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An investigation of students’ errors and misconceptions in quadratic inequalities
Author
Hng, Choon Keong
Supervisor
Dindyal, Jaguthsing
Abstract
This qualitative study set out to identify the errors which secondary students commonly make when studying quadratic inequalities; understand what misconceptions students have; and investigate why students make these errors and end up having these misconceptions. Data were collected from 58 students coming from five different classes from a secondary school in Singapore. The students had to complete a test with 11 items and 12 of the students from different ability ranges were selected for one-to-one interviews. From the interview, information on the students’ thinking process on how they solved quadratic inequalities was observed and recorded. The five teachers who taught these students were also interviewed. The errors which the students made were analysed with reference to the test and interviews. Students made four main categories of errors aligned with the framework proposed in a study by Godden, Mbekwa and Julie (2013) – careless errors, procedural errors, calculation errors and application errors. Most of the errors were concentrated in two types of errors (i.e. procedural errors and application errors). From these categories, eight sub-categories were further developed to differentiate and classify these errors distinctly. Results showed that students routinely applied their prior knowledge about equations incorrectly when solving quadratic inequalities. Students had the tendency to apply their prior knowledge on solving quadratic equations to the solving of quadratic inequalities. This misconception that students developed are likely to be attributed by overgeneralising and overspecializing.
Date Issued
2017
Call Number
QA295 Hng
Date Submitted
2017