ACTION RESEARCH ON PROBLEMS FACED BY STUDENTS DURING SOLVING WORD PROBLEMS
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ABSTRACT |
Introduction
As a teacher trainee during my internship for 4 months in Emmanuel's HSS, I have encountered many pupils who are poor in both comprehending and analyzing math word problems.
Research Design
The study is aim at improving the Maths word problem solving skills of class 8 Students of Emmanuel’s Higher Secondary School kothanalloor. The action research cycle was given as a four step cycle-reflection, plan, act and observe. That is reflecting on one's practice and identifying the problem or concern, planning a strategy or intervention that may solve the problem, acting or carrying out the plan and finally observing the result or collecting the data
Sample
The study was conducted on one of the batches of class 8 there were 20 students in that batch. They experienced severe difficulty in solving maths word problems
Instrumentation
Students were made to take a test which consisted of 3 questions in ‘money maths’. After students were taught the concepts, a post-intervention test was conducted to serve as a check as to whether students really applied the methods and steps they were taught. This test also consisted of 3 items similar to the items in pre-intervention test.
Intervention design and implementation
In order to help students to improve upon the problem-solving skills in Maths an intervention design was planned out. Students were engaged in a comprehensive discussion on the steps involved when solving word problems using their normal classroom hours- 2 hours per week for 4 weeks. The steps involved is systematically explained to the students for each question. The questions were analysed in detail. In the beginning itself the formulae, equations, concepts, units etc. used in the problem were explained. Teacher demonstrated how to solve problem whenever a new-pattern question is encounter. Students were allowed to discuss among themselves the different ways to solve the problems. Scaffolding was provided whenever necessary. When students were stuck at certain points, probing-questions were used to improve their critical thinking ability. Immediate feedback was given to motivate the students.
Post intervention activity
A post intervention test was conducted after the implementation of the intervention activities. The test was made up of 3 questions similar to the questions in the pre-intervention test. Students’ responses to the question were collected marked and analysed.
Analysis and Interpretation
As seen from the result of the pre-intervention test 11 students scored low marks 6 students got average marks and only 3 students got high marks. Students are found jumping vital steps without showing working. They arrived at the final answer without caring about the procedures and steps needed to arrive at that answer. Hence, they lost about half the total marks for the questions. Those who were able to work to the final answer attached wrong units to them and some even ignore d the units altogether. It was also observed that some students rushed into solving word problems but got stuck along the way perhaps due to improper analysis before starting the problem. Students appeared to forget the steps needed to solve word problems after they have been taught. After the four-week classes on problem solving, the post intervention test was conducted. The result from the table shows that majority of the students exhibited improved the problem solving skills. 10 students obtained the high marks of with three got the maximum marks, 6 students got average marks and only four students got low marks. Students could list out all the known and unknown values correctly and made free body diagrams before carrying on with the solution to the problems This might be due to the proper analysis made by the students of the problems before starting them. Many students were able to identify the right formula and equations and variable and were able to plug in values to solve the problems. That could give reasonable answers in terms of number and could attach correct unit to their answers. Hence it can be concluded that students have really become competent in solving problem, considering that performance in the post intervention test
Conclusion
The study has revealed that after the implementation of the intervention students’ problem-solving skills have improved considerably. This was seen in how students presented their class exercises and assignments and how they went about solving problems given to them. Students have developed interest in solving physics problems since they could remember and use the steps needed to solve the problem.
Problem solving in mathematics commonly involves the application of various mathematician procedures. Hence, teachers should focus on proactive ways of presenting subject material so was to guide students learning efforts while students strive to become active constructors of knowledge. This way the perceived difficulty of Mathematics cannot overshadow it's importance in terms of its usefulness in the society.
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