Difficulties in reasoning among high achievers when doing problem solving in mathematics

Abstract

In the Malaysian context, there is a current need in elevating reasoning skills among high achievers in academic. Apart from the Ministry of Education realising they have not been performing excellently in the past global assessments, specifically in the reasoning component; numerous studies have also reported that high achievers faced difficulty in reasoning when doing problem solving activities in mathematics. Previous studies have reported that conventional instructional approaches used when learning problem solving in the mathematics classroom such as cloze technique questioning by teachers, rehearsing patterns to solve similar problems, and explaining step by step procedures to solve problems may have led to cause high achievers to face difficulty in displaying reasoning. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the components of reasoning skills that high achievers lacked in when doing problem solving in the mathematics classroom. In order to gain insight on the components of reasoning that high achievers displayed when doing problem solving, four intact mathematics classrooms were observed using an observation checklist. Particular attention was paid to the questioning exchanges between the teacher and students that stimulated reasoning among the latter, as evident by their verbal responses. The findings indicated that high achievers displayed some form of knowledge reasoning when solving mathematical problems. However, they hardly displayed systemic thinking.