Abstract / Synopsis
This article, drawing mainly on references to teacher preparation textbooks, proposes proportion bars as a somewhat novel graphical approach to solving simple (direct) proportion problems and to illustrate the advantages of such an approach, which include accessibility with materials at early grade levels, allowance of students to better develop number sense and estimation, facilitation of setting up proportions, allowance for conceptual understanding and motivation of the procedure for solving direct proportions, assistance with part-to-part and part-to whole comparisons, and drawing of connections among mathematical topics. The emphasis is on teaching with understanding, rather than procedural knowledge.
DOI
10.5642/jhummath.202101.06
Recommended Citation
Michael Waters, "Raise the (Proportion) Bar!," Journal of Humanistic Mathematics, Volume 11 Issue 1 (January 2021), pages 81-94. DOI: 10.5642/jhummath.202101.06. Available at: https://scholarship.claremont.edu/jhm/vol11/iss1/6
