Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.32728/mo.20.1.2025.03
The Effect of a Short Intervention On Students’ Misconceptions in Learning and Calculating with Integers
Marjana Kuliš
; Veleučilište Velika Gorica, Croatia
Abstract
This study examines students’ level of understanding when working with integers, as well as the effect of a short, targeted didactic intervention aimed at addressing misconceptions and improving conceptual understanding. The study was conducted on a sample of 55 seventh-grade students, four months after formal instruction had taken place. The results indicate that students retain conceptual elements with greater difficulty than procedural knowledge. Difficulties were observed in tasks involving absolute value, identifying the predecessor and successor on the negative part of the number line, distinguishing the unary minus from subtraction, and translating word problems into mathematical expressions. The identified misconceptions tend to persist and multiply in more complex mathematical situations. Therefore, the results suggest the need for further systematic research and the development of instructional interventions aimed at conceptual change, as well as a deeper understanding of the difficulties students experience in the transition from arithmetic to algebraic thinking.
Keywords
misconceptions; integers; absolute value; sign of a number; didactic intervention
Hrčak ID:
351914
URI
Publication date:
7.10.2026.
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