The effect of cooperative learning approach on 6th grade students' problem solve and academic risk taking levels in mathematic lesson

Learning based on cooperation is a type of education where students learn on their own and make each other learn at a maximum level by working together in small groups. Problem solving is a cognitive and behavioural process which starts with a person's perception of a certain problem and lasts until finding a solution to the problem. The behaviour of taking an academic risk reflects the students' courage and willingness or unwillingness to cope with the difficulties they meet in the learning environment. The aim of the research is to identify the effect of the approach of learning based on cooperation on the students' problem solving and the levels of taking an academic risk in Mathematics in 6th grade in secondary school. The approach of learning based on cooperation has various techniques. One of these is the tecnique called as "Student Teams Success Categories (STSC)." In this technique, teams are made up of students with high and low success and both girl and boy students from different ethnic origin. Therefore each group forms a small model of the whole class. After the students are divided into heterogeneous groups of four or fivethe members of the groups work in pairs on the worksheets prepared by the teacher. The worksheets containing reading passages, problems, experiments etc. are prepared by the teacher in compliance with the earnings of the subject of that week. The pairs working together write the results on which they agree through discussing in the worksheet. When they finish all the questions in the worksheet, all the members of the groups come together to check the answers and correct each other's mistakes. Until each of the members understands the material, the group work doesn't end.