Beneath the Tip of the Iceberg: Using Representations to Support Student Understanding

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A common challenge for middle-grades mathematics teachers is to find ways to promote student understanding of mathematics. When an algorithm for adding or subtracting fractions is explained as clearly as possible and students have opportunities to practice it, the reality is that many students will continue to confuse the procedures and forget how they work. The primary intervention used to address student confusion is to reteach common procedures and give additional practice in the hope that the students will understand over time.