• Research in Mathematical Education
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• v.9 no.1 s.21
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• pp.1-9
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• 2005

This paper investigates instructional strategies with potential for improving students' achievement in word problem solving. This review compares and analyzes the direct instruction (DI) and cognitively guided instruction (CGI) research on K-3 word problem solving mathematics students in a demonstration of my position that teachers need to understand student mathematical thinking to enhance students' achievement in word problem solving. CGI provides a more appropriate instructional model than DI for teaching word problem solving. For example, student-centered, conceptual understanding, and children's informal or invented problem solving strategies communicating with each other mathematically, etc. Korean teachers and teacher educators need to consider implementing CGI teaching strategies.

• Education of Primary School Mathematics
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.141-149
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• 2007

It is undeniably important to bring up a solution capability of arithmetic word problems in the elementary mathematical education. The goal of this study is to acquire the implication for remedial instruction on arithmetic word problems solving through surveying elementary school students' difficulties in the solving of arithmetic word problems. In order to do it, this study was intended to analyze the following two aspects. First, it was analyzed that they generally felt more difficulties in which field among addition, subtraction, multiplication and division word problems. Second, with the result of the first analysis, it was examined that they solved it by imagining as which sphere of the other word problems. Also, the cause of their error on the word problem solving was analyzed by the interview. From the foregoing analyses, the following implications for remedial instruction on arithmetic word problems solving are acquired. First, the accumulation of learning deficiency must be diminished through the remedial instruction. Second, it must help students to understand the given problem and to make of what the goal of problem is. Third, it must help students to form a good habit for reading the problem and to understand the context of problem. forth, the teacher must help students to review and reflect their problem-solving processes.

• Education of Primary School Mathematics
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.107-134
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of two teaching methods of word problems, one based on mathematical modeling learning(ML) and the other on traditional learning(TL). Additionally, the influence of mathematical modeling learning in word problem solving behavior, application ability of real world experiences in word problem solving and the beliefs of word problem solving will be examined. The results of this study were as follows: First, as to word problem solving behavior, there was a significant difference between the two groups. This mean that the ML was effective for word problem solving behavior. Second, all of the students in the ML group and the TL group had a strong tendency to exclude real world knowledge and sense-making when solving word problems during the pre-test. but A significant difference appeared between the two groups during post-test. classroom culture improvement efforts. Third, mathematical modeling learning(ML) was effective for improvement of traditional beliefs about word problems. Fourth, mathematical modeling learning(ML) exerted more influence on mathematically strong and average students and a positive effect to mathematically weak students. High and average-level students tended to benefit from mathematical modeling learning(ML) more than their low-level peers. This difference was caused by less involvement from low-level students in group assignments and whole-class discussions. While using the mathematical modeling learning method, elementary students were able to build various models about problem situations, justify, and elaborate models by discussions and comparisons from each other. This proves that elementary students could participate in mathematical modeling activities via word problems, it results form the use of more authentic tasks, small group activities and whole-class discussions, exclusion of teacher's direct intervention, and classroom culture improvement efforts. The conclusions drawn from the results obtained in this study are as follows: First, mathematical modeling learning(ML) can become an effective method, guiding word problem solving behavior from the direct translation approach(DTA) based on numbers and key words without understanding about problem situations to the meaningful based approach(MBA) building rich models for problem situations. Second, mathematical modeling learning(ML) will contribute attitudes considering real world situations in solving word problems. Mathematical modeling activities for word problems can help elementary students to understand relations between word problems and the real world. It will be also help them to develop the ability to look at the real world mathematically. Third, mathematical modeling learning(ML) will contribute to the development of positive beliefs for mathematics and word problem solving. Word problem teaching focused on just mathematical operations can't develop proper beliefs for mathematics and word problem solving. Mathematical modeling learning(ML) for word problems provide elementary students the opportunity to understand the real world mathematically, and it increases students' modeling abilities. Futhermore, it is a very useful method of reforming the current problems of word problem teaching and learning. Therefore, word problems in school mathematics should be replaced by more authentic ones and modeling activities should be introduced early in elementary school eduction, which would help change the perceptions about word problem teaching.

• School Mathematics
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.147-160
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• 2002

The purpose of this study is to examine the The correlation between information processing types and mathematical communication abilities / word problem solving abilities. The results obtained are as follows: 1 Simultaneous/continuous information process types showed statistically high correlation with mathematical communication abilities. However, the correlation between simultaneous information process and mathematical communication abilities is a little higher than the correlation between continuous information process and mathematical communication abilities. 2. There is a high correlation between mathematical communication abilities and word problem solving abilities. Especially, speaking ability is much more correlated with four factors of word problem solving than reading, writing and listening, Through this study, we can conclude that information process types should be consider ed in order to improve mathematical communication abilities and mathematical communication abilities is essential in word problem solving.

• School Mathematics
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.361-384
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to investigate students' problem solving process based on the model of IDEAL if they learn to solve word problems of simultaneous linear equations through structure-representation instruction. The problem solving model of IDEAL is followed by stages; identifying problems(I), defining problems(D), exploring alternative approaches(E), acting on a plan(A). 160 second-grade students of middle schools participated in a study was classified into those of (a) a control group receiving no explicit instruction of structure-representation in word problem solving, and (b) a group receiving structure-representation instruction followed by IDEAL. As a result of this study, a structure-representation instruction improved word-problem solving performance and the students taught by the structure-representation approach discriminate more sharply equivalent problem, isomorphic problem and similar problem than the students of a control group. Also, students of the group instructed by structure-representation approach have less errors in understanding contexts and using data, in transferring mathematical symbol from internal learning relation of word problem and in setting up an equation than the students of a control group. Especially, this study shows that the model of direct transformation and the model of structure-schema in students' problem solving process of I and D stages.

• School Mathematics
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.497-511
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• 2009

This study compared two problem solving instructional approaches, schema based sequence instruction and schema based parallel instruction on word problem solving performance of elementary school students who were in general students group. The subjects totaled 48 third grade students who were exposed to a test that consisted of 9 word problem items of three types for 4 sessions. First of all, the baseline of word problem performance level was measured without any training. During session 1, 2 and 3 participants were put into strategic training groups. The experiment was designed by two between factor(two intervention group and two within factors(two problem types, three sessions). The results of experiment were as follows. Schema based sequence instruction group performed significantly better than students in another group on word problem solving performance. The effect of strategic schema based Instruction revealed that solving word problems relied upon problem types, sessions and input orders which were of great value.

• Research in Mathematical Education
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.311-325
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• 2011

In this paper I propose that teaching students the most efficient method of problem solving may curtail students' creativity. Instead it is important to arm students with a variety of problem solving heuristics. It is the students' responsibility to decide which heuristic will solve the problem. The chosen heuristic is the one which is meaningful to the students.

• Research in Mathematical Education
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.1-31
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• 2007

Recent research has documented that there is a close relationship between problem posing and problem solving in arithmetic. However, most studies investigated the relationship between problem posing and problem solving only by means of standard problem situations. In order to overcome that shortcoming, a pilot study with Chinese fourth-graders was done to investigate this relationship using a non-standard, realistic problem situation. The results revealed a significant positive relationship between students' problem posing and solving abilities. Based on that pilot study, a more extensive and systematic ascertaining study was carried out to confirm the observed relationship between problem posing and problem solving among Chinese elementary school children. Results confirmed that there was indeed a close relationship between both skills.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.63-80
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• 2009

This paper has a purpose to find out the important points about linguistic factors suited to the assessment purpose and mathematics teaching/learning that a word-problem sentence has to possess. We also examine the degree of understanding of sentence and the perceptive/emotional reactions of students toward two different kinds of word-problem sentences that have same mathematical contents, but different linguistic structures. The objects of this thesis are 124 students from the third to sixth grade in an elementary school. We execute assessment of simple-sentence-word-problem and complex-sentence-word-problem that have same mathematical contexts, but different linguistic structures. Then we have compared and examined their own process of solving the two types word-problems and we make up questionnaire and have an interview with them. The conclusions are as followings: First, simple-sentence-word-problem is more successful to suggest an information for solving a problem than complex one. Second, it is hard to find the strategy for solving a problem in complex-sentence-word-problem than simple one. Third, students think that suggested information and mathematical knowledge are different according to the linguistic structure in the process of perceiving the information after reading a word-problem. Fourth, in spite of same sentence type, the negative mental reaction is showed greatly to complex-sentence-word-problem even before solving a problem.

• Research in Mathematical Education
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• v.9 no.4 s.24
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• pp.317-328
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• 2005

The aim of this study is to investigate future teachers' skills that can make problem solving methods concrete for 7-11 year old students. For the students in the concrete operations level, solutions of word problems should also be taught by concreting. But most of teacher candidates can not solve the problems without algebra because they got used to solve the word problems with algebra during their high school and university education. In this study, whether the teacher candidates have the skills of solving the primary school level problems without using algebra or not are being observed. At the end of this observation it is determinated that primary level teacher candidates generally prefer using algebra operations because of their former habits. The results show that in the education of the primary level teacher candidates, there is the need of developing the solving skills using figures and diagrams without algebra rather than algebraic solutions in word problems.