ERRORS IN ARITHMETIC IN THE EARLY YEARS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN BRAZIL AND GERMANY

• Grant number: 25/11063-0
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: October 01, 2025
• End date: September 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Education
• Principal Investigator: Marcelo Firer
• Grantee: Marcelo Firer
• Host Institution: Instituto de Matemática, Estatística e Computação Científica (IMECC). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 22/06882-4 - In-service education for teachers who teach mathematics and its impact on students' learning, AP.EP

Abstract

This scientific initiation proposal is part of the broader research project funded by FAPESP, titled "Continuing Education for Teachers Who Teach Mathematics and Its Impact on Student Learning" (Process no. 2022/06882-4). The overarching aim of the main project is to design and implement a continuing education program focused on the teaching of arithmetic to elementary school teachers.As a component of this larger initiative, a comparative study is being conducted between Brazil and Germany, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Regensburg. This study seeks to identify and classify the types of arithmetic errors made by students, analyze their frequency, and investigate their underlying causes. A central objective is to distinguish between epistemological and didactic errors, drawing on the premise that the recurrence of certain mistakes indicates difficulties of a didactic nature (Brousseau, 2002).The primary goal of this scientific initiation project is to contribute to the international study by focusing on the analysis of errors made by Brazilian students and supporting the development of comparative data. The specific objectives are: (1) to develop a codebook for categorizing arithmetic errors, (2) to validate this instrument with independent evaluators, (3) to apply the codebook to student responses collected in Brazilian schools, and (4) to participate in joint analyses with both Brazilian and German research teams. (AU)