Abstract
Diagnostic interviews were conducted with children in their third year at a Melbourne primary school to determine why they had made errors on sixteen arithmetical tasks. The Newman method of analyzing errors was modified in order that the children's errors could be sensibly classified in terms of the sequence of steps they used when attempting to solve the problems. The diagnostic interviews clearly showed where children were making their errors, and this enabled their teacher to devise more appropriate teaching procedures.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Clements, M. A.: 1980, ‘Analyzing children's errors on written mathematical tasks’,Educational Studies in Mathematics 11, 1–21.
Davis, R. B.: 1973, ‘Two special aspects of mathematics laboratories and individualization: Papert's projects and Piagetian interviews’, in J. L. Higgins (ed.),Cognitive Psychology and the Mathematics Lab, ERIC/SMEAC, Information Analysis Center for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Education, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, pp. 21–42.
Dutton, W. H.: 1964,Evaluating Pupils' Understanding of Arithmetic, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
Glennon, V. J. and Wilson, J. W.: 1975, ‘Diagnostic-prescriptive teaching’, inThe Slow Learner in Mathematics, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Reston, Virginia, pp. 282–318.
Goodman, K.: 1965, ‘A linguistic study of cues and miscues in reading’,Elementary English, October, pp. 639–643.
Goodman, K.: 1969, ‘Analysis of oral reading miscues: Applied psycholinguistics’,Reading Research Quarterly 5, 9–30.
Hollander, S. K.: 1978, ‘A literature review: Thought processes involved in the solution of verbal arithmetic problems’,School Science and Mathematics 78, 327–345.
Lankford, F. G.: 1974, ‘What can a teacher learn about a pupil's thinking through oral interviews?’,Arithmetic Teacher 21, 26–34.
Newman, M. A.: 1977, ‘An analysis of sixth-grade pupils' errors on written mathematical tasks’, in M. A. Clements, and J. Foyster (eds.),Research in Mathematics Education in Australia, Vol. 1, Melbourne, pp. 239–258.
Suydam, M. N.: 1974,Evaluation in the Mathematics Classroom, ERIC Information Analysis Center for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Science, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Watson, I. Investigating errors of beginning mathematicians. Educ Stud Math 11, 319–329 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00697743
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00697743