The effect of teaching activities carried out using mathematical mind and intelligence games on secondary school students' mathematics achievement, motivation and problem-solving skills

This study was conducted to determine the effect of teaching activities carried out using mind and intelligence games on secondary school students' mathematics achievement, motivation, and problem-solving skills. The study method was based on a quasi-experimental model with a pretest-posttest control group. A total of 14 seventh-grade students, consisting of 7 students in the experimental group and 7 students in the control group, studying in an official public secondary school, which was allowed for implementation by the Ministry of National Education (MoNE), in the central district of a province in the Marmara Region constituted the study group. The researcher taught the courses of both groups. During the formation of the experimental and control groups, students' report card grade point averages in the mathematics course for previous years were taken into account. Two groups with close averages were formed. After determining the two groups, the experimental and control groups were determined by drawing lots. In the experimental and control groups, the courses were taught with the achievements and activities determined by the Mathematics Curriculum (MoNE, 2018). For the experimental group, applications were performed using mind and intelligence games at the specified hours outside of the mathematics course hours. Quantitative and qualitative data were obtained as a result of the study. The "Mathematics Achievement Test" measuring students' mathematics achievement, the "Motivation Scale for the Mathematics Course" measuring their mathematics motivation, and "Performance Tasks" measuring their problem-solving skills were used to collect the quantitative data of the study. While the MAT and MSMC were applied to the experimental and control groups before and after the experimental process, the PT was applied to the experimental and control groups only at the end of the application. The data obtained were analyzed using the SPSS 22 statistical program. The quantitative data were analyzed using non-parametric tests, the Mann-Whitney U test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The correlation analysis was performed to determine whether there was a statistically significant relationship between students' mathematics motivation and mathematics achievement, between their mathematics motivation and problem-solving skills, and between their mathematics achievement and problem-solving skills. The Spearman-Brown rank differences correlation analysis was conducted to explain the relationship between the two variables, and the Spearman correlation coefficient was calculated. The qualitative data of the study were obtained by the SOF, in which students in the experimental group were asked about their opinions on the application performed using mathematical mind and intelligence games. The qualitative data were analyzed by content analysis. As a result of the study, it was observed that there was a significant difference in favor of the experimental group between the mathematics achievement, mathematics motivation, and problem-solving skills of students in the experimental group, in which activities were carried out using mind and intelligence games, and students in the control group, in which activities were not carried out using mind and intelligence games. The following results were obtained with the correlation analysis: It was observed that there was a high level of positive and significant relationship between MSMC and MAT for the experimental group, while there was a moderate level of positive and significant relationship between MSMC and MAT for the control group (r=.80, pexperimental<.05, rcontrol=.64, pcontrol<.05). For the experimental group, a high, positive, and significant correlation was found between the MSMC and PT (rexperimental=.82, pexperimental<.05). However, no statistically significant difference was observed between the MSMC and PT for the control group (rcontrol=.43, pcontrol>.05). It was observed that there was a high level of positive and significant relationship between MSMC and MAT for the experimental group, while there was a moderate level of positive and significant relationship between MSMC and MAT for the control group (rexperimental=.80, pexperimental<.05, rcontrol=.64, pcontrol<.05). At the end of the study, it was revealed that the opinions of students in the experimental group about the application were positive. Keywords: Mind and intelligence games, mathematics achievement, motivation, mathematical motivation, performance tasks, problem-solving skills, secondary school students.