Minds of Egypt

Thesis Submitted by Sanaa Abd El Azeem Elsayed Abd El Rahman
Zagazig University, Department Of Curricula and Methods Of Teaching

Supervised by Dr.Elsayed Ali Shoada and Dr.Fawzy Ahmed Elhabashy
Professors of Curricula and Methods of Teaching
Faculty Of Education Zagazig University

Introduction:
The third millennium is characterized by wonderful scientific and technological developments. These advances create challenges for us as well. In order to meet these challenges we need to encourage education approaches that emphasize critical thinking and problem-solving skills. One of the ways to address this educational need is through the use of learning tools called Thinking Maps.
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Research statement:
The following question identifies the research purpose:

How effective is the use of Thinking Maps to successfully develop problem solving skills in science education for second preparatory school students?

The main research question consists of
these three key questions:

1. What is the effectiveness of using Thinking Maps in overall academic achievement in science education for second preparatory school students?
2. What is the effectiveness of using some thinking maps in the acquisition of problem-solving skills in science education for second preparatory school students?
3. Is there a significant relationship between achievement and the acquisition of problem-solving skills in science education for second preparatory school students?

The research parameters:

• One science unit from the first book term of second preparatory school students in academic year 2007-2008
• Five problem solving skills addressed:
  • Defining a problem
  • Collecting data about a problem
  • Developing a hypothesis
  • Testing a hypothesis
  • Documenting results
• Implementation of Thinking Maps:      Circle Map, Bubble Map, Double Bubble Map, Tree Map, Flow Map, Brace Map

• Second preparatory school student population sample

 

Research population sample:
The research population consisted of students in the second year of preparatory school. The sample consisted of 150 students (age range 13-14 years) who were randomly selected from three preparatory schools in El Kanayat city (72 males, 78 females). The samples consisted of 75 students divided into experimental and control groups.

Research Tools:

• Achievement test
• Problem-solving skills test

 

Research Hypotheses:

In the post achievement test, the experimental group’s scores show a higher academic performance than the control group’s scores (significant difference at the 0.05 level).

In the pre/post achievement test, the mean of the experimental group is higher than the mean of the control group (significant difference at the 0.05 level).

In the post problem solving skills test, the experimental group shows a higher academic performance than the control group (significant difference at the 0.05 level).

When comparing the mean of the experimental groups’ pre/post problem solving test, the experimental group’s mean is higher than the control group’s mean (a significant difference at the 0.05 level).

Research Goals:

• Determine the effectiveness of using Thinking Maps in science teaching and their impact on academic achievement of second preparatory school students
• Determine the effectiveness of using Thinking Maps on the acquisition of problem solving skills in science education for second preparatory school students
• Determine the relationship between academic achievement and the acquisition of problem solving skills for second preparatory school students

 

Research Objectives:

• Introduce a teacher guide for science teachers of preparatory stage
• Introduce a student guide that will help second preparatory students to understand and implement Thinking Maps
• Introduce a test of problem solving skills that may function as a guide for other researchers in the areas of curricula and methods of science education

Research Results:

Statistical analysis using SPSS ver10 produced the following results:

• The mean of the experimental group’s post achievement test performance is higher than the mean of the control group’s performance (significant difference at level 0.01).
• The mean of the experimental group’s score on the post achievement test is greater than the mean of the experimental group’s score on the pre achievement test (significant difference at the 0.01 level).
• The mean of the experimental group’s performance on the post problem solving skills test is higher than the control group’s performance (significant difference at the 0.01 level).
• The mean of the experimental group’s score on the post problem solving skills test was higher than the mean on the experimental group’s pre problem solving skills test (significant difference at the 0.01 level).
• There is a significant relationship between achievement and the acquisition of problem solving skills.

Research Recommendations:

• Science education should emphasize problem solving skills
• Effective science education includes the implementation of learning tools that are based on the research of the human brain (Thinking Maps).
• Best practices include providing students with the time and encouragement to problem solve in a variety of situations.

Suggestions:

• Study the effects of Thinking Maps in the development of scientific thought processes, creative thinking and other thinking skills
• Conduct studies that implement Thinking Maps across a variety of content areas and grade levels
• Study the effects of other teaching and learning strategies that focus on improving problem solving skills
• Design studies that compare the effectiveness of Thinking Maps to the effectiveness of other visual tools (such as mind maps, fish maps, spider maps, advanced organizers) on the development of problem solving skills

Conclusion:
The experimental group of students used Thinking Maps to help them problem solve. These students’ scores were higher than the control group of students on the pre achievement test and the problem solving test. The statistical analysis of the results proved that Thinking Maps are powerful visual tools that improve students’ problem solving skills. Thinking Maps help second preparatory students to generate, organize, and compare ideas. In addition, Thinking Maps helped students discern key information that was needed to help them problem solve. Thinking Maps provided students a way to logically think through complex problems.

The statistical results indicate that the gender variable was insignificant in regards to the male and female performance on the tests. One can conclude from these results that this study shows that the academic abilities of second preparatory students are the same for both genders.

read the complete thesis — download the pdf file
click on any of the Thinking Maps on this page to see a larger version