Problem-Solving in Arithmetic: A Review of the Literature. I

EDUCATORS interested in the improvement of learning in the elementary will readily agree that the teaching of problem-solving in arithmetic offers one of the greatest challenges to elementary-school teachers. Buswell and Judd are not alone in saying, This subject [arithmetic] is the chief source of nonpromotion in the elementary school (6: 7). Newcomb has gone still further in expressing the common knowledge of every teacher of arithmetic that the most difficult part of the subject is the securing of satisfactory results in the solution of (25: 183). It is not at all surprising, therefore, that many attempts have been made to study those factors which enter into the solution of problems and to prescribe possible remedies which might lead to an improvement in this area of learning. The two articles in this series will present a summary of some of the writing that has been done in the field. First of all, pertinent articles dealing with the causes of difficulties in problem-solving will be reviewed. Then there will follow a comprehensive survey of investigations and experimental studies on the improvement of problem-solving, with particular reference to arithmetic in the elementary school.