The effect of number sense skills of primary school 4th grade students on the success of problem solving

The aim of the study is to determine the predictive level of problem solving skills of number sense skills of 4th grade primary school students and to examine the relationship between number sense and problem solving strategies. Relational screening model was used in the research. The sample of the study consists of 323 primary school 4th grade students selected by cluster sampling method, studying in 4 public schools in the city center of Eskişehir in the 2021-2022 academic year. The 6-factor number sense scale developed by Gürkan and Ulu (2023) and the problem solving test developed by Ulu (2016) were used as data collection tools of the research. Multiple linear regression analysis and Sperman's rho correlation analysis were used to analyze the data. At the end of this study, it was shown that number sense skills explained 53% of the change in problem solving success, meaning and size of numbers, separating and combining numbers, determining reference point, flexible calculation and plausibility of results factors predicted problem solving success. It was revealed that the effect of the operations factor did not predict the success of problem solving. It was seen that there was a moderate positive correlation between the scores of number sense strategies and the strategy of drawing figures and diagrams, trial and error strategy, working backwards strategy, systematic list making strategy and pattern search strategy. There is a moderate negative correlation between number sense strategy scores and mathematical sentence writing strategy. This finding obtained as a result of the research indicates that the use of rule-based mathematical sentence writing strategy increases as the number sense scores decrease; As the number sense scores increased, the use of strategy-based shape and diagram drawing, trial and error, backward working, systematic list making, and pattern search increased. Keywords: Primary school, number sense, problem solving, problem solving strategies