7. ve 8. Sınıf Öğrencilerinin Problem Çözmeye Yönelik Yansıtıcı Düşünme Becerilerinin İncelenmesi

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the reflective thinking skills of the 7th and 8th grade students toward problem solving. Using bothqualitative and quantitative data collection tools, this study draws on the mixed-methods design. The sample consists of a totalof 167 students, including 78 female and 89 male students studying in a middle school in the district of Fatih, province ofIstanbul, Turkey in the 2019-2020 academic year. To that end, this study benefits from “The Reflective Thinking Ability Scaletowards Problem Solving” and a personal information form to gather quantitative data. Qualitative data are obtained throughreflective dialogue forms that present the semi-structured interview questions. The analysis of the quantitative data isperformed through descriptive statistics methods, independent samples t-test, correlation analysis whereas the analysis of thequalitative data is conducted through descriptive analysis. The analyses performed in this study ascertain that the reflectivethinking ability of the students toward problem solving is high. This study also concludes that there is a significant correlationbetween this ability and mathematics achievement whilst there is no such significant correlation across genders and gradelevels. Based on the analysis of the qualitative data, it is notable that the reflections of the students are lacking and inadequatein each sub-dimension of reflective thinking, namely, questioning, reasoning and evaluation sub-dimensions, as well as in thisability in general.