We are going to try something a bit different with Insight of the Week going forward. We are going to play a game that I have invented called “Guess the Misconception” – it is a matter of time before Ant and Dec snap up the rights.

Each week I will pick out a question from the latest, free GCSE Maths Essential Skills Quiz, and challenge you to Guess the Misconception. That is, can you guess which was the most common incorrect answer given by Year 11 students across the UK to a particular question? I often find that the misconceptions I think students hold are different to the ones they actually make, and I want to put this to the test on a larger scale.

So, here is this week’s question about working out the perimeter in a missing lengths problem, and a poll below where you can vote. Why not ask your colleagues and your students what they think? Results will be released soon. Let’s play “Guess the Misconception”… I hope that the more I say it, the more it might catch on…

[socialpoll id=”2321865”]

Link to GCSE Maths Essential Skills Quiz 11