Page 204 - Pedagoška vizija / A Pedagogical Vision

Eleonora Doz, Mara Cotič, and Maria Chiara Passolunghi

ical concepts to real-world situations (Depaepe, De Corte, and Verschaffel
2010; Pongsakdi et al. 2020), deepening the understanding of mathematical
knowledge, fostering creative thinking and flexible problem-solving skills,
and serving as a motivational tool to spark interest in mathematics (Verschaf-
fel et al. 2020).
However, despite their educational value, word problems pose consid-
erable challenges for many students worldwide (Cotič and Valenčič Zuljan
2009; Fuchs et al. 2020). For instance, OECD (2013) reported that one third
of students in all participating countries were not able to solve simple word
problems involving whole numbers. These findings underscore the need to
investigate the factors influencing students’ proficiency in word problem-
solving, in order to develop more effective instructional strategies. In the
present contribution, we aim to give a comprehensive overview of the fac-
tors that influence students’ word problem-solving performance and discuss
some implications for educational practice.

Difficulties in Word Problems: A Comprehensive Theoretical Model
Numerous empirical studies have sought to elucidate the challenges en-
countered by individuals, both children and adults, in word problem-solving
(e.g. Hegarty, Mayer, and Monk 1995; Jaffe and Bolger 2023; Pongsakdi et al.
2020). A theoretical model that attempts to comprehensively explain the dif-
ficulties in word problem-solving is the model proposed by Daroczy et al.
(2015), illustrated in figure 1. The model identifies three main aspects that
contribute to word problem-solving difficulties: task characteristics (linguis-
tic and numerical features of the problem and their interaction that de-
termine the problem’s complexity), individual differences (domain-specific
and domain-general cognitive abilities), and environmental factors (the
teaching-learning environment).
Central to this model is the assertion that task characteristics and individ-
ual differences influence students’ performance both directly and indirectly
over two mediator variables: cognitive load and problem-solving strategies.
Task characteristics influence cognitive load; as the complexity of problems
increases, cognitive load also rises. Moreover, cognitive load is also subject to
individual differences, where individuals with higher cognitive abilities may
exhibit lower cognitive load compared to those with poorer abilities. The sec-
ond mediator refers to the application of specific problem-solving strategies,
which is influenced by both the features of the problem, and students’ abil-
ities and knowledge. Finally, environmental factors impact individual cogni-
tive abilities, solution strategies, and word problem performance. In the fol-

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