ERROR ANALYSIS CASE STUDY EDLC530
Error Analysis Case Study
School of Education, Liberty University
EDLC 530 Teaching Math
Charlotte Finley L35252812
I have no known conflict of interest to disclose.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Charlotte Finley.
Email:
, ERROR ANALYSIS CASE STUDY EDLC530
Case Study Level A, Case 1- Dalton (pp. 19-20)
Dalton is a 12-year-old male student currently in seventh grade. Dalton usually excels in Mrs.
Moreno’s math class, and she believes that he knows his math very well. Dalton, however, began
to struggle with certain lessons once he started learning to multiply decimals. Mrs. Moreno
began to worry about Dalton when he began failing his assignments that involved multiplying
decimals. Once Mrs. Moreno reviewed Dalton’s last homework assignment, she decided to
conduct an error analysis to determine what type of mistake Dalton was making.
The type of error Dalton was making is a procedural error. A procedural error is when
someone makes an error because they perform incorrect steps. The reason why Dalton made this
mistake is that he was most likely confused about how to properly set up the problem when
multiplying decimals. When Dalton tried to set up the equation, he lined up the last digits as if
they were normal whole numbers. To properly set up this problem, Dalton would need to line up
the decimals instead of the last digits. When the decimals aren’t lined up when trying to solve the
problem, you will most likely receive an incorrect answer. Another example of a procedural error
would be if two students were asked to round to the nearest 10’s and one rounds up and the other
student rounds down. Another example would be if a student was supposed to add two fractions,
but instead of finding a common denominator, they added the numerators and denominators
together.
One strategy I would use while teaching Dalton would be to identify error patterns.
Identifying error patterns would allow me to teach Dalton what he did wrong. When using this
strategy, it focuses on providing instruction to a student’s errors. The purpose of this strategy
would allow me to create an opportunity to correct Dalton’s errors. When discussing the errors
Error Analysis Case Study
School of Education, Liberty University
EDLC 530 Teaching Math
Charlotte Finley L35252812
I have no known conflict of interest to disclose.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Charlotte Finley.
Email:
, ERROR ANALYSIS CASE STUDY EDLC530
Case Study Level A, Case 1- Dalton (pp. 19-20)
Dalton is a 12-year-old male student currently in seventh grade. Dalton usually excels in Mrs.
Moreno’s math class, and she believes that he knows his math very well. Dalton, however, began
to struggle with certain lessons once he started learning to multiply decimals. Mrs. Moreno
began to worry about Dalton when he began failing his assignments that involved multiplying
decimals. Once Mrs. Moreno reviewed Dalton’s last homework assignment, she decided to
conduct an error analysis to determine what type of mistake Dalton was making.
The type of error Dalton was making is a procedural error. A procedural error is when
someone makes an error because they perform incorrect steps. The reason why Dalton made this
mistake is that he was most likely confused about how to properly set up the problem when
multiplying decimals. When Dalton tried to set up the equation, he lined up the last digits as if
they were normal whole numbers. To properly set up this problem, Dalton would need to line up
the decimals instead of the last digits. When the decimals aren’t lined up when trying to solve the
problem, you will most likely receive an incorrect answer. Another example of a procedural error
would be if two students were asked to round to the nearest 10’s and one rounds up and the other
student rounds down. Another example would be if a student was supposed to add two fractions,
but instead of finding a common denominator, they added the numerators and denominators
together.
One strategy I would use while teaching Dalton would be to identify error patterns.
Identifying error patterns would allow me to teach Dalton what he did wrong. When using this
strategy, it focuses on providing instruction to a student’s errors. The purpose of this strategy
would allow me to create an opportunity to correct Dalton’s errors. When discussing the errors
