Research Trends on Mathematical Problem Solving in Turkey : Master Thesis and Dissertations of 2006-2013 Period

Abstract

One of the primary aim of education is to train individuals as problem solvers to overcome and face problems in life. Problem solving has been the hallmark of the era we are in and takes a vital place in the objectives of all courses in education. Therefore, many studies were carried on and is still being done. In this context, the purpose of this study is to shed light to the future researches about mathematical problem solving by making an overall assessment of masters thesis and dissertations in this subject in Turkey. For this purpose 65 master thesis and dissertations retrieved from the thesis centre in the Turkish Council of Higher Education (YOK) were examined. The study was limited to the years 2006-2013 and with the master thesis and dissertations including "problem solving" term in their title. Researches included in this study were investigated according to the research methodology, publication year, publication type, sampling type, institution of the author and thesis's/dissertation's director's title. The results of the analysis would help researchers to see the current research trends and provide insight into future research related to problem solving. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.