Math Problem Solving Strategies
Five Steps to Solve Mathematical Problems
Students need to be taught problem solving strategies to dissect a math problem. Teach five simple steps to assist the student in solving a math problem.
Locate key words: The problem will have key words to suggest the type of operation or operations to be performed to solve the problem. For examples, words such as altogether or total suggests addition while words such as difference or how many more suggests subtraction.
Guess the Answer: Students should guess an approximate answer that makes sense based on the problem. For example, if the student knows the word altogether suggests addition, they will conclude the answer must be greater than the numbers in the problem. Often students are fearful of guessing because they do not want to get an incorrect answer but it is important for students to guess their answer and then check if they are correct. If the student is incorrect they try another strategy for finding the answer.
Make a Table: It is important for students to organize mathematical data. Often students become confused with the problem because there are too many variables, by organizing the data students will have a better opportunity of making sense of the data. Also it leaves less room for error because the data is in an organized structure.
Pictures or Concrete Materials: Math is very abstract; it is easier to solve a problem using pictures or concrete materials to illustrate the problem. Pictures and concrete materials allow the students to manipulate the material to solve the problem with trial and error.
Use Logic: Students need to use the process of deduction to decide on the answer to the problem. Sometimes students will have an answer that does not make sense. It is important for students to arrive at a solution that is feasible. For example, a student solving how far a person walked in a day must decide that 1 million miles is not logic and if that is the answer they calculated their was an error in the calculation or the numbers used.
