This dissertation describes the personal problem-solving language used by grade five students as they solve mathematical problems. Student classroom interactions were audio-taped and filmed during the course of the 199711998 school year. Ethnographic methods and a qualitative research approach were used for gathering, analyzing and interpreting the data. The questions that guided the study were: (1) how children solve problems and (2) what tools and symbols systems do they use. The purpose was to understand the problem-solving process better. The underlying assumptions were that: (1) most students can generate their own strategies and problem-solving theories; (2) many students can solve complex mathematical problems. The findings revealed that students generate problem-solving strategies and symbol systems that resemble the tools that they chose to use and their individual learning styles. Most students needed to talk about their proceedings and often used a personalized language form and nomenclatures that were uniquely creative as place holders for the more exact terminology, which replaced the invented language. The data also captured highly creative moments when the students experienced a heightened sense of awareness and sensibility while they explored their problem spaces. It was also evident that there is a transfer from the child's personal problem-solving style, choice of tools and creative symbol systems into his unique representation of the problem's solution. This transfer supports Vygotskian notions that language mediates thought and that social interaction mediates language.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.37597 |
| Date | January 1999 |
| Creators | Klein, Ana Maria. |
| Contributors | Beer, Ann (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Educational Studies.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001746026, proquestno: NQ64590, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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