Physics Teachers’ Problem-Solving Pedagogical Practice in Non-Routine Problems Implication in Realistic Mathematics Education: A Case Study

The purpose of this case study is to examine the practices used by six physics teachers in solving non-routine problems and how these approaches connect to the teaching of real-world applications of mathematics. A qualitative analysis of the data revealed that these respondents constantly went around the tables, observed students at work, expressed amazement at their ideas, gave students time to think through the problem at hand, and helped struggling students by probing them and showing them how to solve challenging problems. Very frequently the respondents pose intriguing questions, facilitate group work in the classroom, have class discussions in plenary, and assign individual projects that allow students to investigate novel issues and consider different approaches to their solution. Occasionally, when a student takes longer than expected to solve a problem, the respondent solves the problem on the board. The respondent also expects the student to come up with a challenging strategy, address the mistakes of the student, let the student work through problems on their own, and determine when the student is moving too slowly toward solving the problem. As a result of the frequent use of non-routine problems in physics classes, problem-solving techniques are employed by physics teachers as a goal. Problems should be well-structured, meaning they should have a single solution that can be applied to solve real-world problems when using the appropriate tool, such as mathematics. Examples supporting these findings are provided in this report, which ends with recommendations for practical mathematics instruction.