Investigation of the relationship between 5th and 8th grade students' reading strategies, metacognitive awareness levels and mathematical problem solving skills

This study aims to examine the relationship between the metacognitive awareness levels of reading strategies and mathematical problem-solving skills among 5th and 8th grade students. The research also investigates whether students' levels of reading strategies and problem-solving abilities differ based on demographic variables, and explores the predictive relationships between these variables. Factors such as gender, parental education and occupation, preschool education status, perceived mathematics achievement, and reading habits were considered within the scope of the study. The study was designed using the relational screening model within the quantitative research method. The sample consisted of 776 students, including 379 fifth graders and 397 eighth graders, attending public schools in four different educational regions of Seyhan district in Adana during the spring term of the 2022–2023 academic year. Data were collected using the "Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory (MARSI)" developed by Mokhtari and Reichard (2002) and adapted into Turkish by Öztürk (2012), a researcher-developed skill-based mathematics problem-solving test, and a personal information form. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson correlation analysis. Findings revealed a significant and positive relationship between students' metacognitive awareness of reading strategies and their mathematical problem-solving skills. Additionally, variables such as parental education and preschool education status were found to have a meaningful impact on these competencies. The results indicated that students with higher levels of metacognitive awareness demonstrated better performance in problem solving. In conclusion, the effective use of reading strategies contributes significantly to students' mathematical problem-solving abilities. Keywords: Reading strategies, metacognitive awareness, mathematical problem-solving, middle school students.