Word problems try and tell students a story about the math problem in front of them. They are a useful way to connect abstract numbers to concrete situations, so students can learn early on to apply ...

Organizational strategies that help students break complex word problems into manageable chunks may be the key to solving them, according to a 2025 study.

For more than 20 years — and after working with more than 10,000 participants who attended my Kaizen workshops — I’ve refined a simple yet powerful tool that makes problem-solving useful for everyone.