a note from National Education expresses concern about the level of students when they enter sixth form

“How many quarter hours are there in ¾ hour?” To this question, only half of the students entering sixth form find the correct answer to the question, warns a note from the Scientific Council of National Education (CSEN) published Wednesday September 20. “At the start of sixth grade, most students are unaware of the meaning of the simplest fractions”worries the Council, chaired by neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene.

In details, “students make errors revealing a lack of understanding of the meaning of the symbols they manipulate. Thus, they confuse 1/2 with 1.2 (confusion between fractions and decimals), with 2/1 or even with 2.1 ( misunderstanding of the order in which a fraction is read)”, reveals the note. Students also make mistakes when calculating decimal numbers. “Bmany students think that 0.8 + 1 makes 0.9 (lack of knowledge of notation decimal and the role of the comma) or that 0.9 + 1 makes 1!”specifies the Council.

There are ways to improve the level

All walks of life are affected by this lack of understanding. “Even students who attend schools considered the most advantaged, with a position indicator social in the highest 10%, make almost 70% errors”adds the note. “For many students, decimal numbers and especially fractions have no meaning”, summarizes the note. The concern is all the greater as“no positive developments have been detected for three years”.

To try to raise the level, the Scientific Council is proposing several solutions. Introduce mathematical concepts earlier, “progressively and intuitively”, while currently, it is in CM1 and CM2 that decimals and fractions begin to be taught. The Council also proposes to “manipulate concrete sets of objects”of “compose and decompose geometric shapes”of “measure” objects of different lengths, because “never a student would make a mistake about the position of a half a centimeter if he used them regularly”. Finally, he advises using “the metaphor of the digital line” and that “numbers like bars” to symbolize fractions.