Page 37 - NSETERIn 2019

Transformasi Pendidikan Penjana Kecemerlangan Insan dalam Revolusi Industri 4.0
THINKING THROUGH THE LATTICES: AN INNOVATIVE IDEA IN
CONVERTING IMPROPER FRACTIONS TO MIXED NUMBERS
Lai Yee Huan ,Wu Weng Yan 2
1
Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Tun Abdul Razak 12
laiyhuan@gmail.com 1
wengyanwu@gmail.com 2

ABSTRACT
During our Phase 1 School Based Experience, we found some Year 6 pupils
who are still unable to convert improper fractions into mixed numbers
correctly. As such, we give these pupils a simple test to verify the problem as
well as to identify the root cause of their problems. Analysis from the pupils’
written works in the pre-test uncovered some pupils’ inability to divide and
recall basic division facts. Nevertheless, there were a few who seemed able to
convert improper fractions into mixed numbers by using the division method,
but they were unable to associate the quotient as the whole number, the
divisor as the denominator and the remainder as the numerator. We were
surprised to see that for most answers, the value of numerator is greater
than that of denominator. We felt an urging need to help these pupils who
will be sitting for the UPSR in few months’ time. We created an alternative
method to convert improper fractions into mixed numbers without using
the division method which is widely used by teachers. A total of 10 pupils
from two different schools in Sarawak and Pahang were involved in our
intervention. We only require the pupils to draw lattices based on multiples
of the denominator. Then, the pupils were guided to label the lattices based
on the value of the numerator. To get the mixed number, they need to identify
how many whole and the remainder fraction. We were delighted over their
progress shown in the test given to them on the last day of our stay at the
schools. All of the pupils were able to draw lattices and worked through the
process to get the correct answer. Through this experience, we realize that
creative thinking is indeed vital for teachers to help the pupils.
Keywords: Year 6 pupils, improper fractions, mixed numbers

28 NSETERIn 2019 | Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Rajang, Bintangor, Sarawak