The Effect of Student Ability Labels on Teachers’ Perceptions of Problem Posing in Mathematics Education

Abstract

Researchers conducted a survey (N = 157) to test whether student ability labels affect teachers’ perceptions and use of problem posing, an instructional strategy in which students generate mathematical questions and problems. The researchers hypothesized that teachers generally consider problem posing to be more conceptoriented than routine problem solving, and that teachers asked to consider students labelled “high-achieving” would be more likely to use problem posing than those asked about students labelled “low-achieving.” Consistent with previous research, secondary mathematics teachers viewed problem posing as a mainly conceptoriented strategy that promotes higher-order thinking. By a sizable margin, teachers were significantly more likely to support the use of problem posing when asked about high-performing students. Teachers asked about low achieving students reported being significantly less likely to use problem-posing tasks. Differences in use of strategies like problem posing could contribute to achievement gaps in mathematics as research has shown that problem-posing tasks are differentiable for and accessible to students who have previously demonstrated struggle in mathematics. Professional development and preservice instruction are needed that focus on using problem-posing and similar concept-oriented strategies with struggling students, affording them more equitable opportunities to develop higher-order mathematical thinking.