Constructing Mathematical Literacy Problems and Assessing Students’ Solving Abilities

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to investigate students’ abilities in mathematical literacy upon completing their compulsory education in Greece and to elucidate any challenges they may encounter. The research involved 650 students from various regions in Greece, selected based on the urbanization level of their respective school areas. These students had not undergone any training in mathematical literacy problem-solving or in expressing their thoughts in writing while undertaking such tasks. Mathematical literacy performance has been also assessed by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) for the last two decades, in which the mean performance of Greek 15-year-old students has been consistently below the OECD average all these years. This discrepancy has been attributed, in part, to the inadequate alignment of the Greek mathematics curriculum with the PISA mathematics framework. To address this, the real-world problems constructed for this study were aligned with the Greek junior high school's mathematics curriculum. The findings indicate that students' mathematical literacy abilities upon completing compulsory education are limited, with the most significant challenges observed in the areas of mathematical reasoning and the written articulation of their thought processes.