Unlocking the secrets of students’ mathematical literacy to solve mathematical problems: A systematic literature review

Mathematical literacy is the ability to use mathematical knowledge in real-life situations, making it an essential component of education because of its importance in solving everyday problems. Mathematical literacy is also part of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) global assessment. Because of the importance of the subject, this Systematic Literature Review (SLR) investigated the relationship between students’ mathematical literacy and their ability to solve mathematical problems. This SLR uses the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) approach was used, and articles published from January 2013 to August 2023 were obtained from databases including ERIC (342), ProQuest (1,329), and Scopus (27). Following PRISMA, a total of 20 articles were included in the review. Of the 20 articles, most were conducted on junior high school students in Turkey. The majority of reviewed studies found students to have a low level of mathematical literacy, which caused difficulties in formulating problems. The examined studies also revealed several internal and external factors affecting mathematical literacy. Problems used by PISA were the most frequently employed to measure students’ mathematical literacy in the reviewed studies.