2016 Volume 40 Issue 2 Pages 95-103
This study investigated how the contexts of subjects affect pupils' problem solving abilities. Fifth graders (N = 91) and sixth graders (N = 94) were randomly assigned to three conditions. All the pupils solved the same problem about a truncated bar graph showing an exaggerated difference between the consumption amounts of two cities. In total, 74 pupils were asked to solve it a mathematics problem (M-condition); 64 pupils were asked to solve it as a social studies problem (S-condition); and 44 pupils were asked to solve it without any clue about the subject (N-condition). Among fifth graders, more pupils in the S-condition group solved the problem using the exact number of the consumption amount. Among sixth graders, more pupils who were good at social study solved the problem using the exact number. The results showed that the effect of context is dependent on which grade they are in.
