Improving Students’ Mathematical Problem Solving Skills - A Webinar from the GED Testing Service

Sep 14, 2026

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Training material for improving students’ mathematical problem solving through structured heuristic strategies. The webinar introduces foundational thinking approaches, including restating problems, organizing information visually, drawing pictures, making models, finding patterns, and inventing notation. It further emphasizes systematic checking, working backwards, identifying subgoals, and using strategies like K-N-W-S and SQRQCQ, plus sample classroom activities and graphic organizers to support reasoning from real-world contexts.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages25

Reading Time1 h 3 min

AccessFree to download

Some Helpful Problem-Solving Heuristics

K-N-W-S – A Problem Solving Strategy

K-N-W-S – It’s Your Turn!

SQRQCQ – Another Problem Solving Strategy

Sample Problem

Solving Real-World Problems

Resources for the Classroom

Improving Students’Mathematical Problem Solving Skills ® A Webinar from the GED Testing Service Debi Faucette and Susan Pittman April 28, 2015 GED® and GED Testing Service® are registered trademarks of the American Council on Education. Used under license. Copyright © 2014 GED Testing Service LLC. All rights reserved. Table of Contents Some Helpful Problem-Solving Heuristics1 ................................................................ 3 K-N-W-S – A Problem Solving Strategy....................................................................... 5 K-N-W-S – It’s Your Turn! ............................................................................................. 6 SQRQCQ – Another Problem Solving Strategy .......................................................... 7 Sample Problem ............................................................................................................ 8 Solving Real-World Problems ...................................................................................... 9 Resources for the Classroom .................................................................................... 10 Verbal and Visual Word Association (Barton & Heidema, 2002) ............................. 11 Vocabulary Term(s) ..................................................................................................... 11 Visual Representation................................................................................................. 11 Definitions(s) ............................................................................................................... 11 Personal Association or a Characteristic ................................................................. 11 K-N-W-S – It’s Your Turn! ........................................................................................... 13 SQRQCQ Problem-Solving Graphic Organizer......................................................... 14 Four Corners and a Diamond Math Graphic Organizer ........................................... 15 Problem-Solving Graphic Organizer.......................................................................... 17 SOLVE Strategy........................................................................................................... 18 Math Translation Guide .............................................................................................. 19 Resources from the World Wide Web for Mathematical Reasoning....................... 21 Sample Game: Algebra Match.................................................................................... 23 © Copyright 2015 GED Testing Service LLC. All rights reserved. GED® and GED Testing Service® are registered trademarks of the American Council on Education (ACE) . They may not be used or reproduced without the express written permission of ACE or GED Testing Service. The GED® and GED Testing Service® brands are administered by GED Testing Service LLC under license from the American Council on Education. GED Testing Service® | [www.GEDtestingservice.com](www.GEDtestingservice.com) 2 © Copyright 2015 GED Testing Service LLC. All rights reserved. Some Helpful Problem-Solving Heuristics 1 A heuristic is a thinking strategy, something that can be used to tease out further information about a problem and thus help you figure out what to do when you don't know what to do. Here are 25 heuristics that can be useful in solving problems. They help you monitor your thought processes, to step back and watch yourself at work, and thus keep your cool in a challenging situation. Group A 1. Ask somebody else how to do the problem. This strategy is probably the most used world-wide, though it is not one we encourage our students to use, at least not initially. 2. Guess and try (guess, check, and revise) . Your first guess might be right! But incorrect guesses can often suggest a direction toward a solution. (A spreadsheet is a po

FAQs

What are heuristics in mathematical problem solving?

Heuristics are thinking strategies used to tease out more information from a problem, helping determine what to do when the solver does not know the next step.

How does the K-N-W-S problem-solving strategy work?

K-N-W-S is presented as a structured approach for guiding students through understanding, organizing, and working toward a solution, followed by a practice section titled “It’s Your Turn!”.

What classroom supports are included to help students reason mathematically?

The material includes resources such as word association, visual representation, vocabulary terms, graphic organizers, a math translation guide, and sample classroom games like “Algebra Match.”

Sep 14, 2026

Upload by Mali