Students’ Errors in Solving Problems on Coordinate Methods in Space: Results from an Investigation in Vietnam

Abstract

The paper presents the results of an investigation of 12th grade students and mathematics teachers in three secondary schools of Tam Binh district, Vinh Long province (Vietnam) towards errors happening to students in solving problems on “coordinate method in space” topic. From the investigation, we found that students often committed ten different errors in solving problems on the above topic. The mathematics teachers should have positive attitude towards students’ errors because the error detection of students will offer teachers many benefits: (1) to recognize misunderstanding of their students; (2) to adjust their teaching; (3) to do action research to increase the effectiveness of their activities of teaching.