How well do Hong Kong grade 5 students with different social backgrounds solve routine and non-routine mathematics word problems (China)

The goal of this study is to explore and investigate whether Hong Kong elementary grade 5 students develop mathematical problem solving competence at school. Problem solving competence has become more and more important in developed countries such as Hong Kong. The job market has fewer and fewer routine job openings in the 21st Century. To survive, students must develop problem-solving competence in school and apply these skills in the workplace. But the existing Hong Kong curriculum and examination system focuses heavily on solving practiced problems. Students may not develop problem solving competence in schools.; In this study, grade 5 students (n = 123) worked a 10-item quiz comprised of routine and non-routine problems; a subset of 27 students participated in the second phase of this study in an interview setting. In the interviews, students participated in problem sorting activities and solved one to three other non-routine problems.; The results indicate that students from different social backgrounds have difficulty solving mathematical, non-routine problems in general. Their difficulties seem to be related to conceptual mistakes relative to two specific mathematical concepts—area and proportion. Comparing two groups of students who came from different social backgrounds, students from middle class families outperformed their counterparts on solving non-routine problems. A more interesting result is the fact that even very successful students (grades and exams) struggled with non-routine problems. And, some students who were not strong performers in school showed surprising strength on some problems.