Problem Posing and Its Relationship with Teaching Experience of Elementary School Mathematics Teachers from Ethnic Minority Area in Southwest China

Abstract

This study examined characteristics of problem posing and its relationship with the teaching experience of elementary school mathematics teachers from ethnic minority areas in theSouthwest of China. Eighty-one (N = 81) elementary school mathematics teachers responded toa task-based questionnaire and posed mathematical problems based on given problem situations.Characteristics of their mathematical problem posing were observed through the total numbers,appropriateness, difficultly, and flexibility levels of the problems posed by the teachers. Resultsshow that elementary school mathematics teachers were capable of posing a considerablenumber of appropriate mathematical problems. Significant differences were found in the flexibilityof the posed problems among the teachers with different years of teaching experience. Thisfinding suggests that teachers’ capability in mathematical problem posing may not necessarilygrow along with teaching experience. Limitations of the study and implications in developingteachers’ mathematical problem posing are discussed