The Effects of Writing To Learn Mathematics on the Types of Errors Students Make in a College Calculus Class [electronic resource] / Mary K. Porter and Joanna O. Masingila.

This study examined how engaging calculus students in Writing to Learn Mathematics affected the types of conceptual and procedural errors that the students made on their examinations. Students in two sections of an introductory college calculus course in Fall 1994 were the respondents in this study....

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Online Access: Full Text (via ERIC)
Main Author: Porter, Mary K.
Other Authors: Masingila, Joanna O.
Format: Electronic eBook
Language:English
Published: [S.l.] : Distributed by ERIC Clearinghouse, 1995.
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Summary:This study examined how engaging calculus students in Writing to Learn Mathematics affected the types of conceptual and procedural errors that the students made on their examinations. Students in two sections of an introductory college calculus course in Fall 1994 were the respondents in this study. A classification system was developed that categorized students' errors as procedural, conceptual, or indeterminate. Procedural errors involved either syntactical or algorithmic errors. Conceptual errors involved use of inappropriate procedures, acceptance of unreasonable answers, translation mistakes, misuse of symbols, incorrect interpretation of symbols, invalid inferences, statements without justification, or contradictions of nonprocedural principles, definitions, or theorems. (Author/SW)
Item Description:ERIC Document Number: ED389570.
ERIC Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (17th, Columbus, OH, October 21-24, 1995). For entire conference proceedings, see SE 057 177.
Physical Description:8 p.