What is the Goal of Problem Solving??
There is more than one goal when we as math educators refer to problem solving…the ultimate goals of problem-solving in Mathematics are to:
1. Improve students’ willingness to try problems and improve their perseverance when solving problems.
2. Improve students’ self-concepts with respect to the abilities to solve problems.
3. Make students aware of the problem-solving strategies.
4. Make students aware of the value of approaching problems in a systematic manner.
5. Make students aware that many problems can be solved in more than one way.
6. Improve students’ abilities to select appropriate solution strategies.
7. Improve students’ abilities to implement solution strategies accurately.
8. Improve students’ abilities to get more correct answers to problems.
In order to accomplish these goals, we as educators need to have the right resources.
Most importantly, we need to know what problem solving really is…what is problem solving??
WHAT DOES PROBLEM SOLVING SUPPORT LOOK LIKE?
What it is… / What it is not…
Daily examples of thinking and reasoning illustrating the though process leading to the correct solution. / A workbook full of additional word problems with no instructional support.
Blowing out problems by illustrating the full problem solving process from start to finish. / An “activity” made up of a list of questions without instructional guided support.
Visual representations that provide all students the opportunity to develop into successful problem solvers by using the image as the place to find the needed data to solve the problem. / Photos and diagrams along side problems that do not contain information needed to solve the problems.
Opportunities to work multiple types of problems, to apply many different problem solving strategies and interactive remediation throughout each chapter. / A set series of steps that if followed, will guarantee a correct answer. Problem Solving is not an algorithm to be followed, it is a reasoning process.