The Relationship Between Students’ Reflective Thinking Skills and Levels of Solving Routine and Non-Routine Science Problems

Abstract

Abstract: Reflective thinking skills are thought to be an important factor affecting the success of problem solving both routine and non-routine science problems. This research aimed to determine the relationship between eighth-grade students’ reflective thinking skills toward problem-solving and their level of solving routine and non-routine science problems. Determining this relationship can form a basis for the decisions teachers make in courses and contribute to increasing teaching quality. A correlational and regressional research design was used in this study. A total of 408 eighth-grade students from four secondary schools in Kocaeli, Turkey constituted the sample group. The correlational results showed that, as the students’ reflective thinking towards problem solving scores increased, which were identified as questioning, reasoning and, evaluating, their level of solving routine and non-routine problems also increased. But multiple regressional results showed only the evaluation skill was a significant predictor in solving routine problems and only the reasoning skill was a significant predictor in solving non-routine problems.  Therefore, students should also be equipped with reasoning skill such as examining the cause-and-effect relationships by investigating the reason behind the decisions made while solving a problem, to contribute to the solution of non-routine problems.