The purpose of this study was to identify and analyze the types of problem-solving errors that students make throughout a finite mathematics course. Finite mathematics is a required course for large numbers of college freshmen at many colleges and universities. The course is primarily a problem-solving course and many of the students have great difficulty in solving many of the mathematical problems.;A large database was produced that included the results for each student from the quizzes, the examinations, and the mathematics skills assessment test from each of the 250 students enrolled in one section of M118 (Finite Mathematics) taught at Indiana University. Several descriptive and inferential statistical techniques were applied to these data as a means of gaining insight into the research questions.;The following conclusions were among the most significant that were drawn from the data: (1) It is possible for a team of mathematics teachers to consistently categorize the errors from students' written work in a finite mathematics course by using a modification of the error classification system developed by Movshovitz-Hadar, Zaslavsky, and Inbar (1987). (2) In decreasing order, students have the most difficulty in the course with language errors, then distortion errors, and then technical errors. (3) Students at all levels of achievement make approximately the same percentage of their errors in each error category. (4) Very few students enroll in the course with weaknesses in computational skills, but many enroll with weaknesses in problem-solving skills.;It is anticipated that some of the findings from this study may contribute to the knowledge of how to offer effective instruction in college-level finite mathematics courses by offering valuable insight as to where students have difficulty in the course.
展开▼
