What instructional strategies do teachers feel are effective as they implement a problem-solving curriculum?
Most teachers reported that it was important to assign more non-routine problems to help their students become strong problem solvers. When asked how solving non-routine problems impacted on students’ understanding of basic facts and procedures and math concepts, five of the seven teachers reported an improvement in basic facts and procedures and two said that there had been no change. With regard to math concepts, all seven teachers reported an improvement in their students’ understanding of math concepts. Teachers in the treatment group reported that their students’ persistence in problem solving increased over the course of the year as their students engaged in more problem solving. This view was supported by the students themselves when comparing the amount of time they reported spending on solving difficult problems in October and June. The treatment group also reported spending significantly more time solving problems than either of the comparison groups. Devens-Seligman, Judy. 2
