Sanela Mužar Horvat, Petra Vuksanović

Proceedings of the 28th World Multi-Conference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics: WMSCI 2024, pp. 348-354 (2024); https://doi.org/10.54808/WMSCI2024.01.348

Sanela Mužar Horvat
Department of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Slavonski Brod, Slavonski Brod, Croatia

Petra Vuksanović
Department of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Slavonski Brod, Slavonski Brod, Croatia

Cite this paper as:
Mužar Horvat, S., Vuksanović, P. (2024). Problem Solving in Elementary School Mathematics Lessons, Based on Children's Literature, Using the Online Application MS Forms. In N. Callaos, E. Gaile-Sarkane, N. Lace, B. Sánchez, M. Savoie (Eds.), Proceedings of the 28th World Multi-Conference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics: WMSCI 2024, pp. 348-354. International Institute of Informatics and Cybernetics. https://doi.org/10.54808/WMSCI2024.01.348

To encourage students to solve problems, we conducted action research with a third grade class. The problem-solving tasks were based on fairy tales and stories from children's literature. The students solved these tasks on tablets using the MS Forms application, where they had the opportunity to receive immediate feedback and prepared hints if they could not find the solutions themselves. To encourage student activity, we divided them into small groups that sometimes competed against each other. It turned out that the students actively participated and were satisfied with such organized lessons. They particularly liked the intergroup competition and the opportunity to solve tasks on tablets. Students were able to solve most mathematical problems using the help option in the MS Forms application. This action research has shown that technology and online applications can be used effectively in presenting, and solving problems in elementary school mathematics lessons. In our case, it turned out that the topics of children's literature and technology were not motivating enough for the students. However, it is important that the math lessons are interesting for the students and encourage them to become active.