The Models used by elementary school teachers to solve verbal problems

Abstract

One of the most important goals of mathematics education is to improve students' problem solving skills, which can only be realized by teachers who are well-trained in this field. In this context, the purpose of the studies on the subject is to investigate the models used by elementary school teachers to solve verbal problems and their opinions in this process. A multiple-case study was conducted for this study which employs the Problem Information Scale comprised of eight open-ended questions. The study sample consists of a total of 100 elementary school teachers. Six of them were selected for individual interviews on the basis of theoretical sampling. The data obtained revealed that the elementary school teachers experienced problems with students aged from 7 to 11 in the use of models to solve verbal problems and they make mistakes by assigning values and replacing variables such as x, y, a with shapes such as, Δ in the problem equation, instead of using models to solve problems.