Block model approach versus time-tested strategies: breakthroughs, barriers, and promises

Abstract

This descriptive comparative study sought to determine the effect of block model approach and time-tested strategies, the guess and check and equation methods in particular, in the problem solving ability of grade four pupils in the laboratory school of a university in Iloilo City. Conducted for two months, this descriptive experimental research utilized the scores of eighty-eight (88) pupils in the achievement test (pre-test-post-test). The means and standard deviations were employed for the descriptive analysis of the study: The Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon Signed Rank tests set at .05 alpha were used for inferential analyses. The statistical computations were processed via the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The study found that the pupils had an average pre-treatment and a high post-treatment performance in mathematical problem solving. No significant differences existed between the pre-treatment performances as well as the post-treatment performances of the two groups. However, significant differences were noted between the pre- and post-treatment performances of each group.