The effects of a daily fraction review and extension protocol on middle school algebra 1 students

The title of my study is "The Effects of a Daily Fraction Review and Extension Protocol on Middle School Algebra 1 Students." Theoretically, students have been exposed to the concept of fractions in the 2nd grade, but student's failed to illustrate academic success of fraction operation when given a fraction diagnostic test. This study reviewed fraction operation using visual representations of fractions to evaluate and to extend their knowledge so that they may successfully evaluate rational expressions. I expected the protocol to be successful and provide students with a stronger understanding of fraction operation and the ability to extend their knowledge so that they may evaluate rational expressions before it is being formally taught in the course. The intervention class involved 33 7th and 8 th graders and the comparison class involved 28 7th and 8th graders taking an Algebra 1 course in an urban middle school. The 20 day intervention involved giving students four problems each day that dealt with numbers and variables of different arithmetic operation; then, it is reviewed using visual representation of the problem type. The achievement data was compared using a pretest and a posttest from the Fraction Protocol Class and the Comparison Class. After the intervention was conducted, there was reason to believe that the Fraction Protocol was beneficial to the intervention class in evaluating fractions due to a statistically significant improvement in evaluating fractions according to the data from the pre- and post-test. Students lack the fundamental knowledge of fraction operation; however, with the intervention protocol using visual representation, students were able to successfully evaluate arithmetic and rational expressions.