Professional Documents
Culture Documents
SOLVING LESS
PROBLEMATIC
3
The Importance of Problem Solving
Burris, Anita (2005). Understanding the Math You Teach. Merrill Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-
110737-2 .
4
Australian Curriculum
Why do children have difficulties
with PROBLEM SOLVING?
• When solving problems students will need to know general
strategies and techniques that will guide the choice of which
skills or knowledge to use at each stage in problem solving.
• When a problem has ‘a new twist’ students cannot recall how to
go about it – this is when general strategies are useful in
providing possible approaches that may lead to a solution.
• Some children find it difficult to think of ideas and strategies. A
brain-storming session might help students reflect on problems
they have previously solved.
The misconceptions that students have, are a problem with the
understanding proficiency strand rather than with fluency. When
students don't understand something we can't fix it by just doing
more of the same.
Approaches to teaching
problem solving …
The approaches teachers use:
Procedural problems:
One- or two-step simple word problems
8
Procedural or Open-ended?
4cm
2. Comprehension
Can students understand the meaning?
3. Transformation
Can students determine a way to solve the problem?
4. Process Skills
Can students do the mathematics?
5. Encoding
Can students record and interpret their answer?
Four-Step Process:
1. Understand the problem (See)
2. Devise a plan (Plan)
3. Carry out the plan (Do)
4. Look back (Check)
Four Step Process
Newman’s Analysis aligned
with Polya’s model
•See •Plan
3. Carrying out a
transformation
1.Reading the from the words of
problem the problem:
2.Comprehending the selection of an
what is read appropriate
mathematical
strategy
•Check •Do
Step 1 – SEE:
Understand the problem
Students can be overwhelmed just by
reading a problem. At this point group
discussion is beneficial.
Questions that may help you lead students
to an understanding of the problem:
•What are you asked to find or show?
•What information is given? (valuable/useless?)
•Has anyone seen a problem like this before?
•Can you restate the problem in your own
words?
•What conditions/operations apply?
•What type of answer do you expect/Can you
give an estimate?
•What units will be used in the answer?
Visualisation
Problem:
Sally had some stickers. After she gave her best friend 280
stickers she had 754 stickers left. How many stickers did Sally
have in the first place?
Model
drawing
Exchange = swap
Four
Friends
Is there enough
information to enable
me to solve the
problem?
Yes!
Plan
Devise a plan
List
Maddison Bella-Tia-Talia
Bella Tia-Talia-Maddison
Tia Talia-Maddison-Bella
Talia Maddison-Bella-Tia
Diagram
Maddison Tia
Bella Talia
Act it out
Three friends and I could stand in a
circle. Each of us would hold
enough pieces of paper to give
one another one each. Then I
could count how many pieces of
paper we held altogether.
Look for a Pattern
Maddison would need ***
Bella would need ***
Tia would need ***
Talia would need ***
SO… ***+***+***+*** = 12
Solve a Simpler Problem
If Maddison was to give a card to each of her
three friends, She would need 3 cards.
SO…
There are four friends, each needing 4 cards.
SO…
4 X 3 = 12
Write an Equation
4 friends each need to give out 3
cards.
SO…
4 X 3 = 12
OR…
3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 12
Problem Solving Think board
What is the question asking? What strategy will you use to
What information is important? solve the problem?