READING COMPREHENSION AND PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS OF GRADE SEVENSTUDENTS: A MIXED SEQUENTIAL EXPLANATORY APPROACH

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the extent of students‟reading comprehension and problem solving skills and identify teaching strategies that would address theproblem in teaching problem solving in Mathematics. The research utilized mixed explanatory design. Thesubject consists of 189 grade 7 students who were part of the general section enrolled at Davao City NationalHigh School. Purposive sampling was used in identifying the respondents taking the reading comprehension testand problem solving test while random sampling was used in identifying participants for the key informantinterview. The result of the study revealed that students reading comprehension and problem solving skills wereat developing level. Moreover, reading comprehension skill was a predictor of problem solving skill. Thismeans that students‟ problem solving skill is dependent on their reading skills. Results also showed from theconducted focus group discussion that students gave importance to vocabulary and main idea in learningproblem solving. Furthermore, using differentiated instruction was the identified best teaching strategy tounderstand problem solving.