Middle school pre-service mathematics teachers' guidance for sixth grade students in problem solving process

Take an incredible true adventure; add a lot of estimation and hands-on measurement; stir in parts of reading, writing, history, geography, and science; and one has the recipe for a powerful mathematics lesson. Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World is an extraordinary true story by Jennifer Armstrong. The book follows the story of Ernest Shackleton and 27 men who set out in 1914 to become the first people to cross Antarctica. Instead, their ship, the Endurance, became trapped in the ice and sank, leaving the crew who had no way to communicate with the outside world to find a way back to civilization. They made their way across ice floes and wild seas to an island where 22 of the men made camp to wait. Shackleton and 5 of his crew then set out in a 20-foot boat to cross 800 miles of ocean to find help. Nearly 2 years after the expedition began, the last of the crew were rescued, and all 28 men survived! For a week, in lieu of regular mathematics class and the time when teacher Karen Grokett normally reads to her sixth-grade students at Chase County Middle School in Strong City, Kansas, we went on a daily mathematics adventure. By doing a little planning and by inviting questions to encourage student inquiry, the lesson took on a remarkable life of its own.

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Problem-solving strategies of sixth-grade students who are superior problem solvers

Science Education ◽

10.1002/sce.3730640210 ◽

1980 ◽

Vol 64 (2) ◽

pp. 203-211 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Joseph D. Novak ◽

Alan Mandell

Keyword(s):

Problem Solving ◽

Sixth Grade ◽

Sixth Grade Students ◽

Problem Solving Strategies ◽

Problem Solvers

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Measuring Sixth-Grade Students' Problem Solving: Validating an Instrument Addressing the Mathematics Common Core

School Science and Mathematics ◽

10.1111/ssm.12130 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 115 (6) ◽

pp. 281-291 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Jonathan David Bostic ◽

Toni A. Sondergeld

Keyword(s):

Problem Solving ◽

Common Core ◽

Sixth Grade ◽

Sixth Grade Students

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Preservice mathematics teachers’ ways of using problem solving strategies while solving mathematical word problems

Journal of Human Sciences ◽

10.14687/ijhs.v12i2.3420 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 1180 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Neslihan Bulut ◽

Gözdegül Karamık

Keyword(s):

Middle School ◽

Preservice Teachers ◽

Problem Solving ◽

Mathematics Teachers ◽

Word Problems ◽

Spring Semester ◽

School Students ◽

Problem Solving Strategies ◽

Preservice Mathematics Teachers ◽

Mathematical Word Problems

The aim of this study is to investigate the variety of problem solving strategies used by preservice mathematics teachers while solving different mathematical word problems which require representation standards and to identify which strategy is functional for pre-service teachers to apply with middle-school students.The study was a case study and conducted during the 2009 spring semester. For this study, 150 senior class pre-service teachers of elementary mathematics education were chosen from a public university in Turkey by convenient sampling. Data were collected through an open-ended test developed by researchers. The test was consist of ten mathematical word problems selected from the five sub-learning areas. The test was given to the pre-service teachers and they were asked to solve each problem in different ways. It took 60 minutes for preservice teachers to complete the test. Strategies that pre-service teachers used for solving word problems were categorized by using content analyze. Also interviews were conducted with pre-service teachers in order to identify their opinions about the usability of strategies in middle-school classrooms.Findings revealed that participants are lack of using different strategies while solving word problems. In general the participants did not apply more than one strategy and they used traditional solving strategies instead of extreme ones. Findings of this study will be a guiding spirit to teacher educators for the enhancement of preservice teacher education programs.

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