What is Problem
Uploaded by Abdulrahmanyabo on Mar 23, 2013
What is Problem?
A problem is a question that motivates you to search for a solution. This implies first that you want or need to solve the problem and second that you have to search for a way to find a solution. Whether a question is a problem or on exercise depends on the prior knowledge of the problem solver.
A problem is a problem because you don’t know straight away how to do it. Let’s be clear start that we are talking about mathematical problems here. So what would stop you or one of the children in your class from doing a mathematics problem? Well, first there may be something about the wording that you don’t understand. Then the second, you may not see how to get started. There may be no obvious strategy for you to use. Third you may not know the right piece of mathematics to use, and fourth, you may know the right strategy and right mathematics but you may not be using them correctly or you may not be able to see how to put them together to come up with a solution.
The strange thing about problem is that what is a problem for one person is not necessarily a problem for someone else. This is because no two people have the same set of experiences. Hence one person will be able to understand the wording of a problem more quickly, than one of their friends-you will be able to understand more problem than your children will, simply because you are more experienced and have a larger vocabulary.
Some people too, will see what approach to take to a given problem more quickly than someone else sometimes. Strategy is almost obvious, sometimes too it is far from obvious. Of course your mathematical knowledge is vital to solving problems – clearly the more you know, the less questions will be problems. And on some days you will see how to put together the right strategy and the right maths more quickly than you will some other time.
WHAT IS PROBLEMS SOLVING?
A problem solving is a mathematics process. As such it is to be found in the strand of mathematics processes along with logic and reasoning, and communication. This is a side of mathematics that enables us to use the skills in a wide variety of situations.
Problem solving can also be defined as a mental process that involves discovering, analyzing...