Determining the mathematical habits of mind of primary school 4th graders and the factors affecting these habits: Example of operations in fractions

The aim of this research is to develop a test to measure the mathematical habits of mind of primary school 4th grade students and to determine the factors influencing these habits. A total of 188 students attending the fourth grade in the 2023-2024 academic year participated in the study. The research design was determined as a correlational survey model. In data collection, the Mathematical Habits of Mind Test developed by the researcher, the Mathematics Attitude Scale developed by Çelik and Bindak (2005), the Mathematics Self-Efficacy Perception Scale developed by Umay (2001), and the Mathematics Belief Scale for Problem Solving adapted to Turkish by Hacıömeroğlu (2011) from the scale developed by Kloosterman and Stage (1992) were used. Pilot studies with 93 fourth grade students were conducted for the validityreliability studies and item analysis of the Mathematical Habits of Mind Test. After the pilot study, the main study was conducted with 95 fourth grade students. Findings obtained from the analysis of the scales used in the research indicate that the test is reliable, has good discriminative power, and has a difficulty index of 0.48. Additionally, it was observed that there is a high, positive, and significant relationship between students' tendencies to use mathematical habits of mind and their achievements in mathematical problem-solving. There is also a high, positive, and significant relationship between their tendencies to use mathematical habits of mind and their beliefs about problem-solving. Moreover, there is a high, positive, and significant relationship between their tendencies to use mathematical habits of mind and their self-efficacy perceptions towards mathematics. Furthermore, there is a high, positive, and significant relationship between their tendencies to use mathematical habits of mind and their attitudes towards mathematics.