Mathematical Problem-Solving Processes of Students with Special Needs: A Cognitive Strategy Instruction Model Solve It

Abstract

Being a cognitive strategy instruction model called 'Solve It!' involves cognitive and metacognitive elements. The model was developed by Montague (1992) as one of the process-based teaching strategies. The purpose of 'Solve It!' strategy is to teach the following seven cognitive strategy steps: read, paraphrase, visualize, hypothesize, predict, calculate, and check. Each cognitive strategy step has the following three metacognitive steps: ask, say, and check. 'Solve It!' strategy has been used to teach students with special needs on how to solve word problems. This study aimed to evaluate the studies using 'Solve It!' strategies. Therefore, this study reviewed studies by examining electronic databases, journal indexes, and references part of relevant studies. A total of 48 studies were found. These studies were reviewed in terms of inclusion and exclusion criteria, and 12 of them were used for descriptive analysis. The findings of the study revealed that 'Solve It!' was effective in teaching mathematical problem-solving skills for students with special needs. The findings were discussed in line with relevant literature, and some suggestions for future research, and practitioners were presented at the end of the paper.

The Learning Trajectory Construction of Elementary School Students in Solving Integer Word Problems

“…Conversely, teaching strategies with long algorithms begin to be questioned if the solution to the problem can be solved in one step (Csíkos & Szitányi, 2020). Problem-solving constructs consider students' experiences and anticipate their future strategies (Land et al, 2019;Özkubat et al, 2020).…”

“…A problem-solving approach can begin by developing students' thinking skills that depart from their learning styles. Learning activities by involving strategy and students' experiences in problem solving are very important to provide meaningful learning opportunities (Isoda, 2010;Özkubat et al, 2020).…”

Enhancement of Mathematical Conceptual Understanding in a Cloud Learning Environment for Undergraduate Students

“…Therefore, it can be said that mathematics is not only the study of basic concepts and skills, but that it also requires thinking skills, understanding, and the application of knowledge to problem-solving [3]. Mathematics problem-solving is a difficult skill for most learners to develop, due to the complexity of the problem-solving process [4]. Mathematics courses in higher education usually include a substantial quantity of content compared to the number of study hours [5].…”

Solving mathematical word problems using dynamic assessment for scaffolding construction

“…The definition of a problem can be interpreted as a situation that has a gap of available resources to be solved. A problem is a task that does not have a solution available with routine procedures so that it requires a meta-cognitive strategy [10]- [12]. Based on the type of solution, mathematical problems can be classified into three categories [13]: i) Solvable mathematical problems namely mathematical issues that require solutions to use certain algorithms; ii) Unsolvable mathematical problems namely mathematical issues with limitations on the availability of procedures, universe space, and sufficient information so that they cannot produce solutions; and iii) Non-mathematical problems namely ordinary problems without involving mathematical concepts.…”

“…Problem-solving requires a series of strategies to be implemented properly. Training problemsolving skills can be done using cognitive and metacognitive strategies [10]. Students need to be familiarized with various contexts so that they can grow their knowledge, metacognition, and belief in the problemsolving strategies used [11], [20], [21].…”