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Issues in Educational Research, 2020, Vol 30(3), 828-848.
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'Does mathematics fool us?' A study on fourth grade students' non-routine maths problem solving skills

Yusuf Ergen
Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University, Turkey

This study used a holistic multi-case research design to investigate fourth-grade students' skills for solving non-routine mathematics problems. The participants were three 4th grade students (primary school) with low, moderate and high achievement in mathematics respectively, who were educated in the same class at a state school of middle socio-economic level in north-east Turkey. They were selected through a maximum diversity sampling method. Data were collected using a clinical interview technique, via a form consisting of four non-routine problems, developed by the researcher, and were analysed via a content analysis procedure. Findings reveal that participants did not use strategies that can be used during reading problems; although all three students performed the arithmetic operations correctly, they could not reach the correct result in their first stage in both problems; they only checked the accuracy of the result on arithmetic operations.
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Author: Yusuf Ergen is an assistant professor in the Department of Primary Education at Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University in Turkey. His research interests are teaching primary school mathematics, reading comprehension and teacher education.
Email: yergen22@gmail.com

Please cite as: Ergen, Y. (2020). 'Does mathematics fool us?' A study on fourth grade students' non-routine maths problem solving skills. Issues in Educational Research, 30(3), 828-848. http://www.iier.org.au/iier30/ergen.pdf


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