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PROBLEM SOLVING AS A
STRATEGY IN TEACHING &
LEARNING MATHEMATICS

Koay Chen Yong (Ph.D.)

Email: koaycy99@yahoo.com
 Teaching Mathematics Through Problem
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Solving

 Mathematical rules and procedures

should not be taught in isolation but
in the contexts of problem-solving
situations that requires their use.
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 Teaching for understanding

emphasizes the relationships
among mathematical skills and
concepts and leads students to
approach mathematics with a
commonsense attitude,
understanding not only how but
also why skills are applied.
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 Applying the contextual approach

by reflecting on the types of
problems encountered in practical
settings such as the school, home,
market, shopping centre, business
context, etc. relating to real life
situation.
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 Problem solving generally appears

as an outgrowth of computation,
with word-problem application
following the teaching and practice
of each arithmetic skills.
 The Use of Cooperative Learning Groups
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 Students’ learning is supported when

they have opportunities to describe their
own ideas, hear others explain their
thoughts, speculate, question, and
explore various approaches.
 To provide for this, learning together in
small groups give students more
opportunities to interact with concepts
than do class discussions.
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 Not only do students have the

chance to speak more often, but they
may be more comfortable taking the
risks of trying out their thinking
during problem solving situations in
the setting of a small group.
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 The use of cooperative learning

groups seek to establish classroom
environments in which working in
cooperative groups is part of the
basic culture of the classroom
learning process.
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 Such classroom maximize the active

participation of each student and
reduce the isolation of individuals.
 A setting that values and promotes
social interaction provides students
with an ingredient essential for
learning.
 Implementing Groups of 4 in the
Classroom
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 Organizing a class into small

groups require reorganizing the
classroom physically, redefining the
students’ responsibilities, and
considering the teacher’s role in the
class.
 Move desks into small clusters of

four.
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 Students work in heterogeneous

groups and learn to solve problems
with all classmates.
 Students randomly assigned to
groups.
 Groups are changed on a regular
basis, usually weekly or biweekly.
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 One suggestion is using playing

cards – groups are formed by
shuffling the cards and
distributing them.
 This give rise to fairness of

randomness.
 Three rules should be followed:
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1. You are responsible for your own

work and behaviour.
2. You must be willing to help any group
member who asks.
3. You may ask the teacher for help only
when everyone in your group has the
same question.
 Teaching a Cooperative Problem Solving
Lesson
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 When students are engaged in a

cooperative problem solving lesson,
they need first understand the
problem situation, then to work
toward finding solutions.
 Finally to evaluate the solution they
find.
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 Specific teaching techniques are

useful at each of these 3 stages:
1) introducing
2) exploring
3) summarizing.
 Introducing
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 Introduction is made to the entire class,

with a focus on whole-class interaction
to make sure that all understand what is
expected of them.
 It is useful to have students give

examples and restate the problem to

check their understanding.
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Teacher’s role:


Students to understand the problem,

possible solutions, and whatever
guidelines to record their result.
 Teaching steps needed at this stage:
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1. Present or review concepts that are

needed.
2. Pose a part of the problem or a similar
but smaller problem for the students to
try.
3. Present the problem to be solved.
4. Discuss to make sure students
understand what they are to do.
 Exploring
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 In this stage, students work
cooperatively toward a solution.
Teacher’s role:
 to get the group working productively

and independently.
 to determine the nature of difficulty,

offer assistance, and then move on

once the group gets going.
 While the groups are working, the teacher has
20 3 responsibilities:

1. Observe the interaction, listening to

each group’s ideas, strategies, and
work procedures for use in
summarizing.
2. Offer assistance when needed, either
when all members of a group raise
their hands or if a group is not
working.
 Summarizing
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When summarizing, 3 goals to
accomplish:
 Have groups share their processes,

both group procedures and

strategies used.
 Have groups present solutions.

 Generalize from the solutions.

 When processes are shared, time needs to be
provided for all groups to respond.
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The following questions are useful for

summarizing their procedures:
 How did you organize the work in your
group?
 What difficulties did you encounter?

 Was your method effective or can you think

of a better way to have worked?

 For discussing groups’ problem-solving
strategies, it is useful to ask:
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 What strategy did your group use to

solve the problem?
 Did any group us a different strategy?
 Have groups present their findings, it is
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useful to ask:

 How did you decide if your findings

make sense?
 How can you check you solution?
 Establishing an appropriate learning
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climate

1. Use group work

2. Encourage students to generate
hypotheses
3. Encourage student thinking
4. Attend to individual needs
5. Develop understanding
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Thank You
ForYour Attention

“Make Problem Solving a Fun Activity in

Learning Mathematics.”

Email: koaycy99@yahoo.com