The Relationship between Cognitive Structure Quality and Problem Solving Ability Arithmetic and Mathematics Word Problems

This study investigated the relationship between cognitive structure and ability to solve arithmetic and mathematics word problems. The aim of this paper is to explain the differences between "children who can" and "children who can't." Fifth and sixth grade elementary school students and university students were the subjects of this study. A questionnaire was given that measured ability to solve word problems, and interviews were given by the author to assess cognitive structure quality. The results of the study showed correlation between questionnaire scores and interview scores, demonstrating that the ability to solve word problems is related to cognitive structure. In addition, it was found that some of those who at first appeared to be "children who can" were confused by confusing word problems. The difference between "children who can" and those who only seem to be "children who can" was found to lie in schema quality. It was shown that the difference between "children who can" and "children who can't" was in the existence or absence of schema