Students’ Creative Problem Solving in Mathematics Classroom Using Lesson Study and Open Approach

Abstract

          The objective of this research is to investigate the creative problem-solving abilities of students in a mathematics classroom using lesson study and open approach.The research analyzes the protocols, methods, and creative problem-solving ideas based on the framework synthezied by the researcher. The target group of this research is 21 fourth-grade students at Ban Bung Niam Bung Krai Nun Tha Hin School, Khon Kaen province, in the second semester of the 2022 academic year. The research employs a qualitative research methodology and the research tools used include (1) a lesson plan using
the open approach teaching method, consisting of 10 plans; (2) field notes; and (3) a framework for data analysis using protocol analysis and analytic description.

          The research findings show that students display creative problem-solving behavior according to the problem-solving framework consisting of four steps: (1) the step of reading and understanding the problem, where students read the instructions, exchange ideas and compare methods and concepts, calculate the size of the sides, the size of the area, and use units of measurement to understand the meaning of the problem situation and find ways to solve the problem, (2) the planning step, where students understand the problem situation and try to find ways to compare, calculate the size of the sides and the area, and summarize the methods to use as a guide for problem-solving, (3) the problem-solving step, where students follow the plan and demonstrate a variety of methods to compare, such as direct comparison with cloth and indirect comparison using a table that has
the same size as the cloth and observe the size of the area of the table that exceeds the cloth and counting the number of squares to determine the size of the area. When the prepared problem-solving plan is unsuccessful, students think of new ways to solve the problem until they succeed. In this step, the researcher considers the methods and ideas that occur in every learning management plan through creative problem-solving and finds that students demonstrate a variety of problem-solving methods with 45 different methods, while in terms of flexibility, the researcher groups similar problem-solving methods into 24 ideas. In terms of originality, the original ideas are different from the other groups, with 11 ideas found. (4) The step of looking back, where students consider the logical answers to the compared area, the size of the sides, and the size of the area, including the accuracy of the calculation and the appropriate unit of measurement. This shows self-awareness. In this step, the researcher considers the ideas through creative problem-solving in terms of elegance. Students can present ideas for comparing, calculating the size of the sides and the area in detail and present ideas that are easy to understand with 39 ideas found.