What Neuroscience Can Tell Us About Making Fractions Stick

Lester,  Debbie

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Schwartz, K. (2016). What Neuroscience Can Tell Us About Making Fractions Stick. MindShift. Retrieved 19 December 2016, from https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2016/11/21/what-neuroscience-can-tell-us-about-making-fractions-stick/

Learning a new math concept takes a toll on the brain not only because of the new math concepts, but also because students must recruit many parts of the brain to solve any problem. For example, students need visuospatial and auditory working memory when solving a fractions problem, and they must focus attention, inhibit distractions, order tasks, recall information from long term memory and integrate new concepts into an old schema. There’s a lot of mental processing going on when learning math, so understanding how careful brain-based instruction can prime the brain for new learning becomes extra important.