An examination of the relationship between problem solving self-efficacy perceptions of social studies teacher candidates and their problem solving skills

Finding solutions to the problems encountered and being able to cope with the problems have affected people according to the characteristics of every age period, and this has been a matter of curiosity for researchers. The main purpose of this research is to determine the relationship between social studies teacher candidates' problem-solving self-efficacy perceptions and problem-solving skills. For this purpose, the research was designed in the predictive relational screening model. The research was conducted on social studies teacher candidates studying at Afyon Kocatepe University in the 2021-2022 academic year. In the research, "Problem Solving Inventory" was used to determine the problem-solving self-efficacy perceptions of social studies teacher candidates, "Problem Solving Skills Test" was used to determine their problem-solving skills, and "Personal Information Form" was used to determine their demographic information. The "Problem Solving Skills Test" developed by the researcher was passed through stages of the scale development, a pilot application was carried out and item analyzes were carried out. As a result of these analyses, the average difficulty index of the problem-solving skills test was 0.56; the average discrimination index of the test was found to be 0.48 and the internal consistency coefficient value (Kr-20) was 0.92. As a result of the actual application, it was determined that the internal consistency coefficient value (Kr-20) of the problem-solving skills test was 0.89. As a result of the research, it was determined that there was a weak, positive and significant relationship between the problem-solving self-efficacy perceptions of social studies teacher candidates and their problem-solving skills. It was examined whether there were any differences in the problem-solving self-efficacy perceptions of social studies teacher candidates in terms of gender, settlement, class level, mother's education level and father's education level, and no statistically significant difference was observed. It was examined whether there was a difference in the problem solving skills of social studies teacher candidates in terms of gender, settlement, class level, mother's education level and father's education level variables. It was seen that there was a statistically significant difference in the gender and class level variables, and this difference in the class level variable was observed in the third grade. It was determined that this difference in the grade level variable was in favor of Social Studies teacher candidates studying in the third grade. There was no statistically significant difference in the variables of settlement, mother's education level and father's education level. It was examined whether the problem-solving skills and problem-solving self-efficacy perceptions of social studies teacher candidates differed statistically significantly by looking at the joint effect of different variables. It has been reached the conclusion of the fact that the joint effect of social studies teacher candidates' gender and class level, the joint effect of settlement and class level, the joint effect of gender and mother's education level, and the joint effect of gender and father's education level did not differentiate statistically their problem-solving skills and problem-solving self-efficacy perceptions significantly.