The prediction of academic achievements of secondary school students with thinking and problem solving skills

The aim of this study is to determine the degree of predictive value of students' academic achievement, which consists of end-of-term success grades in Science, Turkish, Mathematics and Social Studies courses, by their computational thinking, critical thinking and problem solving skills. Descriptive survey model, one of the quantitative research designs, was used in the research. The universe of the study consists of secondary school students in Amasya, and the sample consists of 240 students, 5, 6, 7 from a secondary school and two from each of the 8th grade. Within the scope of the research, a total of 3 scales were applied to the students: "Computational Thinking Skill Level Scale (BDBD α=0,856)", "The California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI α=0,722)" and "Problem Solving Inventory for Children (α=0,872)". In order to determine the academic achievement scores of the students, the Turkish, Mathematics, Science and Technology and Social Studies course grades they received in the first semester of the 2019-2020 academic year were obtained through the e-school system and their averages were included in the study. Structural equation modeling was used in the analysis of the data in SPSS AMOS environment. According to the information obtained as a result of the analysis, there is a relationship between academic achievement and computer thinking, critical thinking and problem solving skills, and these three skills predict each other and academic achievement at a positive and significant level.