Relationship between thinking styles and problem-solving strategies: A case of secondary school students.

Author(s) : Iqbal Hussain, Razia Yasmeen, Saif Ali

Abstract:

Everyone has a different way of thinking, and different abilities and skills to solve problems. The learning process in this article was guided by the Sternberg thinking style inventory (1997). The primary purpose of this study was to develop the better understanding of the concepts to determine the correct accomplishment of the task at hand. Studying different ways of thinking may help students find the best way to develop their true abilities and realize how effective to use teaching and learning is. Sternberg categorizes the thinking expertise into interior, legislative, hierarchical, judicial, oligarchical, executive and foreign affairs oriented. This study aimed to examine the thinking style and problem-solving skills of secondary school students and their relationships with them. Further, describe how students use their thinking style and problem-solving strategies to solve the problems. Jean Piaget's cognitive learning theory helped to understand the thinking styles and problem-solving strategies. There are many methods secondary school students use to solve problems such as brainstorming, reducing, root-cause analysis, etc. The study consisted of two phases, the psychometric analysis coming first and the substantive analysis coming second. We collected data in two phases in this study. The first phase of the study evaluated the learning styles of 20 students from different educational backgrounds using Robert Sternberg's questionnaire. In the second phase, we use pre-testing and post-testing methods to check the students' understanding of problem-solving. Using SPSS, the data was analyzed and a significant relationship was found between the problem-solving ability and thinking style of secondary school students.

Thinking style, problem solving strategies, legislative, judicial, Sternberg theory.