The impact of intelligence games course on students' success in mathematics

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of the intelligence games course on mathematics success in middle schools. Therefore, this study was conducted using a mixed-methods design with seventh-grade students studying at a middle school in a district of Elâzığ province during the 2023-2024 academic year. The participants of this study, which was carried out according to the embedded mixed-method design, one of the types of mixed-methods, were selected using a convenience sampling method. An interview form was administered to mathematics teachers and students for the study. The implementation involved conducting an intelligence games course with the experimental group of students (n=21) for two class hours a day, once a week, during one term, taught by an intelligence games teacher, while the control group of students (n=25) continued with their regular curriculum. The data obtained were analyzed using the SPSS 21 software package. The normality of the data obtained from the study was determined using the Shapiro-Wilks test. An independent samples t-test was used to compare the experimental and control groups, and a paired samples t-test was used to compare the seventh-grade scores with the sixth-grade scores of the students. In this way, the relationship between the experimental and control groups and the comparison of the previous year's grades were examined. When the results obtained from the research were examined, it was concluded that there was no statistically significant change when the groups were compared among themselves. However, while an increase was observed when the sixth-grade mathematics grade averages of the experimental group were compared with their seventh-grade mathematics grade averages, a decrease was observed in the grade averages of the control group. The results obtained indicated that intelligence games had no statistically significant effect on students' mathematics success.