Examination of Pre-service Teachers' Error Analysis Skills in Teaching Differential Calculus

Abstract

Error analysis has been considered indispensable in teaching mathematics in classrooms worldwide. One of the greatest skills in mathematics teaching has been recognised as the ability to model learners’ misconceptions through error analysis. The use of error analysis in the classroom has therefore made tremendous contribution to mathematics teacher knowledge. However, despite the acclaims about error analysis in teaching mathematics, researchers and teachers lack a detailed understanding of mathematics teacher knowledge as it is used in error analysis and the use of error analysis is still regarded as challenging for most teachers. This qualitative study therefore explored eight purposively selected pre-service teachers’ ability to identify, interpret and remediate learners’ error patterns as a result of misconceptions in differential calculus. The pre-service teachers’ analyses were re-analysed by the researcher to ascertain their ability to handle learners’ errors in mathematical calculus. The study established that though some pre-service teachers portrayed knowledge of the differentiation content as reflected by their ability to identify the errors made, most of them failed to identify the possible causes of the errors as well as provide appropriate instructional strategies that could be used to remediate learners’ error patterns. This finding illustrates that the pre-service teacher’s ability to diagnose, interpret and correct errors in learners’ work, with targeted instruction is an essential and necessary skill for good mathematics teaching.