The Effect of Discovery Learning on Fractions in Grade V

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of the Discovery Learning method on elementary students’ ability to represent fractions. The study was motivated by the persistent difficulty students face in expressing fractions in visual, symbolic, and verbal forms, often due to the dominance of conventional teaching approaches. Instead of focusing on procedural instruction, Discovery Learning encourages students to actively construct knowledge, leading to deeper conceptual understanding. The findings reveal that students who learned through Discovery Learning demonstrated stronger mathematical representation skills compared to those taught using traditional methods. Beyond improving test performance, this approach fosters active engagement, problem-solving skills, and conceptual mastery of fractions. These results highlight the broader implication that discovery-based approaches can serve as an effective alternative to conventional teaching in mathematics education, particularly in addressing common challenges in fraction learning.