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Making Sense of Word Problems by Lieven Verschaffel & Brian Greer & Eric de Corte
Word problems have been a staple of mathematics instruction for centuries, yet the rationale for their use has remained largely unexamined. A range of findings have shown how students consistently answer them in ways that fail to take account of the reality of the situations described. This monograph reports on studies carried out to investigate this "suspension of sense-making" in answering word problems. In Part One, a wide range of examples documenting the strength of the phenomenon is reviewed. Initial surprise at the findings was replaced by a conviction that the explanation lies in the culture of the mathematics classroom, specifically the rules implicitly governing the nature and interpretation of the word problem genre. This theoretical shift is reflected in Part Two. A detailed analysis of the way in which word problems are currently taught in typical mathematical classrooms is followed by reviews of design experiments illustrating how, by immersing students in a fundamentally changed learning environment, they can acquire what the authors consider to be more appropriate conceptions about, and strategies for doing, word problems.
Part Three turns to a wider discussion of theoretical issues, a further analysis of the features of the educational system considered responsible for outcomes detrimental to many students' understanding and conception of mathematics, and suggestions for rethinking the role of word problems within the curriculum. |
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| Author(s) : Brian Greer | Format : Hardback Book |
| ISBN-10 : 9026516282 | ISBN-13 : 9789026516283 |
| RRP : £84.00 | Best available price : £ / $ |
| Prices as of : BST check live prices | |
Product Details:
Series Title : Contexts of Learning: Classrooms, Schools & Society
Country Publication : United Kingdom
Publication Date : 01/01/2000
Publisher : Taylor & Francis Ltd
Page Length : 224mm
Page Size : 240mm