Fraction Magnitude Understanding Across Learning Formats: an fMRI Study
Abstract
Knowledge of fraction magnitudes are an important, but notoriously difficult mathematical concept to master. Behavioural work has begun to explore and compare the instructional tools used for fraction learning. However, how fraction instructional tools are processed in the brain remains an underexplored question. Therefore, in the present thesis, we used functional brain MRI methodology to examine the neural activity of adult participants while completing a fraction verification task using the number line and area model, two common methods of fraction learning. We found that both models commonly recruited fronto-parietal activity, the neural regions typically implicated in number processing. However, we also found specific clusters of activation in frontal and parietal regions that displayed a greater response to area models. Given that participants indicated a greater familiarity with the area model, we suggest this could arise due to differences in strategy employed when using the number line and area model formats.