The role of affect and productive struggle in the problem-solving process 
 
Dr. Nadia Monrose Mills, Faculty, College of Science and Mathematics 
 
The ability to succeed in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics 
(STEM) careers is contingent on a student’s ability to engage in mathematical problem 
solving. Much research has been conducted on mathematical problem solving, beginning 
with Polya’s (1945) seminal work and moving towards factors that influence students’ 
success in problem solving. However, there is a need to accumulate this research through the 
creation of a problem solving theory. Schoenfeld (2011) developed such a problem-solving 
theory which attributes an individual’s goals (personal aims to achieve), resources 
(knowledge available), and orientations (beliefs, values) as influential factors in the decisions 
made during any goal-oriented activity. In this study, two students’, incoming and returning 
freshmen at an HBCU participating in a summer bridge program, problem-solving process 
was analyzed. Data collection included the use of individual task-based interviews followed 
by video-stimulated response interviews. It was found that a student’s belief about problem 
solving determined how they dealt with negative emotions during their sessions. The data 
indicate that affect is the driving force that moves the student through the problem-solving 
phases. 
 
Keywords, productive struggle, affect, mathematical problem solving, theory