Early math errors persist, U of M study finds
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (09/04/2013) —Students in 2nd and 3rd grade who have whole number misconceptions - such as claiming 23 is the largest two-digit number when the correct answer is 99 - are more likely to make uncommon computational errors as late as the 8th grade. This is the result of a longitudinal study, published recently in the journal Frontiers in Psychology , led by Michele Mazzocco, University of Minnesota professor and research director for the U's Center for Early Education and Development. In the study, 224 2nd and 3rd graders were asked to report the smallest and largest single-digit, two-digit and three-digit numbers. After each answer, the students were asked if they were sure of their answer. Two hundred of the 224 answered correctly that nine is the largest single-digit number while 180 knew that 99 was the largest two-digit number. Only 87 were able to identify 999 as the largest three-digit number. It's important to note that these results reflect typical developments in learning about multi-digit numbers among these age groups.
