The Role of Instructional Strategies in Mathematics Problem-Solving

• In Event: Motivational and Cognitive Processes in Mathematics Across Secondary School and College

Abstract

The current study tested whether instructional strategies specifically demonstrating how to do a math problem restricted students’ subsequent problem-solving strategies. Undergraduate students (N=264) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: no-instruction discovery, pedagogical demonstration, or accidental demonstration. Participants then completed math tasks which required them to come up with new problem-solving-strategies or judge whether multiple strategies were acceptable in mathematics. Students in the pedagogical condition spent less time on the initial task but also discovered fewer solutions when asked to provide a multi-solution response on a task with an ambiguous number of correct solutions than those who received no instruction. These results suggest further evidence of cognitive restrictions imposed by direct instruction.

Authors

• Shannon Clark, University of Georgia

• Cameron Wescott

• Michael M. Barger, University of Georgia