A Dynamic Evaluation of the Process of Solving Mathematical Problems, according to N.F. Talyzina’s Method

BACKGROUND: The process of teaching mathematics represents a challenge for primary education, due to the different perspectives and disciplines involved. In addition, as an active and flexible process, it requires feedback on what the students actually achieved. An analysis of the different learning and development outcomes allows the teacher to understand the mathematical content and the method of teaching it in the classroom, with the objective of promoting the students’ conceptual development. OBJECTIVE: The objective of our study was to analyze the general skills for problem solving which students developed, by applying dynamic evaluation. DESIGN: A verification method was used to identify the students’ abilities and difficulties. A protocol for evaluating the process of solving mathematical problems was organized. The assessment included four simple problems and four complex ones. The participants were 15 students in the third grade of primary school attending a private school located in Mexico City. RESULTS: The results showed that the students identified the types of mathematical operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) required to solve the problems as their objective. Therefore, their preparation of a solution plan, its execution, and its verification were based only on empirical thinking and quantitative information. CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that problem-solving is an intellectual activity that requires conceptual development to carry out a solution plan, execute it, and verify it, in addition to the main objective of answering the question posed by the problem. We propose that these characteristics be included in the organization of mathematics teaching in order to develop mathematical thinking.