The Investigation of Brain Waves in Problem Solving Process

Abstract

One of the opportunities offered in education by cognitive neuroscience in the learning process is to provide an understanding of individual differences. Therefore, in order to benefit from educational neuroscience, interdisciplinary studies are needed. It can be said that interdisciplinary researches take on an important mission to reach findings of how and where the mathematical thinking is formed. The aim of the study is to investigate the brain activities of students with different cognitive styles as electrophysiological in the process of solving different mathematic problems to contribute the understanding of neural mechanisms in mathematics education. Statistically significant differences were found between the two groups when the asymmetry index values of the brain waves of students with different styles were analyzed in terms of cerebral lobes while they were solving arithmetic problems. Brain activation structures of the participants with different cognitive styles diverge in the process of solving arithmetic problems..

Keywords

• mathematics education
• brain waves
• cognitive styles

Problem Çözme Sürecinde Beyin Dalgalarının İncelenmesi

Öz

Bilişsel sinirbilimin eğitime sunduğu fırsatlardan birisi de öğrenme sürecinde bireysel farklılıkların anlaşılmasını sağlamasıdır. Dolayısıyla eğitimde sinirbiliminden faydalanabilmek için disiplinler arası çalışmalara ihtiyaç duyulmaktadır. Bu disiplinler arası araştırmalar matematiksel düşüncenin nerde ve nasıl oluştuğuna dair bulgulara ulaşabilmek için önemli görevler üstlendiklerini söyleyebiliriz. Sinirsel mekanizmaların anlaşılmasına katkı sağlayabilmek için bu araştırmada farklı bilişsel stillere sahip öğrencilerin aritmetik problemlerini çözme sürecindeki beyin aktiviteleri elektrofizyolojik olarak incelenmiştir. Bilişsel stilleri farklı olan öğrencilerin aritmetik problemleri çözerken beyin dalgalarına ait asimetri indeks değerlerinin loblara göre analizi yapıldığında istatiksel olarak anlamlı farklılıklar belirlenmiştir. Analiz sonuçları belirlenerek yorumlar yapılmıştır. Bu bağlamda, bilişsel stilleri farklı olan öğrencilerin problem çözme sürecinde beyin aktivasyon yapısı farklılık göstermektedir. 

Anahtar Kelimeler

• matematik eğitimi
• beyin dalgaları
• bilişsel stil

References

1. Aftanas, L.I. ve Golocheikine, S.A., (2002). Non-linear dynamic complexity of the human EEG during meditation. Neuroscience letters, 330(2), 143-146.
2. Ansari, Daniel. (2008). Effects of development and enculturation on number representation in the brain. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 9(4), 278-291.
3. Ansari, Daniel, & Coch, Donna. (2006). Bridges over troubled waters: Education and cognitive neuroscience. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 10(4), 146-151.
4. Aydın, F. (2009). Teknolojinin Doğasına Yönelik Fen Bilgisi Öğretmen Adaylarının Görüşlerinin ve Kavramlarının Gelişimi ve Öğretimde İkilemlerin Etkililiği. (Doktora Tezi), Gazi Üniversitesi Eğitim Bilimleri Enstitüsü, Ankara.
5. Bahar, M. ve Hansell, M.H., (2000). The relationship between some psychological factors and their effect on the performance of grid questions and word association tests. Educational Psychology, 20(3), 349-364.
6. Banks, A. S. (2002). The Relationship Among Teachers Who are Field Dependent or Field Independent in an Online Course on Their Perceptions of Computer Self – Efficacy, Computer Anxiety, and Computer Usefulness. Ph.D. Thesis, New York University.
7. Blanton, E. L. (2004). The Influence of Students’ Cognitive Style on A Standardized Reading Test Administered In Three Different Formats. Dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Education. University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida.
8. Canan, S., (2013). Merkezi Sinir Sistemi. Retrieved 01.06.2013, from http://www.sinancanan.net.tr/

9. Carter, R. ve Frith, C.D., (1998). Mapping the mind: University of California Press.
10. Cooper, N.R., Croft, R.J., Dominey, S.JJ., Burgess, A.P. ve Gruzelier, J.H., (2003). Paradox lost? Exploring the role of alpha oscillations during externally vs. internally directed attention and the implications for idling and inhibition hypotheses. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 47(1), 65-74.
11. Creswell, J.W., Plano, C., Vicki L., Gutmann, M.L. ve Hanson, W.E., (2003). Advanced mixed methods research designs. Handbook of mixed methods in social and behavioral research, 209-240.
12. Cross, K. P. (1976). Accent on Learning. Improving Instruction and Reshaping the Curriculum.
13. Çakan, M. (2005). Bilişsel stiller ile yabancı dil başarısı arasındaki ilişki: 8. sınıf Fransızca örneği. İlköğretim-online [Online]: http://ilkogretim-online. org. tr, 53-61.
14. De Jong, Ton, Van Gog, Tamara, Jenks, Kathleen, Manlove, Sarah, Van Hell, Janet, Jolles, Jelle, . . . Boschloo, Annemarie. (2009). Explorations in learning and the brain: On the potential of cognitive neuroscience for educational science: Springer.
15. Duman, B., (2007). Neden beyin temelli öğrenme? : Pegem A Yayıncılık.
16. Dündar, S., (2013). Öğrencilerin Beyin Dalgalarının Problem Çözme Sürecinde İncelenmesi. (Yayınlanmamış doktora tezi), Gazi Üniversitesi Eğitim Bilimleri Enstitüsü, Ankara.
17. Dündar, S. ve Bulut, M. (2014). Öğrencilerin örüntü problemlerini çözerken beyin dalgalarının incelenmesi.İstanbul Tıp Fakültesi Dergisi, 77 (1).
18. Fulbright, R.K., Molfese, D.L., Stevens, A., Skudlarski, P., Lacadie, C.M. ve Gore, J.C., (2000). Cerebral activation during multiplication: A functional MR imaging study of number processing. American Journal of Neuroradiology, 21(6), 1048-1054.
19. Gazzaniga, M.S., (1998). The mind's past: University of California Press.
20. Geake, John, and Cooper, Paul. (2003). Cognitive Neuroscience: implications for education? Westminster Studies in Education, 26(1), 7-20.
21. Glass, A., Butler, S.R., ve Carter, J.C., (1984). Hemispheric asymmetry of EEG alpha activation: Effects of gender and familial handedness. Biological psychology, 19(3), 169-187.
22. Goswami, U., (2004). Neuroscience and education. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 74(1), 1-14. doi: 10.1348/000709904322848798
23. Green, K. E. (1985). Cognitive style: A review of the literature. Chicago: Johnson O’Connor Research Foundation.
24. Güven, B. (2007). Öğretimde Bireysel Farklılıklara Bakış: Bilişsel Stiller. Yeditepe Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi (EDU7), 2(2), 2-3.
25. Güven, M., ve Kürüm, D., (2004). Öğrenme Stilleri ve Eleştirel Düşünme Arasındaki İlişkiye Genel Bir Bakış. Paper presented at the XIII. Ulusal Eğitim Bilimleri Kurultayı, 6-9 Temmuz 2004 İnönü Üniversitesi, Eğitim Fakültesi, Malatya.
26. Jausovec, N. (1994). Flexible thinking: An explanation for individual differences in ability: Hampton Press Cresskill, NJ.
27. Jaušovec, N. (1996). Differences in EEG alpha activity related to giftedness. Intelligence, 23(3), 159-173. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0160-2896(96)90001-X
28. Jonassen, D.H. ve Grabowski, B.L., (1993). Handbook of individual differences learning and instruction: Routledge.
29. Kalaycıoğlu, C., (1995). Görsel Kognitif Testler Sırasında Serebral Lateralizasyonun Kantitatif EEG İle İncelenmesi. Uzmanlık Tezi, Ankara Üniversitesi Sağlık Bilimleri Enstitüsü, Ankara.
30. Karaçam, S. ve Ateş, S., (2010). Ölçme Tekniğinin Farklı Bilişsel Stillerdeki Öğrencilerin Hareket Konusundaki Kavramsal Bilgi Düzeylerine Etkisi. Abant İzzet Baysal Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 10(1).
31. Keleş, Esra, & Çepni, Salih. (2006). Beyin ve öğrenme. Türk Fen Eğitimi Dergisi, 3(2), 66-82.
32. Kemalasari ve Purnomo, M.H., (2009). Analysis the dominant location of brain activity in frontal lobe using K-means method. Paper presented at the Instrumentation, Communications, Information Technology, and Biomedical Engineering (ICICI-BME), 2009 International Conference on.
33. Kim, Sung-il, (2011). Nörobilim ve Eğitim. Paper presented at the II. Okul Öncesi Eğitimi Sempozyumu, İstanbul
34. Krause, W., (1992). Zur Messung geistiger Leistungen: Eine alte Idee ein never Ansatz. [Measuring intellectual ability: An old idea and a new approach.]. Zeitschrift fur experimentale und angewandte psychologie, 1, 114-128.
35. Lin, C., Jung, M., Wu, Ying Choon ve She, Hsiao-Ching. (2012). Brain dynamics of mathematical problem solving. Paper presented at the Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), 2012 Annual International Conference of the IEEE.
36. McMahon, F.B. ve McMahon, J.W., (1982). Psychology, the hybrid science: Dorsey Press.
37. Messick, S. (1984). The nature of cognitive styles: Problems and promise in educational practice. Educational psychologist, 19(2), 59-74.
38. O'boyle, M.W., Alexander, J.E. ve Benbow, C.P., (1991). Enhanced right hemisphere activation in the mathematically precocious: A preliminary EEG investigation. Brain and Cognition, 17(2), 138-153.
39. Oldfield, R.C., (1971). The assessment and analysis of handedness: the Edinburgh inventory. Neuropsychologia, 9(1), 97-113.
40. Prescott, J., Gavrilescu, M., Cunnington, R., O'Boyle, M.W. ve Egan, G.F., (2010). Enhanced brain connectivity in math-gifted adolescents: An fMRI study using mental rotation. Cognitive Neuroscience, 1(4), 277–288. doi: 10.1080/17588928.2010.506951
41. Richardson, J.A. ve Turner, T.E., (2000). Field dependence revisited I: Intelligence. Educational psychology, 20(3), 255-270.
42. Rickards, J.P., Fajen, B.R., Sullivan, J.F. ve Gillespie, G., (1997). Signaling, notetaking, and field independence–dependence in text comprehension and recall. Journal of educational psychology, 89(3), 508.
43. Singh, H. ve O'Boyle, M.W., (2004). Interhemispheric interaction during global-local processing in mathematically gifted adolescents, average-ability youth, and college students. Neuropsychology, 18(2), 371-377.
44. Soysal, A.Ş., Arhan, E., Aktürk, A. ve Can, H., (2007). El Tercihi Ve El Tercihini Belirleyen Etkenler. Türkiye Çocuk Hastalıkları Dergisi, 1(2).
45. Tan, U. (1988). The distribution of hand preference in normal men and women. Int J Neurosci, 41, 35-55.
46. Taşar, M. F. (2001). A Case Study of a Novice College Student's Alternative Framework and Learning of Force and Motion. (Phd. Thesis), The Pennsylvania State University.
47. Timofeeva, O.A. ve Gordon, C.J., (2002). EEG spectra, behavioral states and motor activity in rats exposed to acetylcholinesterase inhibitor chlorpyrifos. Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, 72(3), 669-679.
48. Van Nes, Fenna. (2011). Mathematics Education and Neurosciences: Towards interdisciplinary insights into the development of young children's mathematical abilities. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 43(1), 75-80.
49. Waisman, I., Leikin, M., Shaul, S. ve Leikin, R., (2013). Brain potentials during solving area-related problems: effects of giftedness and excellence in mathematics. Paper presented at the Eighth Congress of European Research in Mathematics Education (CERME 8), Antalya.
50. Witkin, H. A. and Goodenough, D. R. (1981). Cognitive styles: essence and origins. Field dependence and field independence. Psychological issues(51), 1.
51. Witkin, H.A., Oltman, P.K., Raskin, E., ve Karp, S.A. (1971). A manual for the embedded figures tests: Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
52. Wolfe, Pat. (2007). Brain Research and Education: Fad or Foundation? 10.10.2013 tarihinde indirildi. http://commons.emich.edu/loexconf2007/38/
53. Yıldırım, A. ve Şimşek, H., (2006). Sosyal bilimlerde nitel araştırma yöntemleri. Ankara: Seçkin Yayınevi.
54. Zamarian, L, Ischebeck, A, & Delazer, M. (2009). Neuroscience of learning arithmetic—Evidence from brain imaging studies. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 33(6), 909-925.