Contextualized Mathematical Problems: Perspective of Teachers about Problem Posing

Abstract

This research describes the perspective of secondary school teachers on the selection, elaboration, and implementation of contextualized mathematical problems in secondary education in Costa Rica. An exploratory and descriptive quantitative study is carried out, applying a questionnaire to 67 in-service secondary school mathematics teachers. The dimensions of the sources used by teachers, the difficulties encountered and the learners’ background considered for problem selection and elaboration are analyzed. In addition, the contexts present in the problems that teachers propose are classified. The results indicate that teachers use textbooks for the selection of mathematical problems. In addition, they give a favorable opinion regarding the use of realistic contexts in the creation of new problems. However, several of the proposed problems present fictitious or mathematical contexts. The highest percentage of the participants points out the need for training for the elaboration of contextualized mathematical problems.