TEACHING MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM SOLVING

In USA :

1. Philosophy of mathematics education for the 21 st century :
   The goal of teaching mathematics is to help all students develop mathematical power
   ie to produce effective problem solvers and powerful mathematical thinkers.

2. Mathematics must be seen as an integrated whole ( not as a separate and unrelated topics),
    as a part of human experience, emerging from everyday experience, interaction with science
    and technology and other fields.
   

3. Spend more time on developing broad- based mathematical problem solving skills
    ( general problem solving techniques ie heuristics) and less time on perfecting routine
     computations.

4. Teaching mathematics as problem solving

  - problem solving as a means as well as a goal of instruction
  - apply problem solving skills to solve problems in new contexts with emphasis on multi-steps
    and non-routine problems.
  - recognize and formulate (posing) problems from real word situations/phenomena
  - mathematics is problem-centered and application- based
  - subject to be investigated, discovered, explored and created

5. Problem solving is seen as the most important means to develop powerful mathematical thinkers.