Helen Webb

Student Work Analysis 3

In this worksheet, the student is asked to identify whether the question is requiring them
to find the Greatest Common Factor or the Least Common Multiple. The student then identifies
the answer to the problem following an appropriate method. For example, the first question reads
as follows:
Pencils come in packages of 10. Erasers come in packages of 12. Philip wants to purchase the
smallest number of pencils and erasers so that he will have exactly 1 eraser per pencil. How
many packages of pencils and erasers should he buy?
The student is then given four different options of pencil and eraser package combinations and is
to select the correct answer. This student begins by listing the multiples of 10 which represent the
number of pencils in a package (10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60). The student then lists the multiples
of 12 (12, 24, 36, 48, and 60). The student has correctly identified that they are being asked for
the least common multiple by marking LCM under the question. The student has identified 60
as the least common multiple, and that in order to get 60 pencils it would require 6 packages and
5 packages of erasers would be equal to 60. (6 packages x10 pencils per package and 5 erasers
x12 erasers per package).
The following questions however, are answered incorrectly. In the second question, the
student uses a process that would work, but arithmetic or writing mistake leads him or her to an
incorrect answer. In question 2, the student understands that the question is asking for the
greatest common factor. He or she begins to list the factors of each..in the problem and has
identified the first factor that the two numbers have in common according to the numbers they
have listed. The error here is that the student has missed the numbers 5 and 6 as factors of 30. If
the student had recorded these numbers, the student would have seen that the greatest common
factor of 30 and 48 is 6, and not 3.
Students Answer: Greatest Common Factor

Factors of 30: 1,2,3,10,15,30

Factors of 48: 1,2,3,4,6,12,24,48

Correct Answer: Greatest Common Factor

Factors of 30: 1,2,3,5,6,10,15,30

Factors of 48: 1,2,3,4,6,12,24,48

Question 3 asks the student to find the shortest height at which two different sizes of
boxes can be stacked at the same height. One set of boxes is 12 inches tall, and the other boxes
are 18 inches tall. Even though the student has correctly recorded that the question is asking for

the least common multiple, their notes suggest that they are trying to find common factors of 12
and 18. If the student had approached the problem as he or she did in question 1, listing the
multiples of 12 and 18, the student would have discovered that the least common multiple of the
two numbers is 36. This means that if you stacked the two sets of boxes next to each other, the
first time the two heights would match would be 36 inches tall.
The student does not understand question 4 as indicated by their question mark. The
student attempts to answer the question by starting to identify the factors of 15 and 20, which
represent the different time intervals at which two different tours depart. However, like in
previous questions, the student has correctly indicated that the least common multiple is
necessary to solve the problem, not the greatest common factor. If the student used their method
above to find the multiples of 15 (15, 30, 45, 60) and 20 (20, 40, 60) they would have discovered
that 60 minutes would be the least common multiple. In the context of the problem, this would
mean that the tours would leave at the same time after the first hour. At this point, the 15 minute
tour would have already made 3 trips, and the 20 minute tour would have completed 2 trips.
Finally, in question 5, the student is being asked to figure out how many two different
lights would blink together in a 60 second period, if they were blinking at different intervals.
Beginning at the same time, the first light blinks every 4 seconds and the second light blinks
every 6 seconds. The student has identified this as a least common multiple problem and has
listed out the multiples of 6 and 4. The least common multiple is 24, so the student marks this
number as their answer. In reality, the question is asking for the number of common multiples of
4 and 6 between 0 and 60 seconds. If the student had continued listing the multiples of each
number, they would have been able to see that there were 5 common multiples which represent
the number of times the two lights blinked together.
I think that this question is misleading because the students have been asked to mark each
question as least common multiple or greatest common factor. The last scenario is not really
asking for either, but because the student believes it has to be one or the other, they have to
choose one. It seems as though the student does not understand the meaning of least common
multiple or greatest common factor, as a number of the questions are mislabeled. In order to use
these terms, let alone acronyms to represent them, the student needs to understand what is being
asked of them, and what the terms represent.
Working with the student, I would go back to the first two problems, and emphasize what
they did correctly. I would then tell the student that they were on the right track with their
process, but ask them to go back and identify the factors of 30 and 48 again. I would observe to
see if the student caught their initial mistake on their own before identifying it for the student.
They were missing 3 and 5 when listing the factors of 30, which led them to an incorrect answer.
If they caught it themselves, I would use these questions (now answered correctly) as examples,
and explain the difference between greatest common factor and least common multiple. I would

then use some simpler problems, perhaps that related to the student, for them to solve, before
going over the rest of the worksheet.