The challenges faced by 1., 2. and 3. grade primary school students in the process of solving mathematical verbal problems and solution recommendations

This study aims to find out the challenges faced by the first, the second and the third grade primary school students in the process of solving mathematical problems. Qualitative research method was used in the collection, the analysis and the interpretation of the data. The study was conducted with two schools in Elazığ in the spring term of 2010-2011 academic year. The study consists of two stages in which 468 students in the first stage and 108 students in the second one were involved. The data were collected through the clinical interviews, the researcher diary and the work sheets of students, and the data were analysed by using a classification technique consisting of data reduction, data display, conclusion and verification.Results of the study introduce that children have more difficulty in questions requiring the extraction process than the ones requiring the collection process. In regard to the success of schools and the level of students, a meaningful difference isn?t seen in tems of the operation type. It?s also seen that the students have much more difficulty in division than multiplication. In regard to the success of schools, a meaningful difference isn?t seen at the second grade in tems of the operation type. On the other hand, it?s proved that the third grade students of the most successful school have more difficulty in multiplication and the same grade students of the least successful school have it in division.The students mostly applied the key words while developing solutions for problems. Their misconceptions about these key words have much more influence on their mistakes in problem solving. In regard to the success of schools and the level of students, a meaningful difference is not seen in terms of the words causing misconception. The mistakes in the process of operations mostly result from the lack of knowledge about the concepts of digit and grouping as well as the confusion and the generalization of the rules about addition, subtraction, multiplication and division