In-service teachers’ perceptions and interpretations of students’ errors in mathematics

This paper reports on findings of a research study that investigated in-service secondary school teachers' perceptions and interpretations of students' errors in mathematics. The study used a survey research design in which a questionnaire with two sections was used to collect data. The fi...

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Main Authors: Chauraya, Million, Mashingaidze, Samuel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1164180
http://hdl.handle.net/11408/3491
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author Chauraya, Million
Mashingaidze, Samuel
author_facet Chauraya, Million
Mashingaidze, Samuel
author_sort Chauraya, Million
collection DSpace
description This paper reports on findings of a research study that investigated in-service secondary school teachers' perceptions and interpretations of students' errors in mathematics. The study used a survey research design in which a questionnaire with two sections was used to collect data. The first section sought to find out the teachers' perceptions of the nature of errors. In the second part the teachers were asked to explain five common errors in algebra. A sample of forty-two mathematics teachers randomly drawn from one university in Zimbabwe constituted the respondents for the study. The findings showed that teachers perceived errors as not solely due to the student, but also as due to other factors arising from teaching and the nature of the subject. The teachers also regarded errors as useful for further inquiry in mathematics, as a normal part of learning, and as a result of previous knowledge not well understood by learners. In their explanations of given errors in algebra the teachers gave mainly procedural explanations, some of which lacked clarity or were incorrect. The study recommends the need for pre-service and in-service teacher professional development programmes to incorporate error analyses so as to develop teachers' understanding of the nature and role of errors in the teaching and learning of mathematics.
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spelling ir-11408-34912022-06-27T13:49:06Z In-service teachers’ perceptions and interpretations of students’ errors in mathematics Chauraya, Million Mashingaidze, Samuel Mathematics Teachers Teacher Attitudes Error Patterns This paper reports on findings of a research study that investigated in-service secondary school teachers' perceptions and interpretations of students' errors in mathematics. The study used a survey research design in which a questionnaire with two sections was used to collect data. The first section sought to find out the teachers' perceptions of the nature of errors. In the second part the teachers were asked to explain five common errors in algebra. A sample of forty-two mathematics teachers randomly drawn from one university in Zimbabwe constituted the respondents for the study. The findings showed that teachers perceived errors as not solely due to the student, but also as due to other factors arising from teaching and the nature of the subject. The teachers also regarded errors as useful for further inquiry in mathematics, as a normal part of learning, and as a result of previous knowledge not well understood by learners. In their explanations of given errors in algebra the teachers gave mainly procedural explanations, some of which lacked clarity or were incorrect. The study recommends the need for pre-service and in-service teacher professional development programmes to incorporate error analyses so as to develop teachers' understanding of the nature and role of errors in the teaching and learning of mathematics. 2019-03-27T11:52:14Z 2019-03-27T11:52:14Z 2017 Article https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1164180 http://hdl.handle.net/11408/3491 en International Journal for Mathematics Teaching and Learning;Vol. 18, No. 3: p. 273 - 292 open
spellingShingle Mathematics Teachers
Teacher Attitudes
Error Patterns
Chauraya, Million
Mashingaidze, Samuel
In-service teachers’ perceptions and interpretations of students’ errors in mathematics
title In-service teachers’ perceptions and interpretations of students’ errors in mathematics
title_full In-service teachers’ perceptions and interpretations of students’ errors in mathematics
title_fullStr In-service teachers’ perceptions and interpretations of students’ errors in mathematics
title_full_unstemmed In-service teachers’ perceptions and interpretations of students’ errors in mathematics
title_short In-service teachers’ perceptions and interpretations of students’ errors in mathematics
title_sort in-service teachers’ perceptions and interpretations of students’ errors in mathematics
topic Mathematics Teachers
Teacher Attitudes
Error Patterns
url https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1164180
http://hdl.handle.net/11408/3491
work_keys_str_mv AT chaurayamillion inserviceteachersperceptionsandinterpretationsofstudentserrorsinmathematics
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