Investigation of the effect of reasoning and operation games and strategy games on high school students' attitudes toward mathematics and problem solving skills

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of teaching activities using reasoning and operation games and strategy games on high school students' attitudes towards mathematics and problem-solving skills. The research model is a quasi-experimental model with pretest-posttest control group. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used in the study and a mixed design model with between-group (experimental-control) and within-group (pretest-posttest) measurements was adopted. The sample of the study consisted of a total of 28 students in 14 experimental and 14 control groups in the eleventh grade of a high school in a town of Zonguldak province, which was given permission by the Ministry of National Education. The lessons of the experimental and control groups were conducted by the researcher and the lessons of both groups were carried out according to the learning outcomes and activities in the Mathematics Curriculum (MoNE, 2018). While the control group was not given any application other than the current application, the experimental group was additionally applied with mind and intelligence games activities. Problem Solving Test (PST), Attitudes Towards Mathematics Scale (ATMS) and Semi-Structured Interview Form (SSIF) were used as data collection tools. In the study, PST was used to measure students' problem-solving skills, ATMS was used to measure their attitudes towards mathematics, and SSIF was used to obtain their opinions about the application. The quantitative data of the study were obtained with PST and MAS and the qualitative data were obtained with SSIF. The quantitative data were analyzed with SPSS 29 statistical program and Mann Whitney U-test and Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test were used in the analysis of the data. Spearman Brown Rank Difference correlation analysis was used to investigate the existence of a statistically significant relationship between students' mathematical attitudes and problem-solving skills. In the study, the opinions of the experimental group students about the application were obtained using a semi-structured interview form. Content analysis was used to analyze qualitative data. As a result of the analysis of the research data, it was seen that there was a significant difference in favor of the experimental group between the problem-solving skill scores of the experimental group students in which reasoning and operation games and strategy games activities were carried out and the control group students in whom these activities were not carried out. According to the scores of the experimental and control group students on the attitude towards mathematics scale, there was no significant difference between the two groups. According to the results of the correlation analysis, a weak, positive and statistically insignificant relationship was found between the total scores of the experimental group in the ATMS and the total scores of the PST, and a moderate, positive and statistically insignificant relationship was found in the control group (rexperimental=.196, pexperimental >.05, rcontrol=.526, pcontrol>.05). As a result of the analysis of qualitative data, it was seen that the opinions of the experimental group students about the process were positive and the most popular game was Reversi. According to the results of the research, it can be recommended to carry out reasoning and operation games and strategy games activities to increase the problem-solving skills of high school students.