Technological devices in the development of pupils’ expertise in the use of selected heuristic strategies
Abstract
This paper shows how technological devices can be integrated into an increase/decrease of pupils' use of four selected heuristic strategies in mathematical problem solving. It is based on a longitudinal quasi-experiment designed in the sense of repeated measures. The following research questions are dealt with: Will the pupils' success rate in problem solving increase as a consequence of being taught the four selected heuristic strategies while using technological devices actively? Will the number of pupils who do not even start solving the problem decrease as a consequence of being taught the four selected heuristic strategies while using technological devices actively? A statistically increased success rate of problems solving a statistically significant decline in the frequency of the number of 'no response' cases (the solver does not start to solve the problem) were expected.
The study was carried out about by 342 pupils from the 13-17 age group in the Czech Republic in the years 2012-2014. The results of the study show the pupils' success rate in the solution of problems effectively solvable using the strategies systematic experimentation and solution drawing improved significantly if the use of these strategies went hand in hand with the active use of technological devices. The number of 'no response' decreased significantly.