A Study on the Effectiveness of Teaching the Strategy of "Solving a Simpler Problem" on Fourth Graders' Performance of Pattern Finding Problems

Abstract

The study focused on the effect of teaching the strategy of "solving a simpler problem" on performance of generalizing solutions to pattern finding problems. The subjects consist of 131 fourth graders from two elementary schools. The pupils were assigned in either the experimental group or the control group. The experimental group were taught the strategy of "solving a simpler problem" in three lessons. The results of the pre-and post-tests revealed that the pupils in the experimental group have used this strategy more often than those of the control group. However, the control group used the "proportional" strategy more often when they solve a far generalizing problem. This result suggests that it is important to know the strategy of "solving a simpler problem" although the pupils in the experimental group had difficulty of making a mathematical expression based on a pattern and generalizing those expressions correctly.