Children’s Conceptions of Area Measurement and Their Strategies for Solving Area Measurement Problems

Abstract

This study investigated children’s understanding of area measurement, including the concept of area and the area formula of a rectangle, as well as their strategic knowledge for solving area measurement problems. Twenty-two fourth-graders from three classes of a public elementary school in Taipei, Taiwan, participated in a one-on-one interview. Results show that the children who had a good understanding of the concept of area and the area formula (by using the property of multiplication) exhibited competency in identifying geometric shapes, using formulas for determining areas, and self-correcting mistakes. The children who had a good understanding of multiplication underlying the area formula, but misunderstood the concept of area, showed some ability to use area formulas. Conversely, the children who were unable to interpret the property of multiplication underlying the area formula irrespective of their conceptions of area exhibited the common weaknesses in identifying geometric shapes and differentiating between area and perimeter.