Page 411 - Istenič Andreja, Gačnik Mateja, Horvat Barbara, Kukanja Gabrijelčič Mojca, Kiswarday Vanja Riccarda, Lebeničnik Maja, Mezgec Maja, Volk Marina. Ur. 2023. Vzgoja in izobraževanje med preteklostjo in prihodnostjo. Koper: Založba Univerze na Primorskem
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The Development of Strategies
for Solving Arithmetic Word Problems:
Using Keywords or Diagrams?
Eleonora Doz
University of Trieste
eleonora.doz@phd.units.it
Mara Cotič
University of Primorska
mara.cotic@pef.upr.si
Maria Chiara Passolunghi
University of Trieste
passolu@units.it
Solving simple arithmetic word problems is a major ability that children must
acquire while in primary education. Yet, many students struggle with this
maths task. The aim of the present contribution is to give an overview of how to
effectively support problem-solving abilities in school-age children. For many
decades a very popular problem-solving practice has been the keyword strat-
egy. By describing difficulties that students encounter with inconsistent lan-
guage problems (i.e. problems where the language featured in the problem
text steers the student towards an inappropriate mathematical operation), we
highlight the superficiality and inappropriateness of this approach. In future,
practitioners should rather focus on teaching children to integrate the prob-
lem’s textual information into an adequate mental representation, which is the
basis for a successful solution strategy. As such, two methods that emphasize
the use of visual representations, such as diagrams, are described.
Keywords: word problems, keywords, diagram, schema-based instruction, pri-
mary school
Introduction
The ability to solve arithmetic word problems is a crucial component of math-
ematics curricula in primary education (Daroczy et al. 2015). Arithmetic word
problems can be defined as a particular type of arithmetic problems pre-
sented in a verbal rather than numerical formulation (Verschaffel, Greer, and
Corte 2000). They represent a fundamental learning activity since they pre-
pare students to connect mathematics to real-world situations (Depaepe,
Corte, and Verschaffel 2010; Pongsakdi et al. 2020). It is thus not surprising
Istenič, A., M. Gačnik, B. Horvat, M. Kukanja Gabrijelčič, V. R. Kiswarday, M. Lebeničnik, M. Mezgec in M. Volk, ur.
2023. Vzgoja in izobraževanje med preteklostjo in prihodnostjo. Koper: Založba Univerze na Primorskem.
https://doi.org/10.26493/978-961-293-255-8.411-426
for Solving Arithmetic Word Problems:
Using Keywords or Diagrams?
Eleonora Doz
University of Trieste
eleonora.doz@phd.units.it
Mara Cotič
University of Primorska
mara.cotic@pef.upr.si
Maria Chiara Passolunghi
University of Trieste
passolu@units.it
Solving simple arithmetic word problems is a major ability that children must
acquire while in primary education. Yet, many students struggle with this
maths task. The aim of the present contribution is to give an overview of how to
effectively support problem-solving abilities in school-age children. For many
decades a very popular problem-solving practice has been the keyword strat-
egy. By describing difficulties that students encounter with inconsistent lan-
guage problems (i.e. problems where the language featured in the problem
text steers the student towards an inappropriate mathematical operation), we
highlight the superficiality and inappropriateness of this approach. In future,
practitioners should rather focus on teaching children to integrate the prob-
lem’s textual information into an adequate mental representation, which is the
basis for a successful solution strategy. As such, two methods that emphasize
the use of visual representations, such as diagrams, are described.
Keywords: word problems, keywords, diagram, schema-based instruction, pri-
mary school
Introduction
The ability to solve arithmetic word problems is a crucial component of math-
ematics curricula in primary education (Daroczy et al. 2015). Arithmetic word
problems can be defined as a particular type of arithmetic problems pre-
sented in a verbal rather than numerical formulation (Verschaffel, Greer, and
Corte 2000). They represent a fundamental learning activity since they pre-
pare students to connect mathematics to real-world situations (Depaepe,
Corte, and Verschaffel 2010; Pongsakdi et al. 2020). It is thus not surprising
Istenič, A., M. Gačnik, B. Horvat, M. Kukanja Gabrijelčič, V. R. Kiswarday, M. Lebeničnik, M. Mezgec in M. Volk, ur.
2023. Vzgoja in izobraževanje med preteklostjo in prihodnostjo. Koper: Založba Univerze na Primorskem.
https://doi.org/10.26493/978-961-293-255-8.411-426
