ERROR ANALYSIS OF PRIMARY SIX PUPILS IN WORD PROBLEMS INVOLVING FRACTIONS

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze the errors made by primary school pupils in solving mathematical word problems in fraction using Newman’s Error Analysis procedure. The study used a qualitative research design and collected data using a diagnostic test and interview. The population of the study was primary six pupils in both public and private schools in Minna metropolis of Niger State, Nigeria. The samples were 105 primary six (6) pupils, 61 males and 44 females. The instruments used in the study are (a) a set of paper and pencil test consisting of 12 theory questions on fractions and (b) structured interview based on Newman’s theorem. The diagnostic test was administered to the pupils. Structured interview adopted from Rohmah and Sutiarso was also used to identify at which level students’ errors occur. The type of error was based on Newman Error Hierarchy Model that includes reading, comprehension, transformation, process skill, and encoding error. The data were analysed using inferential statistics of Chi-square (