Basic mathematical skills and fraction understanding predict percentage understanding: Evidence from an intelligent tutoring system

Abstract

In several countries, students learn basic mathematical skills first, followed by fractions before learning percentages. Previous longitudinal studies observed that basic mathematical skills (e.g., arithmetic) are significant predictors of understanding fractions, which is critical for later academic success. However, it is still unclear whether this predictive power generalizes to other types of rational numbers such as percentages. Here, we analyzed a large longitudinal dataset (2.798 students; 472.626 problem sets) from an online learning environment to predict performance in fraction understanding as well as processing percentages based on basic mathematical skills (i.e., arithmetic, measurement units, and geometry). As students learned fractions before percentages, we additionally assessed whether understanding fractions predicted processing percentages. We observed that performance in arithmetic, measurement units, and geometry significantly predicted performance on percentages and fraction understanding. We also found transfer effects from fractions to processing percentages. This indicates that processing percentages and understanding fractions similarly build on basic mathematical skills. Moreover, our results point towards the idea that knowledge attained on one format of rational numbers (fractions) may transfer to another format of rational numbers (percentages).