Blog #68 – IMPORTANCE OF STUDENTS SHOWING THEIR WORK
Teachers and parents need to stress the importance of students or children showing their work when solving mathematics problems. Students and children need to realize that teachers can diagnose individual weaknesses by studying the work shown on schoolwork. I equate it to a doctor diagnosing a patient. Many times I was able to determine why a student was having problems applying concepts to solving problems.
I remember distinctly studying a ninth grader’s work and noticing that when multiplying by a two-digit whole number, she was only multiplying by the unit’s digit. This occurred early in the school year of a basic mathematics class. I had been reviewing how to add, subtract, multiply and divide whole numbers. The student made an 80 on the test that I was grading. It is very likely that most teachers would have assumed that the student had mastered working with whole numbers. This incident illustrates how a student can fall through the cracks. Although she had worked with whole numbers since third grade, no one had probably determined that she did not know how to multiply whole numbers with a multiplier consisting of more than one digit.
All teachers need to take time to look carefully at a student’s work to determine individual weaknesses. This is also why teachers need to include problems that feature common errors on independent study work and assessments. If teachers keep a record of problems that are missed the most, they can determine individual and class weaknesses.
Sometimes I would intentionally make an error when illustrating the step-by-step solution of a problem to determine if students could determine if I had made an error. Once I admitted that I had made an error, I would ask them if they could tell me where the error occurred and what type of error it was. This strategy was useful in showing students why it was important to show work. It also stressed the importance of doing work in a step-by-step process. Many students have a tendency to want to skip steps when solving problems. Teachers need to emphasize why showing step-by-step solutions is important for students and how showing their work will give teachers an opportunity to determine how to help them.