Okul Öncesi Öğretmen Adaylarının Problem Çözme Becerilerinin İncelenmesi

The aim of this study was to determine the level of problem solving skills of preschool teacher education candidates from different variables and their views on problem solving skills. The sample of the study consisted of 303 preschool teacher education candidates who answered the Problem Solving Skills Inventory developed by Hepner and Peterson (1982) and translated into Turkish by Şahin, Şahin and Heppner (1993). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 40 of the volunteer teacher candidates and 24 of the preschool teacher education instructors. According to the quantitative data, the level of problem solving skills of preschool teacher education candidates was found to be low. The preschool teacher education candidates were found to be impulsive and avoidant according to the sub dimensions of the Problem Solving Skills Inventory. In terms of the gender variable, there was a significant difference in favour of female teacher candidates only at impulsive sub-dimension of the Inventory. This could be interpreted as female teacher candidates‟ desire to solve problems immediately. According to the grade level of the teacher candidates, there was a significant difference only in favour of the avoidant sub-dimension of the Problem Solving Skills Inventory. In terms of the grade level, first graders were found to be the most avoidant level. When analyzed in terms of the general CGPA, the candidates who scored the lowest CGPA at impulsive dimension were found to score the highest point in the Problem Solving Inventory. There were no significant difference between the department entry score and preference order in relation to the problem solving skills of the teacher candidates. In contrast to the quantitative findings, teacher candidates stated that rather than avoiding the problem, they tend to spend effort in defining and solving the problems they face with depending on the qualitative data. When asked about their views on their levels of problem skills, in contrast to the quantitative data which revealed the candidates levels as low to average; the candidates stated their problem solving skills as average to high according to the qualitative data. Keywords: Pre-school Teacher Education, Pre-school Teacher Education Candidates, Problem Solving Skills.