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Question Design Affects Students' Sense-Making on Mathematics Word Problems.

Patrick K Kirkland1, Nicole M McNeil1

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame.

Cognitive Science
|April 19, 2021
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Rewriting math word problems to include uncertainty improved students' ability to make sense of real-world contexts, even if initial performance slightly decreased. This suggests question design can foster critical thinking in mathematics education.

Keywords:
Desirable difficultyMathematical problem-solvingMental setSense-makingWord problems

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Area of Science:

  • Educational Psychology
  • Cognitive Science
  • Mathematics Education

Background:

  • Students often struggle to apply mathematical concepts from word problems to real-world scenarios, leading to nonsensical answers.
  • Traditional word problem design may not adequately encourage students to engage with the contextual information provided.
  • Investigating the impact of question design on student mindset and sense-making is crucial for improving mathematical literacy.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine how different question designs in mathematics word problems influence students' mindset.
  • To determine if modifying word problems to introduce uncertainty enhances students' subsequent sense-making abilities.
  • To assess the effect of question design on both in-condition performance and overall problem-solving sense-making.

Main Methods:

  • Middle school students (N=229) were randomly assigned to solve word problems under three conditions: standard textbook, modified yes/no question, or disfluency control.
  • The modified yes/no condition involved rewriting problems so the solution answered a binary question, introducing inherent uncertainty.
  • Sense-making was assessed using a separate set of 'problematic' problems after the initial task.

Main Results:

  • Contrary to initial performance predictions, students in the modified yes/no condition solved fewer problems correctly within their assigned set.
  • However, students exposed to the modified yes/no questions demonstrated significantly greater sense-making on subsequent, challenging problems.
  • The disfluency control group showed no significant differences in performance or sense-making compared to the standard condition.

Conclusions:

  • Modifying word problem design, specifically by introducing uncertainty, can foster a more robust sense-making mindset in students.
  • While initial accuracy may be slightly impacted, the long-term benefit of improved contextual reasoning in mathematics is substantial.
  • Educational strategies should consider question design to mitigate 'senseless' responses and promote deeper mathematical understanding.