La noción de fracción en los libros de texto del grado tercero: un estudio de análisis de contenido

Abstract

This paper presents the first formal approach –according to the textbooks – that students of third grade of elementary school should have when studying fractions. The research is the result of the authors’ experience in the classroom, where difficulties in the teaching-learning process of fractions are observed. The study focuses on the way textbooks introduce the notion of fraction from diverse kinds of representation: graphic, numerical, and natural language. For this reason, three textbooks were analyzed by using the Content Analysis Method, which helps qualify the school practices by improving the teacher competence in lesson planning. An improvement in the teaching of the fraction as a part of a whole, using some of the figures associated to this meaning, was identified. This usually can pose a constraint in the learner’s construction of the notion of fraction; that is why it is relevant that publishing houses and teachers commit in the production and selection of appropriate teaching textbooks.