Problem-Solving Skills of High School Students Exercising Regularly in Sport Teams

Abstract

In this article, the effect of regular sport activities on the problem-solving approaches performed by high school students when they encountered said problem was analyzed. Six hundred male high school students participated in the study (M-age=15.45 years, age range: 14-17 years). The Problem-Solving Inventory (PSI) was used to evaluate students' problem-solving solutions. Student-athletes were selected from the students who took charge in school teams, exercised for 6 days a week, provided that this exercise did not exceed 1 h 30 min, and who also participated in competitions. Mann-Whitney U test, which is nonparametrictest, 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 the findings that 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 sports regularly were more self-confident than those who did not do sports regularly and were of the same age when they encountered a problem, and student-athletes evaluated the phase of solving the problem and results that they obtained more carefully than those who did not do sport regularly and were of the same age. Student-athletes believed that they would solve the problem that they encountered. Further, student athletes preferred using a systematic method while solving a problem and making a decision more often than those who were not athletes and were of the same age.