The first step of micro-teaching cycle is:

Error Analysis

Error analysis is the study of errors in learners’ work with a view to looking for possible explanations for these errors. It is a multifaceted activity involving analysis of correct, partially correct and incorrect processes and thinking about possible remediating strategies.

Quantitative error analysis was carried out using a coding sheet for each grade. A reliability coefficient was found for each test, as were item means and discrimination indexes for each item. The analysis provided some insight into the more common procedural and conceptual errors evidenced in the learners’ scripts. Findings showed similar difficulties across intervention and control schools and highlighted particular areas of difficulty.

The Purpose of Error Analysis:

1. identify the patterns of errors or mistakes that students make in their work

2. understand why students make the errors, and

3. provide targeted instruction to correct the errors.

When conducting an error analysis, the teacher checks the student’s mathematics problems and categories the errors. Errors in mathematics can be factual, procedural, or conceptual, and may occur for a number of reasons.

According to the present state of error research, students’ error:

1. are casually determined and very often systematic

2. are persistent and will last for several school years, unless the teacher intervenes pedagogically

3. can be analyzed and described as error techniques

4. Common Student Challenges

Reasons of Errors:

Lack of Knowledge: Students’ lack of knowledge could be a major reason why they cannot solve certain problems consistently.

Poor Attention and Carelessness: Other possible causes of student error are poor attention and carelessness. To address this issue, teachers should first consider the alignment between the instruction, student ability, and the task.

Identification of students’ specific errors is especially important for students with learning disabilities and low performing students. By pinpointing student errors, the teacher can provide instruction targeted to the student’s area of need. In general, students who have difficulty learning maths typically lack important conceptual knowledge for several reasons, including an inability to process information at the rate of the instructional pace, a lack of adequate opportunities to respond (i.e., practice), a lack of specific feedback from teachers regarding misunderstanding or non-understanding, anxiety about mathematics, and difficulties in visual and auditory processing.

An analysis of learner errors does require mathematical content and pedagogical content knowledge on the part of teachers, but it would also serve to broaden teachers’ knowledge of mathematical cognition and concept development.