PROCEEDINGS OF THE 17TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2014
Denver, Colorado
Effects Of Systematic Listing In Solving Counting Problems
Page: 153
Although counting problems are easy to state and provide rich, accessible problem solving situations, there is evidence that students struggle with solving counting problems correctly. With combinatorics (and the study of counting problems) becoming increasingly prevalent in K- 12 and undergraduate curricula, there is a need for researchers to identify potentially effective instructional interventions that might give students greater success as they solve counting problems. We tested one such intervention – having undergraduate students engage in systematic listing of what they were trying to count. We show that even creating partial lists of outcomes led to statistically significant improvements in students’ performance on problems, implying that systematic listing may be worthwhile for students to engage in as they learn to count. Our findings suggest that instructional interventions that facilitate listing warrant more attention.