Philippine E-Journals

The Psychology of Mathematics Learning and Problem Solving: Implications for Mathematics Education

Allan B. I. Bernardo

Discipline: Education, Psychology

 

Abstract:

This paper looks at mathematical learning and problem solving using the information-processing perspective in cognitive psychology. This perspective focuses on describing the students ' knowledge, skills, and strategies to understand performance in mathematical tasks. The discussion takes into account the specific character of mathematical knowledge and focuses on the following components: (1) domain knowledge or students' knowledge about the concepts and procedures in mathematics, and the problems students have about making sense of mathematical information, (2) the metacognitive aspect of math problem solving or students' control, planning, and monitoring over the problem solving process, and (3) the belief system or the effects of the students' beliefs and attitudes about mathematics on mathematical performance. The paper then describes characteristics of effective mathematical learning, and principles for designing more effective instructional and learning tasks/environments for mathematics courses.