Mathematics

Education

Analyzing Children’s Errors on Written

Mathematical Tasks
By
M. A. (Ken) Clements
Monash University
Presented by
Raymond Choong
M Ed Studies (Coursework)
Mathematics Education

Outline of Article
1. The sources of errors
2. The Newman and Casey Hierarchies
3. The Error Analysis Literature
4. Data arising from analyses based on
Newman & Casey Hierarchies
5. Discussion
6. Strengths & Limitations of the Newman
Technique
7. Some warnings & suggestions for further
research
Sources of Error

Which angle is a right angle, does it mean that the

wings should go this way or that way?
Sources of Error

What does 56 minutes forty equal?

Answer: 96 hours

How?

It didn’t tell me what I had to do, so I added and got

Ninety-six, so the answer must be in hours!

They misread important words in questions

(Reading errors)
The answer, one boy, Charles gave was 15 cos he said,
“it says John goes to bed fifteen minutes later, so the
answer must be ‘15’.
He had not grasped the meaning of all the information
given in the question. (Reading comprehension difficulty)
Sources of Error

John wrote the answer, 144.

He explained: there are 12 children and 24 lollies;
12 into 24 goes 2, so we have two 12s;
You multiply these two 12s;
12 x 12 = 144
Each child gets 144 lollies.
John could read the question well but did not
Formulate the correct sequence of math steps.
 Transformation error
 Sources of Error

Percy gave this answer:

“I would give each child 1 lolly and keep 12 for myself!”

Careful analysis of the wording of question suggests

that Percy’s answer is not wrong. Percy’s error arose
coz of the form of the question.
 Poorly worded coz it allows 2 possible correct answers.
Elaine wrote the answer: $1.93.
She used a faulty algorithm and her error was due
To a weakness in process skills.

Kelvin was marked wrong coz he simply wrote 93

For his answer. He made an encoding error.

Mary wrote 83 cents but when asked how she got it.
She said,”Oh, I made a mistake. It should be 93 cents.
 Careless error.
Sources of Error

5 minutes before Sister Anastasi handed out the

question paper to the class, she reprimanded
Jim, an intelligent pupil for talking.
Jim was sulking when he got the paper and refused
to attempt any question seriously even though
he could have done all of them correctly if he had
tried.
 His errors were caused by lack of motivation.
Types of Errors

Types of error:
1.Reading error
2.Reading comprehension error
3.Transformation error
4.Form of the question
5.Encoding error
2. Newman & Casey Hierarchies
Newman (1977) claimed these errors to one-step
written math prob has 5 levels of hierarchy:
Casey’ hierarchy
A comparison between Newman & Casey’s model
3. Error Analysis Literature

Reviewer: Sheila K. Hollander (1978)

• C.S. Rice(1920): main difficulty faced by children
Grade 3 – 8choice of appropriate math operation
• L.John A(1930): 4 categories of error: reasoning,
fundamentals, reading & Miscellaneous
• R.A. Doty (1940): 4 factors: 1. ability in
computation 2. ability to gain mathematical
implications from language forms 3. understanding
of the various mathematical processes 4. effective
procedures with problems
• C.G. Corle (1950): 3 main areas: insight, thought
processes and number relationships and
computational skills.
3. Error Analysis Literature

Reviewer: Sheila K. Hollander (1978)

• Hollander refined after investigations with 6
graders and came out with 5 main factors for
successful problem-solving strategies:
1. Pupils’ comprehension of mathematical
relationships expressed thro’ words & symbols
within a problem
2. Strength of pupil’s ability to reason insightfully
3. Strength of pupil’s ability to use abstract analytical
reasoning
4. Number of times pupil refers to the text
5. Pupil’s ability to identify the mini no. of
computational steps to solve a problem
3. Error Analysis Literature

Reviewer: Sheila K. Hollander (1978)

• F.G. Lankford (1974): made us of oral interviewing
pupils on how they solve the sums
• Hendrik Radatz(1979): 5 main categories:
1. Language difficulties
2. Spatial information difficulties
3. Inability to master the required facts & concepts
4. Incorrect associaton or rigidity of thinking
(convergent thinking)
5. Application of irrelevant rules or strategies
4. Data Analysis based on Newman &
Casey’s Hierarchies
• Refer to TABLE 1
• 47% of errors occurred before pupils could use
process skills
• He considered only 16 out of 40 items that involved
transformation
• She didn’t include any difficult words or ideas for
primary school children(she’s a reading lecturer)
4. Data Analysis based on Newman &
Casey’s Hierarchies
• Refer to TABLE 2: Clements Data
• Fewer errors in reading & reading compre
• Still errors in Transformation & Process skills
stages
• Errors due to carelessness or motivation common
to Grade 7
TABLE 3: also by Clements
• Reading & comprehension errors minimised
• One third of errors due to carelessness or
motivation
4. Data Analysis based on Newman &
Casey’s Hierarchies
The Casey Data
• The interviewers were required to help pupils over
errors, hence, the child could have made a few
errors in one question – noted by interviewer
• Errors made by pupils classified as:
• Question Reading
• Question Comprehension
• Strategy Selection
• Skills Selection
4. Discussion

Clements data threw light on the following”

• 7th graders make fewer errors than 5th graders
• 7th graders made more careless or motivation
errors than 5th graders
• Both graders: errors occur at Transformation &
Process Skills stages or due to carelessness.

Analyses of errors by Newman, Casey & Clements 

unable to make valid general statements about the
characteristics of good & poor problem solvers.
5. Strengths & Weakness of Newman
Technique
Reading & Comprehension stages are useful in
arresting the problem for error making in math
computation.
Many pupils are careless coz they don’t read the
question carefully.
Useful in gross diagnostic purposes

Weakness:
More detailed probing is essential if the aim is to
discover how the child thinks mathematically.
6. Some Warnings & Suggestions for
Further Research
• Many children cannot select & order the skills
needed to solve simple math problems
• Question of whether children should be taught to
‘transform’ math problems?
• Continual reinforcement of the problem solving
strategies they had been taught
• However, they may not be permanent  more
careful research is still needed on this.
• 1st warning: 2 or more children prone to
transformation errors require different remediation
• 2nd warning: verbal sum is more difficult than those
involving direct application of process skills
Mathematics
Education

Analyzing Children’s Errors on Written

Mathematical Tasks
By M.A. Clements

End of Presentation