ABSTRACT
After students have mastered solving one-step problems, they start working on two-step problems and then multi-step problems. The hierarchy of these problems is often not attended to in teaching. This is highly detrimental to student learning because two-step and multi-step problems are simply one-step problems with two or more parts. It is important to remember to scaffold levels of difficulty so that the cognitive load is balanced. Often the problem is that students don't fully understand one of the parts, so it is crucial that students understand the one-step problems before they go on to others. This must be assessed and addressed on an ongoing basis. Many researchers discuss multi-step word problems, however the CCSS does a great job of describing the trajectory in the Counting and Cardinality Math Progressions. There are a variety of two-step problems. Students start to explore these problems during 2nd grade.
