Session 5     February 27, 2008
Dr. Sybilla Beckmann Kazez introduced Singapore Math- Using Strip Diagrams to Solve Problems.

Sybilla Beckmann is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Georgia. She was in Tucson to participate in the Elementary Teacher Preparation in Mathematics Conference at the U of A sponsored by the Institute for Mathematics and Education (IME) . Her current main interest is the mathematical education of teachers.

Sybilla described the Singapore method of problem-solving in an article she wrote for The Mathematics Educator.
Simple pictures and diagrams accompany many problems, and the same types of pictures and diagrams are used repeatedly, as supports for different types of problems, and across grade levels. These simple pictures and diagrams are not mere procedural aids designed to help children produce speedy solutions without understanding. Rather, the pictures and diagrams appear to be designed to help children make sense of problems and to use solution strategies that can be justified on solid conceptual grounds. Because of this pictorial, sense-making approach, the elementary texts used in Singapore can include problems that are quite complex and advanced. Children can reasonably be expected to solve these problems given the problemsolving and sense-making tools they have been exposed to.(The Mathematics Educator 2004, Vol. 14, No. 1, 42–46)

Some of the AIMS Standards addressed include:
1.1.4 Determine the equivalency between and among fractions, decimals, and percents in contextual situations. 1.2.1 Select grade-level appropriate operation to solve word problems. 1.2.2 Solve word problems using grade-level appropriate operations and numbers. 1.2.3 Apply grade-level appropriate properties tO assist in computation. 1.2.4 Use grade-level appropriate mathematical terminology. 1.2.14 Solve problems involving fractions or decimals in contextual situations. 3.3.2 Use variables in contextual situations. 5.1.1 Discriminate necessary information from unnecessary information in a given grade-level appropriate word problem.

Sybilla and Carolyn discuss one of the problems.