Abstract
The aim of this study is to determine 6th grade students' use of problem solving strategies and difficulties that they have in this process. This research has been done by the help of the 12 6th grade public school students who were attending a public school in the 2012- 2013 academic year. The data collection tools for the research consisted of problem tests, including 7 problems which have taken from PISA and some mathematics websites. Each problem was chosen involving only a single strategy. The obtained data was analyzed utilizing descriptive analysis and descriptive statistics. According to the results of the study, all of the students who participated in the study solve the problems about "Look for a Pattern, Start at the End, Use an Equation and Make an Organized List" strategies. Two students could not solve problems including "Draw a Diagram and Divide and Conquer" strategies. Also, three students could not solve the problem about "Guess and Check". In addition, findings of this study show that some texts of problems are long and complex for students. On the other hand, students had some difficulties when they used the strategy of "Guess and Check" and they spent a lot of time on the problem about "Divide and Conquer".
Highlights
A problem can be defined as uncertainty that may cause conflict in the human mind
According to Bruner, the effort made during the discovery phase of the problem solving shows that knowledge obtained in this process is valid and meaningful
The term "problem" is defined in the dictionary of Turkish Language Association as "a question which can be solved with the help of theorems and rules" (TDK, 2013), it may not be solved with the existing knowledge and it can be answered through research and analysis (Bilen, 2002)
Summary
Anahtar Kelimeler: Matematik, Ortaokul öğrencileri, Problem çözme basamakları, Problem çözme stratejileri. Sınıf öğrencilerinin problem çözme stratejilerini ve problem çözerken yaşadıkları sıkıntıları belirlemektir. Çalışmanın verileri PISA ’nın açıklanan sorularından ve çeşitli matematik web sitelerinde yer alan farklı stratejiler kullanılarak çözülebilecek toplam 7 sorudan oluşan bir testten elde edilmiştir. Her soru bir stratejiyi kapsayacak şekilde seçilmiştir. Sondan başlama, denklem yazma ve liste hazırlama stratejilerini içeren soruları çalışmaya katılan tüm öğrenciler doğru cevaplandırırken; şema çizme ile bölmek ve yönetmek stratejilerini iki öğrenci; tahmin-kontrol stratejisini ise üç öğrenci yanıtlayamamıştır. Ayrıca öğrencilerin verilen soruların açıklamalarını uzun buldukları, tahmin kontrol stratejisini kullanırken sıkıntı yaşadıkları, bölmek ve yönetmek stratejisinde ise fazla zaman harcadıkları gözlenmiştir
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