The incidence of misconceptions of decimal notation amongst students in Grades 5 to 10

Abstract: This paper reports the results of a test of decimal understanding based on choosing the larger number from pairs of decimals. Ten incorrect ways of thinking about decimal notation are described. The testing of 2517 students from Grade 5 to Year 10 enables reporting of the incidence of misconceptions according to both a primary and a refined classification. Some variations from previously reported results are noted.

Steinle, V., & Stacey, K. (1998b). The incidence of misconceptions of decimal notation amongst students in Grades 5 to 10. In C. Kanes, M. Goos, & E. Warren (Eds.), Teaching Mathematics in New Times. Proceedings of the 21st annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (Vol. 2, pp. 548-555). Gold Coast, Australia : MERGA.