scholarly journals Understanding Children’s Problem-solving Strategies in Solving Game-based Logic Problems

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-257
Author(s):  
Mete Akcaoglu ◽  
Lucas J. Jensen ◽  
Daisy Gonzalez

Problem solving is an essential skill for students to be successful in life and careers. Students need to use efficient strategies to solve problems effectively. In this basic interpretive qualitative study, we aimed to (a) explore children’s problem-solving strategies in a game-based tool (i.e., puzzles), and (b) investigate the troubleshooting strategies they employed while solving the puzzles. We recorded students’ puzzle-solving efforts, and using an observation analysis approach, noted important moments, patterns in puzzle-solving, troubleshooting methods, and other noteworthy events. Our analysis showed that while solving computer-based puzzles, students demonstrated the use of three approaches: varying-one-thing-at-a-time (VOTAT), building all-at-once or change-all (CA), and a mixed approach. CA was the approach used most often, followed by VOTAT, and then the mixed approach. Of the two troubleshooting approaches, starting the sequence over was the preferred method. Others opted to search for the faulty tile in the sequence. We discuss how these findings can inform practice and provide some insights as to the usefulness of the game-based tool, Lightbot.

Author(s):  
Philipp Sonnleitner ◽  
Martin Brunner ◽  
Ulrich Keller ◽  
Romain Martin ◽  
Thibaud Latour

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jody J. Illies ◽  
Jennifer A. Nies ◽  
Roni Reiter-Palmon

Author(s):  
J. Navaneetha Krishnan ◽  
P. Paul Devanesan

The major aim of teaching Mathematics is to develop problem solving skill among the students. This article aims to find out the problem solving strategies and to test the students’ ability in using these strategies to solve problems. Using sample survey method, four hundred students were taken for this investigation. Students’ achievement in solving problems was tested for their Identification and Application of Problem Solving Strategies as a major finding, thirty one percent of the students’ achievement in mathematics is contributed by Identification and Application of Problem Solving Strategies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Jiang ◽  
Tao Gong ◽  
Luis E. Saldivia ◽  
Gabrielle Cayton-Hodges ◽  
Christopher Agard

AbstractIn 2017, the mathematics assessments that are part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) program underwent a transformation shifting the administration from paper-and-pencil formats to digitally-based assessments (DBA). This shift introduced new interactive item types that bring rich process data and tremendous opportunities to study the cognitive and behavioral processes that underlie test-takers’ performances in ways that are not otherwise possible with the response data alone. In this exploratory study, we investigated the problem-solving processes and strategies applied by the nation’s fourth and eighth graders by analyzing the process data collected during their interactions with two technology-enhanced drag-and-drop items (one item for each grade) included in the first digital operational administration of the NAEP’s mathematics assessments. Results from this research revealed how test-takers who achieved different levels of accuracy on the items engaged in various cognitive and metacognitive processes (e.g., in terms of their time allocation, answer change behaviors, and problem-solving strategies), providing insights into the common mathematical misconceptions that fourth- and eighth-grade students held and the steps where they may have struggled during their solution process. Implications of the findings for educational assessment design and limitations of this research are also discussed.


ZDM ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gemma Carotenuto ◽  
Pietro Di Martino ◽  
Marta Lemmi

AbstractResearch on mathematical problem solving has a long tradition: retracing its fascinating story sheds light on its intricacies and, therefore, on its needs. When we analyze this impressive literature, a critical issue emerges clearly, namely, the presence of words and expressions having many and sometimes opposite meanings. Significant examples are the terms ‘realistic’ and ‘modeling’ associated with word problems in school. Understanding how these terms are used is important in research, because this issue relates to the design of several studies and to the interpretation of a large number of phenomena, such as the well-known phenomenon of students’ suspension of sense making when they solve mathematical problems. In order to deepen our understanding of this phenomenon, we describe a large empirical and qualitative study focused on the effects of variations in the presentation (text, picture, format) of word problems on students’ approaches to these problems. The results of our study show that the phenomenon of suspension of sense making is more precisely a phenomenon of activation of alternative kinds of sense making: the different kinds of active sense making appear to be strongly affected by the presentation of the word problem.


Mathematics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 793
Author(s):  
Manuel Santos-Trigo ◽  
Fernando Barrera-Mora ◽  
Matías Camacho-Machín

This study aims to document the extent to which the use of digital technology enhances and extends high school teachers’ problem-solving strategies when framing their teaching scenarios. The participants systematically relied on online developments such as Wikipedia to contextualize problem statements or to review involved concepts. Likewise, they activated GeoGebra’s affordances to construct and explore dynamic models of tasks. The Apollonius problem is used to illustrate and discuss how the participants contextualized the task and relied on technology affordances to construct and explore problems’ dynamic models. As a result, they exhibited and extended the domain of several problem-solving strategies including the use of simpler cases, dragging orderly objects, measuring objects attributes, and finding loci of some objects that shaped their approached to reasoning and solve problems.


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