Trends in Research in Problem Solving in Mathematics

Abstract

This study explored trends in problem solving in mathematics research from 2000 to 2020. A total of hundred (100) articles related to mathematical problem solving were examined from the selected journal articles available online. Topical issues as well as methodological trends (research methods, type and size of sample, tools for data collection and techniques for data analysis) were investigated. Content analysis was employed to analyse the sampled data using open codes according to the categories, and themes were generated for some research questions. The results showed that topical issues mainly investigated in mathematical problem solving within the trend period were problem solving ability, teaching, meta-cognition, thinking through, views, process, strategies, creativity, difficulties, efficacy, assessment, performance, representation, and problem-solving curriculum respectively. Methodological trends showed a preference for the qualitative research method. Tests and interviews were the dominant data collection tools utilized while qualitative descriptive analysis was the most preferred data analysis technique. It is therefore concluded that this study can serve as a foundation for further studies and an enhanced study on mathematical problem solving.

Incorporating history of mathematics in open-ended problem solving: An empirical study

“…Furthermore, problem solving concerns the student's engagement on any mathematical task that is not judged procedural or the student does not have an initial overall idea how to proceed in solving the task and directly tied to thinking, learning, memory, perception and motivation (Mamona-Downs & Downs, 2013;Rohmah & Sutiarso, 2018). This perspective is essentially based on the classic work of George Polya, the father of modern problem solving (Awofala & Ajao, 2021), how to solve it (Polya, 1945), and still includes heuristics, metacognition, identification of students' thinking patterns, and more. Problem solving has been a prominent subject in mathematics education for the past four decades, and research studies have focused heavily on the function of heuristics and their influence on students' problem-solving ability (Mousoulides & Sriraman, 2020).…”