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Comparing multiple solutions in the structured problem solving: Deconstructing Japanese lessons from learner’s perspective

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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to enhance our understanding of how students listen and attend to multiple solutions proposed by their classmates during the activity of comparison. This study examines ten consecutive lessons in each of the two eighth-grade classrooms in Tokyo that are organized in the style of structured problem solving. Twenty-four students were asked to be video/audio recorded during the lessons and also to identify and comment on their significant classroom events in the post-lesson video-stimulated interviews. The students’ comments on the situations of comparing multiple solutions were classified into five codes, which show that they listened to multiple solutions differently on the basis of their process and product in the preceding individual problem solving. Furthermore, it was found that the students’ exploratory questions led them to active listening to other people, which contributed to their meaning-making activity.

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Acknowledgments

I would like to thank David Clarke and Yoshinori Shimizu for giving me the opportunity to conduct this study, and Yuka Funahashi for her contribution to the analysis of the data. I also wish to thank the reviewers for their helpful comments during the review process.

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Correspondence to Keiko Hino.

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Hino, K. Comparing multiple solutions in the structured problem solving: Deconstructing Japanese lessons from learner’s perspective. Educ Stud Math 90, 121–141 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-015-9626-y

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