Teachers' mathematical problem posing: The role of processes and complexity levels in posing problems on the fraction part-whole concept

Abstract

This study contributes to understanding the influence of different problem posing tasks on the performance of in-service teachers in posing important and worthwhile mathematical problems. The problem posing tasks pertain to the part-whole concept of fraction which presents ongoing challenges for teachers and students. The study sample was comprised of 40 in-service primary school teachers who completed an electronic problem posing test. The problem posing tasks included different problem situations and prompts that addressed: (a) four types of problem posing processes (editing, selecting, comprehending, and translating), and (b) four levels of complexity (uni-structural, multi-structural, relational, extended abstract). The results suggested that in-service teachers’ performance is mainly influenced by the process involved in a problem posing task, being higher in problem situations that are more closed structured compared to more open structured. The level of complexity was not found to influence in-service teachers’ performance.