The comparison of mathematical problem solving of patterns in year 3 and year 5 of primary school

The thesis, entitled The Comparison of Mathematical Problem Solving of Patterns in Year 3 and Year 5 of Primary School, aims to underline the importance of solving math problems during math lessons and establish whether the pupils' age impacts the success of solving a selected problem. It is composed of a theoretical and an empirical part. The theoretical part presents the concept of a math problem and what problem-solving knowledge is, focusing on mathematical patterns and sequences. The latter is the research subject of the empirical part. Thus, the empirical part tries to establish whether the pupils' age impacts the success of solving a mathematical problem concerning patterns, if they understand the concept of a pattern and if they are able to generalise. The research was conducted in the 3rd and in the 5th grade; the pupils were presented with a specific math problem. The results suggest that the pupils' age does influence the success since older pupils did better in many ways: they better understand the concept of a pattern; they can compose several and more complex patterns; they can introduce new elements to the pattern and are better at generalising