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Culture Documents
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30
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Sam a ha~~
1,!1
to answcr a question
on decimais.
When
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he gave a numbcr
response , the' tcacher's head carne up andshe opened her mouth to ask a
Iollow-up questiono Bctore she could speak. Sam sado "I know, I know, Ms.
Davis. You 'want me to tell you why and 10 draw a picture!"
He then
procecded
Developing Understanding in
11 is not easy to change students' pcrceptions and beliefs about rnathematics. It is also not easy to change our own perceptions about what studerits can
an d cannot do in mathematics.
lf we want to help our students 10 valuc
rnathernarics,
10 devclop mathematical
power. and to have the confidence 10
tuckle new situations, we must pose interesting. challenging problem situations
to explore,
to formulare
problcrns.
i.
their thoughts.
to our stude~ts,~howing
math c rnatical
situations.
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clever ai
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Thomas L. Schrceder
Frank K. l.ester, Jr.
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to
Mathematics
REff.Rt:i\(ES
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BriglH. Gcorg e W.. and John G. Harvey. "Learning and Fun.v.ith Gcornctry Garne." ArulimeTeaclier 35 (April 1988): 22-26.
;'
Burns. Marilyn. t1 Collection of.Walh Lessons from Crade~'..J through
Solurion Publications , 1987.:
I;C
National Council of Tcachers o/ Mathernatics. Currit'ulum and E\'I1IUl1liOIl SI,IIIJa"lj for School
.Hatl,e"wliu,
Working draft , Resron, Va.: Thc Council, 1987.
~,
Romberg. Thornas A, ..A Common Curriculum for Mathernaucf'"
In individuol Diff~rr"as
allJ th CO/7/I1/()1/
Curriculum, editcd by G. D. Fensrermacher and J. 1.Goodlad. pp. 121-59,
Chicago: Rand McNally & Co .. 1976.
nate Divorcc
England:
..,
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E to the basics"
Shcll
(h'r<
Wc\ch. William, "Science Education in Urbanville: A Case Study." 10 Case Studtes inScimce
Educon on, ediied by R. Stake and J. Easley. p. 6. Urbana. 111.:Unvcrslty ar tllinois. 1978.
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APPROACHES TO PROBLEM-SOLVING
,
Ir
".'
INSTRUCTION
l",'
ln the )main,.lhedscussions
about
problem
'""",
'\:.1"""
\Vhile and helpfuLIToday the niion that problem solving should play a
prorninent
role in the curriculurn
has widespr ead ncceptnnce!lDuring
the
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Ior classroorn
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DIRECT10NS
rOR
ELEMENTARY
SC~OOL
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DEVELOPING
MA~HEI>J..\TlCS
nceded,
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32
..thIS
,~!
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33
Solving
Problem Solving
crEr
which
~{~
SOL\'ING
PROULE~I
for
VIA
Teaching
UNDERST,\f'DI:-IG
r'--
goal
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f'lEW DIRE<.IIONS
Ncvcrthcless,
ir curriculum developers, textbook writers. ar classroorn
tc achc rs intcnd 10 mak c problem
solving the "Iocus of instruction."
thcy
nccd to be awarc of the Iirnitations inherent in exclusiv'e adherence to eithe r
of lhe first two typcs of problern-solving
instruction. One such limitation
stcrns frorn the Iact that problem solving is not a topic of mathcrnntics. and it
;hQU Id no! be regarded
as such. If reaching ubout problern solving is lhe
tccus, the danger is lha! .. problcm solving" will be regarded as a strand (O be
added to lhe curriculurn. lnstead of problem solving serving as a context in
which marhcrnaucs is Icarncd and applied, it rnay becorne just another topie.
t aught in isolation from lhe content and relationships
of mathernatics.
A dieren: shoncoming
lbis approach
is intcrpretcd
narrowly,
prohlcm sol\"ing is vic\Vcu "as ;111
activity students engagc in only after the introducti'
n of a new concept or
following work on a computational skill or algorith
;The purpose is to give
studcuts <111 npportunity
to" apply" recently lcarne
cunccpts
und skiils \O
lhe solution of rcal-world
problems'~Often
these problerns appear under a
DE\'ELOPING
U~DERSTANDING
TWO MODELS
.9/-
35
PROBLE/o.l SOL\'I:->G
OF THE PROCESS
MATHEMATICS
OF SOLVING
PROBLEMS
back (nrrow
C) !nto lhe
t erms
Malnernatical
Mathernatical
represenlalion
cal
r~~Oot
VIA
r1
of lhe original
World
-Mathemalical
soiutlon
1
i
Real-world
problern.
C+
"
problem
Real proble
solulion
"Real" World
Fig.3.1.
proble ms
mathematics
can be. and often is, learnecl sepaIn teaching for problem solving, instructors are
very concerned to develop students' abilities to translate real-world problems into mathernarical
represent ations. and vice versa/Sut
thcy tend to
deal with probJems and applications of mathematics only after thosc mathematical concepts and skills have been introduced,
dcvcloped, and practiced. The difficulty with this model is that it applies to routine problerns
better than to nonroutine ones/Problems
classified as .. translation probo
lems" (Charlcs and Lester 1982) are solveu exactly as lhe model indicares.
but for more challenging
problerns, like those categorized
by Charles and
Lester as "prccess problerns,"
lhe problem solver has no single alr eadylearned mathernatical
operation that will solve the problem. As well as
translation
and interpretation,
these nonroutine
problems
also
more complex processes, such as planning , selecting <1 straregy, identiyiug
subgoals, conjecturing.
and verifying th at a solution has be en found. For
nonruutine problems, a different type of model is rcquire d.
According
to this model,
(dcmi6!)
)
,7~ ~ :
f'
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36
tine
problerns
adopted,
'I.
that
CJn
of the problern-solving
be uscd to illustrare
are involved
thinking
when nonrou-
X'
Mathematical
Mathemalical
~epresenlalion
solution
Y,
x'
:blom
Real problern's
solution
"Real" World
Fig. 3.2. A rnodcl of the process
"r
II
_.
solving
pH1CCSS
problems
matical
syrnboIs
that a problcm
representjArrows
solver
pointing
w~ had
Iorgotten
downward~lso
the details
ar
suggest
a mathematical
procedure
would be able to reconstruct lha! process by imagining lhe corresponding concrcte steps in the world in which the problem was posedfrhe
collcction of Y arrows illustrate lhe correspondence
between lhe process of
solving lhe problcm in concrete terms (labeled X) and lhe parallel. abstract
mathcmatica!
process
[labeled
X')$The
Y arrows
figure
le rn solver typically moves back and Iorth between lhe two worlds-lhe
real
aud lhe mathematical-as
lhe need arises. For a particular problern the
pi oblcm solver might move directly along arrow YI from lhe real world to
VIA PRODU'.:"I
3.1.
SOLV1NG
37
~
-
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PROBLEM
SOLVING
AND UNDERSTAiDING
IN MATHEMATICS
Central to our inrcrcst in icachiug via problcrn solving is lhe bclicf tht.l the
primary reason for school rnarhernatics instruction is to help students uuder5ICJlld mathernatical
concepts. processes. and rechniques. During lhe backto-basics rnovernent
of lhe 19705. and also with lhe more rccent focus 00
problern solving. this fundarnental tenet of good mathernancs
instruction lias
been given far too little attenlioJ1'Treovcr.
some cornrnentators
have
limiied thcir discussion of understanding
10 lhe question
of studcnts' cornprehension of lhe information prcscnted in mathematical
text, especially in
lhe. SIalements of verbal problerns. In our view, stude nts' unde rstanding ar
ma'themalics iuvolve s much more than this.
A large nurnber
y"
Real-world
UNDERSTANOING
lhe ma i h e rn at ic al wo rtd ano procecd directly alung ar row X' 10 mathe ruatical genernlizution
and hence to a solution of the original realworld
problem. In such a situation
lhe solution prucess can be mode le d as shown in
processes
DEVELOPING
ofmathematics
educators
cal understanding
brdistinguishin
between typcs or qualities of underslanding.Browncll's=v;.or
e...
5.19.t5.t9.t7)oI1'meanin'gfularithmetic" in lhe 19JOs and 1940s is especially r e lcvant. but only during lhe past ten
to fifteen years has any substantial
activity takcn place in this arc3.&Of
particular
note are lhe works of Ske mp (1976. 1979). Herscovics
nd
Bergeron
(1981. 1982). Davis (198-1), and Hicbert (198L 1986). A cornmon thrcad running through thesc considcrations of thc naturc of uuderstanding in mathernutics
is lhe idea that to understand is csseruially to relate.
In particular, a person's undersranding
increuses (I) as he ar she is able to
. relate a given rnathe matical idca to a grcatcr nurnbcr ar vuricty of contcx ts.
or (2) as he or she relates a give n problem to a greater number of lhe
mathemalicalideasimplicitinil.or(3)
as he or she constructs relationships
arnong lhe various rnathematical
ideas cmbedded
in a problcm.
Indications that a student understands
(ar rnisunde rstands. ar does not
understand)
specific rnathcrnatical
problern. Relationships
of the kinds mentioncd
above are cvident in SIUderus' aucrnpts 10 solve lhe following pr o blcm (fig. 3.3). vvh ich is an adapta-
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pr oble m
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NEW DIRECTIONS
FOR ELEMENTARY
SCHOOL
vO
VIA
PROlJLE\l
39
SOLVING
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: "'lhal corrcspondcd
to the nurnber of different mathematical
concepts and
.~ 'processes they used in solving lhe problem. AI! lhe children began by sorting
nickc!s.
--
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st5:-'h,en
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~us
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V
\;:jl
figo ).5
situation shown m figure 3.4. Although they-Were satisfied that the COlOS \O
cach of the Iour piles matched, they did no! k now what to do with the nickel
and thrce pennies that were lefl over. The children at the lowest levei of
understanding
never got beyond thif'tmpasse.
despi te being encouraged
to
.. try a differcnt way" and to "share out ali lhe coins:fbne
child suggested
tlia: hc could solve lhe problern if only he could take lhe nickel to lhe store
an d exhang it (01' tive pennics/Ot~e~.children
used the rnuking-change
idca and recognzed that by "undomg
part of lhe sharing, they could
remove the thrce pennics from one pile and replace them with lhe "extra"
nickel 50 lha! six pennies could then be put in lhe other three pile~,This
solution represcnts lhe next levei of understanding,
When lhe teacher asked.
"Can you [m another way? Could lhe piles have different coins in thern but
lhe same arnount of 1II0ney?" some children rearranged lhe coins UU! found
no new solutions. Howcver, the students at the highest levei of understandillg noticed lha! Lhe value of lhe coins in each pile was twenty-Iive
cents and
used this Iact to find several dilferent ways of makng change, such as those
shown in figure 3.5.
-,
es
@@
@@
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Fig. J.4. An impasse on lhe way Ia solving the coi~ problem
{a.
rn.rk c
t\\l'nl~-ri\\':
(~Ilt~
~..Ii~
with the
problem
suggests
ough
"
thc
to reuch
r:
DEVELOPING UNDERSTAND1NG
Jlmhft'IIl,\{)/l'ill~
th e foeus of rnathcmat-
ics instruction,
teachers, textbook authors, curriculum developcrs.
and evaluators should make understanding their focus an d their goal. By doing 50
~M~~
@ @
J.rkr~n( \\ay:-.
These differences in students' perforrnance indicate the variety of malheinhercnt in lhe problern, including sorting, finding a
ouc-to-one correspondence,~ng,~xchanging
sets of equal value, and
counting lhe value of a collectfii 'of coins and using the value (rather than
the coins themselves) to find othcr~ollections
of the same value. T~ls'
<0
SlllllC
.'
ability to recognize and use these ide as gives a rneasur e of their understanding. It is inreresting to note rhat some childr cns unde rstanding seemcd to
matical operations
U;-';DERSTA;--IDI~G
@@@@
',~'\:;,~:i~.Jhe
coins by value and repeatedly using one-to-one carrespond~ttrey
..'
placed lhe four dimcs into Iour piles, then four of the nicke!s-;-tIrii fo~ore
o:"
DEVELOPI:-;G
MATHEMATICS
,
\
38
.j
learned previously~FundamentallO
should be a
prirnary goal of instruction is lhe bclief that childrens learning of mathernatics is richest when ir is self-generared
rather th an when i! is imposed by a
knowledge is
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~(lhiltg and teaching for understunding
ihk hu t in Ltct mutuully hc ncf iciul.
;j
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l':"D[;RST,,\:-.IDI:"(;
y1Lalrll D' Arnbrosio hus suggested lhe following challcnge ~ISan illustrutidn l,f t h c tact th at solving a pr oblern em deepen a studerus
undcrstunding
. \...~ .p('.1 iopic 01' mutb e ma t ics.
given this
investigation
and exploration.
conccpts.
mcasurcrnent
Aids Problem
111(' !U'''/I{OIl,\{,/I'''I';1/
(e,g,.
(e.g .. performing
mude rowurd
problem
tI,I,";,II\
,,{ l'I'u('(tllII'n
,1/1'(/'('.<:;('1, 111,1:"1';1//11/.1).
eQmputatlo~s)
conforrn
a solu tion.
'
would
already
rem/H.
undcrstanding
of thc rclarionships
betwcen arca and perirnele0"he
solutiun to this pr oblcm rcquires
that students
make many dccisions. among
thern how 10 keep lrack in a systcmalic
wa}' of the shapcs that have been
mude 50 lhi sn posstbllllles em 5e found and none willbe Jup\icate~lIch
dccisinlls .rnd thc ~lss\lalcJ xk ills nccdcd to carrythem
(Iul are an implHlanl
part o[ lcurning huw 10 solve prohlcms succcssfully and dticicntlyl1BlIl
lcarning what decisions 10 mak e and when to rnake them is not lhe only
be ncfit of this tas1P'1l addition , as shapes are modified to Iit the conditions of
lhe problern, lhe lcarner is exposed to relationships bctween area and
pe rirnct er that, if noticed,
can facilitate
a richer understanding
of both
through
tli:
rnake various tQ!de;p-ff decisions (e.g .. deciding tha! an estimare will give a
"close enough" answcr). The prublern solver who under stnnds thc relauonships arnong lhe conditions and variables in a problern and who can place the
probtcrn in a rncaningfut
conte xt is wc ll c quippud to anticipute the consc'luences of var ious dccisions and actio ns and to evaluat e t he progrcss being
Thus.
['II.J"I'.\ltllltlil/,<:
actions
concepts.
oi rt.'/'I't.'.\CII/(lrJO!lS
(\'/,(',":
S\l\xe~~rlll problcrn
solving requires thc ability 10 monitor lhe selcctiou an d subseque nt CXCCl!tion 01' prece dures. and lhe ability to evaluute lhe extent to which local
ti
em
fite
-r-'v -,
"
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exarnple:
EP
(Ir
rich"t'\S
a reprcscntauon
of lhe inforrnution. The more
Jq:,icts thc inorrnation
antKi.i!d.:s pieces of
togcthe r', the mpf(:li~cly
it i~ thut lhe problern \ViII be solvcd
inforrn.uion
2,
Nol allowed
tire
('(111.\11'/;(/,
solver to inrcrnalizc
corrcctly.
On cc nt irncrcr graph p ape r outline ali lhe shapcs th.u ha\'c ali ar<.:a\)1' 1-1
squar e em and a perirnerer
of 24 em. For each shape you druw, at lcust
one
side
ar e ach squ ar e mustshare a side with anuther
squar
e. Heres an
Allowed
i n c rcuscs
("/lI
rrnbkm
solver must dcvclop
accur.ucly
tll<.: rcpr cscnuuion
I.
solvcr
the prublcrn
~rl7e/~
Pwblem
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t/r"I'I'IIh!1'I1I
4l
individual
learncd.
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CONCLUSION
y
Solving
s!anding i1l sucecssful problem solving goes far beyond this, In particular.
when undcl slanding is viewcd in the way we !lave discussed. il aids problem
solving in aI least four dislinct ways.
~olve probll!ms
incre::lses,