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An Understand, Strategize, Execute and Reflect (USER) Approach to the teaching of mathematical problem solving: one teacher’s experience
Citation
Paper presented at the international conference on education, Redesigning Pedagogy: Research, Policy, Practice, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 2005
Author
Ho, Kai Fai
•
Tan, Preston
•
Hedberg, John G.
Abstract
Teachers often use ‘answer-checking’ and ‘going over’ solutions to teach mathematical problem
solving that emphasizes procedural skills. This paper examines an alternative approach adopted
from Polya, viz., an Understand, Strategize, Execute and Reflect (USER) to explore a more
metacognitive strategies that develop higher order problems solving. The teacher-researcher used
this alternative in one class of students over a period of ten weeks. A pre- and posttest were
administered both in this class and a contrast class. Results show that the USER approach made
some impact. The paper also reports on the experiences of the teacher-researcher as he reflected on the study.
Date Issued
May 2005
Project
CRP 1/04 JH