ERIC Number: ED205401
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1980
Reference Count: 0
Different Solution Procedures for Algebra Word and Equation Problems. Technical Report Series in Learning and Cognition, Report No. 80-2.
Mayer, Richard E.
The development of a theory of algebraic problem solving is discussed. The domain of the investigation is restricted to single sentence word problems. There were three experiments, the first involving 42 college students from the University of California, Santa Barbara. These subjects were divided into two groups, half in an equation group and half in a word group. The results of experiment one suggested that the solution process used by subjects in the equation group involves planning, while the translation and solution process of the word group does not show the same sort of planning. A second experiment was conducted using another group of 42 students, with half writing a numerical answer for each word problem, and the other writing an equation for each problem. Both groups displayed a pattern of performance similar to that displayed by the word group in in experiment one. A supplemental study was conducted to provide additional data on the problem-solving process of subjects, through interviews of eight college students. Evidence was provided that equation subjects engage in goal stacking. Results conflicted with a two-stage model of problem solving consisting of separate translation and solution processes. (MP)
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Sponsor: National Inst. of Education (DHEW), Washington, DC.
Authoring Institution: California Univ., Santa Barbara. Dept. of Psychology.
Identifiers: Equations (Mathematics); Heuristic Models; Heuristics; Mathematics Education Research; Word Problems (Mathematics)