The Use of Heuristics in Solving Non-Routine Problems in Algebra

The main purpose of this descriptive study was to investigate the heuristics employed by the second year students in a public secondary school in Albay Province in solving problems in Algebra. Further it looked into the difficulties of the students along conceptual understanding, procedural skills and numeracy. A total of 15 problems were given to the upper fifty percent of the 158 students. Rubrics were utilized to appraise the heuristics. Results of the study showed that the students employed six problem-solving heuristics in Algebra. The heuristics employed were computing/simplifying, considering simpler case, guessing, checking and revising, looking for patterns, making a model or diagram, and using a formula.