The Effects of Mind Games on Higher Level Thinking Skills in Gifted Students

Öz

The aim of this research is to demonstrate the effect of various mind games, played by students identified as gifted in the elementary school age, on their analytical thinking, critical thinking and decision making skills. To fulfill this aim, the research made use of experimental research pattern and used single group, pre/post-test experimental pattern, which counts among weak experimental patterns. The study group of the research consists of 22 students in a private school located in Çankaya, Ankara in the academic year of 2016-2017. While the inclusion of the private school to the research involved the usage of the convenience sampling method, the inclusion of the gifted students to the research was done through purposive sampling methodology. In this research, various tests: “ACD test” and “Kakuro test” for gifted students were prepared by researchers and used in the research to measure high-level thinking skills of gifted students. In the process, various games: “Rat a Tat Cat” and “Sleeping Queens” were played and effects of these games on students' analytical thinking, critical thinking and decision-making skills were examined. Research outcomes demonstrated improvement in the analytical thinking, critical thinking and decision-making skills of the gifted students as a result of the various mind games they played.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• mind games,gifted/talented children,analytical thinking,critical thinking

Kaynakça

1. Altun, M. (2017). The effects of the physical activity cards and brai̇n teasers to the attention and visual perception levels of the primary school students (Unpublished doctoral thesis). Gazi University Institute of Educational Sciences, Ankara.
2. Baki, N. (2018). The effect of the geometrical- mechanical games applied in intelligent games lesson on students' academic self- efficacy and problem solving ability (Unpublished master thesis). Kırıkkale University Institute of Educational Sciences, Kırıkkale.
3. Baltaci, S. (2016). Examination of Gifted Students' Probability Problem Solving Process in Terms of Mathematical Thinking. Malaysian Online Journal of Educational Technology, 4(4), 18-35.
4. Bottino, R.M., & Ott, M. (2006). Mind games, reasoning skills, and the primary school curriculum: hints from a field experiment. Learning Media & Technology, 31(4), 359-375.
5. Bottino, R. M., Ott, M., & Benigno, V. (2009). Digital mind games: experience based reflections on design and interface features supporting the development of reasoning skills. In Proceedings of the 3rd European Conference on game based learning (pp. 53-61).
6. Bottino, R. M., Ott, M., Tavella, M., & Benigno, V. (2010). Can digital mind games be used to investigate students’ reasoning abilities. In Proceedings of the 4th ECGBL Conference on Games Based Learning Copenhagen, Denmark, Academic, Conferences, 31(10), 31-39
7. Bottino, R. M., Ott, M., & Tavella, M. (2013). Investigating the relationship between school performance and the abilities to play mind games. In Proceedings of the European conference on games based learning (pp. 6271).
8. Bulut, A.S. (2018). Prospective Primary School Teachers' Perceptions about Highly Talented Individuals and Concepts of Special Education. Journal of Kirsehir Education Faculty, 19(3), 2357-2376.

9. Büyüköztürk, Ş., Kılıç Çakmak, E., Akgün, Ö.E., Karadeniz, Ş., & Demirel, F. (2012). Scientific research methods (12. Edition). Ankara: Pegem Publication.
10. Cameron, J. (2007). IQ mindbenders. Arcturus Publishing Limited.
11. Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
12. Conelly, R. J. (2002). Using cooperative games as student motivation. (Unpublished Master Thesis). USA: The Faculty of Pacific Lutheran University. Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com. At July, 2015.
13. Çepni, S., Bayrakçeken, S., Yılmaz, A., Yücel, C., Semerci, Ç., Köse, E., Sezgin, F., Demircioğlu, G. & Gündoğdu, K. (2008). Assessment and evaluation. Ankara: Pegem Academy.
14. Demirel, T., & Karakuş Yılmaz, T. (2019). The effects of mind games in math and grammar courses on the achievements and perceived problem-solving skills of secondary school students. British Journal of Educational Technology, 50(3), 1482-1494.
15. Devecioğlu, Y., & Karadağ, Z. (2014). Assessment of mind games course in terms of purpose, expectations and suggestions. Bayburt University Journal of Education, 9 (1), 41-61.
16. Erhan, E., Hazar, M., & Tekin, M. (2009) An assessment of the problem solving skills of primary school students playing chess and not playing chess. Atabesbd, 11 (2), 1-8. Accessed from e-dergi.atauni.edu.tr/ ataunibesyo/article/view/1025002520 on July 2015.
17. Gauvrit, N. (2014, Temmuz 11) Pourquoi tant de personnes ont du mal a retenir combien font 7x8, Atlantico, Retrieved from http://www.atlantico.fr/decryptage/pourquoi-tant-personnes-ont-mal-retenir-combien-font-7-fois-8-nicolas-gauvrit-1653871.html#PSCcS3BdU42PlwIu.99 at March 2016.
18. Genç, H., & Dağlıoğlu, E. H. (2018). Erken çocukluk döneminde üstün yetenekli çocuklar ve oyun. Eğitim ve Toplum Araştırmaları Dergisi, 5(1), 180-204.
19. Kafai, Y. (2006) Playing and making games for learning: instructionist and constructionist perspectives for game studies, Games and Culture, 1, 36–40.
20. Kirriemuir, J., & McFarlane, A. (2004) Literature review in games and learning, University of Bristol: England: A NESTA Futurelab Research report - report 8.
21. Kurbal, M. S. (2015). An ınvestigation of sixth grade students’ problem solving strategies and underlying reasoning in the context of a course on general puzzles and games. (Unpublished Master Thesis), Ankara: Middle East Technical University.
22. Lawshe, C. H. (1975). A quantitative approach to content validity. Personnel Psychology, 28, 563–575.
23. Marangoz, D., &. Demirtaş, Z. (2017). The effect of mechanical mind games on mental skill levels of primary school second grade students. The Journal of International Social Research, 10(53), 612-621.
24. McFarlane, A., Sparrowhawk, A., & Heald, Y. (2002). Report on the educational use of games. TEEM (Teachers Evaluating Educational Multimedia), Cambridge.
25. MoNE. (2013). 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grades intelligence games lesson curriculum. Ministry of National Education, Board of Education and Discipline, Ankara.
26. NCTM. (2000). Priciples and standarts for school mathematics. Reston, VA: NCTM.
27. Oğurlu, Ü. & Yaman, Y. (2010). Gifted students and communication. Pamukkale University Education Faculty Journal, 28 (II), 213-223.
28. Parks, S. (2009). Methods and materials for teaching the gifted. F. A. Karnes & S. M. Bean. (Eds.) 3th edition. USA: Prufrock Press Inc.
29. Polat, S. (2013). Teaching mathematics with origami. Mustafa Kemal University Journal of Social Sciences Institute, 10 (21), 15-27.
30. Reiter, H. B., Thornton, J., & Vennebush, G. P. (2014). Using KenKen to build reasoning skills. Mathematics Teacher, 107(5), 341-347.
31. Rutherford, K. (2015). Why play math games? Retrieved from http://www.nctm.org/publications/teac hing-students-mathematics/blog/why-play-math-games_/
32. Senemoğlu, N. (2011). Development, learning and teaching application from the theory. Ankara: Pegem Pub.
33. Strom, A., & Barolo, S. (2011). Using the game of mastermind to teach, practice, and discuss scientific reasoning skills. PLoS Biology, 9(1), e1000578.
34. Veneziano L., & Hooper J. (1997). “A method for quantifying content validity of health-related questionnaires”. American Journal of Health Behavior, 21(1):67-70.
35. Wikipedia (2017). Rat-a-Tat Cat & Sleeping Queens. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org At March 2017.
36. Yıldız, A., Baltacı, S., Kurak, Y., & Güven, B. (2012). Examining The Usage Of Problem-Solving Strategies By The Eighth Grade Gifted And Non-Gifted Students. Journal of Uludag University Faculty of Education, 25(1), 123-143.