Students were focused on correcting errors, while ignoring holistic issues
The feedback from observers on the use of errors in sample student work presented us with a more complex issue. Observers commented that when understandings were fragile, the errors often made ‘the most complicated ideas more complicated’. It also became apparent from US feedback that when errors were found in sample student work, some students dismissed the solutions as undeserving of further analysis. Similarly, in UK classrooms students and teachers often assumed the only goal of the activity was to locate and correct errors. One UK teacher commented that when the student work was error-free, students were more inclined to make holistic comparisons of strategic approach.