The effects of systematic inventive problem solving instruction on high school students' physics achievement and problem solving skills

In this study, it was aimed to determine the effect of systematic inventive problem solving instruction on the physics achievement and problem solving skills of 9th grade high school students in the Heat and Temperature unit. Answers were sought to the problems and sub-problems of the study in accordance with the quasi-experimental design with pre-test-post-test experimental and control groups. In the 2020-2021 academic year, the research was conducted at a private Anatolian High School in one of the central districts of Izmir Province. It was conducted online with students studying at the class level. The study group consisted of a total of 24 students, including the experimental group (n=12), where systematic inventive problem solving teaching is applied, and the control group (n=12) in which the traditional teaching method is applied. In the study, "Heat and Temperature Success Test" consisting of 18 multiple type choice questions and "Systematic Inventive Problem Solving Test" consisting of 4 open-ended questions were used as a pre and post test data collection tool, which was conducted by the researcher with validity and reliability studies. In addition, the opinions of the experimental group students about systematic inventive problem solving teaching were collected in the form of structured interviews using "Systematic Inventive Problem Solving Interview Questions", which consisted of 5 open-ended questions. The quantitative data obtained in the research are used in a special Statistical Analysis Program; the data obtained from the interview were analyzed by descriptive analysis. As a result of the research, significant differences in physics success were found in both experimental and control groups. When the experiment and control group were compared, this significant difference was in favor of the experimental group. This finding shows that systematic inventive problem solving teaching has a positive effect on improving physics success. It was observed that it improved in both groups in relation to problem solving skills, but the systematic inventive problem solving teaching applied on the students in the experimental group was more effective in increasing their skills in problem solving than the traditional method applied to the students in the control group. The results obtained from the research are important in terms of showing the benefits of systematic pathway in the acquisition of problem solving skills and applicability to physics teaching. Keywords: Systematic inventive problem solving, physics, heat and temperature, inventive problems, high school students.