The investigation of students' brain waves in the problem solving process

The aim of the study is to investigation the brain activities of students with different cognitive styles as electrophysiological in the process of solving different mathematic problems to contribute the understanding of neural mechanisms in mathematics education. Mixed method research was used in this research without needing a sample determination. Mixed method research is defined as the research in which combines quantitative and qualitative research techniques. Accordingly, quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed separately. The obtained data is combined in the results section. The research was conducted in two stages: recording the brain waves of students with different cognitive styles when solving various types of problems and examining the students? opinions regarding the problem test. The research was conducted in the spring semester of the the 2012-2013 academic year with first-year prospective elementary teachers (N= 20). The cognitive style test and hand asymmetry survey were used in selecting the participants. Emotiv EPOC device and TestBench software were used in recording the brain waves. SIMSS software, which was developed via MATLAB program, was used in analyzing the recorded data. The problem test given to the participants contained various types of problems from which we obtained the recorded data. The reliability coefficient was found to be 0,72 as a result of the test-retest application. While the brain waves were recorded, this test was offered to the participants via animation software (with Adobe Flash support) that was developed by the researcher. Furthermore, an interview form was prepared and semi-structured interviews were conducted with the students in order to gather the opinions of the participants regarding the problems within the problem test. Regarding the findings, statistically significant differences were found between the two groups when the asymmetry index values of the brain waves of students with different styles were analyzed in terms of cerebral lobes while they were solving various types of problems. Analysis results belonging to the arithmetic, spatial, geometry, pattern and reasoning problems were determined and interpreted. Brain activation structures of participants with different cognitive styles diverge in the process of solving various types of problems. The difference among the participants also varies in accordance with the structure of the question. Furthermore, differences were observed when the entropy values of the participants with different cognitive styles were examined. It was found that field-dependent students exerted a higher level of mental effort when solving problems compared to field-independent students.