Mathematical misconceptions While at a conference in Prague 4 years ago an Italian asked me, Why is zero plural in English?

Why do you say one dog ut zero dogs?! "o e honest I had ne#er thought a out it ut it really got me thinking a out mathematics, language and culture$ %o much so in fact that, a year later, I had set up an international pro&ect funded y the 'ritish (cademy in#estigating mathematical misconceptions$ "he pro&ect in#ol#ed a team of ) academics from 4 countries *+,, Italy, -zech .epu lic and Israel/ each 0orking 0ith a team of teachers from across the primary age range$ "he aim of our 0ork 0as to compare and contrast common mathematical misconceptions o ser#ed in the 0ide range of primary classrooms a#aila le to us$ We e1plored the likely sources of these misconceptions and ho0 teachers might diminish their occurrence$ 2ur conclusions suggest that, a/ 3espite significant differences in the 0ay teachers are trained and schools operate in each of the pro&ect countries *e$g$ in Israel primary children are taught y specialist mathematics teachers rather than generalists and in Italy teachers teach the same group of children for se#eral years/ our data suggest that some misconceptions seem to e #ery common across the cultures *suggesting that some aspects of primary mathematics may e intrinsically difficult/$ / fundamental mathematical misconceptions often originate in the earliest years of schooling ut fre4uently do not ecome manifest for se#eral years and, indeed, may persist at uni#ersity le#el$ 5or e1ample many children de#elop the idea that adding a nought 0hen they multiply y 67, al0ays starting 0ith the igger num er 0hen you su tract etc$ 0hich do not hold true in all circumstances$ c/ there is a need for us all to gain a more in8depth understanding of mathematics across the full primary age range, efore and eyond it$ %o, for e1ample, 0e need to appreciate ho0 e1tremely comple1 it is for children to grasp the idea of 7! associated to the empty set one minute and eing of great significance the ne1t as in, for e1ample, 9 6777 $ Without such understanding 0e seriously o struct the learning of alge ra in the future$ d/ there are interconnections et0een mathematics and linguistic learning 0hich may e1acer ate the de#elopment of mathematical misconceptions$ "hese may #ary from country to country ut are often similar in type$ "hus, for e1ample, in the +, children may confuse 6: and :6 * oth eginning si1;!/ 0hile in Italy are more likely to confuse 6< and <6 * oth egin 0ith tre;!/ e/ 0e noticed some considera le differences et0een classes$ 5or e1ample the year = children in the research classrooms of the -zech .epu lic had great

difficulties in dealing 0ith 4uestions such as ))) > ? 0hereas less a le pupils in a year : +, class did not$ f/ the #ast ma&ority of primary children in the research study 0ere logical 0hen responding to mathematical pro lems ut this did not guarantee success *e$g$ 6 @ 4 > < 0as a common response as 0as A @ 4 B 6/ "he research process highlighted the importance of teachers ha#ing sound mathematical kno0ledge and the #alue of using misconceptions as an educational tool$ It also highlighted the fact that focusing on common issues B in this case mathematical misconceptions B across an entire school age range 0as a #ery effecti#e form of in8ser#ice de#elopment$ I 0ould e most interested to hear your thoughts on our findings$ 3o you think, for e1ample, that there tend to e common mathematical misconceptions across your school? WhyC0hy not? -an misconceptions e#er e useful? Do0 do you spot them? (nne -ock urn, %chool of Education and Eifelong Eearning, +ni#ersity of East (nglia