Effectiveness of Manipulative Technique in Teaching Fraction in Grade Five

Students of San Jose Elementary School

Chapter I

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

Mathematics is one of the most demanding and difficult subjects for a student to

master (Devlin, 1996). Mathematics is taught every year from the beginning of

Elementary-education through post-secondary education and in graduate education. Basic

mathematic skills are essential to everyday life. From shopping to traveling, “math

problems” exist in every aspect of daily living. However, the emphasis placed on

mathematics in education and the pervasive nature of mathematics in everyday life are not

enough to motivate some students to learn, master, and retain its concepts. Manipulatives

are concrete or virtual objects (e.g., blocks and chips) often used in elementary grades to

illustrate abstract mathematical concepts. We conducted a systematic review to examine

the effects of interventions delivered with manipulatives on the learning of children with

mathematics learning disabilities (MLD).

Manipulatives are concrete or virtual objects (e.g., blocks and chips) often used in

elementary grades to illustrate abstract mathematical concepts. We conducted a systematic

review to examine the effects of interventions delivered with manipulatives on the learning

of children with mathematics learning disabilities (MLD).

Students often find fractions a difficult topic to understand – and one that can

trigger negative emotional responses in students. Learning about operations on fractions

presents a further challenge. In this research, the researchers assess the Effectiveness of
Manipulative Technique in teaching among Grade 5 students. To begin, I don’t think it

would be surprising if I told you that a majority of intermediate grade teachers declare that

fractions are one of (or THE) most challenging concept for them to teach–and for their

students to learn. The main problems encountered by primary school pupils were with:

magnitude; improper fractions (i.e. larger than 1); equivalent fractions; and operations.

They also had a very stereotyped vision of fractions and mainly used pies and pizzas to

represent them.

Manipulatives are physical objects that are used as teaching tools to engage students

in the hands-on learning of mathematics. They can be used to introduce, practice, or

remediate a concept. A manipulative may be as simple as grains of rice or as sophisticated

as a model of our solar system. They may be store-bought, brought from home, or teacher-

or student-made. They can be used in all areas of math instruction-teaching number and

operations, algebra, geometry, measurement, and so on-and across all grade levels.

Manipulatives can provide a bridge between the concrete and abstract levels of

many mathematical topics. Educators must carefully and deliberately choose the

manipulatives being used as well as the sequence of introducing the manipulatives

associated with the development of the mathematical topic being studied to maximize

effectiveness. Also, studies suggest that mathematics achievement does increase when

manipulatives were used over extended periods of time. (Suydam & Higgins (1977) and

Sowell (1989)).

Believing that fractions’ numerators and denominators can be treated as separate

whole numbers. Students often add or subtract the numerators and denominators of two

fractions (e.g., 2/4 + 5/4 = 7/8 or 3/5 – 1/2 = 2/3). These students fail to recognize the
relationship between the denominator, i.e. that the denominator is the number of equal parts

into which one whole is divided and that the numerator signifies the number of those parts.

The fact that numerators and denominators are essentially treated as whole numbers in

multiplication only adds to the confusion.

It believes that mathematics is the hardest subject that the students taken in their

school, in solving word problem, problem solving specially solving fractions that the

denominator is not the same. Students using calculators for them to know the right answer

they can’t easily to answer by itself .They are struggling in answering it especially in grade

5 students.

They are think negative about this topics and subject and they think to stop for them

to don’t take this kind of obstacle mathematics. Many students claim not to like math. But

for some, the issue with math is more than simply disliking algebra or fractions. For some

students, doing math can cause negative emotions like fear of failure. This harms their

ability to perform.

Researchers think the easy way on how students be easy to solve the fraction even

the denominator are not the same by using manipulative technique. This strategy was teach

in students after they take the pre- test. Researcher instruct on how to use the manipulative

for them to use it for solving problem in fraction.

This study was conducted to help those students was struggling in this subject and

lesson. For them to be easily to compute the problem in solving fractions researchers teach

how to compute it easily by use of manipulative techniques. In this strategies somehow

students can be easily and reduce anxiety in solving fraction because thisstrategy.

Background of the Study

 Math is one of the subjects that builds upon itself. If you do not understand the

beginning concepts, you will not be able to understand more advanced concepts afterwards.

You should make sure that you are taking the time to understand everything that is included

in the lesson so that you will be better prepared to understand future lessons and because

for you to be able to answer those questions ask by the teachers. The better you understand

the basics, the easier it will be to learn advanced concepts afterwards.

This study focus to Grade 5 students in San Jose Elementary School. Researcher

wants to know the effectiveness of manipulative techniques in teaching mathematics

among Grade 5 students. The word alone is enough strike terror into the hearts of even the

most accomplished students, but for those who break out in cold sweats at the thought of

differentiation rules and integral tables, Philip Sadler and Gerhard Sonnert are here to offer

some hope. Mathematics is have more challenging activities that students need more focus

to listen and understand what the teacher talks in front of the class.

Fraction is one of the topic that was teaching in Grade 5. Mathematics is be easy

when students have an attention or listen on what the teacher thought in front of the class

and somehow teacher thought a strategy or short cut on how they compute a specific

question or activity in solving it .This research talks about the using tools which is

manipulative techniques by taking a pre-test and post-test.

The use of manipulatives helps students hone their mathematical thinking skills.

The effective use of manipulatives can help students connect ideas and integrate their

knowledge so that they gain a deep understanding of mathematical concepts.

Students who have their own small wipe-clean clocks will find it easier to learn

analog time. Play money is a great way to make currency lesson plans feel real. Fractions
are better understood with manipulatives, whether students use fraction strips, base ten

blocks, or fun toy pizzas

Theoretical Framework

According to learning theory based on psychologist Jean Piaget's research, children

are active learners who master concepts by progressing through three levels of knowledge-

-concrete, pictorial, and abstract. The use of manipulatives enables students to explore

concepts at the first, or concrete, level of understanding. When students manipulate objects,

they are taking the necessary first steps toward building understanding and internalizing

math processes and procedures. For example, when learning to add fractions, students can

use fraction strips to represent each added. They then add the fractional parts to find the

sum. After practicing with these, they can progress to finding sums for problems on paper,

represented by pictures with corresponding fraction numerals (pictorial level). Over time,

they will devise strategies and apply algorithms so they can find sums when given only the

addition expression (abstract level).

Conceptual Framework

Independent Variables Dependent Variables

1. Profile of the Respondents

Student Performance
1.1 Age
1. Mean Score
1.2 Sex
1.1 Pre-test
2. Teaching Strategy
1.2 Post- test
2.1 Traditional
2.2 Manipulative
techniques
 The nature of this study is experimental. The researchers teach the students the

manipulative technique in using to compute. It can identified as a causal factor which

can determine the effectiveness of using this tool .

Statement of the Problem

This study entitled “The Effectiveness of Manipulative Technique in Teaching

Among Grade Five Students of San Jose Elementary School” aimed to find out the use of

manipulatives is effective in teaching fraction.

Specially, it sought to answer the following questions:

1. What is the profile of the respondents in terms of:

A. Age; and

B. Sex?

2. What is the mean pre-test of the group using traditional and manipulative technique in

teaching Fraction?

3. What is the mean post-test of the group using traditional and manipulative technique?

4. Is there a significant difference between the mean score in the pre –test of the group

using traditional and manipulative technique?

5. Is there a significant difference between the mean post-test of the group using traditional

and manipulative technique?

6. The use of manipulative effective in teaching fraction?

Hypothesis

After a careful study, the following hypotheses was considered.

1. There is no significant difference between the mean pre –test score of the group

using traditional and manipulative technique?

2. There is no significant difference between the mean post-test score of the group

using traditional and manipulative technique?

3. The use of manipulatives is not effective in teaching fraction?

Significant of the study

Knowing the students difficulties in solving mathematical problems and help them

to cope up to this difficulties. This study aim to identify the effectiveness of manipulative

among grade 5 students . In line with this, researcher know the factors about the of using

manipulative techniques in teaching mathematics,

The following were benefactors of this research:

Students: This study have benefits to students who are in Grade 5 as it aims to know the

difficulties they facing .They could get some idea on how to compute

mathematical problems by using manipulative technique.

Teachers: This research can help teachers by knowing the difficulties of the students so

they will know the effective learning strategy of using manipulative techniques to
 performed or to compute and also to help to teach students for improve the

mathematical ability of their students.

Future researcher: This review have benefits to the future researcher so that they can

gather information that can help them to improve their study .They have ideas on

what possible sources they can use to help them to produce accurate and better

study .

Researcher: This study can help to be knowledgeable and help students in Grade 5

students to enhance the problem solving skills and mathematics ability.

Scope and Limitation of the Study

The study focused on Effectiveness of Manipulative Technique in Teaching among

Grade Five Students. The respondents are from grade five students of San Jose Elementary

School, divided into two groups where the group A will have the manipulative teaching

technique, and the group B will have the traditional teaching technique where this involves

a survey in the said respondents. This study has 30 respondents per group with the total of

60 respondents.

Definition of Terms

For better understanding, several important terms were defined operational.

Consensus: is a group discussion where everyone's opinions are heard and understood,

and a solution is created that respects those opinions. Consensus is not what

everyone agrees to, nor is it the preference of the majority. Consensus results in

the best solution that the group can achieve at the time. Remember, the root of
 "consensus" is "consent". This means that even if parties disagree, there is still

overall consent to move forward in order to settle the issue. This requires co-

operation among editors with different interests.

Mathematical ability: Is a human construct, which may be defined cognitively or

pragmatically, depending on the purpose of definitions. ... From this perspective,

it can be defined as the ability to perform mathematical tasks and to effectively

solve given mathematical problems and opinions.

Mathematical problems: Is a problem that is amenable to being represented, analyzed,

and possibly solved, with the methods of mathematics. This can be a real-world

problem, such as computing the orbits of the planets in the solar system, or a

problem of a more abstract nature, such as Hilbert's problems.

Manipulative: It is the alternative tool to use in computing fraction instead of traditional

strategy.

Manipulative Technique: It is a too using a pen and paper with an artistic material.

Pre-test: It is a test where in used before the lesson or topic was discussed.

Post-test: It is a test where in used after the lesson or topic was discussed.

Traditional Technique: It is a tool using a pen and paper only.

 Chapter II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter presents the related literature and studies after the thorough and in-

depth search done by the researchers. This will also present the synthesis of the art,
theoretical and conceptual framework to fully understand the research to be done and lastly

the definition of terms for better comprehension of the study.

Related Literature (Foreign)

Math Manipulatives

According to Moyer, 2001, math manipulatives are physical objects that are

designed to represent explicitly and concretely mathematical ideas that are abstract.

Math manipulatives have been around for years. The Montessori Schools have long

advocated teaching using concrete objects along with Piaget’s emphasis on teaching from

the concrete, to the representational, to lastly the abstract, in order to help young learners

make sense of their mathematics understanding George Cuisenaire (1891–1975).

Ball (1992) posits that manipulative usage is widely accepted as an effective way to teach

mathematics, although there is little effort given toward helping teachers ensure their

students make the correct connections between the materials and the underlying

mathematical concepts.

In Baroody’s (1989) paper titled “Manipulatives Don’t Come with Guarantees,” the

author contends that manipulatives are neither sufficient nor necessary for meaningful

learning in mathematics. He acknowledges that they can be useful tools to students,

however he discourages their “uncritical” use. Unless they are used thoughtfully there is

no guarantee for meaningful learning; thoughtful use is essential in their effectiveness.

Thoughtful use can be determined with questions such as: “Can the knowledge students

gain from the use of this manipulative connect to their existing knowledge or be meaningful

to them?” or, “Is the manipulative being used in a way that requires reflection or thought
on the student’s part?” Many times the answer to these questions is “no”. In examining

why manipulatives alone are not enough to guarantee meaningful learning,

we need to discover what would make them enough. In other words, what do teachers need

to do to make the manipulatives effective in conveying the underlying mathematical

concept?

Bruner (1973) found through a series of detailed observations of children that

concrete materials can be used to develop deep understandings of certain mathematical

concepts. The process described involves transitioning from manipulating concrete

materials to creating images from the student’s perception of the concept, and finally to the

development or adoption of some form of symbolic notation representing the concept.

Throughout his descriptions of using manipulatives to move students from concrete to

abstract understanding and describes language as an integral part of manipulative use.

Local

Manipulatives are concrete objects that can be viewed and physically handled by

students in order to demonstrate or model abstract concepts. They represent a category of

mathematical tools that are referenced in mathematics standards such as the Mathematics

Process Standards included in Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (NCTM,

2000) or the Standards for Mathematical Practice included in the Common Core State

Standards for Mathematics (National Governor’s Association et al, 2010).

(Heddens, 2007) states that manipulative materials are concrete models that

involve mathematical concepts, appealing to several senses that can be touched and moved

around by the student. Manipulative materials must be selected for the activity
and appropriate for the concept being taught and appropriate for the developmental level

8 of the students’. According to Heddens, using manipulative materials in teaching can

help students learn how to relate real world situations to mathematics symbolism and work

together cooperatively in solving problems.

Manipulative usage can also improve students’ attitude toward mathematics, and

give instruction that uses concrete materials to help students retain information and

increase scores on test (Sowell, 1989).

Related Studies (Foreign)

Golafshani (2013) found that mathematical instruction should begin with

experiences that are real to students and function as symbols throughout their

learning, and, clearly, manipulatives represent important tools in efforts to make

mathematics more real. However, as with any tool they should be used with caution and

care to optimize results. If used inappropriately, they may result in frustration or confusion,

and ultimately disrupt student motivation and overall learning opportunities.

. Cramer and Bezuk (1991) explain that using manipulatives to teach fractions is

important because students need to conceptualize the concept. Teachers can supply the

rules and students can memorize them. However, learning fractional concepts should focus

on the interpretations involving two fractions and their product.

Rosen and Hoffman (2009) observed a first grade classroom where Mrs. Smith

used virtual manipulatives to explore ways to represent and measure shapes. Mrs. Smith

read a story to introduce the concept. Then, she had students engage in a computer
program that included geoboards and pattern blocks. Finally, the students built models

using concrete materials while drawing representations of their models. These activities

8 allow students to achieve proficiency in first grade mathematics according to the National

Council of Teaching Mathematics geometry standards. The data collected was based on

teacher observation of the students as they interacted with the manipulatives during the

learning process. This is a perfect example of how virtual manipulatives can be a useful

instructional tool along with concrete materials

Swan and Marshall (2010) revisited research on the use of manipulatives in

schools. They looked at different ways in which teaching of mathematics and the

subsequent learning via the use of manipulatives occurred. Swan and Marshall found that

there are potential gains to be made by using mathematics manipulative materials where

appropriate and employed in a systematic manner.

Suydam& Higgins (1977) investigated whether using manipulative had effect on

students’ achievement in mathematics by analyzing the related research. They identified

23 studies comparing in which manipulative materials were used or were not used. These

studies comprise first grade level to eight grade level and elementary school mathematics

concepts from fractions to geometry topics. Two studies resulted in favor of lessons where

manipulative were not used, eleven studies resulted in favor of lessons where manipulative

were used and ten studies found no statistically significant difference between lessons in

which manipulative were used and were not used. Approximately half of the studies

resulted in favor of using manipulative. However, the same number of studies found 14 no

difference. When results of these studies were analyzed, in six of the ten studies which
found no difference, manipulative-using groups had higher scores compared to no

manipulative-using groups.

Local

Heddens (1997) cautions it must be used with care, else students are made to believe

that two mathematical worlds exist; manipulative and symbolic. Heddens asserts that one

of the best ways of developing mathematical ideas is through activities with physical

materials. Students learn best when they are active participants in the learning process.

They assimilate knowledge when given the opportunity to explore, investigate question,

record, share, and talk about discoveries.

In the study by Buan (2017) “Testing of Other Variables Possibly Related to

Mathematics Achievement and Attitude”,It was aimed to compare the effects of

cooperative and individualistic instructions on student's achievement in mathematics and

their attitude towards the subject. It was found that there is a significant difference in the

pre-test and posttest scores of the cooperative group in the achievement test and attitude

scale. In the individualistic group there is a significant difference in the pre-test and post-

test achievement scores only but there is no significant change in attitude scores.

Chapter III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter describes briefly the methodology employed in the conduct of the

study. It present the research design, research producer, research instrument and statistical

treatment of data.
Research Design

This research utilized the mixed methods research design. This procedure is for

collecting, analyzing, and “mixing” both quantitative and qualitative research and methods

in a single study to understand a research problem.

The main focus of this study was to know the effect of manipulative teaching

technique in grade five students of San Jose Elementary School using the different

approaches in teaching fractions.

This study used the experimental design specifically the The Pretest-Posttest Control

Group. The design involves two groups, where both have tutorials in fraction. In this study,

two groups are matched in age, gender, and grade level. One group, called the experimental

group, was exposed to manipulatives teaching technique. The other group called control

group where experienced the traditional teaching technique.

Respondents of the Study

The respondents of study was Grade five students of San Jose Elementary School.

Out of ___ students of grade five, researchers chose 30 respondents per group with the

total of 60 respondents.

Research Procedure
 A letter of request was first send to the Inquiries Investigation and Immersion (3I’s)

teacher to consult our research if we were able to conduct the study; after the approval, we

asked permission to the principal and advisers of said respondents to gather data.

Before the implementation of the different innovations in teaching- the use of

manipulative, a ____ item pre-test was given t the two groups of students. The result was

used to determine the baseline knowledge of the students. The results were recorded,

tabulated and interpreted.

Statistical Treatment & Data Analysis

All data gathered on the study where treated and analyze by the researchers. In

order to have an ordered analysis of the data and information gathered from the chosen

respondents.

The test of difference between the control and experimental group was analyzed

using the t value computed in the t test. The t-test assessed whether the means of the two

groups were statistically different from each other. This analysis was appropriate so as to

compare the means of the two groups: Control and Experimental.