Study on Cognitive Characteristics of 5th Graders who use Expectation and Confirmation Strategies

The expectation and confirmation emerging as one of problem-solving strategies in the elementary school is a strategy that does not limited in the elementary school but used in the middle and high school. This strategy inevitably requires a process of adjustment that affected by the earlier expectation. Such an adjustment raised expectation and confirmation to one of effective problem-solving strategies. The adjustment is especially important to carry out the strategy effectively. The aim of this study was to conduct basic research on cognitive characteristics appearing to students when they carried out the expectation and confirmation strategy. We investigated and analyzed this in term of adjustment of expectation. To do this, we examined 50 5th graders` response in three kinds of word problems and interviewed with 4 participants who is using the expectation and confirmation strategy. The interview was conducted by using the items or solutions used in the test. From this, we tried to check students` cognitive characteristics and recognition on it`s value. Furthermore we proposed the pedagogical implications associated with these results.