Journal of Education and Practice www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1735 (Paper) ISSN 2222-288X (Online) Vol.14, No.27, 2023 29 Elementary Students Perceptions Towards Mathematics Problem Solving Lina Amanatallah 1* Nehme Safa 1,2 1. School of Education, Lebanese International University, Tripoli, Lebanon 2. Department of Educational Sciences, Saint-Joseph University, Beirut, Lebanon *E-mail of the corresponding author: lina.amanatallah@liu.edu.lb Abstract Real life problems can be found within schools’ curricula, such as in mathematics, and solving mathematical problems, addressed to as problem solving in this study, often relate mathematics to real life situations, contexts students are familiar with and can relate to. However, students worldwide often comment that Mathematics problems are really difficult, and Lebanese secondary teachers complain that students reach Grade 12 and are still unable to think logically. Therefore, this article reports on a part of a larger study that aimed to understand students’ challenges and perceptions towards problem solving (PS) in Grade 4, 5, and 6 (n=558) in private schools in Tripoli- Lebanon. The researcher used the questionnaire method to collect data, summarize and analyze students’ perceptions towards PS. Findings indicated that language and analytical skills are among the most challenges faced by students. Recommendations for acknowledging these difficulties and adopting teaching strategies that tackle these problems were also provided. Keywords: Mathematics problem-solving, Elementary, Cycle 2, Students perception. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/14-27-03 Publication date:September 30 th 2023 1.Introduction Solving mathematical problems is at the heart of mathematics education. It is the first process standard in the Common Core State Standards (NGA, 2010), the third aim in the British Mathematics curriculum (GOV.UK, 2013), and the second general objective in the Lebanese Mathematics curriculum as stated in the official newspaper issue (1997). In Lebanon, students face difficulties in solving mathematics problems, and the difficulties are related to failure to understand the mathematical problem, devise a suitable strategy to solve it, carry out a plan to implement the suitable strategy, conduct deductive reasoning, understand-apply mathematical concepts, comprehend mathematical texts, and write mathematical texts (Al-Masri, 2013; Mikati, 2017; Mahfouz 2023). Moreover, Lebanese students’ in international exams such as PISA and TIMSS showed low scores compared to other countries (TIMSS & PIRLS, 2016; Harmouch, Khraibani & Atrissi 2017, TIMSS & PIRLS, 2019). On the national level, students’ success in mathematics in Brevet and Baccalaureate exams “does not have any scientific indication about the educational situation” according to Mahfoud (2023), a secondary Mathematics teacher and the President of the Teachers’ Syndicate in Lebanon, who confessed in an interview with the researcher: “it is enough for a student to study the study-guides (annals) and memorize the exercises included to guarantee passing the exams since the questions are similar each year.” He also added, “students memorize the solutions; if we make few changes in the given, they get lost because they don’t know how to think.” Hence there is a need to investigate if this difficulty is rooted at the elementary level since problem- solving skill is the corner stone for elementary students to pursue mathematics learning in the successive grade levels. 2.Theoretical Framework and Literature Review For Piaget (1976), children develop as they confront new and unfamiliar features of their environment that do not fit with their current views of the world. Piaget refers to this effort of connecting existing ideas to new information where people modify their existing schemas to incorporate new ideas as reflective thinking (Fosnot, 1996). However, the child’s intellectual growth is contingent on his mastering the social means of thought, that is language (Stierer and Maybin,1994). Vygotsky (1962) argues that communication is the driving force behind speech in both adults and children. He perceives language development as a process which begins through social contact with others and then gradually moves inwards through a series of transitional stages towards the development of inner speech (Vygotsky et al, 1929). For Vygotsky (1978), the development of inner speech (self-talk) is the outcome of the transformation in thinking achieved through a process of internalization in which language is the key ingredient. He believed that inner speech plays an important role in self-awareness, self- understanding, and working memory as well. This suggests that inner speech is linked to the development of language abilities and the advanced mental abilities to which language is linked (Ehrich, 2006). Drawing on Vygotsky, Egan (1997) argues that the development of language begins with external social interaction with others and becomes internalized as the child matures. Therefore, the culture in which children