A recent question on the English Language Learners Stack Exchange concerned the use of the phrase "have been knowing" (as opposed to "have known"). While the latter is standard in American and British English, the former is (apparently) common in Indian and Bangladeshi English. Apparently,
There is a regional preference there [i.e. South Asia] for the past continuous tense of the verb (been knowing for known.)
(original source for this quote here, cited in the comments under the linked ELLSE question.)
Reading this question and response motivated me to ask about a related usage issue that I have been wondering about for some time. I have noticed that many of my international students (I teach in the Dept. of Mathematics at a University in the midwestern United States) will say or write sentences like "Do we have to show our working?", whereas I would expect "Do we have to show our work?" This usage ("working" as a noun in places where I would use "work") also commonly shows up on the Math StackExchange.
Presumably, this is another instance of different dialects of English preferring different forms of a word, but it doesn't seem to be exactly the same regional preference discussed above, as in this context "working" is not the past continuous form of a verb, but rather a gerund.
In what varieties of English is this usage common? Is this a case of a more general phenomenon (for example, does the same regional preference exist for "Did you enjoy your traveling?" instead of "...your travel?"), or is there something unique about "work"/"working"?