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Developing the Problem-Posing Abilities of Prospective Elementary and Middle School Teachers

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Part of the book series: Research in Mathematics Education ((RME))

Abstract

This chapter describes the results of an exploratory study incorporating problem posing in a mathematics content course for prospective elementary and middle school teachers. Problem posing was incorporated as problem generation (posing problems from a set of given information) and problem reformulation (posing problems related to a given problem). The content coverage of the course included problem solving, data analysis and probability, discrete mathematics, and algebraic thinking. Exposure to problem posing had two effects on those who posed the problems. First they began using more sophisticated problem reformulation techniques as the course progressed. Second, with regard to problem generation, participants developed efficient ways of posing problems when time constraints were imposed, and they developed greater aptitude for posing multi-step problems. The development of participants’ problem-posing abilities will be described in detail, and qualitative data will be presented to highlight participants’ views of the relationship between problem posing and school mathematics.

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Correspondence to Todd A. Grundmeier .

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Grundmeier, T.A. (2015). Developing the Problem-Posing Abilities of Prospective Elementary and Middle School Teachers. In: Singer, F., F. Ellerton, N., Cai, J. (eds) Mathematical Problem Posing. Research in Mathematics Education. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6258-3_20

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