A MEASURE OF RULERS - THE IMPORTANCE OF UNITS IN A

MEASURE
Philippa Bragg and Lynne Outhred
Macquarie University, Sydney

Recent publications continue to show that significant numbers of students in junior

grades, while competent in basic ruler skills, seem not to have acquired important
concepts about how rulers work and units of length. This paper reports on the results
of a set of tasks completed by students from Grades 5 and 6. The results show that
many students at the end of their primary schooling are unable to identify the unit of
measure for length on a ruler or on the commonly used one centimeter cube. It is
suggested that early measurement activities include explicit instruction in the
relationships between informal units and the construction of scales on rulers.

Introduction
In recent years increasing attention has been paid to the teaching of measurement in
mathematics lessons. Analyses of data gathered through regular large-scale testing by
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) show that while students
have shown steady overall improvement in basic measurement skills and concepts
since 1990 there appear to be significant gaps in student understanding of how scales
on formal measuring tools work (Strutchens, Martin and Kenney, 2003). This
becomes apparent when students are asked to measure lengths not aligned to zero or
when the scale to be used has no numbers on it. Students seem not to have
constructed adequate understandings of the property of length (Wilson and Rowland,
1993) and of the linear nature of units of measure (Bragg and Outhred, 2001). It is
also apparent that while most students by Grade 5 appear competent with basic paper
and pencil measurement and construction tasks many students are also unable to
indicate what is being counted in the measurement process (Bragg and Outhred,
2000a).
Hiebert (1984) suggested that the discrepancy between procedural knowledge and
conceptual knowledge may lie in the student’s failure to link classroom experiences
with the formal symbols. This may occur, for example, at the point where
understandings about units of measure become represented in the markings and
numerals on a scale (Stephan and Clements, 2003). “The hash marks and numerals on
a ruler therefore, represent the result of iterating 12 inch-sized units” (p.4). Many
students, however, may come to understand measuring length solely as an exercise in
applying some rules for the alignment of an object and the reading of a number
(Bragg and Outhred, 2001).
Bragg and Outhred (2001) showed that significant numbers of students in Grades 3-5
are unclear about what is being counted when they use one-centimetre cubes to
measure length even though they were able to align and count them correctly. This is
important because students in Grade 3 use the same cubes to measure area, perimeter

Proceedings of the 28th Conference of the International

Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, 2004 Vol 2 pp 159–166
 and then volume. This confusion is also apparent when students are asked to indicate
which feature of the scale on a ruler is counted when measuring a length. Younger
students were more likely to colour in the spaces between the unit markers while
older students were more likely to count the unit markers (hash marks) themselves.
For these students “…the marks on the ruler “mask” the intended conceptual
understanding involved in measurement” (Stephan and Clements, 2003, p.5). Some
students simply did not believe that anything was counted at all, believing instead
that the number at the end of the object was the measure.
The process of iteration is a fundamental concept that must be learned early in the
measurement curriculum (Barrett, Jones, Thornton, and Dickson, 2003). Once a unit
has been selected the measure obtained by counting tells how many of these units,
placed end to end, are used to cover the length of the object. The tendency to count
unit markers when the scale is unfamiliar would seem to indicate that students may
have connected the iteration of informal units with the most prominent feature of on
the ruler, the unit marker, even though the unit markers are at right angles to the
length of the object or line being measured. This indicates that some students may
understand the measurement of length using informal units and applying a ruler to be
two separate skills. The first skill involves the correct use of a ‘count-the-object or -
action’ process to determine a length while the second skill uses rules about the
correct alignment and reading to obtain a measure with a ruler. It has therefore been
suggested that teachers should not rely on paper-and-pencil tests of measuring as an
indication that students have acquired a deep understanding of units and scales
(Bragg and Outhred, 2000b).
Results of both NAEP and TIMMS (Lokan, Ford and Greenwood, 1996) indicate that
the difficulties continue into the high-school years. Since the results previously
reported by Bragg and Outhred (2000b, 2001) covered Grades 1-5 it was apparent
that information was needed for Grade 6 students who had completed their
foundational instruction for the measurement curriculum. An investigation of this
type is timely as research is beginning to point to the need for teachers to focus on the
meaning of the numerals on scales (Clements, 1999), and the conceptualisation of a
length as a movement in space (Lakoff and Nunez, 2000) away from a point of origin
that becomes zero on a scale (Lehrer, Jaslow and Curtis, 2003).
Methodology
Two studies are reported in this paper. A comparison is made of the results for Grade
5 students in the first study with the results of Grade 6 students using 5 of the tasks
from the original study. The Grade 5 data form part of a larger study involving 120
students from Grades 1-5 (aged 6-10 years) from three state primary schools in a
medium to low socio-economic area of Sydney. The second study involved 89 Grade
6 students (aged 11-13 years) from a non-selective private girls school in northern
Sydney. Following the survey, the Grade 6 students were interviewed in small groups
of 5 to 7 to try to ascertain what the students understood about the concepts that were
tested. The first researcher interviewed all students towards the end of the school year
when they had completed the year’s instruction in measurement.

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 Tasks 1 and 2 were designed to force students to apply their knowledge of rulers in
unfamiliar contexts. Task 1 was an ‘offset- ruler’ question requiring the students to
state the length of a shoe printed above a ruler between the 3 and 8 cm unit marks.
Task 2 asked the students to measure an 11cm line printed above a ruler without
numerals. Tasks 3 and 4 required the students to mark centimetre units on a ruler or
centimeter cube. Task 5 asked students to draw what they thought one centimetre
would look like if they could see it between the forefinger and thumb drawn on the
page.
The tasks have been grouped below to emphasise their conceptual similarities. They
were presented in the same order to all students but were not presented in the order
seen below.
Table 1 Tasks involving a scale
Task Description Knowledge
1 Measure object above a ruler Length may be measured by counting spaces
printed between the 3 and on a unit scale. A numeric scale can be
8cm marks. applied to a congruent set of marks.
2 Measure a line using a ruler As for Task 3.
with unit markers but no
numerals.

Table 2 Tasks involving identification of linear units

Task Description Knowledge
3 Draw the linear unit on a Identification of the linear unit in a pictorial
picture depicting a familiar representation.
representation of a
centimetre: thumb and
forefinger placed 1cm apart.
4 Identify the linear units on a Linear units are separated by marks. A
ruler for a given measure. numeric scale aligned with marks gives the
number of linear units from the origin.
5 State what part of a 1cm cube The length of an object gives the
is used when measuring a measurement unit (its area and volume are
length. irrelevant).

Results and Discussion

The results for Task 1 show that the number of students able to state the correct
length improved in Grade 6 (69%) compared with the Grade 5 students (50%).
Almost a quarter of the Grade 6 students (24%) gave the measure as the numeral
aligned with the end of the object. In the small group discussions students were asked
why they used this strategy. Ellie’s response was typical of the 21 in this group: “You
just read the number at the end.” Suzie continued, “That’s because you can’t move the
ruler.” When challenged to re-measure the shoe with their own ruler, most were able

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 to see why their original measures were incorrect. Several, however, remained
unconvinced, unsure whether to measure from one.
Unlike the Grade 5 students who were more likely to count the spaces, the successful
Grade 6 students counted the unit markers from zero. There was also an increase in
the number of students who used the most sophisticated strategy of finding the length
by subtraction; (12% versus 3%). Few students use this method even though it is used
to find a remainder in word problems. Students fail to recognize the ‘offset-ruler’ task
as belonging to the class of ‘difference’ problems. The length of the object ‘offset’ on
a ruler may be thought of a subset of the length between zero and the end of the
object when aligned with a ruler. Classroom tasks explore the concept of additivity,
so it would seem to be important for teachers to include tasks that require students to
find measures by counting units on scales not aligned with zero. Students need
explicit instruction in the use of the ‘rename as zero’ or the counting of the spaces
between unit markers provided that students understand that the measure itself
counted linear subunits. A number of students stated that there was “…nothing on the
edge of a ruler” and that the numbers “pointed to the lines” [unit markers].
Table 3 Results as percentages correct for Tasks 1 to 5
Task Name Grade 5 Grade 6 Comments for Grade 6
1 The Offset Ruler 50% 69% Measure as the end of the
object 24%
2 The Ruler Without 54% 37% Count unit marks from one
Numbers 53%
3 The Finger- Thumb 54% 74% Draw cube 7%, square 6%,
Picture ruler features 11% (e.g. little
unit markers or numbers)
4 Units on a Ruler 42% 6% Indicated unit markers 69%,
21% coloured spaces
5 A Centimetre on a Cube 52% 71% Indicated square 20%, cube
8%

The results for Task 2 were unexpected. The number of students giving the correct
measure fell to 37% in Grade 6, with just over half of this group (53%) counting the
unit markers from ‘1’. This is compared with 54% of the Grade 5 students. In the
discussion groups the majority of the students quickly saw that their measure was
incorrect when they checked their answers with a ruler. Many of them noted that they
should have counted the ‘first little mark as zero’. As with Task 1 it seems that the
older students were more likely to count unit markers than the spaces between the
markers. Esther noted that she “just forgot about the zero”. The students were asked
why they thought they got confused about where to measure from on a ruler. The
majority commented that the measuring they did in the early grades only involved
counting from one. Georgia said that the teacher in her previous school told them that
“When you use a ruler you don’t have to count anything. You just remember to line

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 up the start with zero and read the number at the other end. Mrs. Z. used to get a red
marker pen and draw over the nought so we would remember. I always got it right
then.”
In Task 2, the unexpected drop in numbers of correct answers in Grade 6 may be due
to the fact that greater emphasis is being placed on more complex measurement
applications with little time being spent on revision of basic concepts. These results
reflect the way students understand the use of a ruler and the cues used for correct
alignment. The zero printed at the first unit marker may serve only to direct
alignment, while the number corresponding to the end of the object may be seen as
the ‘measure’ rather than the count of linear sub-units. Indeed, some students stated
that the number in a measure only told “…where the line ended’. The absence of a
zero as a cue therefore elicited a counting-from-one action of the unit markers.
In Task 3, (the Finger-thumb drawing) 74% of the sixth graders (54% in Grade 5)
were able to represent a centimetre as a linear unit. It is interesting to note that almost
all of the centimetre lines were drawn with a unit marker at either end. The
prevalence of these features may be partly due to their prominence on rulers and the
emphasis that is placed on them as students learn to mark off the iteration of informal
units in early measuring activities. Those who were not successful were almost as
likely to draw a square or a cube (13%) as they were to produce a drawing with ruler-
like features (11%). The confusion with squares and cubes may have resulted from
the use of cubes for area and volume measurement without explicit reference to the
feature of the cubes that is used for different measures. The most common ruler-like
features were the numbers to 10 or a set of 8-10 tiny unit markers. The belief that the
unit marker is the unit of measure was also seen in Task 4 where students had to
indicate the centimeters on a ruler. Five students (6%) in Grade 6 correctly drew over
the linear units at the edge of the ruler while 61 (68%) marked the unit markers and
19 (21%) coloured in the spaces.
This confusion was also seen in the results for Task 5 (identifying a centimeter on a
cube). While the results also show an improvement from Grade 5 (52%) to Grade 6
(71%), it is significant that almost 30% of these students about to enter high school
remained confused about the property applied in different measuring contexts where
cubes are used. In the small groups almost all the students who drew or coloured
squares or cubes referred to the use of the small cubes used in the measurement
activities. “Well, it doesn’t really make a difference ‘cause you just count the cubes”
(Sarah, Grade 6). “You don’t count the edges unless the question is about ‘edges and
faces’…Oh, I know, what about the pictures in Signpost, [referring to the student
text] we did it in Ms L.’s class. We lined up the shorts and counted them” (Emma,
Grade 6). Teaching guidelines state that students should have a clear understanding of
the attribute that is being measured (Outhred, Mitchelmore, McPhail and Gould,
2003). If ‘shorts’ are used for all for length, area and volume, then it is important for
teachers to ensure that students understand which feature is counted for each
measure.

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 Conclusion and implications for teaching linear measurement
Research into effective classroom instruction over the last 30 years has yielded
important information into fundamental understandings about measurement. The
findings reported here confirm that the sequence of early measurement tasks needs to
be carefully considered in relation to what students must know about how a scale
works and its construction. Of particular relevance is the students’ belief that the unit
markers are the measures. These markers are, however, at right angles to the length of
the object or line being measured and should only be understood as the feature that
marks the end of each unit. It would, therefore, seem critical that young students
should learn that a length is a linear entity that can be defined. The point of origin can
therefore be identified and written as zero. The current practice of filling the space
between the endpoints of an object with a line of informal objects called the ‘units of
measure’ may encourage students to consider these objects as they would for
exercises in the counting of discrete objects. The continuous nature of measures calls
for a counting action that does not use a ‘point-count’ action but rather a counting
action reflecting the essential movement from the point of origin. This is only
possible if students are able to see or visualise the linear units and that the count is
made by moving a finger for example, along the units counting as they reach the end
of the unit. The purpose of the unit marker may be more easily seen as the point
where each unit starts and ends. The unit markers on rulers are particularly prominent
features that, in the absence of careful instruction about their function, may become
the focus of a student’s counting.
A line used to represent a length also satisfies the requirement that students should
learn to identify the attribute (Outhred et al. 2003) and helps students discriminate it
from the units used to measure length and volume. The consequence of using a
concrete representation of a length is that the unit of measure will be defined by the
length of object or action chosen as the informal unit. A line of objects, for example
paper clips, allows the students to draw the unit markers and when the clips are
removed the linear units thus created are counted from zero not the unit markers or
the informal units. An analogous relationship is created that has a closer fit to the
form of a scale. This relationship may also be satisfied when students iterate a single
unit or use an action such as hand spans. Early measuring activities should emphasise
the measuring process as having three steps: 1) Defining the length and assigning
zero, 2) iterating the unit and 3) counting the linear units created. Teachers should
also be aware that counting skills and strategies used to find a measure should be
introduced and discussed with the students. Since a correct measure can be found by
counting the spaces or unit markers it is critical that students understand what the
measure obtained actually counts.
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