Teachers’ judgement accuracy of word problems and influencing task features

Abstract

The ability to judge accurately the difficulty of mathematical tasks is considered as a central facet of the diagnostic competence of mathematics teachers. An underlying reason is that the accurate judgement of task difficulty is the basis for achieving an optimal level of instruction for the learning group. Although a lot of studies have already investigated the judgement accuracy and the influence of additional factors, like teacher knowledge, there is a lack of a detailed look at the task features as possible influencing factors. Therefore, in the present study, we first investigated the judgement accuracy of word problems with fractions. Afterwards, by means of theoretical varied task features and an empirical study with 153 6th graders as well as 64 prospective teachers, we explored differences in the tasks regarding the judgement accuracy.