Tag: problem solving

I once asked a student whether 3 was a factor of 48. He paused, thought for a while, then said: “Well, I know 8 × 6 is 48, so 6 is a factor of 48. And 3 is a factor of 6, so 3 must be a factor of 48.” He didn’t retrieve an answer. He built one — moving through known relationships, using factors, multiplication, division and structure to reason his way to a conclusion. That is strategic fluency: not flashy, not always fast, but powerful. If that number looks familiar, it should — it’s the same 48 from a piece a little while back, the one about all the ways a...