Abstract:
While the number line approach is successful for fractional learning, there is a
dearth of study on its usage in Ghanaian upper primary schools. The study explored
the influence of the number line approach on learning fractions. Learners’
achievements, attitudes, and learner’s challenges when using the number line were
explored. A quantitative research method embedded with a pretest-posttest nonequivalent
design was used. The Fractions Achievement Test (FAT) and a
structured questionnaire were the instruments used for data collection. Eighty-one
basic six learners with two intact classes (39 in control and 42 experimental groups)
were purposively selected within the Cape Coast Metropolis. The experimental
group was exposed to learning fractions using the number line, while, in the control
group, fraction lessons were carried out through the use of set models. An
independent samples t-test was employed to analyse the differences between the
pre-test and post-test of the control and experimental group. The findings revealed
that there was a significant difference in performance between the post-test scores
for the control group (𝑀 = 7.36, 𝑆𝐷 = 1.78) and the experimental group (𝑀 =
9.21, 𝑆𝐷 = 2.83); 𝑡 (69.77) = −3.55; 𝑝 = 0.001 respectively. This implies that
the experimental group outperformed the control group due to the influence of the
number line approach. Learners in the experimental group had better,
understanding, application, and positive attitude toward learning fractions due to
the use of number line. Finally, learners however had some challenges, such as the
inability to recognise that zero is part of the number system, poor estimation, and
counting the tick lines on the number line instead of the intervals between them.
