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WORD PROBLEMS IN KOSOVO'S MATHEMATICS TEXTBOOKS FOR GRADE 8

Publication at Faculty of Education |
2022

Abstract

This study investigates whether Grade 8 Kosovo mathematic textbooks support teachers in their effort to develop their pupils' problem-solving skills as Kosovo's new curriculum requires. A textbook from the Dukagjini editing house pproved by Kosovo's Ministry of Education, which comprises a basic book and its supplement with additional problems, was analyzed using three classifications.

The first is concerned with how problems are presented. The second ne is about their cognitive features, and the third is related to their contextual nature.

In addition to the categorization of problems, we analyzed the representation of procedures based on Polya's problem-solving steps and specific heuristic strategies. The results reveal that the textbook does not provide enough opportunities to develop pupils' cognitive abilities.

Most of the problems are pure mathematics, routine and non-contextual ones. Moreover, problem- solving procedures are rarely applied, leaving pupils with limited chances to develop their problem-solving skills.