Rules become much more unpredictable and confusing. The methods you use to add, subtract, multiply and divide whole numbers are different than doing the same operations for fractions. Different operations for whole numbers and fractions As a student, this is hard to wrap your head around. Whole numbers are only expressed one way, while fractions can be expressed in many ways and still represent the same amount.įor instance, there’s only one way to represent the number three, but ²⁄₄ represents the same amount as ½, 0.5 and 50%. The meaning behind fractions is confusing when you compare them to whole numbers. Fractions introduce students to rational numbers, which come with a whole new set of rules and patterns. Understanding what the numbers meanīefore fractions, students are used to working with whole numbers: basic numbers that represent whole amounts. Research has found the biggest issues are: 1. Fractions are a struggle for a few reasons.
