Effects of contextualized math instruction on problem solving of average and below-average achieving students

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of contextualized math instruction on the problem-solving performance of 17 middle school students in one remedial class and 49 middle school average-achieving students in two prealgebra classes. The study employed experimental and quasiexperimental designs to compare the impact of word problem instruction and contextualized problem instruction on computation skills and problem-solving performance. Results showed that students in the contextualized problem remedial and prealgebra groups outperformed students in the word problem groups on a contextualized and a transfer problem. In an extended transfer activity, students in the remedial class applied what they had learned in order to plan and build two skateboard ramps. Results support the use of contextualized problems to enhance the problem-solving skills of students in general and remedial classes.