The model method: Students’ performance and its effectiveness

• We describe Singapore students’ (N = 607) performance on two tasks in a recently developed Mathematics Processing Instrument (MPI).
• We examine students’ use of the model method to solve these two tasks.
• We found that students who solved the tasks using a visual method predominantly used the model method as a visual problem-solving strategy.
• We observed there was hindrance of successful problem solving caused by the persistence of prototypical images of model drawings.

This study describes Singapore students’ (N = 607) performance on two tasks in a recently developed Mathematics Processing Instrument (MPI). The MPI comprised tasks sourced from Australia's NAPLAN and Singapore's PSLE. This study also examines students’ use of the model method to solve the two tasks. The model method is a visual problem-solving heuristic prevalently used in Singapore classrooms. The study found that students who solved the tasks using a visual method predominantly used the model method as a visual problem-solving strategy. Another interesting observation was the hindrance of successful problem solving caused by the persistence of prototypical images of model drawings. Implications include encouraging teachers to get their students to identify problem situations where the model method will both work and not work well, and making the role of the generator in the model method explicit in the mathematics textbooks.