Examining five problem solving process skills in subtraction with Hispanic limited English proficient students /
This study investigated the performance of 74 Hispanic limited English proficient fourth grade bilingual students on problem solving process skills involving routine three-digit subtraction story problems with regrouping. This study had two purposes. The first purpose was to identify where the stud...
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| Format: | Thesis Book |
| Language: | English |
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[Place of publication not identified] :
[publisher not identified] ;
2000.
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| Online Access: | http://proxy.library.tamu.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=731930291&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=2945&RQT=309&VName=PQD |
| Summary: | This study investigated the performance of 74 Hispanic limited English proficient fourth grade bilingual students on problem solving process skills involving routine three-digit subtraction story problems with regrouping. This study had two purposes. The first purpose was to identify where the students were having difficulties in mathematical problem solving in relation to the following five processes: explaining the problem, estimating the final answer, representing the problem, solving the representation, and explaining the final answer. By identifying which of these processes are problematic for Hispanic limited English proficient students, educators will be better able to proceed with appropriate instruction in the needed areas to improve subtraction problem solving performance. The second purpose was to examine the relationship between each of the five problem solving process skills and arriving at the correct final answer to a subtraction problem. This will assist educators in adjusting instruction to focus on the specific process skills that are closely related to arriving at the correct final answer. This is important as educators are under increasing pressure to have students arrive at correct final answers to all types of problems on state and national mathematics tests. A discriminant analysis using an all-possible subsets approach and the Wilk's lambda stepwise method were used to answer these questions. Results of the study indicated that the only process skill that caused difficulties for the Hispanic bilingual fourth grade students was process 2: estimating the final answer. However, the study also indicated that the only process skills significantly related to arriving at the correct final answer to a problem were process 3 (representing the problem) and process 4 (solving the representation). Furthermore, using a Pearson correlation, the study results showed that not one of the five process skills was significantly correlated to any of the other four skills. In conclusion, it is recommended that if educators want their students to arrive at the correct final answer to routine three-digit subtraction story problems with regrouping, instruction should be focused on process skills three and four. These process skills are representing the problem and solving the representation. |
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| Item Description: | Vita. "Major Subject: Curriculum and Instruction". |
| Physical Description: | xvi, 175 leaves : illustrations ; 28 cm. Issued also on microfiche from University Microfilm Inc. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (leaves 147-168). |