ABSTRACT
Many people have a fear of mathematics. In high school, they were reluctant to take more than the minimum required courses. They had feelings of “being lost” or “in the dark” when it came to mathematics. For most of these people, their relationship with mathematics started going downhill early in elementary school, right after they were introduced to fractions. Children experience cognitive obstacles as they encounter fractions because they try to make connections with the whole numbers and operations with which they are familiar. Some of the ideas children develop while working with whole numbers actually interfere with their later ability to understand fractions and their operations. Although many people mistakenly use the terms fractions and rational numbers synonymously, they are very different number sets. Understanding rational numbers involves the coordination of many different but interconnected ideas and interpretations.
