A Survey Of Eighth-grade Students' Mathematical Problem-solving Abilities

Problem solving is a research hotspot in mathematics education in various countries.The "Compulsory Education Mathematics Curriculum Standards(2011Edition)" promulgated by my country in 2011 set problem solving as one of the goals of the mathematics curriculum in primary and secondary schools.In 2016,with the comprehensive release of the research on the development and core literacy of schools in my country,"problem solving" also occupies the core position of research in the field of mathematics education in my country.Eighteen basic points are given in this study,and "problem solving" is one of these eighteen basic points.The research results even clarified that "developing students' core literacy" is the policy and goal of China's next major educational reform.Since then,problem solving has become one of the frequently occurring core literacy vocabulary and the core content of the development of mathematical literacy.The "General High School Mathematics Curriculum Standards(2017 Edition)" revised in 2020 also emphasizes that improving students' ability to solve problems from a mathematical perspective is set as one of the goals of the mathematics curriculum.Therefore,it is very necessary to understand and evaluate students' existing mathematical problem-solving ability.This paper evaluates the eighth-grade students' mathematical problem-solving ability by testing the eighth-grade students of a school in Wuxi,Jiangsu Province,and explores the teaching strategies for cultivating students' mathematical problem-solving ability,provides corresponding teaching suggestions for teachers' classroom teaching.The main problems addressed in this paper are:(1)What is the overall level of the eighth-grade students' mathematical problem-solving ability?(2)How well did the8 th graders perform in solving problems with different math content?(3)How well did the eighth graders perform in solving math problems in different situations?(4)How did the eighth graders perform in different aspects of the math problem-solving process? The main problems addressed in this paper are:(1)What is the overall level of the eighth-grade students' mathematical problem-solving ability?(2)How well do the eighth graders solve math problems with different content?(3)How well do the eighth graders solve math problems in different situations?(4)How are the eighth graders doing in the math problem solving process?According to the problem to be solved,the following conclusions are drawn by analyzing the test data through SPSS software:(1)On the overall level: the overall level of the eighth-grade students' mathematical problem-solving ability is at a medium level;(2)In the content dimension: the eighth-grade students The performance ability of figures and geometry is slightly better than that of number and algebra;(3)In the situational dimension: the eighth-grade students have the best performance in personal situations and the worst performance in social situations;(4)In the process dimension: the ability performance of the eighth-grade students from high to low is expression,application,and interpretation;In terms of different question types: the eighth-grade students have the strongest performance on multiple-choice questions.The performance of closed-ended questions is better than that of open-ended questions;In the ability dimension: the mathematical operation ability of the eighth grade students is at an upper-middle level,the mathematical representation ability is at a medium level,and the logical reasoning ability is relatively lacking.It is at the lower-middle level.According to the above test research results,corresponding teaching suggestions are put forward for teachers:(1)Create real problem situations;(2)Enhance students' mathematical operation ability;(3)Focus on cultivating students' mathematical reading ability;(4)Cultivate Students' logical reasoning ability;(5)Emphasis on reflection and evaluation of classroom teaching.