Using a heuristic-focussed rock climbing intervention to develop students’ mathematical problem solving beliefs and performance

Journal article

Problem solving is recognised as a key feature of all students’ mathematical education. Extracurricular activities, such as indoor climbing, could help students develop domain general problem solving heuristics, which in turn can help improve their mathematical problem solving performance. The experience of solving problems in a setting outside of the classroom may also impact on students’ (mathematical) problem solving beliefs. This study used indoor rock climbing, specifically bouldering, to develop problem solving heuristics for Year 9 students (ages 13 and 14) in a state school in England. Fifteen participants undertook three sessions of indoor bouldering during Physical Education (PE) lessons. Two sessions focussed on activities to develop problem solving heuristics, whereas the third utilised problem posing. The performance of students in mathematical problem solving is compared pre- and post- intervention and contrasted with a control group (n=23) that continued PE as normal. Changes in mathematical problem solving beliefs are also compared between the two groups. An improvement in mathematical problem solving performance was observed in the intervention group. There were also differences in relation to the mathematical problem solving beliefs students held. Implications of these findings include potential cross curricular collaboration in developing problem solving heuristics and problem solving performance.

Authors: Dhruev, K; Stylianides, GJ

• Alternative title: A heuristic-focussed rock climbing intervention
• Publication status: Accepted
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Journal: International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology
• Acceptance date: 2026-06-17
• EISSN: 1464-5211
• ISSN: 0020-739X
• Language: English
• Keywords: problem solving; heuristics; rock climbing; bouldering; performance; mathematics; secondary school; beliefs; domain transfer; problem posing