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PRIMUS: Problems,
Resources, and Issues in
Mathematics Undergraduate
Studies
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WRITING, READING,
AND ASSESSING IN AN
ELEMENTARY PROBLEM
SOLVING CLASS
a a
Dr. Maria G. Fung PhD & Dr. Leon Roland PhD
a
Western Oregon University, Department of
Mathematics , 345 North Monmouth Avenue,
Monmouth, OR, 97361, USA
Published online: 13 Aug 2007.

To cite this article: Dr. Maria G. Fung PhD & Dr. Leon Roland PhD (2004) WRITING,
READING, AND ASSESSING IN AN ELEMENTARY PROBLEM SOLVING CLASS, PRIMUS:
Problems, Resources, and Issues in Mathematics Undergraduate Studies, 14:4,
289-302, DOI: 10.1080/10511970408984094

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 Fung and Roland Elementary P rob lem Solv ing Class

WRITING, READING, AND

ASSESSING IN AN ELEMENTARY
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PROBLEM SOLVING CLASS

Ma ria G . Fung and Leon Roland

ADDRESS: Western Oregon Un ivers ity, Department of Mathematics, 345

North Monmouth Avenu e, Monmouth OR 97361 USA .

ABSTRACT: Problem solving, writing, scoring ru br ic, mentoring.

KEYWORDS : In this paper we discuss a variety of writing, reading and

assessment techn iques used in an element ary problem-solving class for
pre-service K-8 teach ers at Western Oregon Univers ity. We share our
experience in teaching problem-solving strategies through selection
and creation of quality word prob lems, problem-solving ass essment
and t he Oregon Scori ng Guide, and finally t he capstone experience
for our stude nts: the Online Mentoring P roject at th e Math Forum
at Drexel University.

INTRODUCTION
Upon the recomm endati ons of NCTM, Oregon (like a number of ot her
states) has incorporat ed problem solving as a maj or component of its state
standards and state benchmarks tests. As a resu lt of t his trend, teachers
entering the pro fession are expected to be well versed in teaching strong
problem-so lving skills and to be competent in using t he Oregon Mathemat-
ics P ro blem-Solving Scoring guide both in teaching and in assessing st ude nt
work. T he mathem ati cs compo nent of pre-ser vice K-8 teacher education at
Western Orego n University incorporat es a yea r-long found at ional mathe-
matics seque nce, ent it led Foundati ons of Element ar y Ma t he matics, and two
ad ditiona l upp er- level mathemat ics courses, one ent it led Manipulatives in
Mathemat ics and one ent it led Elementary Problem Solvin g. These cour ses
are required of all pr e-serv ice K-8 t eachers (an d no t just those specia lizing

289
 Decemb er 2004 Volume XIV Number 4

in mathematics) becau se we believe t hat solid math emat ics know ledge is
indispensable for any eleme ntary or middle schoo l teacher.
The mai n objectives for the Element ar y Problem Solving class are for
students to:

improve pro blem-solving skills by building upon arid extending knowl-

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edge acqu ired in the foundational mathematics sequence;

learn to write non-rou ti ne problems t hat int rod uce, enhance or illus-
t rate imp ort an t mathematical themes or ideas ;
become proficient in using the state prob lem-solving scor ing guide;
ex perience read ing, replying, and evaluating young pro blem solvers'
solut ions via the Onlin e Mentorin g Project at t he Math Forum Web
Resource at http://www . mathforum. org/pow (See sect ion 7 for a de-
tailed explana t ion.)

Element ar y Problem Solving is an int ense and demanding course . P re-

serv ice teachers work on a variety of math ematics problems both inside
and outside of class: da ily in-class problem-solvin g sessions and activit ies
t hat illust ra t e imp or tan t mathemat ical t hemes from t he elementary and
middle schoo l mathematics curricula; weekly textbook homework probl ems
that are dedicated to a speci fic problem-solving st rategy ; half a dozen non-
rou tine story problems that focus 011 com plete, clear exp lanations ca lled
P roblems of t he Week (P a Ws); eight por tfolio problems t hat are created by
t he stude nts aro und a par ti cular st rategy. P re-service teachers are also given
opportunit ies to begin evaluating problem solving: first , as peer mentors for
a solut ion to a weekly homework problem; second, as assesso rs of qu ality
story problems; finally as evaluators of sa mples of elementary and middle
school prob lem solvers' work. We believe t hat t he Elementar y Problem
Solvin g course provides pre-service teachers with opportunit ies to experience
all aspects of problem solving-as teacher educat ion st ude nts , as st udents of
mentors, and as teachers to elementary st udent s. In t his art icle we describe
in mor e detail the ma in writ ing, read ing, and assessment act ivit ies from our
course .

WRITING: PORTFOLIO PROBLEMS

Ear ly in t he class th ere is a lively discussion about what makes a "good"
story problem. Each t erm, pre-serv ice teachers invari ab ly agree t hat such
a problem ought to have more t ha n one st ep; it ought to be solvable by
more t ha n one method ; it ought to have possibly more t ha n one answer;

290
 Fun g a nd Roland Elementary Problem Solving Class

it ought t o have clear lan guage with no redundan t inform ati on ; it ought t o
be fun and relevan t to children's lives; and finally, it ought to have actua l
mathematical value in t hat it can improve und erst anding a nd promote or
extend genuine knowledge.
Each st udent is assigned to write and solve approximately eight to te n
pro blems, keepi ng a par t icular solut ion st rategy in mind . We found th at t he
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text Problem Solving Strategies: Crossing the River with Dogs and Other
Mathematical Adventures, Second Edition, by Ken J ohn son and Ted Herr
[3] is a great reso urce for such assignme nts. The st rategies we have selected
follow t he expos it ion of t he text's prob lem sets. T hus, they ca n be as general
as dr awing a picture or diagram , or perh aps makin g a systematic list of
possibilit ies; and as concrete as usin g t he tec hnique of finite differences to
generate a formul a for t he n-t h term of a sequence. St udents are encouraged
to create t heir own story problems, but th e opt ion of ada pt ing a prob lem
from the text is also available to t hem. We int end that wit h t hese prob lems,
st ude nts begin to form a por tfolio of problems th a t t hey can use in t heir
classrooms up on ent ry into the teaching profession .
St ude nts are instructed to orga nize their wri ting in t he following for mat :
Problem, Prescribed Strat egy, Solu tion , Verificati on , Comments for Teach-
ers. The Comments for Teachers section can include ideas for (a) exte nding
or genera lizing t he problem, or (b) reflective comments a bout which to pics
t his problem illustrates within the K-12 mathemati cs cur riculum.
Eac h por tfolio problem is assesse d by t he instr uctor using a rubric with
the following compo nents: illustrat ion of t he prescrib ed st rategy; illustra-
t ion of an import an t mathemat ical idea; cla rity and goo d use of language;
comp leteness of the solution; accuracy of t he solut ion; and ap propriate com-
ments.
This wri ti ng technique allows us to point out and highlight common
prob lem solving st rategies and to have pre-service teachers begin to see cer-
tain types of story prob lems as repr esenting disti nct inst an ces of a parti cular
mathematica l paradi gm . Pre-servi ce teachers ar e given t he cha nce to move
from t he role of recognizing and being able t o solve a problem with a pre-
scribed strategy t o becomin g aware of how to crea te a problem illustrat ing
t his prescribed strategy.

WRITING AND READING:

PROBLEM SOLVING SUMMARY
A problem -solving summary (see [4, pp . 37-38]) is a comprehensive docu-
ment including t he ent ire seq uence of t houghts and feelings t hat a probl em-

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 December 2004 Volume XIV Number 4

solver goes through. Thus, it ought to include all diagrams, pictures, false
starts, guesses, conjectures, sub-problems, extensions, and key moments like
getting insight, feeling stuck or frustrated . A problem-solving summary cap-
tures the entire process of creating a solution to a mathematical problem.
A problem-solving summary is more detailed than a portfolio problem's
solution or a problem of the week's write-up. It focuses on mathematical
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content but it also could include the accompanying psychological states of a

problem solver. We typically go through this extensive writing assignment
once a term.
For th eir problem-solving summaries, students work on an exploration
activity on the figurate numbers that takes several lessons. After students
study the triangular numbers in some detail and establish formulas for the
general term of this sequence, we have them look at the square, pentagonal
and hexagonal numbers. In the first part of this activity students are given
the first five figures and are instructed to draw the next two figures for each
case. They are then instructed to find as many patterns in each sequence
as they can, and record them. In the second part of this activity, students
have to determine the relationships between the triangular numbers and
their higher polygonal analogues. Is there a way to "see" the triangular
numbers sitting inside the square, pentagonal and hexagonal numbers? Fi-
nally, students find the lOath term in each sequence, and if they find this
rewarding, they are encouraged to move to finding the formula for the gen-
eral term of each sequence.
Students work in groups on the first part of the activity, and the groups
report their findings on patterns to the entire class (see "the whole class
groupwork format" in Fernandez, et at. [1]). Groups then reconvene and
continue to work on the second part of the activity. At the end there is
a final whole-class discussion. Volunteers go up to the board and present
their discoveries and methods. Many of the students begin to see more
connections during these presentations and are often incredibly surprised
by the variety of approaches that work in producing a formula for the ioo
term in the sequence of each of the pentagonal and hexagonal numbers. Not
every student gets to the point where they can independently generate the
formula for the general term of the sequence of figurate numbers except in
the case of the square numbers, but we find that the understanding of these
formulas is completely acceptable as a final step.
At the end of all presentations, each student has to go back and cre-
ate her own problem-solving summary. We encourage students to think of
these problem-solving summaries as detailed narratives of how the problem-
solving process progressed and how it eventually unveiled the final solution

292
 Fung and Roland Elementary Problem Solving Class

to this exploration.
During the subsequent class session, students exchange problem-solving
summaries of the figurate numbers activity with students from a different
group and spend some time outside of class giving detailed comments to
their peers. The format for these commentaries is open. The idea is again
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for students to figure out how other people th ink and write about the same
problem they have just comp leted. After reading their peers' commentaries,
students can choose to rev ise their summary before they turn it in to the
instructor for comments. These revisions only concern clarity of the expo-
sition and correct use of language.
Pre-service teachers find peer evaluation and the problem-solving sum-
maries eye-opening. Many of them have grown up believing there is only one
right way to do things in mathematics, and seeing the variety of approaches
a good mathematical problem generates is crucial for their mathematical
deve lopment.

ASSESSING: PEER EVALUATION

In addition to portfolio ass ignments, every week students bring t heir text
homework solutions to class and they go through a process of reading a nd
evaluating t heir peers' work. At t he beginning of class, students are given
the opportu nity to ask their peers questions about any problem from t he
text homework. On rare occasions, we give hints or suggestions on a prob-
lem. Mu lt iple ways of solving each problem are enco uraged and present a-
t ions of different ideas are highly valued . Afte r t his whole-class discussion
of the text homework, everyone gets to read a peer solution to one of t he
homework prob lems. Typically t his "special" problem is chose n by t he in-
structor and it is one of t he problems presente d in class. Papers are distrib-
uted through t he classroom in different ways each week in orde r to ensure
t hat st udents will get to read work from different classmates every week.
The po int of t his peer eval uation is for st ude nts to see ot hers' work and to
get used to reading critically and writi ng mea ningful comments . Pee r eval-
uat ors rate solutions on a simp le sca le from 0 to 2. They have to answer t he
following four questions and justify their choices using at least one complete
sentence:

How comp lete is the solut ion? (0 if prob lem is missing, 1 if probl em
is partially solved, 2 if solution is complete)
How well is t he solution communicated (0 poorly, 1 adequately, 2 very
well)?

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 Decemb er 2004 Volum e XIV Number 4

How acc urate is t he solut ion? (0 incorr ect , 1 minor mist ake, 2 correct)

Are t here any ot her comments abo ut t his work you would like t o
make?
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This simple evaluation process, which ty pically does not take more tha n
a few minu tes of class t ime, prepar es pre-servi ce teachers for t heir ro les as
ment ors at t he Math Forum and as te achers down t he roa d.

WRITING AND ASSESSING:

PROBLEM EVALUATION ACTIVITY
The culmination of a term 's work with Portfolio problems takes place right
before t he work on t he Online Mat h Forum Ment ori ng pro ject begins. A
whole week of class tim e is dedicated to a problem selection a nd problem
evaluation t heme. P rob lem select ion starts with asking groups of t hree to
four st ude nts t o brain storm where t hey can find suitable problems for their
future classrooms, and to discuss how to go abo ut adapt ing a problem to a
spec ific grade level or teaching goal. During t he whole-class discussion t hat
follows this gro up activity, students indicate a var iety of places for findin g
qua lity problems such as textbooks, prob lem books, journals, a nd inte rnet
reso urces. Common methods for adapting problems include cha nging t he
story be hind the pro blem or t he numbers in t he problem; simplifying lan-
guage; a nd conside ring a sub-prob lem or an extension. T his lesson ends
with each gro up working on adapting th e following problem:

A worm climbs t hree feet up a wall each day but slips down a
foot at night. If t he lengt h of t he wall is 10 feet , how long will
it take for t he worm to get to t he to p?

Each group of st ude nts is given a particular situation to wh ich th ey have

to adapt t his problem. Choices includ e various ed uca t ion levels (fro m first
gra de to high schoo l st udent s) a nd language issues for bilingual st ude nts.
Presentations of t he ad ap ted version of t his probl em are very lively a nd
even hum orous at times.
For t he problem evaluation activity each student is asked to bring two
problems to class: t he first one is to be her "best " portfolio prob lem and t he
second one is a problem she loves t hat can be selected from a ny resource.
Grou ps of approximately four st uden ts t hen work on select ing t he one or
two most excit ing prob lems brought to t heir group. It t urns out that the
task of singling out one or two out of eight good prob lems is very difficult,

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 Fun g and Roland Element ar y P robl em Solving Class

so we have develop ed a set of guidelines for t he st ude nts to follow. We do

not make any claims t hat t his choice system t ru ly disti ngui shes t he best
problem, but it at least tends to weed out probl ems with weaknesses in
certain areas .
Group memb ers are instru cted to read each others' problems (a nd solu-
t ions if they so desire) and to have a discussion about each of th e problems .
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T his discuss ion should include each of t he suggested prob lems a nd it should
includ e t he answe rs to th e following quest ions:

Is t his problem a "good" problem?

Does t his problem te ll an inte resting sto ry?
Is t his probl em comp elling math emati cally and captivating to young
problem solvers ' imaginations?

Group memb ers are instruct ed to ra te each problem according to how

strongly t hey agree t hat the probl em gives a positive answer to t hese ques-
tions. For exa mple, if t here are eight probl ems und er conside ration in a
gro up, each of t hese eight problems is rank ed first to eight h, based on an-
swers to t he t hree questi ons above. Ti es in ranking are allowed . The scores
ass igned to each probl em are t hen summed toge t her within eac h gro up a nd
a "winner" for each gro up is announced. It is interesting to observe how dif-
feren t groups judge different aspects in pro blem writ ing. Some students are
rea lly excited about int riguing scenarios while others are more concerned
a bout t he mathemat ical content of t he prop osed probl ems. The highest
rated problems of each gro up are presented in front of t he whole class a nd
are pro posed to t he Math Foru m 's prob lem select ion tea m.
Here is a n example of a prob lem chosen by one of our classes and used as
one of t he Fundam ental Problems of t he Week at t he Math Forum. It should
be poin ted out t hat t he Ma th Forum team cha nged t he origina l wording of
t his pro blem slight ly and includ ed t he Extra par t:

Building Bouquets - posted March 3, 2003

J an a owns a nd opera t es an ind epend ent flower shop. To help

sell more flowers (and cut down on waste), she offers a daily
special of bouquets or corsages create d from "left overs" from
larger orders.
Wi th to day's batch of left overs, J an a decides to try 4 flowers
in eac h bo uquet, bu t she has t hree ext ra flowers left. To make
pri cing eas ier, she wants t he specials to be the same size, so she
t ries making th e bouqu ets with 7 flowers each. . . but then there

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 December 2004 Volume XIV Number 4

are two flowers left. If she makes bundles of 8 flowers, she has
three flowers left.

1. Wh at is t he smallest possible numb er of flowers that J a na

has to work with?
2. Wi th t he number of flowers determined abo ve, how man y
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bouquets or corsages and of what size can Jana ma ke?

Ext ra: Do you t hink that J an a would ever have enoug h leftovers
t hat it wouldn't mat t er if she chose to make bouquets of 7, 8, or
9 flowers? (Don't forget - J an a doesn't wan t t o waste a single
flower. )
The idea for this problem was suggeste d by Amanda Kn ott, a
visiting ment or ! and West ern Oregon University student.

WRITING , READING , AND ASSESSING:

PROBLEMS OF THE WEEK AND
THE OREGON SCORING GUIDE
The official Oregon Math em atics Problem S olving Scori ng Guide? is a
rubric for assess ing problem solving. It is used with t he benchm ark math-
ematics prob lem solving state tests in t he fifth , eight h a nd te nt h gra des .
It is also prese nt in most Oregon K-8 math emati cs classrooms as a valu-
ab le teaching too l. T he Scori ng Gui de has five components : conceptua l
und ersta nding (t he "what"), processes & st rategies (t he "how"), communi-
cation (t he "connecting path " ), verificat ion (" defend") and acc uracy. Each
of these categories (except for acc uracy) can be given a score from 1-6, with 1
ty pically mean ing "minima l, ineffecti ve or not evide nt", 2 meaning "unde r-
develop ed or sketc hy" , 3 mea ning "pa rtially effect ive or partially complete" ,
4 mean ing "complete ", 5 meaning "t horo ughly developed" and 6 being "en-
hanced". Accuracy is rated on a 1, 4, or 5 sca le; 5 mean s comp let ely correc t,
4 means correct up to a min or mistake, and 1 means incorr ect or correct al-
beit unsup por ted by t he st udent's work . We use th e Oregon S coring Guid e
(OSG) in two primar y ways in t he Elementar y Problem Solvin g class : first,
students write t heir solut ions to t he cha llenging Problems of t he Week to

1 For a di scu ssion of t he ro le of a men tor, pleas e see th e sect ion on th e On lin e Men t oring
Proj ect.
2 Oregon Mathematics Probl em So lvi ng Scoring Guid e ca n be found a t the webs it e,
ht tp :// yyy .ode .state .or.us/asmt/ scoring/guides / 2002-03/mathscoringguide .pdf .

296
 Fun g and Roland Elementary Problem Solvin g Class

be assesse d with t he OSG; second, pre-servi ce teachers score sa mples of

elementary a nd middle schoo l st ude nt work using t he OSG.
P roblems of t he Week (P OWs) are problems of increas ing difficulty se-
lected by t he instructor from a variety of sources (such as textbooks, t he
Math Foru m libr ar y, or journ als like The Or egon Math emati cs Teacher (see
[6])). Stu dent s wri te up solut ions to t hese POWs using the OSG as t heir
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guide. This ensures t hat t heir write-up s are t horo ugh, t hought ful, an d
inclu de fewer mistakes t ha n a ty pical homework probl em. Students are
encouraged to find a different path to verify their answer a nd to just ify
why t heir answer makes sense. The emphas is of t hese ass ignments is on
practi cing ex plaining t he math emati cs of the probl em fully and clea rly.
As t he mathematical maturity of our st ude nts increases, t hey are ready
to move from th e role of a st ude nt to th at of a t eacher by learning how
to score young problem solvers' work . The Oregon Department of Educa-
tion provid es us with samples of act ual children 's work and th e pre-servi ce
teachers get to score th ese samples. They work on scoring first indi vidu-
ally and t hen in gro ups of three to four st ude nts. Gr oups t hen repor t to
t he ent ire class. A discussion abo ut differences in scorin g ensues . Usually
st ude nts expect th e OSG to be somewhat arbit ra ry and wond er how "acc u-
rate" gra ding with a mul ti -layered probl em solvin g rubric could be. They
are sur prised to discover that such a rubric in fact measures t he problem
solving process quite consistently, an d differences of at most one point oc-
cur most ofte n at t he 4-5 level, where t he decision between "complete" and
" t horoughly develop ed" seems t he most arbit ra ry. We exp lain t hat wit h
the state probl em solving tests, two different scorers look at each st ude nt 's
paper, a nd if t here is a difference of more tha n a point in any category, a
t hird gra de r is ca lled to assess t he work.
Student s t ake a n in-class exa m on th e OSG th at consists of gra ding
act ua l young problem solvers ' work . As score rs, students have to solve t he
problems first and th en judge two different solutions t o t he same question .
Again we use officially scored material s from the ODE for t he purposes of
thi s test .

CAPSTONE WRITING, READING ,

AND ASSESSING:
THE ONLINE MENTO RING PROJECT
The Fundam ental Problem of the Week (grades 3-6) and t he Pre-al gebra
Problem of the Week (grades 5-8) environment s at th e Math Forum (http :
/ /www.mathf or um.org/pow) offer crea tive non-routine pr oblems to individ-

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 Decemb er 2004 Volume XIV Number 4

ual students or class teams from all over t he world. After a problem is posed
at t he website, young probl em solvers have two weeks to sub mit t heir work
via t his online environment . If t hey leave a comme nt after t heir solut ion,
t hey ty pica lly ca n ex pect a reply from a mentor by email. This mentoring
repl y incl udes an assessment accord ing to t he probl em-solving rub ric devel-
oped at t he Math Forum a nd a let ter add ress ing t he solut ion. Mentors offer
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a com me ntary t ha t ought to include t houghtful comments and help ful hints
aimed at imp rovin g problem solving a nd enco uraging childr en to revise t heir
work (if needed ). The online proj ect allows our pre-servi ce teache rs to serve
as visit ing mentors eit her in t he Fun dam ental or t he Pre-algeb ra POW once
a te rm . It gives t hem valua ble field ex perience by pu t tin g t hem in t he role
of a teacher "talking" to actua l young probl em solvers.
Before college st ude nts begin mentoring, t hey get "t ra ined" by going
t hro ugh a series of prep ara tion lessons, done th rou gh a Web CT client at
Drexel Univ ersity. These lessons focus on t he followin g topics:

bas ics and principles of t he pro cess of mentoring problem solvers

t he Mentoring Guidelines of t he Math Forum
sub mitting a solution to a demonstrati on POW, t hen reading a nd
finally men toring peer sub missions in order to get an acc urate idea of
what young problem solvers are going thro ugh
getting ex pe rience usin g t he Math Forum scoring rubric
practice crit iquing mentor repli es
getting familiar with t he Expected Solut ion of t he sp ecific P OW to
be me ntored (T he Expected Solution is a docu ment that desc ribes in
detail t he different approaches to t he POW. It also includ ed guide lines
for ass igning scores in a ll the categories of the problem-solving ru bri c.)

These lessons can be done complete ly outside of class bu t our expe rience
shows th a t a certain amount of face-t o-face discussion is preferred by most
st ude nts.
The scoring rubric a t th e Math Forum is qui te similar to t ha t of th e
OSGj like most such rubrics, it is based on George P olya 's Framework (see
his fam ous book, How to Solve It [5]). It has two basic compone nts : probl em
solving and communication. The problem-solvin g compo nent consists of
t hree pa rts: in terpretation, stmtegy, a nd accumcy. The communication
compo nent consists of t hree par ts a lso: completeness, clarity, a nd reflec tion.
Each of the six categories ca n rece ive a score of Novice, Apprentice,
Practitioner, and Expert.

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 Fung and Roland Elem entary Problem Solving Class

Each college st udent mentor is assigned between six a nd twent y solut ions
from young problem solvers to mentor , dep ending on the tot al number of
submissions to the pa rticular POW t ha t th e college class has to mentor .
Pre-servic e t eachers check into an online office in ord er to compose a nd
send out t heir replies, and are notified of work th ey have to complete . The
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inst ru ctor and perhaps an expe rienced mentor from a pr evious te rm act as
app rovers of all mentoring replies before t hey are sent out to young probl em
solvers. Approvers can require a complete revision of a st ude nt mentor's
reply, or can implem ent some min or ed it ing before sending t he reply out,
or simp ly send a good reply as wri tt en . Revisions are ty pically requ ested
when t he scoring does not ag ree with t he Exp ected Solution; or th e to ne
of t he let ter is a bit har sh; or perhap s when t he college mentor is doing
too much te lling instead of suggesting. This whole proj ect ru ns on a very
t ight two-week schedule, and it requires great commit me nt on t he part of
t he college studen ts. Student mentors st rive to get t heir replies out as soo n
as possibl e; t hey check int o t he online POW office a few t imes a day; and
t hey st rive for minimal revisions.
The POW environme nt allows instructors to moni tor the activit ies of
eac h st udent mento r. It keeps t he corres po ndence between eac h stude nt
mentor and a young problem solver in a separa te "thread" . Threads include
all t he work from t he young probl em solver , the mentoring reply, appro ver 's
log a nd revisions, a nd if t he young problem solver decides to revise her work,
then t he revised answer a nd its subsequ ent mentoring reply are st ored t here
also. This arra ngement makes t he t as k of evaluating stude nt mdneotrs'
work on the Ma th Forum pr oj ect ext remely easy.
Here is an exa mple of a 5 t h grader 's submission to t he Building Bouquet s
problem, followed by a well-wri tten mentoring reply a nd assessm ent of t he
solution.

Answer: The sm allest possibl e number of flowers t ha t Jana has

t o work with is 51, with a nd a bout t en bouquets can be made,
and each bouquet sho uld have five and one tenth flowers in it .

Explanation:
I got 51 by listing numb ers and checked t o see if t hey fit t he
descripti on ab ove. I got ten bouquet s, becau se te n goes into
fifty. There sho uld be five and one tenth flowers in eac h bouquet,
because there is one flower left over and becau se t en goes into
fifty five times.

Mentor's Reply

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 Decemb er 2004 Volume XIV Number 4

Dear - -,
Thanks for sub mit ting to t he Problem of t he Week. It looks
like you are off to a goo d start. T he first par t of your answer is
correct. Writin g more detail about how you got t he num ber 51
will give you a cha nce to improve your score. How did you pick
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the numbers you listed? A good way to think a bo ut it is to try

to write your explanation so t hat one of your class mates could
read it and know how to do t he problem.
In t he second par t of your answer you mentioned t hat 10 goes
into 50. Ca n you find any numb ers t hat go int o 51? Remember
t hat J ana doesn 't want to waste a single flower so we need to
find a way to use every flower with ou t cut t ing any up .
You 'r e very close a nd I think you have a st ra tegy th a t will help
you find th e right an swer to part two . I hop e to hear from you
aga in!

Summary:
Probl em Solvin g Interpret ation : Apprentice
Strategy: Apprenti ce
Accur acy: Apprenti ce
Comm un ication Completeness: Apprentic e
Clarity: Apprenti ce
Reflecti on: Apprenti ce
(for an explanation of scores see: http://mathforum .org/poy/
scoring. html )3

This typ e of writing serves as a true cap stone experience in t he Elemen-

tary Problem Solvin g class . It brings together all t he expe rience students
have been acquiring in reading, writing and assessing solutions to mathe-
matic al problems. Mentoring repli es require pre-servi ce teachers to sto p and
t hink ab out the mathematics of the mentored probl em before th ey produce
meaningful suggestions and probin g questions aimed to improve children's
understanding. It is an opportunity that prepares future teachers to react
quickly to the vari ety of questions th ey might exp ect from students in a
busy explorat ions-oriente d elementary or middle school classro om. More-
over, reading work produced by K-8 students shows pre-servi ce teachers
again and again the variety of approac hes and the diversity of mathem ati-
cal prep ar ation am ong young problem-solvers. This "online" inter acti on is
3Reprinted wit h permission of The Math Forum at Drexel Un iversity, an on line co m-
munity for mathe ma tics ed ucat ion http://mathforum . org/. (Copyright) 1994- 20 03.

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 Fung and Roland Elementar y Problem Solving Class

genuine, with mul tiple young problem solvers revising their work a nd leav-
ing person al notes of gratit ude for t he help of t heir mentors. As might be
expected, pr e-service teacher s enjoy tr emend ously t his final aspect of t he
course. Below is a sma ll select ion of the overwhel mingly positiv e student
evaluations we have rece ived in the pas t two yea rs of bein g involved with
t his project.
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"Overa ll I t hink I learned a lot about pro blem solving throu gh my

par ti cipati on in t he Math Forum. I knew t here were different ways
of solving problems before, bu t actua lly read ing how st udents t hink
abo ut a problem and reading t heir exact solut ion pu ts everything into
a new perspect ive."
"I t hin k t he Math Forum Mentori ng project was an eye-o pe ning ex-
perien ce of what I could possibl y expect from my future stude nts ."
"I am glad t hat I may have help ed a st ude nt in a sma ll way underst and
one more t hing abo ut math t ha t he or she wasn't totally sur e abo ut ."
"T he Math Forum Ment oring project is a good learning pr ocess for
all st udent te achers becau se to me it teaches us how to pinpoint key
words in order for st ude nts to und erst and the math problem."
"I think the Math Forum Mentoring proj ect was a great expe rience
t hat was a lot of fun and gave me a great opport unity t o apply th e
problem-solvin g skills th at I have been learning a ll te rm ."
"In fact , I have learned t ha t t he a nswer is not t he most imp or tant
as pect to a solut ion. How an answer is arrived at and how it is ver i-
fied will tell mu ch more a bout how a st ude nt actually und erstands a
pr oblem . I am now much more confide nt to move closer to being a
t eacher afte r this expe rience."

CONCLUSION
As Margar et Ford points out in [2], "t he need for reflecti on as teachers
int egr ate math em ati cs content knowledge, pedagogy, and indi vidual beliefs
is a key to t he pr ocess of becoming an effective teacher of ma them ati cs"
(p.322) . It is our belief th at the variety of readin g, writing, and assessment
approaches described in t his article th at culmina te in the Online Mentoring
Proj ect in an Elementary Problem Solving course ena ble pre-service t eachers
to learn more math em ati cs; t o get an acc urate idea of how to te ach a nd
how to assess problem-solvin g at th e element ary and middle school level;
and, t hro ugh continued opportunit ies for reflecti on and growt h , to build a

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 Decemb er 2004 Volu me XIV Number 4

positi ve attit ude towards math emati cs as a valu a ble enterprise . It is our
sincere hope that ot her program s will create or enha nce a nd t hen sustain
similar efforts .

REFERENCES
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1. Fernan dez, Eileen , J essica Kazimir , Lynn Vandemeulebroo ke, a nd

Ca rlos Burgos. 2002. Exp eriment ing wit h Classroom Formats to En courage
P rob lem Solving. PRIMUS . 12(3): 247-261.
2. Ford , Mar gar et I. 1994. Teachers' Beliefs abo ut Mathemat ical P rob-
lem Solving in t he Element ar y School. Schoo l Science fj Mathem atics.
94( 6): 314-323.
3. J ohnson , Ken , a nd Ted Herr. 2001. Problem- S olving S trategies:
Cross ing the R iver with Dogs, an d Oth er Math ematical A ctivities . Em ery-
ville CA: Key Curriculum Press.
4. Nelson, L. Ted . 1991. Problem-Solving for Midd le School Teachers.
Por tl and State University: Curric ulum Developm ent Lab.
5. Polya , George. 1957. How To S olve It , 2"d ed. Princeton NJ: P rince-
ton University Press.
6. Th e Oregon M athem atics Teacher . A bi-monthly pu blicat ion of t he
Orego n Council of Teachers of Mathemat ics. lJlJlJ. oc t m. org.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Dr. Mar ia G. Fun g received her P hD in Ma thematics at Cornell University
in 1999. She has been at Western Oregon University since 2001. Her main
int erests lie in t he math emat ical prepar ati on of K-8 teachers . In her spare
t ime, she loves spending t ime with her husband and three young children.

Dr. Leon Rola nd received his PhD in Math ematics Education at Mon tan a
Sta te University in Bozeman. He has been teaching at Western Or egon Uni-
versity since 1985 an d is ret irin g t his yea r. He enjoys musical performan ce,
t heater, goo d food, and wor ld-wide t raveling.

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