Students' metacognitive problem solving strategies in solving open-ended problems in pairs

This study examined the metacognitive behaviours of five pairs of Primary 5 of Singapore students as they solved mathematical problems. They were assigned a set of five questions, including one openended problem with missing data (Foong, 2002). This paper focused on students’ responses as they solved this problem. Each pair was videoand audio-recorded and their written solutions were collected to support the subsequent analysis. A think aloud protocol was used, and the protocols were then transcribed and analysed using a modified Artzt & Armour-Thomas’s (1992) framework. The analysis revealed that each pair has its own characteristics of regulation patterns ranged from low to high regulation, and two different cooperative levels. These results also suggest that students are not familiar with the nature of open-ended problems with missing data.