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This is my third IAE Blog entry about what I consider to be a serious weakness in our math education system.  The problem situation is that many teachers and students view the educational goal in math word problems is to learn to “get the answer.”

This is in marked contrast to having a goal of using word problems as a vehicle to learning math with understanding and in a manner that transfers to math-related problem situations one will encounter in the future.

My the two previous blog entries on this topic are:

Look before you leap; think before you act. Above all, first understand! http://i-a-e.org/iae-blog/look-before-you-leap-think-before-you-act-above-all-first-understand.html. 

 More about a poor way to teach the solving of math word problems. http://i-a-e.org/iae-blog/more-about-a-poor-way-to-teach-the-solving-of-math-word-problems-.html

Notice that I use the terminology problem situation. A problem situation lacks clarity of representation in one or more of the four-part definition of a problem. Quoting from http://iae-pedia.org/Word_Problems_in_Math:

You (personally) have a problem if the following four conditions are satisfied:

1. You have a clearly defined given initial situation.
2. You have a clearly defined goal (a desired end situation). Some writers talk about having multiple goals in a problem. However, such a multiple goal situation can be broken down into a number of single-goal problems.
3. You have a clearly defined set of resources that may be applicable in helping you move from the given initial situation to the desired goal situation. These typically include some of your time, knowledge, skills, and brainpower. Resources might include money, the Web, and the telecommunication system. There may be specified limitations on resources, such as rules, regulations, guidelines, and time lines for what you are allowed to do in attempting to solve a particular problem.
4. You have some ownership—you are committed to using some of your own resources, such as your knowledge, skills, time, and energy, to achieve the desired final goal.

I have no idea how many members of the math education community view the math word problem situation to actually be a personal problem that they are trying to address. My feeling is that it will require joint efforts of a large number of people in the math education community to address the problem.

If I am correct, then a starting point is to begin recruiting people who want to address the problem and who are willing to “stir up the troops.” To make something happen in a particular state, the participants in this activity can recruit their friends, engage discussion at a school and school district level, widely disseminate the problem throughout their state, flood their state department of education with urgent pleas for action, and so on. Wow! What do we need to do to get into the various public media? How do we reach parents and help them understand that their children are being short changed?

Three final remarks: First, a sign of support would be for you to actually do something and to widely communicate that you are doing something. A simple example would be to add comments to this blog entry and the other two blog entries cited above. Then tell your friends that you have done this and point to the three blog entries.

Second, remember the following quote:

 “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world: indeed; it's the only thing that ever has.” (Margaret Mead; American Cultural Anthropologist; 1901–1978.)

Third, engage your students in the discussion. Share your engagement approaches and both your successes and failures with others. We all have a lot to learn about empowering students and getting them more fully engaged in their own education.

Final Remarks

Spend a bit of time reflecting on what you have just read. How does the information fit in with your current knowledge, beliefs, and activities? How can you make use of the information to help improve our informal and formal educational systems? Who do you know that might benefit from reading the IAE Blog entry?

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Links to Related IAE Documents

Folk Math

Good Math Lesson Plans

In problem solving, think before you act. Above all, first understand the problem.

Integrating computational thinking into science, technology, engineering, & math education.

Math Education Wars.

More about a poor way to teach the solving of math word problems.

What is Mathematics?

Word Problems in Math