TY - JOUR
T1 - The performance of chinese primary school students on realistic arithmetic word problems
AU - Xin, Ziqiang
AU - Lin, Chongde
AU - Zhang, Li
AU - Yan, Rong
PY - 2007/6
Y1 - 2007/6
N2 - Compared with standard arithmetic word problems demanding only the direct use of number operations and computations, realistic problems are harder to solve because children need to incorporate “real‐world” knowledge into their solutions. Using the realistic word problem testing materials developed by Verschaffel, De Corte, and Lasure [Learning and Instruction, 4(4), 273–294, 1994], two studies were designed to investigate (a) Chinese elementary school children’s ability to solve realistic word problems and (b) the different effects of two instructional interventions (warning vs. process‐oriented) on their performance. The results indicated that, contrasting to the standard problem solving, the participating children demonstrated a strong tendency to exclude real‐word knowledge and realistic considerations from their solution processes when solving the realistic problems. Process‐oriented instruction, calling for a deep‐level processing, was more likely than warning instruction to promote the activation of realistic considerations, but it was not effective at helping children arrive at realistic or correct answers. Finally, the results and their implications for mathematical teaching are discussed.
AB - Compared with standard arithmetic word problems demanding only the direct use of number operations and computations, realistic problems are harder to solve because children need to incorporate “real‐world” knowledge into their solutions. Using the realistic word problem testing materials developed by Verschaffel, De Corte, and Lasure [Learning and Instruction, 4(4), 273–294, 1994], two studies were designed to investigate (a) Chinese elementary school children’s ability to solve realistic word problems and (b) the different effects of two instructional interventions (warning vs. process‐oriented) on their performance. The results indicated that, contrasting to the standard problem solving, the participating children demonstrated a strong tendency to exclude real‐word knowledge and realistic considerations from their solution processes when solving the realistic problems. Process‐oriented instruction, calling for a deep‐level processing, was more likely than warning instruction to promote the activation of realistic considerations, but it was not effective at helping children arrive at realistic or correct answers. Finally, the results and their implications for mathematical teaching are discussed.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=67649542919&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/02667360701320853
DO - 10.1080/02667360701320853
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:67649542919
SN - 0266-7363
VL - 23
SP - 145
EP - 159
JO - Educational Psychology in Practice
JF - Educational Psychology in Practice
IS - 2
ER -