Posts Tagged ‘problem solving’
Contrived versus genuine mathematical problems
Posted by: Gary Ernest Davis on: April 15, 2011
It might come as a surprise to some people, but kids are not stupid. So what’s a little kid to make of the following question: “Bobby has a dog with 8 spots. Jennifer has a dog with 3 fewer spots than Bobby’s dog. How many spots does Jennifer’s dog have?” What’s a kid to think? […]
Beginner's mind: seeing the mathematics
Posted by: Gary Ernest Davis on: January 22, 2010
My colleague has a Ph.D. in mathematics and two young children – 9 and 11 years of age. She writes the following account of her children’s engagement with a word problem: Yesterday my 9 year old was struggling with the following problem: “Suzi and Joey had the same amount of money. Then they went shopping. […]
