Number Choices for Word Problems: How Can They Be Mobilized?

• In Event: Poster Session 20
  In Poster Session: Attitudes, Metacognition, and Problem Solving

Abstract

Posing contextualized word problems is an instructional activity that is ubiquitous in elementary classrooms (Lampert et al., 2010). Some research has been generated around the kinds of problems teachers pose, but little, if any, research has been conducted around the act of choosing numbers. By analyzing problems posed by four expert teachers, I was able to identify seven different ways in which these teachers mobilized number choices – to address mathematical content, to encourage a particular strategy, to provide differentiation, to develop relational thinking, to respond to children’s mathematical thinking, to assess student understanding, and to provide an entry point. This study has implications for preparing pre-service teachers for productive problem posing.

Author

• Tonia Jo Land, Drake University