Abstract
Problem posing is an important aspect of mathematics education. It has received increasing attention in the literature on curricular and pedagogical innovation. Some investigations on problem posing have looked at how students formulate mathematical problems, while others looked at how teachers pose them. In this chapter, this issue was discussed from two different perspectives both referring to how mathematics teachers deal with problem posing. Study 1 analyzed the characteristics of problems they posed, by asking them to formulate eight mathematical word problems whose resolution would involve multiplication and/or division. Study 2 analyzed the practice of teachers who use problem posing to teach mathematics to their students. In this study, participants answered in writing the following questions: What do your students learn by formulating math problems? What do they need to know to be able to formulate math problems? What are the main difficulties they face in formulating math problems? What are the main difficulties you encounter when working with the formulation of math problems in the classroom? The data obtained in the first study allowed to know the characteristics of mathematical word problems posed by teachers, especially in relation to the types of problems they formulate. On the other hand, data in the second study allow to know their opinions about their students and their teaching practice regarding problem posing in the classroom. The results of both studies were discussed in an articulated way, emphasizing the formulation of mathematical problems as part of the didacticknowledge that needs to be included in teacher education programs.
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Notes
- 1.
Although other types of multiplicative structure problems are documented in the literature, only these three types were identified in the corpus analyzed in this study.
- 2.
The judges were the authors of this chapter.
- 3.
Two teachers stated that they did not have any difficulty in working with the formulation of problems in the classroom. Thus, 59 teachers reported difficulties, this number being taken as a basis for the percentages reported below.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the following institutions: (i) Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) of the Brazilian Ministry of Science and Technology for the grants awarded to the first and to the third authors; and (ii) Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Ensino Superior (CAPES) of the Brazilian Ministry of Education for the financial support given through the Education Observatory Program (Observatório da Educação—OBEDUC).
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Spinillo, A.G., Lautert, S.L., Agranionih, N.T., de Souza Rosa Borba, R.E., dos Santos, E.M., da Silva, J.F.G. (2023). Problem Posing by Mathematics Teachers: The Problems They Pose and the Challenges They Face in the Classroom. In: Toh, T.L., Santos-Trigo, M., Chua, P.H., Abdullah, N.A., Zhang, D. (eds) Problem Posing and Problem Solving in Mathematics Education. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7205-0_9
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