03.12.

2015

WhatistheOpenendedProblemSolving

WhatistheOpenEndedProblemSolving?
Openendedproblemisaproblemthathasseveralormanycorrectanswers,andseveralwaystothe
correctanswer(s).TheOpenEndedProblemSolvingisbasedontheresearchconductedbyShimada
S.,whichiscalled"TheOpenEndedApproach".TheOpenEndedApproachprovidesstudentswith
"experienceinfindingsomethingnewintheprocess"(Shimada1997).TheOpenEndedApproach
startedin1970s.Sincethen,Japaneseteachershavedevelopedmanyopenendedproblemsandlesson
plansusingopenendedproblems.Theseproblemsarebeingusedinmathematicslessonselementary
throughhighschoolgrades,andthelessonsarecalledtheOpenEndedProblemSolvingnow.Open
Endedproblemsarealsousedasassessmenttasksbecause"Inrespondingtosuch(openended)items,
studentsareoftenaskednotonlytoshowtheirwork,butalsotoexplainhowtheygottheiranswersor
whytheychosethemethodtheydid"(Schoenfeld,A.etal.,1997).TheOpenEndedProblemSolving
alsohasbeenwidelyregardedasanadvancedstyleofteachingmathematicsintheU.S.recentyears.

AdvantagesoftheOpenendedProblemSolving
Thereare5advantagesthatcanbesummarized,basedonwhatSawadamentionedin1977(Sawada,
1997),
1).StudentsparticipatemoreactivelyinlessonsandexpresstheirIdeasmorefrequently.
TheOpenEndedProblemSolvingprovidesfree,responsive,andsupportivelearningenvironment
becausetherearemanydifferentcorrectsolutions,sothateachstudenthasopportunitiestogetown
uniqueanswer(s).Therefore,studentsarecuriousaboutothersolutions,andtheycancomparewith
anddiscussabouttheirsolutionseachother.Asstudentsareveryactive,itbringsalotofinteresting
conversationtotheclassroom.
2).Studentshavemoreopportunitiestomakecomprehensiveuseoftheirmathematical
knowledgeandskills.
Sincetherearemanydifferentsolutions,studentscanchoosetheirfavoritewaystowardtheanswer(s)
andcreatetheiruniquesolution(s).Activitiescanbetheopportunitiestomakecomprehensiveuseof
theirmathematicalknowledgeandskills.
http://mste.illinois.edu/users/aki/open_ended/WhatIsOpenended.html

1/2

03.12.2015

WhatistheOpenendedProblemSolving

3).Everystudentcanrespondtotheprobleminsomesignificantwaysofhis/herown.
Therearevariouskindsofstudentsinamathematicsclassroom,sincetherearenotrackingin
Japaneseclassroom.Therefore,itisveryimportantforeverystudenttobeinvolvedintotheclassroom
activities,andthelessonsshouldbeunderstandableforeverystudent.Theopenendedproblems
provideeverystudentwiththeopportunitiestofindhis/herownanswer(s).
4).Thelessoncanprovidestudentswithareasoningexperience.
Throughthecomparinganddiscussingintheclassroom,studentsareintrinsicallymotivatedtogive
reasonsoftheirsolutionstootherstudents.Itisagreatopportunityforstudentstodeveloptheir
mathematicalthinking.
5).Therearerichexperiencesforstudentstohavepleasureofdiscoveryandtoreceivethe
approvalfromfellowstudents.
Sinceeverystudenthaseachsolutionbasedoneachuniquethinking,everystudentisinterestedin
fellowstudentssolution.
TherearealsosomedisadvantagesthatSawadamentionedin1977(1997),suchasdifficultyofposing
problemssuccessfully,difficultyofdevelopingmeaningfulproblemsituations,anddifficultyof
summarizingthelesson.

http://mste.illinois.edu/users/aki/open_ended/WhatIsOpenended.html

2/2