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September 5, 20250 citationsOpen Access

Elementary Math Word Problem Generation using Large Language Models

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NANimesh AriyarathneHBH. A. Nelumi BandaraYHYasith Heshan

Key Points

  • The generated math word problems are high quality, with minimal spelling and grammar issues.
  • Automated evaluations indicated superior performance, yet LLMs still had challenges with adhering to grade and question type specifications.
  • Extensive experiments on different LLMs and prompting strategies were performed to enhance diversity and quality in problem generation.
  • Human feedback significantly contributed to the improvements in the performance of the generated math word problems.

Abstract

Abstract Mathematics is often perceived as a complex subject by students, leading to high failure rates in exams. To improve Mathematics skills, it is important to provide sample questions for students to practice problem-solving. Manually creating Math Word Problems (MWPs) is time consuming for tutors, because they have to type in natural language while adhering to grammar and spelling rules of the language. Existing Deep Learning techniques for MWP generation either require a tutor to provide the initial portion of the MWP, and/or additional information such as an equation. In this paper, we present an MWP generation system based on Large Language Models (LLMs) that overcome the need for additional input - the only input to our system is the number of MWPs needed, the grade and the type of question (e.g.~addition, subtraction). Unlike the existing LLM-based solutions for MWP generation, we carried out an extensive set of experiments involving different LLMs, prompting strategies, techniques to improve the diversity of questions, as well as techniques that employ human feedback to improve LLM performance. Human and automated evaluations confirmed that the generated MWPs are high in quality, with minimal spelling and grammar issues. However, LLMs still struggle to generate questions that adhere to the specified grade and question type requirements.

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Cite This Study

Ariyarathne et al. (2025) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/68bb4df56d6d5674bcd0223dhttps://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6814693/v1
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