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Updated: Aug 30, 2026

Problem-Solving Before Instruction (PS-I): A Protocol for Assessment and Intervention in Students with Different Abilities
Published on: September 11, 2021
Effects of instructions and representation on mathematical problem-solving
Naoko Kuriyama1, Kimihiko Yamagishi, Takashi Kusumi
1Graduate School of Decision Science and Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan. naoko.kuriyama@nifty.com
Abstract:
We investigated whether specific instructions have different representations for target problems, and hence whether task representations mostly affect the direction of typical errors in permutation problem-solving. We hypothesized that different instructions produce specific representations of a permutation problem in an identical description. The 39 participants were randomly assigned to the three groups: the equation instruction group, the subgoal instruction group, and the control group. Results confirmed our prediction that the treatment groups solved the problem more correctly than the control group. More importantly, a subgoal instruction (a set of steps in a meaningful task) decreased the typical mistakes. Educational implications are discussed.
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