Pre-service teachers’ flexibility with referent units in solving a fraction division problem

This study investigated 111 pre-service teachers’ (PSTs’) flexibility with referent units in solving a fraction division problem using a length model. Participants’ written solutions to a measurement fraction division problem were analyzed in terms of strategies and types of errors, using an inductive content analysis approach. Findings suggest that most PSTs could calculate fraction division and make equivalent fractions procedurally but did not have the quantitative meanings of measurement division with fraction quantities or of making equivalent fractions. Implications are discussed for the improvement of PSTs’ specialized knowledge for teaching fraction division.