Research Information System
2025 Mathematics Classroom Teaching Research for All Students (M-CTRAS) , Linz, Austria, 23 - 25 June 2025, pp.25, (Summary Text)
Problem posing, a fundamental stage of scientific inquiry, is defined in mathematics education as the process of generating new problems or reconstructing existing ones within a specific context. This process activates individuals’ mathematical knowledge and experiences, engaging both metacognitive skills and core mathematical competencies (e.g., problem-solving, reasoning). For pre-service teachers, problem posing can serve as a means to enhance pedagogical content knowledge and facilitate the design of effective instructional environments. Paper folding—with its rich cognitive associative network, particularly in geometric principles—serves as a pedagogically robust tool for problem-posing activities. Employing a case study design, this research investigated the problem-posing processes of 9 pre-service elementary mathematics teachers (4th-year undergraduates). Participants consisted of fourth-year students in an elementary mathematics teaching program, who were tasked with posing a paper-folding-based problem suitable for eighth-grade students. Eighth grade was chosen because it represents the final stage of middle school and includes a broad range of mathematical topics, offering a meaningful context for problem posing. The problem-posing process was guided by four stages: goal setting, problem posing, problem solving, and problem refinement (Ramirez, 2006), implemented individually. Data included verbal protocols and written problems, which were analyzed using content analysis. Research findings reveal that pre-service teachers simultaneously considered solvability while constructing problems. It was observed that participants exhibited a solution-oriented approach to problem posing and employed various strategies, such as assigning numerical values within paper-folding contexts. The study determined that candidates created original folding designs, researched origami models, or adapted existing problems when establishing the problem context. While some participants generated creative and contextually rich problems, others preferred more traditional structures. This study proposes integrating paper-folding-based problem-posing activities into mathematics teacher education programs, as this approach enables the development of pedagogical knowledge, problem-posing skills, and hands-on discovery of geometric concepts.