engleski

Problem solving and e-learning: challenge and pitfalls

"A problem is only a problem (as mathematicians use the word) if you don’t know how to go about solving it. A problem that has no “surprises” in store, and can be solved comfortably by routine or familiar procedures (no matter how difficult!) it is an exercise "(A. Schoenfeld). Problem solving has been studied very thoroughly from Polya’s time till today. It plays an important role in mathematics and should have a prominent role in the mathematics education. On the other hand, there is little or no research on implementing problem solving into e-learning. We are going to give a brief overview of problem solving from Polya’s time till today in two directions. In the first are characteristics of good problem solving process – what is good problem and teaching process? In the second are skills of good problem solver – what are the adequate patience level, confidence, willingness and attitude towards problem solving? Then we will present our first steps in dealing with problem solving through e-learning. Our idea was to expose students to greater number of problem tasks (that they didn’t expect in the beginning of the semester) with an opportunity to get the feedback and discussion with teacher through e-learning. We wanted to research three things: how many students would use this way of problem solving, whether this extra engagement would yield better results for similar tasks in mid-term tests, and students attitude towards problem solving. We came to conclusion that students cannot become successful problem solvers overnight. Helping students to become successful problem solvers should be a long-term goal, so effort should be made to reach this goal in every mathematical topic and in every lesson.

mathematics; e-learning; problem-solving

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