Problem Solving Approaches of High School Students Exercising Regularly in Sport Teams

In this article, the effect of regular sport activities on the solution approaches performed for solving the problem by high school students when they encountered the said problem, was analyzed. Six hundred and forty high school men students participated in the study. (M_age= 15.45 years, age range= 14–17 years). Problem-Solving Inventory (PSI) was used to evaluate problem solving solutions of the students. Athlete students were selected from the students who took charge in school teams, exercised for 6 days in a week provided that this exercise did not exceed 1 hr 30 min and who also participated in competitions. Mann-Whitney U test which is non-parametric test was used to examine two samples (athlete & non-athlete) and Kruskal–Wallis one way analysis was used to make intergroup (branches of sport) examinations. According to findings which were obtained, a significant difference was found among self-confident approach values of athlete and non-athlete students (U=45,0 p=0,008). A significant difference was observed among assessor approach values of athlete and non-athlete students (U=46, 2, p=0,033). The students who did sport regularly were more self confident than those who did not do sport regularly and of the same age when they encountered a problem and they evaluated phase of solving problem and results that they obtained more carefully than the students who did not do sport regularly and of the same age. Athlete students believed that they would solve the problem that they encountered. Besides, athlete students preferred using systematic method while solving a problem and making decision more often than those who were not athlete and of the same age.