Identifying Students' Surface Area Misconceptions Through Formative Assessment Tasks

• In Event: 35.077 - MTCC Roundtable Session 13
  In Roundtable Session: 35.077-8 - Improving Mathematics Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning: Focus on Volume and Surface Area

Abstract

Research on student understanding of surface area has described students’ common surface area misconceptions and errors as misunderstandings of measurement concepts and properties. Other surface area misconceptions, including those related to student vocabulary, have not been discussed in the literature to our knowledge. In this study, we add to this research by noting that misconceptions may also be linguistically motivated. This study describes students’ surface area misconceptions identified through cognitive interviews with 30 students in Grades 3-5 using three tasks and how teachers can address surface area misconceptions through formative assessment. We briefly review the literature in this area, describe the four surface area misconceptions and provide implications for the classroom instruction.

Authors

• Eun Mi Kim, The University of Kansas

• Leslie Nabors Olah, Educational Testing Service