Reed, Stephen K.

The present study evaluated three instructional methods for solving algebra word problems. The instructions consisted of either an example, a set of procedures, or both the example and procedures. The procedures were rules designed to aid in solving word problems. The example was a worked-out solution to a word problem that was representative of the test problems. The subject's task was to study the instructional material and then generate the equations needed to solve the subsequent test problems. The test problems differed from the example by either 0, 1, 2, or 3 transformations. The results showed that subjects in the example and example-plus-procedure groups performed the best but the difference between these two groups was not significant. The procedures alone were relatively ineffective. A mathematical model is proposed to explain how the performance was influenced by the three types of instructional material and four levels of transformation.

The present study investigated how students in a college
algebra class select potentially useful solutions for
solving algebra word problems. Several variables, including
similarity, complexity, and inclusiveness were assessed to
determine how they influence subjects' selections. Results
indicated that neither complexity nor inclusiveness had a
significant impact on students' selections and that students
select solutions primarily on the basis of similarity.
Students' inability to select potentially useful solutions
was revealed by their failure to select the more inclusive
solution, even though their performance greatly improved
through the use of these solutions. The influence of
similarity on the selection of solutions and inclusiveness
on the effective use of solutions occurred when the
effective solutions had the same story context (Experiment
1) and when the effective solutions had a different story
context (Experiment 2).