DOI: 10.14686/buefad.1779493 ISSN: 1308-7177

Understanding the Mathematical Problem Through Two Comprehension Strategies

Mehtap Çiçek, Ebru Aylar Çankaya
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Purpose: This article discusses two strategies, underlining key information and identifying the givens and the unknowns, within a teaching module developed to improve students’ problem comprehension skills. The aim of the study was to examine changes in students’ problem-understanding behaviors following teaching sessions incorporating these strategies. Method: The main study was designed as a qualitative teaching experiment; however, this article presents a case study focusing specifically on these two strategies. Four different question forms were used to determine students’ problem-comprehension behaviors before and after the teaching sessions. Findings: Prior to the intervention, students spent less time understanding the problem than solving it and demonstrated limited use of problem-comprehension strategies. Following the teaching sessions, an increase was observed in students’ use of these strategies. A considerable number of students were able to understand the problems and formulate appropriate solution strategies. Students preferred the strategy of underlining key information over identifying the givens and the unknowns. Their reluctance to write appeared to influence their avoidance of the identifying the givens and the unknowns strategy.

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