Many people find that solving story problems is challenging. A key source of the difficulty is symbolizing problem situations. In two experiments, we tested whether diagrams promoted successful symbolization of two-operator story problems, and we tested whether diagrams that depicted the integration of operations were more beneficial than diagrams…

We examined the influences of pre-solving pause time, algebraic knowledge, mathematics self-efficacy, and mathematics anxiety on middle-schoolers' strategy efficiency in an algebra learning game. We measured strategy efficiency using (a) the number of steps taken to complete a problem; (b) the proportion of problems completed on the initial…

This study examined if and how thinking time, defined as the time from the start of the problem to the students' first action to solve, influences their problem-solving efficiency, defined as the number of steps taken to solve the problem, using Graspable Math, a web-based mathematical tool. We found that: (1) students who took longer to think…