CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Research Literature

There are various definitions of critical thinking in the literature. According to M.

Scriven & R. Paul (1996), critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and

skillsfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information

gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication,

as a guide to belief and action (Scriven & Paul, 1996). Most formal definitions of critical thinking

characterize critical thinking as the intentional application of rational, higher order thinking skills,

such as analysis, synthesis, problem recognition and problem solving, inference, and evaluation

(Angelo, 1995; ten Dam & Volman, 2004; and Lai, 2011).

Wade (1995) identifies eight characteristics of critical thinking. Critical thinking

involves: asking questions; defining a problem; examining evidence; analyzing assumptions and

biases; avoiding emotional reasoning; avoiding oversimplification; considering other

interpretations; and tolerating ambiguity (Wade, 1995). Dealing with ambiguity is also an aspect

identified by S.M. Strohm & R.A. Baukus (1995) as an essential part of critical thinking.

According to them, ambiguity and doubt serve a criticalthinking function and are a necessary and

even a productive part of the process (cf Strohm & Baukus, 1995; Malmir & Shoorcheh, 2012;

and Laqaei & Mall-Amiri, 2015).

Another characteristic of critical thinking identified by many sources is metacognition.

Metacognition is thinking about one’s own thinking. More specifically, metacognition is being

aware of one’s thinking as one performs specific tasks and, then, using this awareness to control

what one is doing (Jones & Ratcliff, 1993; and Jaleel & Premachandran, 2016).

Critical thinking and problem solving have long been important terminologies in the

context of education, but within the framework of the 21st century classroom, they take on very

specific definitions. Critical thinking employs higher level analytical skills to understand a
problem and to work toward a means by which it can be solved, that word implies an answer

(Resnick, 1987; Cederblom & Paulsen, 2006; and Moore & Parker, 2012).

Often the problems of the present classroom can have as many answers as there are

students trying to solve them. Problem solving describes a situation in which students are faced

with an authentic and relevant task on which they work toward a solution or more likely an end

product (Khandani, 2005). Frequently, if not always, the scenario in the classroom is structured,

so that problem solving involves collaboration within a group of students to create an end result,

which solves the problem at hand.

In the present mathematics class, students are encouraged to move away from trying to

manipulate numbers and formulas to arrive at an answer and instead focus on the metacognitive

skills necessary for approaching a problem. Group work can be helpful, since students have the

opportunity to work through a problem together and discuss difficulties. The Professor does not

tell students how to solve the problem, but asks questions that help the students approach and

solve the problem on their own. This doesn’t mean that the instructor waits until the students have

the answer. Instead, the instructor interacts with the groups, asking questions when a group is

stuck or the approach is not clear (Winter et al., 2001).

While this teaching method might seem time consuming, students gain a deeper

understanding of the work, they are doing than if they simply copied examples that instructor put

on the board. Students are learning the process of thinking through problems as an expert would

approach a problem and practicing higher-order thinking skills (Resnick, 1987; and Swartz &

McGuinness, 2014).

When teaching mathematics, critical thinking skills can be used, practiced, and enhanced

by effective cognitive methods. Critical thinking can enhance creative problem solving options by

encouraging students to seek new strategies when solving mathematical problems. Mathematics

teachers know the importance of mathematical reasoning, for it builds the skills required for

higher-level mathematics (Ball, 2003; and Sullivan, 2011).

 T. Van Gelder (2005) believes that improving critical thinking abilities requires practice

and to be actively engaged in the skill of thinking critically. T. Van Gelder (2001)’s

recommendations for improving critical thinking also included practice of: active engagement;

transfer of learning; understanding theories; thinking map skills; the ability to identify biases; and

being open to what should be considered truth (Gelder, 2001 and 2005).

The results of various studies support the fact that, with practice, students can improve

their critical thinking skill levels in this area (Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991; and Lai, 2011). The

work of B.R. Reichenbach (2001) and other studies indicate that students can expand their

thinking skills, including their clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth, and logic

that stills identified in the Universal Intellectual Standards (Reichenbach, 2001; Shahsavar &

Hoon, 2013; and Tew, 2015).

In the field of mathematics education, it is generally agreed that critical thinking is very

important, especially in problem solving. Students should be able to develop this skill in order to

be successful in this age of globalization. Most researches on critical thinking in mathematics

education focused on elementary, secondary, and college students, but very few has delved on

graduate students (cf Fung, Townsend & Parr, 2004; Pellegrino, 2007; and Stinson, Bidwell &

Powell, 2012).

This study attempted to test and describe pedagogical practices or strategies on how to

enhance critical thinking of graduate students in solving problems in mathematics. Carefully

developed problems situations were used to find out if these will enhance critical thinking of

students in solving problems in mathematics.

Efforts to develop the critical thinking skills of mathematics have become the main

agenda in the curriculum of mathematics education worldwide (NCTM, 2000; Innabi & Sheikh,

2006; and Mason, Burton & Stacey, 2010). Many researchers have also shown that the

development of critical thinking skills can improve mathematics achievement (Silver & Kenney,

1995; NCTM, 2000; Semerci, 2005; Jacob, 2012; and Chukwuyenum, 2013).
 In fact, critical thinking skills will encourage students to think independently and solve

problems in school or in the context of everyday life (CCT, 1996c; NCTM, 2000; and Jacob,

2012). Critical thinking skills are very important in mathematics learning, because these skills can

improve the quality of mathematics learning in better and meaningful way (Cobb et al., 1992).

Therefore, students should not only understand the content of mathematics, but also the process

of mathematical thinking (Cobb et al., 1992; and Rajendran, 2010).

One of the priorities of the university is to produce graduates who will contribute to the

development and improvement of the nation; and critical thinking is very important in developing

successful students in this endeavour (Firdaus et al., 2015). Hence, this study is very significant to

the research priorities of the university.

Promoting critical thinking and problem solving in mathematics education is crucial in

the development of successful students. Critical thinking and problem solving go hand in hand. In

order to learn mathematics through problem solving, the students must also learn how to think

critically (Semerci, 2005; Jacob, 2012; and Chukwuyenum, 2013).

There are five values of teaching through problem solving. These are: (1) problem

solving focuses the student’s attention on ideas and sense making rather than memorization of

facts; (2) problem solving develops the students belief that they are capable of doing mathematics

and that mathematics makes sense; (3) it provides on going assessment data that can be used to

make instructional decisions; (4) help students succeed and inform parents; and (5) teaching

through problem solving is fun and when learning is fun, students have a better chance of

remembering it later (cf Marcut, 2005; and Firdaus et al., 2015).

The primary objective is to help the student to become aware of the fact that problem

solving is not a special area, but instead uses the same logical processes to which they are already

familiar and use routinely (Marcut, 2005). The problem statement itself is the primary

cause of novice students’ difficulty in solving word problems. The solution is to ignore, when

reading a problem statement, any phrases that start with words like “if ”.
 The initial action in starting a solution is identifying what is asked for. The student must

be learned to verbalize. A verbal statement following the final result is of particular importance:

what does the result tell me? In addition to completing the solution, the ending statement serves

as a quick check of one work. An adequate solution presentation does not have to be explained.

Mathematics is often held up as the model of a discipline based on rational thought, clear,

concise language, and attention to the assumption and decision-making techniques that are used

to draw conclusions (Makina, 2010). In 1938, Harold Fawcett (1995) introduced the idea that

students could learn mathematics through experiences of critical thinking. His goals included the

following ways that students could demonstrate that they were, in fact, thinking critically, as they

participated in the experiences of the classroom: selecting the significant words and phrases in

any statement that is important, and asking that they be carefully defined; requiring evidence to

support conclusions they are pressed to accept; analyzing that evidence and distinguishing fact

from assumption; recognizing stated and unstated assumptions essential to the conclusion;

evaluating these assumptions, accepting some and rejecting others; evaluating the argument,

accepting or rejecting the conclusion; and constantly re-examining the assumptions that are

behind their beliefs and actions (cf Fawcett, 1995; Robertson & Rane-Szostak, 1996; and Makina,

2010).

Fifty years later, the critical thinking is still present in the goals, but it has been subsumed

by more holistic notions of what it means to teach, do, and understand mathematics (Marcut,

2005). In this context, the students will be able to: organize and consolidate their mathematical

thinking through communication; communicate their mathematical thinking coherently and

clearly to peers, teachers, and others; analyze and evaluate the mathematical thinking and

strategies of others; and use the language of mathematics to express mathematical ideas precisely

(Marcut, 2005; and Lee, 2015).

These ideas are very similar to those promoted by Harold Fawcett (1995) in 1938. Little

has changed in the mainstream ways that people tend to define critical thinking in the context of
mathematics education. Students are expected to search for the strengths and weaknesses of each

and every strategy offered. It is no longer good enough to reach an answer to a problem that was

posed. Now, students are cajoled into communicating their own ideas well, and to demand the

same communication from others. A shift has occured from listing skills to be learned toward

attributes of classrooms that promote critical thinking as part of the experience of that classroom

(Fawcett, 1995; and Makina, 2010).

Such a class to promote critical thinking can be created by providing the conditions for

the students to communicate with one another in order to reflect together on the solution to the

problem. The first condition is for the students to feel free in expressing their ideas. Then, they

must be able to listen attentively to their classmates and show interest in their ideas. So, they

communicate both for learning mathematics and in mathematical terms. On the other hand, the

students get accustomed to group work, which implies mutual help and cooperation for a mutual

aim (Robertson & Rane-Szostak, 1996; Marcut, 2005; and Lee, 2015).

Nature of Critical Thinking

More than a decade has passed since then-President John F. Kennedy ordered the

invasion of the Bay of Pigs. The invasion was to become one of the great disasters in U.S.

political and military history. The invasion did not, of course, succeed in the ultimate overthrow

of Cuba'sFidel Castro. More interestingly, there is a widespread consensus among students of the

situation that the invasion never had a chance to succeeding the first place. The decision to

invade, made largely by Ivy-Leagve educated men with some experience in political affairs,

represented what from almost any point of view would have to be labeled as a lapse in critical

thinking.

What is critical thinking, and how can well-educated men and women show lapses in it

that are serious enough to lead to fiascos such as the Bay of Pigs, the Watergate break-in and

cover up, and any of a number of other such similar events in our country's history? The goal of
this article is to define critical thinking, to review alternative approaches to understanding it, to

compare some alternative procedures for measuring it, and to discuss some alternative attempts to

train it.

A Definition of Critical Thinking

Construed broadly, critical thinking comprises the mental processes.strategies and re

representation people use to solve problems. make decisions, and learn new concepts. The

particular elements of critical thinking that people use vary widely both in scope and in quality

across persons, tasks, and situations. Bence, it is necessary to specify in some detail just what the

elements of critical thinking are, and how they vary across persons, tasks, and situations. Such a

specification is the goal of the next section of this article.

Theories of the Nature of Critical Thinking

In some fields of educational endeavor, it is difficult to get educational theorists to agree

about anything. The field of critical thinking is distinctive for its amount of consensus among

theoriests regarding the nature of critical thinking. This is not to say that the consensus is

complete, or that alternative theories and approaches to theorizing are nonexistent. It is to say,

however, that the agreements clearly outweigh the disagreements. A review of theories and

approaches suggests that the major differences are in how broadly or narrowly the construct of

critical thinking is viewed--in its boundaries rather than in what is viewed to be the core.

Three Traditions of Theorizing

The study of critical thinking is of particular interest because of its confluence of three

traditions of thought--the educational, the philosophical, and the psychological. Indeed, if there is

a modern-day founder of the "critical-thinking movement," it is almost certainly John Dewey,

who was simultaneously an educator, a philosopher, and a psychologist.

The philosophical tradition. The concern of philosophers with the elements of critical thinking

dates back to ancient times. If Dewey is the modern-day founder of the critical-thinking

movement, then Plato and Aristotle would be its ancient founders. In more recent times,

philosophers such as Ennis (in press), Lipman (in press), and Paul (inpress) have devoted their

attention to understanding the bases of critical thinking.

Philosophers have focused their attention not so much upon the requirements of critical

thinking in the classroom, but upon the requirements of formal logical systems. The difference in

emphasis is important for two reasons.

First, the requirements of formal logical systems do not necessarily correspond to the

requirements or capabilities of children in classroom situations. Indeed, the two sets of

requirements may be completely different. For example, "resolution logic" provides a powerful

method for proving certain logical theorems, but probably no one (in their rightmind!) would

claim that children spontaneously use resolution logic, or even that many of them would

spontaneously adopt it after anything but extensive training. Not all philosophers have been quick

to recognize the difference between the laws of logic and the laws of thought. Indeed, Boole

(1954) entitled his book on "Boolean logic," The Laws of Thought, despite the fact that there is

no evidence at all that people spontaneously adopt these laws in their thought.

Second, the requirements of logical systems may perhaps better be thought of as

providing models of competence rather than models of Performance for human thought. The rules

of logic can tell us how people might think critically under ideal circumstances in which the

limitations typically placed upon the human information processing system are not in place. But

there are numerous potential limitations that ordinarily block the utilization of our full

competence--limited time, limited information, limited working memory capacity, limited

motivation, and so on.

These two delimitations on the interpretation of philosophical theories are not criticisms
of philosophical approaches. We need to know the maximum potentials of critical thought, lest

we settle for less precision and reflectivity in our thinking than that of which we are capable. At

the same time, we need to recognize the personal and situational constraints that often impinge

upon our working up to full capacity.

The Psychological tradition. Psychologists interested in the nature of critical thinking, such as

Bransford (1984), Bruuer (1960, 1960, Feuerstein (1980), and Sternberg (1985), have beep

particularly concerned with characterizing critical thinking as it is performed under the

limitations of the person and the environment. For example. Feuerstein (1980) has specified how

the critical thinking of retarded performers differs from that of normal performers; Sternberg and

Davidson (1983), in contrast, compared the critical thinking of gifted and normal performers.

None of these theorists, though, has proposed a model of totally rational thinking. Indeed, Guyote

and Sternberg's (1981) work is more typical of psychological theorizing in pinpointing how

people differ from the fully rational performer in solving syllogisms.

Psychological theorizing can be valuable in showing how people think critically in the

absence of full information, unlimited time, perfect memory, and so on. At the same time, it is

necessary to observe vivo cautions in evaluating the theories of many psychologists.

First, the theories of psychologists are often derived from and tested on performance of

human subjects in laboratory settings, and there is no guarantee that people will perform in their

everyday lives and especially in the classroom in the same ways that they do in the laboratory. To

the contrary, most available evidence suggests consequential differences in the two kinds of

settings of performance.

Second, the constraints of proposing theories that are empirically testable through the

standard means of psychological experimentation sometimes results in theories that oversimplify

the analysis of critical thinking. The constraint of test ability contributes to scientific analysis but

often at the expense of oversimplification.

The educational tradition. In the educational tradition of theorizing are leading figures such as

Bloom (1956). Gagne (1965), Perkins (1981),and Renzulli (1976), whose theorizing seems

directly responsive to the skills needed by children in the classroom for problem solving, decision

making, and concept learning. Bloom's (1956) famous taxonomy of cognitive skills and Gagne's

(1965) well known hierarchy of learning skills have seen widespread application in classroom

situations and even textbook creation. These theorists have drawn heavily upon classroom

observation, text analysis, and process analysis of thinking in the classroom to guide their

thinking about critical thinking,

Educational theories have the advantage of being closely tied to classroom observation

and experience. At the same time, there are two points to keep in mind when using or evaluating

these theories.

First, the educational theories often do not have the clarity in epistemological status that

is characteristic of the philosophical and psychological theories, making it more difficult, in some

respects, both to evaluate and to use the educational theories. Philosophical theories tend to be

competence theories specifying what people can do; psychological theories tend to be

performance theories specifying what people actually do; educational theories are often a mixture

of the two, with the nature and proportions of the mix less than clearly specified. To this day, for

example, educators argue over the extent to which Bloom's taxonomy represents a prescriptive

versus a descriptive model of human thought.

Second, in my experience, educationally based theories tend not to have been subjected

to tests of the same degree of rigor that has characterized the testing of philosophical and

psychological theories.

Philosophical theories based on various kinds of logics must be logically rigorous and

internally consistent. Psychological theories based on human performance must be externally

consistent with respect to the behavior they purport to describe. Educational theories are often not
subjected either to the logical tests of philosophical theories or to the psychological tests of the

psychological theories. (Sternberg, 1986)

21ST Century Skill “Problem Solving”

According to Md. Mehadi Rahman (2019), today, in the modern world, the education

system is going through some massive changes. As it is proofed that in every 5.5 years scientific

knowledge is getting doubled (Nash, 1994), and it raises one question in everyone’s mind at the

beginning of the 21st century. What knowledge and skill our children need to survive the speedy

changes seeming in all expanses of life? If we prepare our children only for existing prospects,

their knowledge and skills will be obsolete by the time they have to use them in their private life

and in the world of work. Therefore, children have to gain more knowledge about different

subject areas to live a successful life in this fast-moving world. At the same time, they have to

achieve some crucial skills, which will help them to survive the fast-changing world. In recent

years a new concept has emerged focusing these prospects, which called 21st-century skills.

The term 21st-century skills mean an extensive set of knowledge, skills, work habits, and

character traits that are most essential to lead a perfect life in today’s world, particularly in

academic life and future careers. According to Binkley et al. (2012), ten 21 st century skills, which

could be identified in four groupings:

Ways of Thinking

1. Creativity and innovation

2. Critical thinking, problem-solving, decision making

3. Learning to learn, Metacognition 

Ways of Working

4. Communication
5. Collaboration (teamwork) 

Tools for Working

6. Information literacy

7. ICT literacy 

Living in the World

8. Citizenship – local and global

9. Life and career

10. Personal and social responsibility – as well as cultural awareness and competency

Problem-solving is inescapable in human life and is crucial for human survival. It is one

of the fundamental skills of 21st century skill. Problem-solving is the most important skill needed

by today’s children everywhere, including both in school and out of school learning and

achievement. Recent research in problem-solving suggests that educationalists, trainers and

policymakers are reviewing curricula to include incorporated learning environments which focus

students to use analysis, evaluation, synthesis etc. type skills, and especially, problem-solving

skills as new learning theory has evolved and professional standards have been changed which

created demands of the new workplace.

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

Critical thinking is very essential in the case of problem-solving. Critical thinking and

problem-solving skill are interrelated with each other. Sometimes these are used as synonym

words. Critical thinking and problem-solving skills comprise the skill of persons to a) reason

efficiently, b) ask clear questions and crack problems, c) break down and assess alternative
perspective, and d) reflect critically on choices and procedures. Trilling and Fadel (2009)

suggested that the capability to analyse, understand, evaluate, abridge, and generating new

information are known as critical thinking.

The National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking (1987) defines critical thinking

as the “intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying,

analysing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by,

observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action

[31].

Cottrell (2005) identified critical thinking is a complex process of thought, which

includes a wide range of abilities and attitudes, such as:

1. recognising other people’s situations, point of view, and conclusions;

2. assessing the evidence for alternative perspectives,

3. weighing up a contrasting point of view and evidence impartially;

4. being able to read between the lines, seeing behind surfaces, and recognising wrong or partial

assumptions;

5. recognizing procedures used to make certain positions more appealing than others, and

persuasive procedures;

6. reflecting on problems in an organized way, bringing rationality and reasonable, based on good

evidence and functional assumptions;

7. drawing inferences about whether the argument is effective and reasonable, constructed on

good proof and functional expectations,

8. presenting evidence in a planned, clear, well-reasoned way that satisfies others.

Problem-solving skill can be broken down into two core skills.

1. Observation Skill
2. Critical Thinking Skill

Observation skill refers to gathering information, understanding and interpreting meaning

by identifying key points, pattern recognition and finding similarities and differences of a

problem or phenomena using all the senses.

Critical Thinking skills can be split into six sub-skills.

1. Conceptualizing skill: Conceptualizing means when a person has an idea or understand

something completely. It means that learners will able to identify the topic and recognize the

problem, which they are going to study. They will able to understand the investigating problem

partially or completely. Therefore, conceptualizing skill is referred to as the as1st step of critical

thinking skill.

2. Logical Reasoning: Logic can be defined as the science of reasoning. The reasoning is a special

mental activity by which someone makes or perform inferences. Logical reasoning is a process in

which students will gather relevant information, interpret information and based on their

interpretation they will formulate arguments. An argument is a collection of statements which

will help in justification and draw the conclusion

3. Application Skill: Application skill refers to using knowledge in new or familiar situations to

resolve problems by means of the acquired facts, knowledge, principles and techniques. Students

will able to identify an appropriate strategy, carry out or effectively use a procedure for executing

or implementing in solving the problem.

4. Analytical Thinking: Analytical thinking skills help students to collect information, articulate,

visualize and solve complex problems in the fast information age of changing trend world.
According to Falcoine (1990), analytical thinking abilities include analysing an argument, claims,

or evidence, making interpretations using inductive or deductive reasoning, Assessing or

evaluating, and making decisions or solving problems. The ability to think rationally, break down

tasks or problems into its key parts and recognize cause and effect. Students will able to make a

list of actions and resources needed to solve the problem, compare and contrast the elements

based on characteristics, classify information to recognize the pattern and drawing conclusion.

5. Decision-Making Skill: Decision-making means making choices, solving problems, selecting

the best alternative. Decision-making skills enable a student to identify an appropriate assumption

by evaluating the sources of evidence, use judgement to choose an appropriate and timely course

of action. Students are able to judge the effectiveness of the solution and justify the solution

process based on reasoned arguments.

6. Synthesizing Skill: Synthesis is the capability to combine parts of a whole in new and different

ways. It needs children to think openly, relate knowledge from several sources, determine

alternatives, generalize ideas from explored facts and generate new ways to achieve a specified

task. Synthesize enhances a higher level of intellectual thinking.

21st Century skill emphasis not only the main academic subject mastery but also skill-

based learning outcome. Problem-solving skill is the most crucial ability demanded by our

society and the vital element to enhance students’ comprehending knowledge and prepare them to

survive future challenges in life. To unlock the full potential of students we not only need to

develop their problem solving skills but also integrate our teaching learning to satisfy the goal of

21st-century skills. We have to incorporate problem-solving skills in our curriculum to prepare

our students adequately for the fast-moving future. The government, education policymakers and

respective stakeholders must come forward to change our education system for creating
individuals as a “problem solvers”. (Md. Mehadi Rahman, 2019)
Synthesis

Critical thinking is a cognitive activity every person experiences in daily life,

consciously or unconsciously, that is according to Hotaman. Since critical thinking is a

psychological construct, it is very difficult to make a standard definition, Liu and Pasztor said.

Critical thinking, for Ennis, defines it as "a logical and reflective way of thinking that focuses on

deciding what to believe and what to do: Paul expressed it as 'the art of thinking about thinking in

a disciplined way, Anggraeni et al explain critical thinking as "interpretation analysis evaluation,

purposeful, self-regulated and consequential judgments and evidence-based, conceptual,

methodological, presicriptive and evidence-based thinking and definition. Competencies in the

critical thinking process also constitute the basic structure of necessary thinking education

according to Hotaman. Individuals who can think critically resize their ideas in three stages in

interconnected way. They analyze, evaluate thinking resulting from analysis, and finally develop

thinking, Paul said. It is foreseen that will be accepted as a planned success of education in 2050

by supporting the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills, which are

described as high-level thinking skills, according to the United Nations Educational Scientific and

Cultural Organization.

Individuals who can think critically are effective in identifying and solving existing

problems and successfully solving the problem they encounter. Individuals can develop their

critical thinking skills by acquiring knowledge and then using the acquired knowledge to solve

problems. At the same time, critical thinking skills enable students to reach the highest level of

success in the learning process. Over time, students become conscious of being able to think

critically and begin to control their own goals personality, and attention more. Critical thinking

and problem-solving skills are indispensable elements of individuals in their student and working

lives and it is vital to develop these skills, according to Kanbay et al.

Self-efficacy is one of the basic concepts of social learning theory according to

Korkmaz and is expressed as "perceived self-efficacy” by Senemoğlu. Perceived self-efficacy is

the individual's evaluation of how will they can organize and realize their abilities. In other

words, it is a person's judgment and belief about themself and how successful they can be in

difficult situations . Self efficacy consists of personal decisions to carry out certain activities

rather than individual qualities such as physical or psychological characteristics according to

Bandura & Schunk.

Since problem-solving is a multidimensional and comprehensive process various

factors affect problem-solving skills. Among the factors affecting problem-solving skills, anxiety

level, experience, social values, cognitive processes, self-confidence, and critical thinking

competence can be counted problem solving skills in children, develop from trial-and-error

problem-solving behaviors in the sensory-motor period to a process in which mental actions act

more organized. Individuals with problem-solving competence are original critical thinkers and

self-confident according to Miller & Nunn. Problem-solving skills enable children to discover

their performance and make it easier to meet their needs. This skill increases children's self-

confidence as they solve their problems using their cognitive skills . Based on this information, it

can be said that problem-solving skills are competence areas that support each other with critical

thinking disposition as said by Koçoğlu & Kanadlı, and Turan and self- efficacy perception as

supported by Altunçekiç et al., Aylar & Aksin, it was also found that reflection and self-

assessment and problem-solving skills were connected with using critical thinking skills

according to Hyytinen et al. Anggraeni et al also emphasize that the development of critical

thinking skills in students is necessary for them to be able to solve the extraordinary problems of

the modern world.