The Construction of Schema in Problem-solving: Study on Children's Categorizing for Word Problems

Schema was measured by 60 third and fourth graders' categorizing for simple arithmetical word problems. Results showed that the participants classified these problems respectively on schematic level or pre-schematic level or procedural level. Performances on problem solving were different between schematic level and pre-schematic level, pre-schematic level and procedural level. There were significant gender differences on schema level and performances on problem solving. Concretely, girls exceeded boys.