Student Strategy Choices on a Constructed Response Algebra Problem

A central goal of secondary mathematics is for students to learn to use powerful algebraic strategies appropriately. Research has demonstrated student difficulties in the transition to using such strategies. We examined strategies used by several thousand 8th‐, 9th‐, and 10th‐grade students in five...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:School science and mathematics 2011-12, Vol.111 (8), p.389-398
Main Authors: Ross, Dan, Reys, Robert, Chávez, Óscar, McNaught, Melissa D., Grouws, Douglas A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Achievement Gains
Algebra
Cognitive Style
Critical Thinking
Educational Strategies
Elementary education
Grade 10
Grade 8
Grade 9
Learning
Learning Strategies
Longitudinal Studies
Mathematical analysis
Mathematical Applications
Mathematical Aptitude
Mathematical problems
Mathematics
Mathematics Achievement
Mathematics education
Mathematics Instruction
Mathematics Skills
Problem Sets
Problem Solving
School Districts
Secondary School Mathematics
Secondary school students
Student Improvement
Students
Thinking Skills
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:A central goal of secondary mathematics is for students to learn to use powerful algebraic strategies appropriately. Research has demonstrated student difficulties in the transition to using such strategies. We examined strategies used by several thousand 8th‐, 9th‐, and 10th‐grade students in five different school systems over three consecutive years on the same algebra problem. We also analyzed connections between their strategies and their success on the problem. Our findings suggest that many students continued to struggle with algebraic problems, even after several years of instruction in algebra. Students did not reflect the anticipated growth toward the consistent use of efficient strategies deemed appropriate in solving this problem. Instead a surprisingly large number of students continued to rely on strategies such as guessing and checking, or offered solutions that were unintelligible or meaningless and not useful to the researchers. Even those students who used algebraic strategies consistently did not show the anticipated improvement of performance that would be expected from several years of continuing to study mathematics.
ISSN:0036-6803
1949-8594
DOI:10.1111/j.1949-8594.2011.00104.x