• Journal of the Korean School Mathematics Society
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.419-443
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to analyze the problem solving strategies of ordinary students, gifted students, pre-service teachers, and in-service teachers with the 'chicken and pig problem,' which has multiple strategies to obtain the solution. For this study, 98 students in the 6th grade elementary schools, 96 gifted students in a gifted institution, 72 pre-service teachers, and 60 in-service teachers were selected. The researcher presented the "chicken and pig" problem and requested them the solution strategies as many as possible for 30 minutes in a free atmosphere. As a result of the study, the gifted students used relatively various and efficient strategies compared to the ordinary students, and there was a difference in the most used strategies among the groups. In addition, the percentage of respondents who suggested four or more strategies was 1% for the ordinary students, 54% for the gifted students, 42% for the pre-service teachers, and 43% for the in-service teachers. As suggestions, the researcher asserted that various kinds of high-quality mathematical problems and solving experiences should be provided to students and teachers and have students develop multi-strategy problems. As a follow-up study, the researcher suggested that multi-strategy mathematical problems should be applied to classroom teaching in a collaborative learning environment and reflected them in teacher training program.

• Education of Primary School Mathematics
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.73-85
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of the auxiliary questions of word problems presented to students on their problem solving-strategies and mathematical thinking and to discuss the educational implications of the results. As a result of making an analysis, problems that included auxiliary questions to give information on workable problem-solving strategies made it more possible for students of different levels to do relatively equal mathematical thinking than problems that didn't by inducing them to adopt efficient problem-solving strategies. And they were helpful for the students in the middle and lower tiers to find a clue for problem solving without giving up. But it's unclear whether the problems that provided possible strategies through the auxiliary questions stirred up the analogical thinking of the students. In addition, due to the impact of the problems provided, some students failed to adopt a strategy that they could have come up with on their own. On the contrary, when the students solved word problems that just offered basic recommendation by minimizing auxiliary questions, the upper-tiered students could devise various strategies, but in the case of the students in the middle and lower tiers, those who gave up easily or who couldn't find an answer were relatively larger in number.