Articles in Conceptual Understanding

This report presents a lesson study conducted with a Year 4 class at J. Hookham Frere Primary School, Pietà, focusing on developing conceptual understanding of fractions through equitable sharing. Prompted by diagnostic assessments revealing widespread misconceptions, the teaching team designed a hands-on lesson in which students used paper models to represent halves, quarters, and eighths of a chocolate bar. The lesson was structured around the Concrete-Pictorial-Abstract (CPA) approach, promoting collaborative problem-solving, reasoning, and mathematical language development. Observations highlighted the effectiveness of tactile tasks in making fractions meaningful, while also identifying challenges related to group dynamics, language use, and spatial reasoning. Student feedback indicated high engagement, though some struggled with confidence. Post-lesson reflections underscored the importance of teacher collaboration, responsive teaching, and student agency. The report demonstrates how lesson study can transform teaching practice and support deeper understanding of foundational mathematical concepts.

This report describes a lesson study conducted with a Year 6 class at St Augustine College, Primary School, focused on teaching division through collaborative problem-solving. The lesson aimed to shift passive learners into active participants by engaging them in authentic tasks that required reasoning, group collaboration, and application of division concepts without relying on rote algorithms. Students worked in groups to complete two tasks: reconstructing a partially worked-out division problem and solving a riddle involving division. Observations highlighted increased student engagement, effective peer dialogue, and emerging use of mathematical language. Feedback from students and educators indicated that real-world contexts and open-ended tasks enhanced motivation and conceptual understanding. The experience also deepened teacher collaboration, improved lesson planning, and underscored the value of student feedback. This study demonstrates how lesson study can transform both teaching and learning by promoting reflective practice, instructional innovation, and meaningful student participation in mathematics.

Conceptual Understanding

Exploring fractions through equitable sharing: A conceptual approach through lesson study

Teaching division through problem-solving using lesson study