FAKULTI PENDIDIKAN DAN BAHASA

SEMESTER 9 / TAHUN 2019

HBMT2203_V2 –

TEACHING OF ELEMENTARY MATHMEMATICS PART II

NO. MATRIKULASI : 851019015065001

NO. KAD PENGNEALAN : 851019015065
NO. TELEFON : 016-7091368
E-MEL : minghua.1019@gmail.com
PUSAT PEMBELAJARAN : PUSAT PEMBELAJARAN
JOHOR BAHRU

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 Contents

NUMBER CONTENT PAGE

1.0 Introduction 3

2.0 Summaries of types of problems, problem solving skills, 4-8

problem solving strategies, and approaches for teaching
problem solving in elementary mathematics.
3.0 Discussion:Elaboration on importance and challenges of 9-10
teaching problem solving at primary level.

4.0 Creative ways to help pupils develop problem solving 11-12

skills

5.0 Conclusion 13
6.0 Reference 14

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1.0 Introduction

Problem solving is a vital ways of developing mathematical knowledge for

any level in Primary school . For this point, it is one of the most crucial, if not the most
important, ways of doing mathematics. Before we get down to the elements of problem
solving and examples of pupils’s work involving solving problems, it is essential for us
to understand of what is meant by "problem solving."

As stated by the NCTM, "Problem solving means engaging in a task for which the
solution method is not known in advance. In order to find a solution, students must draw
on their knowledge, and through this process, they will often develop new mathematical
understandings. Solving problems is not only a goal of learning mathematics, but also a
major means of doing so." (NCTM, 2000, p. 52)

Problem solving provide students a context or situation to help them make sense out
of the mathematics they are learning. Those relevant problems can be utilised to
introduce new concepts and broaden previously learned knowledge.

By learning the problem solving skills , those mathematically proficient pupils begin
by explaining to themselves the meaning of a problem and searching for entry points to
its solution. They explored givens, constraints, relationships, and goals. They make
assumption about the ways and meaning of the solution .After that , they plan a solution
pavement rather than simply jumping into a solution attempt. Pupils are stimulated to
consider analogous problems, and try special cases and simplify the original problem in
order to obtain insight into its solution. They keep an eye on and evaluate their progress
and change course if necessary.

In the coming chapter, we will show and reflect on different aspects of problem
solving in the elementary level such as types of problems, problem solving skills,
useful problem solving strategies, and approaches for teaching problem solving in
elementary mathematics and so on

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2.0 Summaries of types of problems, problem solving skills, problem solving
strategies, and approaches for teaching problem solving in elementary mathematics.

With regard to types of problems in elementary mathematics,we need to

talk about all affairs in our daily lives . As the human being , we all have to face and
solve all kind of problems in life In school, these problems maybe in the form of areas
of rectangular we need to find out or remembering the former Prime Minister in Malaysia
. In everyday life, problems it could be how to maintain a long-distance relationship or
how to live a healthy life on a limited income. In the intention of to be successful, we
must have the capabilities to solve different types of problems using different types of
solution strategies.

Problem solving means the application of ideas, skills or factual information

to obtain the solution for a problem or to reach a desired outcome. Let us talk about
different types of problems and different types of solutions.

Educational psychology has broken down different types of problems is by

discerning between routine and non-routine problems.

A routine problem is kind of typical and has a simple solution. Another one
is a non-routine problem which is more abstract and have us think a strategy to solve.
Routine problems are what most pupils do in school: memorizing simple facts, how to
make subtraction and addition, how to spell words, and so forth.

However, in the future or in more advanced subjects in school, teachers show

students with non-routine problems that demanding us to have critical thinking skills and
subjective solutions.

For example, the ethics of social issues like the death penalty or themes in
famous literature, would be considered a non-routine problems. Non-routine problem is
demanding more complicated or creative problem solving strategies.

As for problem solving skills, we need to talk about Polya . Polya’s

problem solving techniques in the year 1945. George Polya published the book How To
Solve It which swiftly became his most valued publication.
In this book, Polya identifies four basic principles of problem solving.

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 First Principle: Understand the problem .This is so obvious that it is always
not even mentioned, yet pupils are always overlooked in their efforts to solve problems
simply because they don’t comprehend it fully, or even in part.

Second Principle: Devise a pelan. Polya mentions that there are many
reasonable means to solve problems. The skill in choosing the most effective strategy is
best learned by solving many problems.

Third Principle: Carry out the plan. This step is always easier than devising the plan.
In short , all you need is carefulness and patience, given that you have the necessary
skills. insist on the plan that you have chosen. If it can’t works out a solution then choose
another. Don’t be panic and confused, this is how mathematics is done, even by
professionals.

Fourth Principle: Look back. Polya means that we need to taking the time to reflect
and look back at what job we have done, what worked, and what didn’t.
By doing this ,will help you to predict what strategy to use to solve wide variety of
problems.

When solving maths problems, pupils should be encouraged to follow a

general problem solving steps. The steps as follows:

1. Read the problem carefully. The first and most vital step is to read the
problem carefully to understand what is all about and find out what
information that given to you . Underlining the important information is
also useful in order to make you have all the important numbers or facts
to solve .

2. Choose a strategy and make a plan.

3. Carry out the plan and solve the problem.

4. Check the outcome and make sure that your solution is actually
answering the question.

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 There are a lot of Problem Solving Strategies such as draw a picture or
act it out .This means draw a picture , have pupils play roles or use manipulatives to act
the problem out . After that, manipulate the materials to find the solution to the
problem .Be remembering that different pictures maybe could lead to the correct answer .
Finally , label the steps when you work out the problem .

Creating a diagram can help us to picture the problem and find the solution.
In order to draw the correct diagram, the problem must be read carefully and the
information in the question drawn into the diagram. Then , they can work out the
solution from the diagram or pictures that has been drawn.

Second problem solving strategies is Guess and check . First, think of an

answer that maybe work , and then test your guess. If the answer is wrong , think about
how you can do to get closer to the correct answer. Write down the guesses , so that you
can seeing patterns and use the information to make the revised guesses . Finally , repeat
the same procedure until we get the exact answer.

The guess and check strategy could be helpful for many types of problems.
When pupils use this strategy, they will make a reasonable guess. That is because they
based on the information that they have been given and checking if their guess is correct
or not . The guesses will get closer and closer to the answer, until the exact answer is
found.

Third problem solving strategies is make a table , list or chart . The first
step is decide what information that needed to go on your chart . List out all the
possibilities in a table to make sure all information don’t get lost . Finally, we need to
organise and record the information that make sense .

Using a table or chart is a good method to sort out and organise the
information that has been given within the question. The information that has been set
out in the table might help the pupils to the correct solution.
Making a list is a strategy that will enable the students sort out the
information that has been given inside the problem. When the pupils can see all of the
possibilities for the solution, then they can attempt to solve the problem easier .

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 Fourth problem solving strategies is logical reasoning . First of all ,
organize all your information .Then , examine relationship and to come up with a logical
answer from the information that given to us . Final step is to generalize all relationship
to reach a logical conclusion .

This strategy demanding the students to use the information they have been
given within the question to eliminate impossible solutions to finally discover the correct
solution.

The last problem solving strategies is look for a pattern . We have to list
out all the information that we know and identify the information we need to find . Then ,
organized list or table . Now we examine the list for a recognizable pattern .Eventually ,
we use the pattern to get back the missing information .

Approaches for teaching problem solving included an algorithm.

Algorithms are step-by-step processes in how to solve a problem or achieve a goal. The
most familiar example you might think of in using algorithms might be in math class.
The process of resolving a problem like "what is 73 divided by 3" can be
described by the following algorithm:
 How many times does 3 go into 7?
 The answer is 2
 How many are left over? 1
 Put the 1(ten) in front of the 3.
 How many times does 3 go into 13?
 The answer is 4 with a remainder of one.
 And of course, the answer is 24 with a remainder of 1.
The step by step procedure described above is a long division algorithm.

However， algorithms could be used in other field as well. For example,

when you are learning how to take apart and clean a car engine, you would like to
approach this problem using a set series of steps and at the same time making sure that
we don't misplace or mix up any of the parts.

Another approaches that many people use to solve problems is

called heuristics. Heuristics means general strategies used to make quick, short-cut
solutions to problems that sometimes gives solutions but sometimes lead to errors.

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Heuristics could be described as mental short-cuts, and we always form them based on
past experiences.

Second example of a heuristic is 'shorter lines will move faster.' Once you
select the things you want to purchase at the store, you head over to the cashier counter.
You choose the line with the fewest number of people, think that it will move the fastest.
While normally this strategy could work, you maybe get behind someone who needs to
do a price check or a cashier who is new to the job and doesn't know how to use the
register.

The third type of approaches that you might have used in the past is graphic
representations. Graphic representations means that visual-based illustrations of a
problem that might come up with a clarification of a problem or creative solutions.
Graphic representations included flow charts, diagrams, outlines or mind maps. With any
kind of above options, you can draw the problem out, and this could help you see the
problem in a new way.

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3.0 Discussion:Elaboration on importance and challenges of teaching problem
solving at primary level.

Importance is make students gain greater understanding while solving

problems. In the process of struggling with a problem, pupils can always obtain a fairly
deep understanding of the mathematics about the problem. This understanding is always
enhanced, when, in a whole class setting, teachers draw together all the threads from all
of the children in the class. Problem solving could help pupils solve the problems more
effectively in own understanding . This is because pupils could relate the question into
their daily lives .

Second importance is Problem solving encourages pupils to believe in their

ability to think mathematically. They could see that themselves can apply the Maths
that they are learning to find the answer to a problem. The capabilities to think
mathematically is quite important to enhance pupils in solving the Mathematics problem .
At the same time, self-confidence would be increased in large .

Third importance is it is a useful way to practice mathematical skills learned

by other ways .When pupils already obtain some basic skills and knowledge in
Mathematics ,they need reinforcement to make the learning process complete . Problem
solving question could provide the environment to help the students to apply what they
have learnt in the past lesson in subject Mathematics .

Finally, problem solving is important especially in elementary school because

pupils find it interesting and enjoyable. Problem solving seems to bring problems that
are implicitly interesting to children. This is because problem solving does not involve a
sequence of very similar questions that are designed to practice the same skill. The
novelty of the problems could add to their interest.

Many teachers personalise word problems to include characters that the

pupils in the class know. This could makes them more interesting and relevant to the
students.The questions could be very interesting in themselves because they involve
some detective work, which most people enjoy. We all enjoy getting the answer after
having struggled with a problem. Finally , students enjoy having "ownership" of the
problem.

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 Challenges included teacher discomfort. There are two points to the matter
of teacher discomfort. First , many teachers do not really understand what problem
solving is. me. Many teachers believe that it is not possible to teach it without first
attending a course. It is absolutely true that most teachers need help to get problem
solving take place in their classrooms. Some teachers find it difficult to get started,
others get the idea very quickly. Problem solving can be learned by groups of teachers
working together.

Second challenges is Student insecurity. This may happen because the

students have never met open-ended problems before. Some of the teachers in
mathematics have traditionally provide the children algorithms to practice and copy. It is
not surprising that in more open problem solving setting , some children will feel
insecure. Nevertheless , by careful handling and by introducing things progressively ,
students should be able to overcome their initial insecurity.

Third challenges is curriculum constraints. Many teachers find that

initially, feel that problem solving takes a lot of time. Therefore, they are concerned that
parts of the mathematics curriculum at a given Level, will need to be leaved out . Our
experience tell us teaching problem solving is time consuming initially. It seems that to
take a while for both teachers and children to get the feel on how it works.

Final challenges is low ability students. It is all right to undertake problem solving
with smart children but it is of little value for lower ability students. We confess that we
have no research evidence ourselves in this field at least, not in elementary schools. The
lower ability students are more struggling in dealing with the problem solving .Teachers
need to be more patience to help the weaker student to gain knowledge in Mathematics .

4.0 Creative ways to help pupils develop problem solving skills

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A) card

Once our students has mastered the Fraction and Time,then combine both
of them . Now , make use of Manila card of different colour card to produce big clock

Labelling the face of time and also put the fraction number on the back of itself ,then fold
it to show fraction
Meanwhile ,teach the student with the fraction card .
Problem solving has the fraction like ¼ hour , then student will knowing that ¼
hour actually equal to fifty minutes because they read the card before . In this way , they
will found the answer more easily .

b) acting
Within the problem solving , we would face things that happen in our daily lives
like buy somethings .
In this way , we could act out the Mathematical sentence in particular question .

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 Student would attract by the method itself and more concentrate in class.
Acting would more suitable for teaching addition and subtraction .

c)Making business using the money notes toy

Teaching the students about the concept of Money, we could make use of
money notes toy from the ABM room.
Teacher create the acting scene and appoint the student to buy the product as a
customer ,teacher as a businessman . Teaching ask the students to give the correct
amount of money to teacher .Those who hand out the correct amount of money in the
shortest time will be a winner .
Throughout the process ,student could corporate with others easily and student
could make addition and subtraction .

d) computer games involving problem solving

We need the suitable software in order to became the assessment itself to
assess the student in dealing the problem solving .
“ Congratulation” merit or star should be given to student on the spot I f
student could answer the question correctly .
Animation and audio would attract the student to try out the problem solving
question

Any areas inside the Mathematics Curriculum could be involved with this
technology .

5.0 Conclusion

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 Whether the routine question or non-routine qusstion ,if we could mastering
the concept , skills and kkowledge ,we will be able to solve the question .

A lot of question could be provide by the teacher.Don’t never ever to teach

the student with old method which is memorizing the facts, rules and the law

Webb (1989 Tengku Shariffah bt Tuan Yusof 2004), teacher play the vital role
for the meaning of the lesson . Teacher have to teach the Mathamatic in fun and
interesting way to student and of course the efficent pedagogy to be conducted .

In short , students have to master the problem solving in order to make onself
better in school even in life itself.

(2992 words)

6.0 REFERENCE

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https://garyhall.org.uk/maths-problem-solving-strategies.html

https://nzmaths.co.nz/benefits-problem-solving

https://nzmaths.co.nz/why-teach-problem-solving

https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/ten-creative-ways-teach-
math/

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