HOW FIFTH GRADE STUDENTS MAKE SENSE OF DECIMALS
By Beryl G. Scarbrough
Fall 2003
Rational numbers represented in decimal form present various difficulties for
middle school children. The purpose of this study was to examine how fifth grade
students made sense of decimals in order to provide teachers with a lens through which
they may view their own classroom and make informed decisions regarding instruction of
decimals. Research shows that symbol manipulation without understanding is
ineffective. The review of research focused on how students understand mathematical
concepts in general and then looked specifically at the complexity of learning decimal
notation. The research review suggested that knowledge of quantity determined
understanding of decimal numerals. This investigation then, focused on how ten fifth
grade students determined quantity of a decimal numeral. Data was collected from a
written test and the student’s explanations of answers given on that test. The results
revealed: 1) The underachieving students interpreted decimal numerals using whole
number rules and 2) The higher achieving students who revealed knowledge of quantity
appeared to interpret decimal quantity by connecting them with their fraction equivalent.