Understanding Students' Mathematical Competencies: An Exploration of the Impact of Contextualizing Mathematical Problems

The researchers carried out two series of studies with fourth- and sixth-grade public school students in an area serving a large proportion of low-income minority families. The first series of nine studies involved isolating various features of what makes a problem appear 'practical' to students tested, such as having physical objects to manipulate or being rewarded for the right answer. This information was used to determine whether those factors are related to better student performance. Using the results of these studies, the researchers were to create a pool of test problems that reflect the presence or absence of those factors that contribute to giving problems a significantly practical context.

In the second series of studies, classrooms of students were randomly assigned to teachers using standard instructional materials or teachers using instructional materials designed to present mathematical problems in practical contexts. The previously designed test problems were used to determine the outcome. The topics covered by the instructional materials in these two studies were equivalent fractions, which is relatively difficult to present in practical contexts and measurement, which is relatively easy to contextualize.