The effect of chess-based mathematics teaching approach on primary school students' problem-solving and reasoning

The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of chess-based mathematics instruction on the problem-solving and reasoning skills of sixth-grade students. The study was conducted using a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design. A total of 45 students from a public school in Van province participated in the study, with 22 students in the experimental group and 23 in the control group. Additionally, the perspectives of students in the experimental group regarding the process were collected. Quantitative data were obtained through the administration of the Problem-Solving Skills Scale (PSSS) and the Reasoning Skills Scale (RSS) at both the beginning and the end of the process. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 26.0, while qualitative data were analyzed through content analysis. Normality tests indicated that the data followed a normal distribution. Pretest results showed that the experimental group scored significantly higher than the control group in the total PSSS score and its subdimensions. However, posttest results revealed no statistically significant differences between the experimental and control groups. Similarly, while the experimental group initially had higher RSS pretest scores, both groups reached similar levels in the posttest. The findings suggest that the effects of chess-based mathematics instruction should be evaluated in the long term and supported with diverse assessment tools.