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Teaching Mathematics and Computer Science

Vol. 23 No. 1 (2025)
Articles

Conversion between different symbolic representations of rational numbers among 9th-grade students

Published:
2025-06-03
DOI Linkhttps://doi.org/10.5485/TMCS.2025.14624
Authors
Gábor Torma,
József Kosztolányi
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Keywords
fractions percentage calculation solution strategies proportion problems Hungarian mathematics education
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Copyright (c) 2025 Gábor Torma, Dr. József Kosztolányi

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How To Cite
Selected Style: APA
Torma, G., & Kosztolányi, J. (2025). Conversion between different symbolic representations of rational numbers among 9th-grade students. Teaching Mathematics and Computer Science, 23(1), 29-45. https://doi.org/10.5485/TMCS.2025.14624
Abstract

Our research involved nearly 800 ninth-grade secondary school students (aged 14-15) during the first weeks of the 2023/2024 school year. Less than 40% of students solved the text problems related to common fractions and percentages correctly. In terms of student solutions, pupils showed a higher success rate when the text of the problem contained common fractions, and the solution had to be given as a percentage. In this case, the success rate of switching between different symbolic representations of rational numbers (common fraction, percentage) was also higher. Observation of the methods used to solve also suggests that the majority of students are not flexible enough when it comes to switching between different representations.

Subject Classification: 97F80, 97D70

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