Student 1
Do you think the questions made you think differently about the problem? Yes
Do you think the questions helped to solve the problem? No
Explain your answers to the previous two questions. My brain is so smart I didn’t need it.
How many questions did you use? Three or four per problem
How many questions did you find helpful? Five
Is this list of questions a resource you would want to keep using? Why or why not? If I was younger yes, but not now. Maybe if I was still in middle school. I feel like I can do this now, but it made me think more about the problems.
Field Notes: I gave this student easier questions than their grade level because they really struggle with math. I didn’t want to give them anything that made them completely shut down and refuse to work. This impacted their answers I’m sure. This student left the paper with me to throw out, as they had written on it.
Student 2
Do you think the questions made you think differently about the problem? Yes
Do you think the questions helped to solve the problem? No
Explain your answers to the previous two questions. It helped me answer some questions because I was stuck on what they were asking but it helped me figure out what it was about. It helped me figure out what I was supposed to do.
How many questions did you use? Five
How many questions did you find helpful? Two
Is this list of questions a resource you would want to keep using? Why or why not? Yes because a lot of times I get stuck on what they are asking and I have to reread and that takes away the time I have. When I said looking over it helped me I filled in the blanks and it helped me piece it all together.
Field Notes : Student 2 took the questions because they were interested in looking at them more.
Student 3
Do you think the questions made you think differently about the problem? Yes
Do you think the questions helped to solve the problem? I’m not sure
Explain your answers to the previous two questions. I didn’t solve the problems.
How many questions did you use? Five
How many questions did you find helpful? Four
Is this list of questions a resource you would want to keep using? Why or why not? It wouldn’t hurt. It might be helpful. I don’t know.
Field Notes: Student 3 was clearly upset that they couldn’t solve the problems, despite the fact that I told them I didn’t care - that the process was what was important. The fact that they were struggling so much did appear to impact their relationship with the questions.
Student 4
Do you think the questions made you think differently about the problem? Definitely
Do you think the questions helped to solve the problem? Definitely on the harder problem.
Explain your answers to the previous two questions. It made me think about each step more and gave me a more thorough understanding of what I was doing. It helped me understand the parts.
How many questions did you use? All of them except the ones that didn’t apply.
How many questions did you find helpful? All of them I used were helpful in some way.
Is this list of questions a resource you would want to keep using? Why or why not? Yeah definitely. It helped me figure out how to lay out each step of the problem so it wasn’t all jumbled in my head.
Field Notes: Student 4 went about this differently than other students. They attempted the problem first and then referenced the problem. For the first of two story problems I gave them, they completely answered the problem before looking at the questions. However, they still liked answering the questions and even asked me my thoughts on the answers. I took it as a chance to discuss different possible justifications with the student - which was outside the scope of the research project but still a crucial part of interacting with math. It was interesting to note how the research questions spawned questions from them.
Student 5
Do you think the questions made you think differently about the problem? About the first one but I didn’t need it for the second one
Do you think the questions helped to solve the problem? Yes
Explain your answers to the previous two questions. It helped me look at a different view of the problem and the correlation of the numbers. The second problem, something that helped me was past experience with that type of problem.
How many questions did you use? Three
How many questions did you find helpful? One
Is this list of questions a resource you would want to keep using? Why or why not? Yes for story problems because it can help you see problems from a different view. It helped me look at it differently.
Field Notes: This was a brand new student to me, so this didn’t feel like a smooth interaction. It seemed like they were trying to be polite over trying to be accurate, and I didn’t know them well enough to pick story problems that were level-appropriate.
Student 6
Do you think the questions made you think differently about the problem? Yes
Do you think the questions helped to solve the problem? Somewhat
Explain your answers to the previous two questions. Like, the first one it helped me solve it because I looked at more important things instead of looking at the whole problem. It helped me think about the relationships. The second one helped me also think about relationships and qualities.
How many questions did you use? Three or four
How many questions did you find helpful? All the ones I used
Is this list of questions a resource you would want to keep using? Why or why not? Yes because sometimes you need an extra thing to help you put a thing in your head to help it click. It made me think about it.
Field Notes: During the first problem, Student 6 said, "Okay, these will be helpful but not on this problem." This student is in the same grade and class as Student 5 and the problem they were unable to solve was the problem that Student 5 didn't use the questions for at all. They ultimately were interested in seeing if the questions could help. There was a visible curiosity about the new process we were trying out.
Student 7
Do you think the questions made you think differently about the problem? Yes
Do you think the questions helped to solve the problem? No
Explain your answers to the previous two questions. They helped me think differently because it helped me take it back to a different similar situation, but I don’t think it helped me get to the point to solve it.
How many questions did you use? Two
How many questions did you find helpful? Two
Is this list of questions a resource you would want to keep using? Why or why not? Sure because it might be able to help you get unstuck or jog your brain to get you unstuck, It might help move you along to a different point of view.
Field Notes: Student 7 seemed in a hurry to finish and leave. I know they had struggled a little in Geometry, so I picked questions from that class, only to have them do well on all the problems. They seemed open to using the ask-yourself questions in the future.