2016 Volume 40 Issue 4 Pages 363-373
The purpose of this paper is to examine grade-related changes in the composition of the schema in arithmetic word problem solving. Elements of the figure drawn in the problem-solving process of the change problems (RILEY et al., 1983) were compared between different graders.
Our results show that first and second graders drew only the half of the required elements and were not able to constitute the right schema.
Although third graders drew only a few elements in easy problems, they drew many elements in difficult problems. It is suggested that first and second graders were in the first stage, third graders are in the second or third stage of RILEY’s three-stage model. Our results imply that the word-problem instruction for schoolchildren is required in the lower grades.
