The Handshake Problem and Its Multiple Solutions

Introduction

We teach mathematics in order to elicit thinking among students.  Choosing ‘rich’ problems can give students opportunities to think and discuss among their peers.

Rich problems are challenging tasks that have many solutions and/or many answers. Giving students these kind of problem will encourage them to explore, and evaluate which solutions best fit. It is also important that we train them to solve problems in as many ways as they can.

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The problem below is an example of such task. Only four solutions are written, but I assure you that there’s more. » Read more