Case Study on the Mathematically Gifted Elementary Students’ Collaborative Mathematical Problem Solving

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to describe the specific process of collaborative problem solving and analyze its characteristics by analyzing cases in which collaborative problem solving occurred successfully. To this end, the results of the personal problem solving of math gifted students were analyzed, and a small group was formed in consideration of their own solutions to observe their cooperative problem solving process. Two characteristics were identified in the collaborative problem-solving process. First, math gifted students were able to understand different perspectives while sharing different solutions and verify their own solutions and the other’s solutions based on them. Second, students were able to reinterpret others’ perspectives and apply them to their own solutions, and in this process, they were able to complete quality solutions that were different from their own solutions as well as the other’s.