Turkey |
| ISSN: | 2363-8761 |
| Abstract: | Sixty (35 girls and 25 boys) 9th-grade students' conceptual understanding of the number line was qualitatively assessed through verbal explanations and visual representations. The assessment included an open-ended question focused on students' number line descriptions and the explanations coalesced around six features: sequential ordering (i.e., numbers are sequentially represented), positivity-negativity of numbers (i.e., the number line contains positive and negative numbers), non-centrality (i.e., zero does not have to be in the center), infinity, increment flexibility (i.e., number line increments can vary), and continuity (i.e., numbers can be placed anywhere between minus infinity and plus infinity without breaks). The students' explanations show that these six features emerge in five successive stages in the conceptual understanding of the number line. These stages are (1) no knowledge, (2) sequential ordering and positivity-negativity, (3) infinity and non-centrality, (4) incremental flexibility, and (5) continuity. The last two stages were not found in most descriptions. The results suggest that students' understanding of the number line is incomplete and may be overestimated by commonly used quantitative assessments of number line knowledge. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2024 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1447656 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | Sixty (35 girls and 25 boys) 9th-grade students' conceptual understanding of the number line was qualitatively assessed through verbal explanations and visual representations. The assessment included an open-ended question focused on students' number line descriptions and the explanations coalesced around six features: sequential ordering (i.e., numbers are sequentially represented), positivity-negativity of numbers (i.e., the number line contains positive and negative numbers), non-centrality (i.e., zero does not have to be in the center), infinity, increment flexibility (i.e., number line increments can vary), and continuity (i.e., numbers can be placed anywhere between minus infinity and plus infinity without breaks). The students' explanations show that these six features emerge in five successive stages in the conceptual understanding of the number line. These stages are (1) no knowledge, (2) sequential ordering and positivity-negativity, (3) infinity and non-centrality, (4) incremental flexibility, and (5) continuity. The last two stages were not found in most descriptions. The results suggest that students' understanding of the number line is incomplete and may be overestimated by commonly used quantitative assessments of number line knowledge. |
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| ISSN: | 2363-8761 |
