DESIGN OF THE STUDY
To explore pupils’ problem solving processes, we videotaped fifth and sixth graders
(aged 10 to 12) working on mathematical problems. The pupils did so without
interruptions or hints, because we wanted to study their uninfluenced problem solving
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attempts. We decided not to use an interview or a think-aloud method, so as not to
interrupt the students’ mental processes. To get an insight into their thoughts, we let the
children work in pairs to interpret their communication in addition to their actions.2
Three tasks were selected for the comparison presented in this paper: