Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Math Word problems

hals99,

I took a look at your book and at your questions below. I have a few comments.

1) MWP are a problem for the majority of students, regardless of their mathematical ability because they usually do not actually read the whole problem. They skim it looking for the numbers and then the question at the end and then try to "figure it out" based on that info.
2) Why do they do this? many different reasons, often because the idea is that "this is math, not reading, so I shouldn't have to read to answer math questions". Also, a number of word problems in school math books are random and not linked to what the students are actually involved in with their life. Even if the authors write it with hopes that students will find it interesting, purely because it is written in a math book they will not be interested in it. (This is true for most subjects, not just math problems)
3) Another issue that needs to be addressed is that when word problems are first introduced, it is often the teacher who cements it in the students' minds that word problems are hard and difficult to do. This view is then reinforced by the students' experience when they try to do some on their own.
4) Being good at math and/or good at English does not mean that a child can then read a mathematical or scientific problem and understand what is being asked. Math and science based word problems are usually written by math and science people, and is not written the same way we use language in everyday speech or in any other aspect of our lives. If we really want students to be good at solving word problems, we first need to teach them to be able to read scientifically written articles.
5) While I use word fractions all the time to help my students understand word problems, the problem with using them is that fractions in and of themselves often makes students shut down faster than word problems! Also, if we again look at what most teachers will accept for work on word problems, the problem is usually assigned within a certain topic and the teacher wants the students to use that particular new skill to solve the problem, not simply apply word fractions to them all. In fact, I know many teachers who would mark problems wrong if they did not use the new skill to solve them. They consider it cheating to use dimensional analysis. (Yes, this is from first hand experience as both a student and a teacher.)
6) And finally, many times teacher mistakenly believe that they do not have to teach students how to actually solve word problems, but assume that if they understand the new skill being taught that they should be able to read a word problem and know the steps needed to solve them. It is similar to the situation that often occurs with graphing - the science department assumes that the math department has taught the skills and they shouldn't have to, while the math department only teaches the skills of graphing mathematical functions and usually not graphing data for analysis.

In reference to your particular book, I think that many people would find it overwhelming to see that many rules needed to solve word problems. It looks like a good reference for teachers who need to help students understand dimensional analysis. However, it still doesn't get the student to actually know how to solve the word problem using a particular skill that the problems were designed as an application of.