Explicit Instruction Vs Error Analysis: Which Is the Better Method in Teaching Mathematics

Angel Caroline A. Casiño^1, and Rosie G. Tan¹

¹Department of Mathematics Education, University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines, Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines

Cite this paper:
Angel Caroline A. Casiño and Rosie G. Tan. Explicit Instruction Vs Error Analysis: Which Is the Better Method in Teaching Mathematics. Journal of Innovations in Teaching and Learning. 2025; 5(1):7-11. doi: 10.12691/jitl-5-1-2

Abstract

This paper compares explicit mathematics instruction, and error analysis in teaching Polya’s Problem Solving Strategy, Descriptive Statistics, Measures of Central Tendency, Measures of Variability, Simple Interest, Compound Interest and Annuity, Loans and Investments. The study was conducted in University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines Cagayan de Oro with the undergraduate students taking Mathematics in the Modern World for the first semester 2024-2025. The researchers employed explicit instruction as a teaching method for the first group and the error analysis on the second group. To determine the pre-test and post test scores of the students’, descriptive analysis was employed with use of the mean and standard deviation. The Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to determine if there is a significant difference between achievement of students exposed to explicit instruction, and error analysis. The result showed that there is no significant influence of the pre-test towards the mathematics achievement of the students’ achievement of the students F(1, 61) = 1.94, p = 0.17. This further indicates that the initial pretest difference did not affect much on the variance of the post test scores. Moreover, this suggest that prior knowledge of the students did not have a large impact towards the result. Conversely, the group effect was significant F(1,61)=14.69, p<0.001, it implies that the method used in the intervention significantly influenced the achievement score of the students. The pre-test did not have a significant impact towards the post-test. This suggest that students’ prior knowledge did not affect the resulting posttest. Additionally, the scores of the students both group improved during the post-test. However, it worth noting that those exposed to explicit instruction group scored higher than the those in error analysis. There is a significant difference between the achievement scores of the students. This can be attributed on the method used namely, explicit instruction, and error analysis. The use of explicit is more effective than the use of error analysis as a teaching method. The effectiveness of traditional methods is often linked to their ability to facilitate straightforward assessment. This allows educators to measure student understanding objectively and efficiently. Many studies indicate that students often perform well academically under traditional methods due to the structured nature of these approaches . It is recommended that teachers discussed mathematics topics using explicit instruction.

Keywords:
error analysis explicit instruction teaching method Mathematics in the Modern World (MMW) errors

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