Language and Mathematics - Key Factors influencing the Comprehension Process in reality-based Tasks

Solving reality-based tasks is an important goal in mathematics instruction and is anchored in education standards determined by mathematical modeling skills. These tasks demand a serious examination of the real-world as well as text comprehension to successfully solve them. Therefore, this study empirically reconstructed the comprehension process during the solution of reality-based tasks and examined how it correlates with process-, person-, and task-related attributes. Fifty-five seventh graders using the Think Aloud Method solved reality-based tasks that were varied in their linguistic and situational complexity level. Their mathematical performance as well as their reading ability were measured. Based on detailed analyses of solution processes combined with the performance data, we point out the relevance of comprehension activities and empirically identify factors that influence the comprehension process.