Performance of sixth graders in Hong Kong on a number sense three-tier test

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study examined the performance of sixth graders in Hong Kong on a number sense three-tier test (NSTTT) and identified their possible misconceptions about number sense. The NSTTT comprises a content tier, which assesses the content knowledge of number sense; a reason tier, which assesses the reasons for the first-tier responses; and a confidence tier, which assesses students’ confidence in their responses to questions in the first two tiers. The study participants were 942 sixth graders in Hong Kong. The results indicated that the percentage of correct answers (and confidence indices) of the first two tiers (i.e. the content tier and reason tier) of the sixth graders was 53.96% (4.27). In addition, the sixth graders showed the highest performance on “ability to recognise number size” and the lowest on “ability to judge the reasonableness of computational results”. Moreover, the results revealed that some students showed a low performance on number sense but demonstrated extremely high confidence levels, indicating that they may have significant misconceptions regarding number sense and may lack of number sense. Furthermore, this paper discusses the educational implications of the findings.