Investigation of the Effects of Some Variables on Middle School Students' Problem-Solving Skills - Science Process Skills and Learning Styles

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by dabgoudw

The study investigates how gender, school type, and parents’ educational backgrounds affect middle school students’ problem-solving skills, science process skills, and learning styles. The sample includes 569 fourth-grade secondary students from Muğla during the 2012–2013 school year. Tools used are the Problem-Solving Inventory, Science Process Skills Test, Kolb Learning Styles Inventory, and a student information form. Statistical analysis includes descriptive statistics, independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, and Chi-square. Results show predominant avoidance problem-solving, differences by school type and father’s education, and learning style variation by school attended only.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages33

Reading Time1 h 23 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Problem-solving as a core educational skill

Role of science process skills in learning

Definitions and importance of learning styles

Investigation of the Effects of Some Variables on Middle School Students’ProblemSolving Skills, Science Process Skills and Learning Styles1 Güliz KAYMAKCI2 Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University Şendil CAN3 Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University Abstract The aim of the study is to investigate the effects of gender, type of the school attended and mother/father’s educational background on middle school students’ problem-solving, science process skills and learning styles. The population of the present study consists of all the 4th-grade students in the secondary schools in the city of Muğla in the 2012-2013 school year while the sample consists of 569 middle school fourth grade students. As the data collection tools, “The Problem-Solving Inventory”,“The Science Process Skills Test”,“The Kolb Learning Styles Inventory” and a student information form were used. The data were analyzed by using a variety of statistical techniques such as descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test, One way ANOVA and Chi-Square test. As a result of the study were found that middle school students mostly use the “Avoidance” sub-dimension. Also, there isn't any difference was found between problem-solving skills and gender, the school attended, mother and father’s education level. Also, it was found that the students frequently used“Basic Science Process Skills” and that there is not any statistically significant difference between science process skills and gender and maternal education level yet there is a significant difference between science process skills and the school attended and father’s education level and “Integrated Process Skills” were found to be correlated with father’s education level. On the other hand, learning styles were found to be varying significantly depending on the school attended but not depending on gender and maternal education level and father’s education level and it was also found that the highest number of students has the “Diverging” learning style while the lowest number of students has the“Accommodating” learning style. Thus, it can be said that planning instructional and educational activities in such a way as to give feedbacks to individual students can increase efficiency of learners. Keywords: Problem- Solving Skills, Science Process Skills, Learning Styles, Secondary School 4thGrades, Kolb Learning Styles Inventory DOI: 10.29329/epasr.2020.334.21 1 This study has been produced from master’s thesis which is named “The study of the secondary school students' problem solving, scientific process skills and their learning styles according to some variables”. 2 Dr., Science teacher, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-3428-5214, Email: [gulizkaymakci@gmail.com](gulizkaymakci@gmail.com) [3](3 Prof. Dr.)[ Prof. Dr.](3 Prof. Dr.), Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, Faculty of Education, Muğla, Turkey. ORCID: 0000-0001-9313- 7273 Correpondence: [csendil@mu.edu.tr](csendil@mu.edu.tr) Introduction Finding solutions to problems is one of the skills that humanity has used since ancient times. Nowadays, problem-solving skill has become important in every field of life and for all branches of science (Özsoy, 2005) . According to Dewey (1933), one of the experts on problem-solving in the field of education, thinking ability is actually a problem-solving behaviour, but information can only be obtained through problem-solving. For this reason, it is among the aims of educators to educate individuals who can use problem-solving skills (PSS) effectively and systematically in today’s world where information is constantly updated. The new conception of education aims to help people solve the problems they face through science, correctly understand cause and effect relationships in phenomena and events, attain the accurate and scientific ability of judging and questioning, learn the ways of using their intelligence, gain the habit of working in an organized and systematic manner and live in harmony with nature (Temizyürek, 2003) . This h

FAQs

Which variables are examined in the study and what outcomes are measured?

The study examines gender, type of school attended, and mother/father educational background. It measures students’ problem-solving skills, science process skills, and learning styles.

What instruments and statistical methods are used for data collection and analysis?

Data are collected using the Problem-Solving Inventory, the Science Process Skills Test, the Kolb Learning Styles Inventory, and a student information form. Analysis uses descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test, one-way ANOVA, and Chi-square test.

What differences are found regarding problem-solving skills, science process skills, and learning styles?

Problem-solving skills show no difference by gender or education levels of parents. Science process skills differ by the school attended and father’s education level. Learning styles vary significantly depending on the school attended, with the most students showing a Diverging style and the fewest showing an Accommodating style.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by dabgoudw