We will integrate the problem-solving strategies and heuristics we have learned in the

previous lesson to the manner of solving mathematics problems introduced to us by George

Polya. This lesson aims to help you augment your problem-solving skills as you apply this
systematic approach to solving mathematics problems.

At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to:

1. Identify the steps in Polya’s problem-solving strategy involved in a problem.
2. Apply Polya’s problem-solving strategy in solving problems.

How do you solve a math problem? Observe the steps being taken as some expert progress in
solving each problem by watching the consolidated excerpt videos of solving mathematical word
problems. Access the video through the following link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1luTEluAthU2xga16I7ldFSPRtWf80x7L/view?usp=sharing

Then, answer the following questions

• What problem-solving strategies were used in each solution?
• What common steps or methods have you observed among the solutions?
• What steps involved did you find similar to the stages you follow in answering
mathematical problems?

Mathematics problem-solving skills is a must-acquire ability expected to a university

student like you, knowing that this course is not only intended for completing the program you
are in but also, and more importantly since this will equip you with the practical knowledge you
can use in daily life and in the profession or career you are pursuing because mathematics is a
discipline we could not just do away with.
 There is no definite way of solving a mathematics problem, as it well depends upon
performing the learned mathematical skills required in the problem and uniquely and creatively
applying the appropriate approach familiar to you. What is important here is you are able to arrive
at the desired correct destination with the consideration of mathematics ethical practices.
Regardless of the individuality in terms of solving mathematical problems, we still need
to adopt a systematic way of presenting or laying our solutions, to achieve efficiency, mastery,
and persuasiveness in the practice as we put its importance in mind. Granted, George Polya, a
Hungarian Mathematician, and who is also well deserved to be attributed as the “Father of
Problem Solving in Mathematics Education”, devised a standard in the pacing of solving a
mathematics problem. It is published in his book entitled “How To Solve It” in the year 1945. There
are four steps in mathematics problem-solving undertakings we call Polya’s Problem-Solving
Strategy, which includes the following sequence; Understanding the Problem, Devising a Plan,
Carrying Out the Plan, and Looking Back. Let us consider each of these steps more closely.

George Polya
1887 – 1985

Father of Problem
Solving in
Mathematics
Education

https://sophisticatedfinance.typepad.com/sophisticated_finance/2009/10/george-polyakindred-spirit.html

Polya’s Problem-Solving Strategy

1. Understand the Problem

This is the first crucial step you need to consider as it will greatly affect the entire process
if mistakenly done. This can be likened to the consultation being done by a doctor to a patient.
Correct diagnosis would lead to proper prescription and brings one’s life away from peril.
Similarly, being able to fully grasp the gist and the meaning of the mathematical problem will lead
to an essential direction to where your plan will be heading.
This is when you have to make the problem alive in your imagination, making yourself
involved in the problem’s context. It is also needed that you are able to describe this imaginative
idea into illustrative visual representations through diagrams, graphs, and others. This would also
require the problem solver to express the problem using one’s own words, identifying the givens,
identifying what is asked, and eliminating extraneous information.

2. Devise a Plan
 Now that you have fully understood the nature and the context of the problem, you then
can be able to prescribe correctly, so to speak, by suggesting what most appropriate problem-
solving strategies or heuristics in-store to use in a certain problem. These include any of the
following as mentioned in the previous lesson and there has been a lot more:
Finding a Pattern Divide and Conquer Draw a picture
Logical Reasoning Working-Backward Act It Out
Guess and Check Organizing Data Solve an
equation
Being able to choose the most fitting strategy would require time and more experience,
but it is not impossible. You may refer to the previous lessons to recall problem-solving strategies
that are more specific to a certain kind of problem.

3. Carry Out the Plan

In this stage, we will be dealing with the actual treatment of the problem by working
carefully and persistently according to what was planned. But do not get frustrated when you
were not able to arrive at the desired result. Be free to devise another alternative when the initial
plan did not work.

4. Look Back
Our solution needs supervision whether or not we are able to carry out the plan correctly.
That is why we need to check the consistency of the validity of our argument down to the result.
It should convince you and your audience that your process and the arrived answer are reasonable
and correct. The result must also be interpreted in the context of the problem. This is also an
opportunity for you to determine whether solutions can be used to other future problems.

You may find this

mnemonic helpful in
remembering the
process in Polya’s
Problem-Solving
Strategy

Example 1. Solve the following problem applying Polya’s Problem-Solving Strategy.

Problem: In three bowling games, Alma scored 138, 141, and 144.
What score will she need in a fourth game to have an average
score of 145 for all four games?
1. Understand the Problem
We have determined the essential data as highlighted, that allows us to answer the problem as
well as the required information we are looking for.

2. Devise a Plan
We know that taking an average of the set of numerical data can be determined by dividing the
sum of the given numerical data by the number of data that are involved. Thus, we can deduce
and work for a mathematical equation out of the given word problem.
138 + 141 + 144 + 𝑥
= 145
4

3. Carry Out the Plan

4. Look Back
We can check our solution by plugging in the resulting value of 𝑥 = 157 which stand for the score
of Alma in the fourth game, to the equation we have set up in the second step.
The resulted value of 𝑥 = 157 in our solution satisfied or made the equation we have set up to be
true. This justifies that our solution is done correctly.

Example 2. Solve the following problem applying Polya’s Problem-Solving Strategy.

Problem: Elimar and Zach are students who are living in the same
town, along the same straight road. Elimar’s house is 2 ½ miles
away from school, while Zach’s house is 1 ¾ miles away from
school. How many miles are their houses apart from each other?

1. Understand the Problem

Elimar and Zach are students who are living in the same town,
along the same straight road. Elimar’s house is 2 ½ miles away
from school, while Zach’s house is 1 ¾ miles away from
school. How many miles are their houses apart from each
other?

This problem requires us to find the distance between the houses of Elimar and Zach. We have
highlighted the important information needed to solve the problem, as well as the thing we are
asked to look for. We can also draw a figure to describe the setting in the problem as shown in
the figure below.

2. Devise a Plan
Using the figure in the first step, we can manually count the units that their houses are away from
each other. We can also use the formula for finding the distance between the two points, by
associating the straight path/road where their houses are situated along, as the potion of the 𝑥-
axis of the cartesian plane. Thus, we can use the formula |𝑥2 − 𝑥1 | or |𝑥1 − 𝑥2 |.
 3. Carry Out the Plan

1 1 1 𝟑
+ + =
4 4 4 𝟒

1 1
|𝑥2 − 𝑥1 | = 2 − 1
2 2
5 7
=| − |
2 4

10 7
=| − |
4 4

𝟑
=
𝟒

4. Look Back
The two strategies we have applied in the previous step arrived at the same answer. The
illustration is clear enough to convince us that we have arrived at the correct result.