PROBLEM SOLVING
MODEL
BY CARL KHAMIS
DESIGN AND SHAPE OF THE MODEL
FOUNDER OF THE MODEL
■ He was born on December 13th December, 1887 in Hungary.
■ He was a professor of mathematics from 1914 to 1940 at ETH
Zurich and from 1940 to 1953 at Standford University.
■ He made fundamental contributions to combinatory, number
theory, numerical analysis and probability.
■ He is also noted for his work in heuristics and mathematics education.
■ Problem solving model was created by George Polya known as the
father of modern problem solving.
■ He had wrote mathematical papers and books about problem solving.
George Polya published the book How To Solve It in 1945.
HOW WAS THE MODEL DEVELOPED?
■ Polya first job was tutor for Gregor ,the young son of a baron that has struggled to solve
a solving problem questions.
■ So that, Polya (Reimer, 1995) had developed a method of problem solving that would
work for Gregor.
■ Then, he moved to Zurich, Switzerland and worked as lecturer.
■ One day, when he was walking in the garden, he met a young couple also walking and
chose another path. He continued to do this yet he met the same couple six more
times.
■ He was thinking how could it be possible to meet them so many times when he
randomly chose different paths through the garden.
■ He did experiments that he called the random walk problem and found that if the walk
continued long enough that one was sure to return to the starting point.
■ In 1940, he moved to United States and kept on continuing his research about problem
solving.
■ In 1945 he published the book How to Solve It which quickly became his most prized
publication. In this text he identifies four basic principles .
STRENGTH OF MODEL
■ It develops mathematical power because it can be act as TOOL for students to
apply their mathematical knowledge to solve hypothetical and real world
problems.
■ It encourages students to believe in their ability to think mathematically. They
will see that they can apply the maths that they are learning to find the
solution to a problem.
■ It is an interesting and enjoyable way to learn mathematics.
- using diagrams, charts, pictures, backward
■ approach to the way that other subjects are taught in primary school.
■ It teaches thinking, flexibility and creativity;
– Students could use variety of strategies, solutions and ideas to solve
problem.
WEAKNESS OF THE MODEL
■ Preparation time.
– Students confuse to choose the best solution
for the problem among the solutions.
■ students of low ability.
- low of knowledge of basic mathematics
■ Curriculum constraints.
– Problem solving takes times.
SUITABILITY FOR TEACHING AND
LEARNING MATHEMATICS
SUITABILITY UNSUITABILITY
- Suitable to use for mathematics - Not suitable to use for basic
problem questions that implement 4 mathematics calculation example:-
process that are understand the 1+2, 3x3
problem, plan the strategy,
implement the strategy and recheck.
- It makes solving problem questions
easy to learn and become efficient
problem solvers - diagram, visualize,
- The four steps help students keep in
mind the common sense nature of
math and mathematical problem
solving.
- students were able to use the
reasoning abilities
REFERENCES
■ Yuan, S. "Incorporating Pólya’s Problem Solving Method in Remedial Math," Journal
of Humanistic Mathematics, Volume 3 Issue 1 ( January 2013), pages 96-107. DOI:
10.5642/jhummath.201301.08 . Available at:
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/jhm/vol3/iss1/ 8
■ West Texas A&M University,
www.wtamu.edu/academic/anns/mps/math/mathlab/int_algebra/int_alg_tut8_pro
bsol.htm.
■ Reimer, L., & Reimer, W. Mathematicians are people too. (Volume 2). (1995) Dale
Seymour Publications
REFERENCES
■ Akgun, Levent. “Pre-Service Elementary Mathematics Teachers Problem Solving Strategies.” International
Journal of Academic Research, vol. 6, no. 2, 2014, pp. 178–185., doi:10.7813/2075-4124.2014/6-
2/b.27.“George Pólya.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Mar. 2019,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Pólya.
■ Brijlall, Deonarain. “Exploring The Stages of Polya’s Problem-Solving Model during Collaborative Learning:
A Case of Fractions.” International Journal of Educational Sciences, vol. 11, no. 3, 2015, pp. 291–299.,
doi:10.1080/09751122.2015.11890401.http://www.math.wichita.edu/history/men/polya.html
■ Nzmaths, nzmaths.co.nz/why-teach-problem-solving.
■ Yuan, S. "Incorporating Pólya’s Problem Solving Method in Remedial Math," Journal of Humanistic
Mathematics, Volume 3 Issue 1 ( January 2013), pages 96-107. DOI: 10.5642/jhummath.201301.08 .
Available at: https://scholarship.claremont.edu/jhm/vol3/iss1/ 8
■ West Texas A&M University,
www.wtamu.edu/academic/anns/mps/math/mathlab/int_algebra/int_alg_tut8_probsol.htm.
