A Reading Comprehension Perspective on Problem Solving

Research in text comprehension has provided details as to how text features and cognitive processes interact in order to build comprehension and generate meaning. However, there is no explicit link between the cognitive processes deployed during text comprehension and their place in higher-order cognition, as in problem solving. The purpose of this paper is to propose a cognitive model in which text comprehension is made analogous to a problem solving situation and that relies on current research on well-known cognitive processes such as inference generation, memory, and simulations. The key characteristic of the model is that it explicitly includes the formulation of questions as a component that boosts representational power. Other characteristics of the model are specified and its extensions to basic and applied research in text comprehension and higher-order cognitive processes are outlined.

2017

This study aims to determine the relationship between the ability to understand mathematical text and the ability to solve basic math problems. Mathematical problems can be presented in two forms, namely in the form of verbal and in the form of numbers. The verbal question is packed through a narrative text stimulus. Failure to understand the contents of narrative texts causes chaos in understanding the essence of basic mathematical concepts. Basic mathematical concepts include addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The interpretation of what basic mathematical concepts should be used is determined by the students' ability to understand the content of the text. In this case, students' reasoning ability plays a very important role. The ability to reason can be trained through reading learning. The data of this study were taken from the second graders of elementary school in Bandung. Using correlational method, there is evidence that both variables have positive ...

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the extent of students" reading comprehension and problem solving skills and identify teaching strategies that would address the problem in teaching problem solving in Mathematics. The research utilized mixed explanatory design. The subject consists of 189 grade 7 students who were part of the general section enrolled at Davao City National High School. Purposive sampling was used in identifying the respondents taking the reading comprehension test and problem solving test while random sampling was used in identifying participants for the key informant interview. The result of the study revealed that students reading comprehension and problem solving skills were at developing level. Moreover, reading comprehension skill was a predictor of problem solving skill. This means that students" problem solving skill is dependent on their reading skills. Results also showed from the conducted focus group discussion that students gave importance to vocabulary and main idea in learning problem solving. Furthermore, using differentiated instruction was the identified best teaching strategy to understand problem solving.

CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research - Zenodo, 2022

This study was conducted to determine the degree of relationship that exists between learners' level of comprehension and solving skills on mathematical word problems of grades four to six learners in Kang-iras Elementary School. It attempted to establish a relationship between the learners' level of comprehension and solving skills. This research study employed the correlational method of research. This research design is appropriate for this research because its primary purpose is to determine the degree of the relationship between the learners' level of comprehension and solving skills of the word problems. Lomax and Li (2009) stressed that correlational research investigates a range of factors, including the nature of the relationship between two or more variables and the theoretical model that might be developed and tested to explain these resultant correlations. From the gathered data, the following findings are, the comprehension level of the learners in Kangiras Elementary School being studied is at Frustration Level. For each specific skill, only in the literal interpretation skill the learners had been classified at instructional level while for the other two skills, the learners are at frustration level. Majority of the learners are at a frustration level. The level of word problem solving skills in mathematics of the respondents is classified as non-proficient. All three skills indicators used revealed that the respondents are non-proficient. The learners have not mastered word problem-solving. Comprehension skills could not predict the mathematical word problem-solving skills of the learners. There is weak correlation between the variables and the relationship between the two variables is insignificant. There are other factors affecting word problem skills among learners. Some are identified as follows: instructional strategies and methods, learners' motivation and concentration, learner's arithmetic ability, learning facilities or instructional materials, curriculum and teacher's competency. From the findings of the study, it was established that comprehension level is not an indicator of the learners' solving skills and there are other factors that could affect solving mathematical word problems. Solving skill is independent of comprehension skills and the variables studied are not related. Thus, it can be concluded that comprehension is not the only factor that could affect word problem-solving skills but there are more other factors and these factors may be assessed and taken into consideration.

European Journal of Psychology of Education, 2012

There is a natural reciprocal relationship between mathematics and reading cognition, metacognitive training within reading enhanced problem solving should facilitate students developing an awareness of what good readers do when reading for meaning in solving mathematical problems enabling them to apply these strategies. The constructs for each cognitive component are supported by research demonstrating benefits in reading and mathematics achievement and operate together to help students' conceptualize mathematical problems. Teachers need to think less about students deriving an answer and more in terms of facilitating students' application of the cognitive components of reading and mathematics. Thus teachers can implement reading enhanced problem solving in mathematics when students struggle, rather than having to manipulate their local curriculum.

University of St. Lasalle, 2019

The purpose of the study was to determine the level of reading comprehension and problem solving skills of the Grade VI pupils of Basak Elementary School enrolled school year 2018-2019.The research design used was descriptive – correlational to determine the relationship between reading comprehension and problem solving skills. Participants were determined through G*Power which resulted to 44 (88%) participants. Stratified sampling was utilized to determine the number of participants in each section. The researcher employed questionnaires that determine the level of reading comprehension and problem solving skills of the participants. The results revealed that there is a significant relationship between reading comprehension and problem solving skills. Majority of the participant were female and in section one. Female outperformed male in both reading comprehension and problem solving skills due to local tradition, enthusiasm and willingness. Results exhibit that there is a relationship between reading comprehension and problem-solving skills at .098 significant level.

Universitas Psychologica

Research in text comprehension has provided details as to how text features and cognitive processes interact in order to build comprehension and generate meaning. However, there is no explicit link between the cognitive processes deployed during text comprehension and their place in higher-order cognition, as in problem solving. The purpose of this paper is to propose a cognitive model in which text comprehension is made analogous to a problem solving situation and that relies on current research on well-known cognitive processes such as inference generation, memory, and simulations. The key characteristic of the model is that it explicitly includes the formulation of questions as a component that boosts representational power. Other characteristics of the model are specified and its extensions to basic and applied research in text comprehension and higher-order cognitive processes are outlined.

In this study of my fifth grade mathematics class, I investigated how the use of different reading strategies impacted my students' problem solving. I implemented various reading strategies throughout a three-month time period. Teaching my students to break down story problems, learn the steps in solving them, write their own story problems, create math dictionaries, write story problem webs, and listen to themselves reading problems created more confidence in them and increased the likelihood that they would use these strategies on their own. In this research, it was quite obvious to me through some pretesting that my students struggled with word problems. As a result of this research, I found that I was able to help some individuals improve on their abilities to focus on and solve word problems by implementing reading strategies. As a result of my study, I plan to keep implementing these strategies into my lesson plans and keep reading strategies and problem solving a focus of my mathematics classroom.

Educational Psychology, 2008

This study aimed to investigate the interplay between mathematical word problem skills and reading comprehension. The participants were 225 children aged 9-10 (Grade 4). The children's text comprehension and mathematical word problem-solving performance was tested. Technical reading skills were investigated in order to categorise participants as good or poor readers. The results showed that performance on maths word problems was strongly related to performance in reading comprehension. Fluent technical reading abilities increased the aforementioned skills. However, even after controlling for the level of technical reading involved, performance in maths word problems was still related to reading comprehension, suggesting that both of these skills require overall reasoning abilities. There were no gender differences in maths word problem-solving performance, but the girls were better in technical reading and in reading comprehension. Parental levels of education positively predicted children's maths word problem-solving performance and reading comprehension skills.

ExLing Conferences, 2019

This research on reading comprehension is concerned with linguistic complexity processing and solving of mathematical exercises by 95 Portuguese students aged 9 to 15 years, attending one of the three basic school levels. Exercises were selected from the full set of national examinations (from 2000 till 2007), covering different mathematical areas. Experimental task was to present subjects with an exercise text followed by a possible result which they had to evaluate as a good or bad answer. Preliminary results indicate that although the extension of the exercise text and of the answer influences the time spent reading and solving the problem, it does not necessarily make the resolution of the exercise harder.

Psychology and Education: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 2024

This research assessed the relationship between Grade 10 students' reading comprehension and problem-solving skills of Grade 10 students at D.T. Durano Memorial Integrated School in Danao City Division for the school year 2022-2023 as the basis for an action plan. The data gathered were treated using frequency count, percentage, and Pearson's r. Using a descriptive-correlational research design, 166 high school students at D.T. Durano Memorial Integrated School were surveyed using a questionnaire to collect data for the study. The correlation between reading comprehension and problem-solving skills was statistically significant. The null hypothesis was therefore refuted, and the research hypothesis was confirmed. This suggests that students with higher reading comprehension are more adept at solving problems. In addition, most respondents demonstrated acceptable reading comprehension and problemsolving skills. Most parents are high school graduates, and most respondents combined monthly family income is below PHP 10,000. This study's findings have significant implications for educators and policymakers in developing and implementing reading comprehension and problem-solving instruction. In addition, this research contributes to the literature regarding the relationship between reading comprehension and problem-solving skills.

Mathematics and Science classes in schools have become a focus to be considered in terms of educational systems and administration around the world in the last decade. Related to the mentioned classes, there are many benefits that lead students to academic success. In the recent years, educators have found that there are so many different factors that effect students' performance in science and math classes. Especially reading comprehension has changed so many traditional procedures in teaching math and science. It also shows remarkable benefits. This research focuses on the effects of reading comprehension on mathematics and science achievement. Students' academic performance on the mentioned classes and their motivation towards those courses will also be the focus of the research. The research is based on the data gathered from the latest PISA results and the opinions of secondary school teachers and students. Findings of this research indicate that there is a correlation between reading comprehension results and student success in math or science classes. It also indicates that reading comprehension contributes positively or negatively to the success results in math or science classes.

Psychology and Education: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 2025

This study aims to explore the significant relationship between students' mathematical problem comprehension skills and their mathematics performance in terms of measuring central tendency, organizing data in a frequency distribution table, drawing conclusions from graphic and tabular data, and using appropriate graphs to organize data. This study is conducted to come up with an effective enhancement plan to help students improve their problem comprehension skills in Mathematics. This study starts by randomly selecting Grade 7 students from the different schools under Manjuyod District I in the Division of Negros Oriental. This study used a descriptive-correlational design and gathered data through surveys and tests as well as documents pertaining to the mathematics performance of the students. The surveys and tests were for the students while the school registrar and class advisers were for the documents pertaining to the mathematics performance such as Forms 9 and 10 of the students. It examined the students' profile in terms of age, sex, living with at home, parents' educational level, and employment status. It also assessed the students' comprehension skills in measuring central tendency, organizing data, drawing conclusions, using appropriate graphs, and solving word problems. Furthermore, it investigated the students' level of mathematics performance and the significance of demographic factors on their problem comprehension skills and mathematics performance. The findings revealed that most of the students surveyed were 57 % female and 74% stayed with their parents. The students' comprehension skills in measuring central tendency were found to be fairly satisfactory (mean=78.496; SD=16.214), for improvement in organizing data (mean=78.496; SD=16.214), drawing conclusions (mean=67.168; SD=11.297), using appropriate graphs (mean=73.805; SD=13.250), however, did not meet expectations. It implies that mathematical problems comprehension skills are low. The level of mathematics performance of Grade 7 students was found outstanding (mean=90.327; SD=3.247). Age (F-value=2.428; p-value=0.031), sex (F-value=2.428; p-value=0.031), living with parents at home (F-value=2.428; p-value=0.031) and employment status of parents (F-value=2.428; p-value=0.031) were found to have significant impact on problem comprehension skills related to measuring central tendency and drawing conclusions from graphic and tabular data. Moreover, the educational level of parents (F-value=0.932; p-value=0.425) significantly affected mathematics performance. The study also found a significant relationship (Pearson Correlation=0.189; p-value=0.045) between competency in measures of central tendency and their overall mathematics performance. Based on the results, this study recommends an enhancement plan to improve students' mathematical comprehension skills by incorporating more interactive and real-life applications of mathematical concepts in the curriculum.

1994

CHAPTER 1 Factors Influencing the Comprehension of Text CHAPTER 2 Comprehension of Text at the Single Word Level CHAPTER 3 Reading as a Piecemeal Process CHAPTER 4 Standards for Evaluating Comprehension of Text CHAPTER 5 The Influence of Reading Level on Error Detection CHAPTER 6 Reading and Re-reading CHAPTER 7 Do Readers Know When They Don't Understand? CHAPTER 8 The Word Omission Task and the Syntactic Standard of Comprehension CHAPTER 9 The Influence of Density of Substitutions on their Detection 5 CHAPTER The Relationship of Comprehension Level to Performance on Measures of Prompted and Unprompted Comprehension CHAPTER 11 Reading Comprehension and Comprehension of 160 What is Read to One CHAPTER 12 Reading Comprehension and Memory 173 CHAPTER 13 Summary, Conclusions, Implications for 198 Teaching Comprehension of Text and Suggestions for Further Research APPENDICES A Readability B Materials Used C A Review of Empirical Studies of Training to Enhance Comprehension of Text D Relationship Between Error Detection and Performance on a Standardised Comprehension Test E Controlling Individual Differences in Psychological Experiments REFERENCES 6 CHAPTER ONE FACTORS INFLUENCING THE COMPREHENSION OF TEXT Reading is a form of problem solving; the reader has to solve the problem of what successively encountered words, phrases and sentences in a written text mean. (Daneman 1987

Educational Studies in Mathematics, 2006

This study compares reading comprehension of three different texts: two mathematical texts and one historical text. The two mathematical texts both present basic concepts of group theory, but one does it using mathematical symbols and the other only uses natural language. A total of 95 upper secondary and university students read one of the mathematical texts and the historical text. Before reading the texts, a test of prior knowledge for both mathematics and history was given and after reading each text, a test of reading comprehension was given. The results reveal a similarity in reading comprehension between the mathematical text without symbols and the historical text, and also a difference in reading comprehension between the two mathematical texts. This result suggests that mathematics in itself is not the most dominant aspect affecting the reading comprehension process, but the use of symbols in the text is a more relevant factor. Although the university students had studied more mathematics courses than the upper secondary students, there was only a small and insignificant difference between these groups regarding reading comprehension of the mathematical text with symbols. This finding suggests that there is a need for more explicit teaching of reading comprehension for texts including symbols.