Teachers often provide strong rationale for not including problem solving activities is school mathematics instruction. These include arguments that problem solving is too difficult, problem solving takes too much time, the school curriculum is very full and there is no room for problem solving, problem solving will not be measured and tested, mathematics is sequential and students must master facts, procedures, and algorithms, appropriate mathematics problems are not available, problem solving is not in the textbooks, and basic facts must be mastered through drill and practice before attempting the use of problem solving. We should note, however, that the student benefits from incorporating problem solving into the mathematics curriculum as discussed above outweigh this line of reasoning. Also we should caution against claiming an emphasize on problem solving when in fact the emphasis is on routine exercises. From various studies involving problem solving instruction, Suydam (44) concluded: