Abstract
Problem-solving, being one major aspect of our daily activities, is often considered by students worldwide as the most difficult domains in mathematics. In Lebanon, like many other countries, problem-solving is a major aspect in the mathematics curriculum which requires students to apply and to integrate many mathematical concepts and skills as well as making decisions. However, the absence of national and international statistics of Lebanese elementary students’ performance in problem solving (PS) challenged the researchers to consider teaching strategies that give the students the chance to play an active role in their learning, and thus improve their performance in PS. Therefore, this article reports on a part of a larger mixed-methods, quasi-experimental study which investigated the effect of implementing Active Learning Strategies (ALS) mainly Think/Pair /Share (TPS), Socratic Questioning (SQ), and Inquiry based Learning (IBL) on students’ performance in problem solving (PS) in Grade 4, 5, and 6. (n=454) in three private schools in Tripoli- Lebanon. After assigning students and teachers to experimental and control groups, teachers in the experimental group participated in an intensive training on the use of ALS and implemented them over a three months period. The researcher used the t-test to compare the pre- and post-scores of both groups on mathematics PS. Findings indicated that experimental group students outperformed control group students on problem solving. Recommendations for continuous professional development for educators and for further research were also provided. Keywords: Active learning strategies, Mathematics problem-solving, Elementary, IBL, TPS, SQ DOI: 10.7176/JEP/12-17-05 Publication date: June 30 th 2021
Highlights
Success in mathematics is important because it is a strong predictor of later achievement in school (Morgan, Farkas, & Wu, 2011), and mathematics success leads to increased college and career opportunities (Murnane, Willett, Braatz, & Duhaldeborde, 2001).solving mathematical problems is thought to be at the heart of mathematics education and is “perhaps the most significant activity in the teaching of mathematics” (Curriculum Document, 1997.p. 228-289)
5.Results In this study the independent groups were the experimental group which had 321Grade 4 and Grade 5 students from Schools A, B, and C, and the control group which consisted of 133 Grade 6 students of the same schools. the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to perform the required analysis
The researcher was looking to see if the alternative hypothesis H1: “Students who are taught Mathematics through active learning strategies will get higher scores on problem-solving than their counterpart who are taught math in the traditional way” can be supported
Summary
Success in mathematics is important because it is a strong predictor of later achievement in school (Morgan, Farkas, & Wu, 2011), and mathematics success leads to increased college and career opportunities (Murnane, Willett, Braatz, & Duhaldeborde, 2001).solving mathematical problems is thought to be at the heart of mathematics education and is “perhaps the most significant activity in the teaching of mathematics” (Curriculum Document, 1997.p. 228-289). The difficulties were related to difficulties in understanding the mathematical problem, devising a suitable strategy to solve it, carrying out a plan to implement the suitable strategy, conducting deductive reasoning, understanding-applying mathematical concepts, comprehending mathematical texts, and writing mathematical texts These difficulties varied in their level from one grade level to another and according to the proof and language complexity levels of the proof tasks (Mohd Johan, 2002; Heong, 2005; Tarzimah, 2005; Zalina, 2005 – cited in Tambychik, Meerah & Aziz, 2010; Al-Masri, 2013; Mikati, 2017). In PISA 2018, 15-year-old Lebanese students scored 393 points in mathematics compared to an average of 460, and ranked 67 among 77 participating countries (CRDP, 2019)
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