MODELS OF PROBLEM-SOLVING - A STUDY OF KINDERGARTEN CHILDRENS PROBLEM-SOLVING PROCESSES

Seventy kindergarten children who had spent the year solving a variety of basic word problems were individually interviewed as they solved a ddition, subtraction, multiplication, division, multistep, and nonrout ine word problems. Thirty-two children used a valid strategy for all n ine problems and 44 correctly answered seven or more problems. Only 5 children were not able to answer any problems correctly. The results s uggest that children can solve a wide range of problems, including pro blems involving multiplication and division situations, much earlier t han generally has been presumed. With only a few exceptions, children' s strategies could be characterized as representing or modeling the ac tion or relationships described in the problems. The conception of pro blem solving as modeling could provide a unifying framework for thinki ng about problem solving in the primary grades. Modeling offers a pars imonious and coherent way of thinking about children's mathematical pr oblem solving that is relatively straightforward and is accessible to teachers and students alike.