MISTAKE HANDLING LEARNING IN MATHEMATICS

Abstract

This study examines how middle school eighth-grade students deal with mathematics errors in their learning and how gender influences that approach using descriptive correlation analysis. Seventy eighth-graders from a public middle school in Turkey participated in the study during the 2024–2025 school years. Pupils employed a learning scale that dealt with mistakes. Both descriptive and correlational analyses were carried out. The findings showed that students understood the value of making mistakes because they scored higher on the scale. Significant, positive, and strong relationships were found through correlational analyses between each mistake-handling sub-dimension and the total score. Notable correlations were also discovered between the students' fear of making mistakes and teachers’ emotional and cognitive approaches to mistakes. Gender had no significant impact on the mistake-handling learning strategy. Making mistakes in mathematics is something that many students fear and avoid. However, every mistake made in mathematics class is a learning opportunity.

Keywords: Correlational research, error management, error handling learning, mathematics education, mistake handling learning. 

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