What are effective instructional procedures for teaching math problem solving?
Mathematical problem solving is a complex cognitive activity involving a number of processes and strategies. Problem solving has two stages: problem representation and problem execution. Successful problem solving is not possible without first representing the problem appropriately. Appropriate problem representation indicates that the problem solver has understood the problem and serves to guide the student toward the solution plan. Students who have difficulty representing math problems will have difficulty solving them. One of the most powerful problem representation strategies is visualization. Developmentally, for most children, visualization matures somewhere between the ages of 8 and 11. Therefore, students in upper elementary school should be able to use visualization effectively to represent mathematical problems. Students with LD, however, who have been characterized as having a variety of strategy deficits and differences, usually have difficulties using visualization as an
