P 34 Naseer, M. S. (2015, September). Analysis of Students’ Errors and Misconceptions in pre-University Mathematics Courses. In M. N. Salleh, & N. F. Z. Abedin, (Eds.), Proceedings: First International Conference on Teaching & Learning 2015 (p. 34-39). Langkawi, Malaysia: MNNF Publisher. ISBN 978-967-13637-1-3. Analysis of Students’ Errors and Misconceptions in pre-University Mathematics Courses Mariyam Shahuneeza Naseer * Villa College, QI Campus, 20373, Male’ City, Republic of Maldives Abstract— Students’ errors and misconceptions are intelligent generalizations of their experiences and incomplete knowledge acquired. In order to help students unlearn the misconceptions and relearn the correct conceptions, it is important that teachers are aware of these errors and misconceptions, and their formation. The purpose of this paper is to bring awareness of some of the errors students make and the misconceptions they have with regard to mathematical concepts, and suggest how the formation of these errors and misconceptions can be prevented and remedied. This paper reports the findings based on analysis of 2,411 examination papers of students enrolled in pre-University mathematics courses between January 2012 and April 2015. The literature discussed in this paper makes a case for K-12 school teachers to have an in-depth and more flexible understanding of the mathematics they teach, so they can recognize how the structure of mathematical concepts should be presented while teaching mathematics. Keywords— mathematics, students’ errors, students’ misconceptions. I. INTRODUCTION RRORS students make and misconceptions they have are not just careless mistakes but are intelligent generalizations that result from their previous learning [1]-[4]. Mistakes are made unconsciously whereas misconceptions are committed because students think they are correct. Mistakes are made by a few students and rarely, whereas misconceptions are committed by many students and often. Errors and misconceptions once entrenched in students’ memories are hard to erase [5], [6]. Hence, in order to build a solid foundation and to prevent and correct misconceptions, it is important that the teachers know these common errors and misconceptions. These errors and misconceptions can be used to inform instructional decisions and hence design *Corresponding author: shahuneeza.naseer@villacollege.edu.mv instruction [1]-[4]. Mathematics educators agree that it is important for teachers to be aware of their students’ ways of thinking when it comes to mathematical concepts [7]. It is essential that teachers are aware of both the correct and incorrect notions students have with regard to mathematical concepts, and possible errors and misconceptions [4], [7]. This could not only help teachers to prevent the formation of such errors and misconceptions, but also to remedy those errors and misconceptions [4], [7]. Students come to class with preconceptions of beliefs, ideas, and mathematical concepts that they have built through their classroom, and life experiences which play a key role in what and how they learn [4], [8]. Research indicates that teachers who take into account their students’ prior knowledge in planning lessons and in preparing classroom activities for them promote conceptual understanding [1], [2]. This is crucial as students who lack conceptual understanding tend to forget how to apply concepts which in turn makes it challenging for them to attain new knowledge [1], [2]. Therefore, to ensure student success in learning mathematics, it is vital that errors and misconceptions be unlearned and that teachers help students relearn correct conceptions. This paper aims to identify students’ common errors and misconceptions through analysis of their answer scripts, and make evidence based suggestions on how teachers could modify their mathematics instruction to prevent and remedy these errors and formation of misconceptions. II. METHOD A. Purpose of the Study The main purpose of this study is to identify the common errors and misconceptions of students enrolled in pre- University (Foundation Level) mathematics courses through E