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Strategy and Expertise in Solving Word Problems

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Cognitive Strategy Research

Abstract

This chapter is concerned with how people think when they attempt to solve complex arithmetic problems, like the examples in Table 11.1. Such problems represent realistic daily situations in which adults employ arithmetic, and frequently are encountered on standardized tests that people take for educational and career advancement. Developing solutions to problems like these requires no specialized knowledge—only fifth-grade reading and math are needed. Yet studies recently conducted in my laboratory show that even typical college students can experience great difficulty with arithmetic word problems. This same lack of basic problem-solving capability also is evident within our military services (see, for example, Hechinger, 1983; Derry & Kellis, 1986).

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Authors
  1. Sharon J. Derry
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Education, Department of Educational Psychology, University of South Carolina, 29208, Columbia, SC, USA

    Christine B. McCormick

  2. Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, 29208, Columbia, SC, USA

    Gloria E. Miller

  3. Department of Psychology, The University of Western Ontario, N6A 5C2, London, Ontario, Canada

    Michael Pressley

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© 1989 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

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Derry, S.J. (1989). Strategy and Expertise in Solving Word Problems. In: McCormick, C.B., Miller, G.E., Pressley, M. (eds) Cognitive Strategy Research. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-8838-8_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-8838-8_11

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-8840-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-8838-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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