TY - JOUR
T1 - Diagnostic assessment in third-grade subtraction
T2 - the relation between bridging errors, number of errors and mathematical ability
AU - Vermeulen, Jorine A.
AU - Béguin, Anton
AU - Scheltens, Floor
AU - Eggen, Theo J.H.M.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) under Grant [MaGW/PROO: Project 411-10-750]. We are very grateful for all the work that was done by research assistants Marjolein Nieuwenhuizen and Patricia Gillet especially regarding the organisation of the data collection and data entry.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Learning to solve subtraction problems that require borrowing (e.g., 83–57=) is challenging, and these problems often cause ‘bridging’ errors, such as the smaller-from-larger error. This study explores how bridging errors in subtraction are related to students’ mathematical ability. The study involved 694 third-grade students and 35 teachers from 25 Dutch schools. Multilevel regression analyses showed that the number of bridging errors was positively related to the students’ mathematical ability, after controlling for the total number of errors in subtraction. Thus, the students who had a high proportion of bridging errors within the total number of errors had a relatively higher mathematical ability compared to the students who had a low proportion of bridging errors. This result implies that diagnosing bridging errors may help to identify where students’ stand within their mathematical development. The practical implications of this result for the design of diagnostic instruments are addressed in the discussion section.
AB - Learning to solve subtraction problems that require borrowing (e.g., 83–57=) is challenging, and these problems often cause ‘bridging’ errors, such as the smaller-from-larger error. This study explores how bridging errors in subtraction are related to students’ mathematical ability. The study involved 694 third-grade students and 35 teachers from 25 Dutch schools. Multilevel regression analyses showed that the number of bridging errors was positively related to the students’ mathematical ability, after controlling for the total number of errors in subtraction. Thus, the students who had a high proportion of bridging errors within the total number of errors had a relatively higher mathematical ability compared to the students who had a low proportion of bridging errors. This result implies that diagnosing bridging errors may help to identify where students’ stand within their mathematical development. The practical implications of this result for the design of diagnostic instruments are addressed in the discussion section.
KW - decomposition strategy
KW - Diagnostic assessment
KW - formative assessment
KW - primary school mathematics
KW - subtraction
KW - subtraction errors
KW - n/a OA procedure
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85097429372&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/0969594X.2020.1856038
DO - 10.1080/0969594X.2020.1856038
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85097429372
SN - 0969-594X
VL - 27
SP - 687
EP - 706
JO - Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice
JF - Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice
IS - 6
ER -