An in ve stigation of the relationship between middle school students' problem-solving skills and their levels of metacognition applied to physical activities

The aim of this master's thesis is to examine middle school students' problem-solving skills and their metacogniti ve le ve ls applied to physical activities in terms of selected demographic variables, and to in ve stigate the relationship between these two dependent variables. The research was conducted within the framework of quantitati ve descripti ve, causal-comparati ve, and correlational designs. The study sample consisted of 408 middle school students selected from the population through an appropriate sampling method. The Problem Solving In ve ntory and the Metacognition Scale for Physical Activities were used as data collection tools. The analysis of the data re ve aled that students' perceptions of both their problem-solving skills and metacogniti ve engagement in physical activities were at a moderate le ve l. No statistically significant differences were found in students' problem-solving skills in terms of gender, grade le ve l, percei ve d family income, smartphone ownership, or possession of a sports license. Similarly, metacogniti ve le ve ls related to physical activities did not differ significantly based on gender, grade le ve l, smartphone ownership, or sports license possession; howe ve r, a significant difference was obser ve d based on percei ve d family income le ve l. Furthermore, a significant relationship was identified between students’ problem-solving skills and their metacogniti ve le ve ls related to physical activities. The findings are discussed in light of the relevant literature, and recommendations are presented accordingly.