Inter-domain transfer in problem solving: an instructional methodology based on the «algebraic translation» process

Abstract

Understanding a science and math word problem means constructing mental representations at different levels of abstraction. Secondary students have dificulties solving algebraic word problems due to the transition from the concrete representation to the mathematic representation. In order to facilitate the «algebraic translation» of the problems, we adapt a «rule to put a problem into equations» by Puig (1998) and insert it in an experimental methodology devoted to improving the inter-domain transfer in science. Results show the power of the instructional methodology to overcome most of the students’ dificulties, no matters their average academic performance.