Reflective Thinking in the Problem-Solving Process: A Model Proposal

Abstract

Problem solving is one of the basic skills that individuals need in a lot of fields throughout their lives. Problem solving is among the process standards in mathematics education; mathematics education aims to develop students' problem-solving skills in teaching all content domains. Reflective thinking is an important skill that directly affects problem solving and ensures its successful outcome. This research aims to determine the reflective thinking skills used in problem-solving and to model this process. The research was conducted as a case study, and the participants were selected using criterion sampling. Twenty pre-service primary teachers with different mathematics achievements participated in the study. Data collection tools are worksheets, think-aloud protocol, and semi-structured interview forms. In order to determine the reflective thinking skills used in problem-solving, a non-routine problem was solved by pre-service teachers in the worksheets through the think-aloud protocol and interviews were conducted with pre-service teachers. The data were analyzed considering the components and indicators of reflective thinking. The research results showed that the components of reflective thinking were used in all the problem-solving stages. Based on this result, a model proposal was developed regarding the problem solving process in which reflective thinking is used, and the results were discussed in light of the relevant literature.