Analysing Mathematical Reasoning Strategy of Secondary School Studentsi

This study aims to determine the use of reasoning strategy considering different variables which were consisted of students’ problem solving skills and gender, location of schools and parents’ income and education levels. Descriptive survey method was conducted in this research. The sample of the study was composed of eighth grade students from different six schools in both Kırşehir city centre and districts. In sample group, 64 girls (%54,4) and 52 boys (%45,6) were chosen randomly. For the purpose of identifying mathematical reasoning level of students, twenty open-ended questions from Eighth Grade National Curriculum were administered. “Mathematical Communication and Reasoning Scale”, which was developed by Suzuki (1998) and adopted into Turkish by Taşdemir (2008), was conducted in the study. Reliability of the inventory used in the study has been retested and it has been calculated as 0,934. As a conclusion, the overall average of students’ using reasoning strategy was found at intermediate level. In addition, a significant difference was seen in favour of girls in using reasoning strategy considering gender. In addition, there is a significant difference in favour of central districts with respect to towns and villages according to school location. Likewise, higher income levels of families and higher education status of parents were found significantly related to the reasoning levels of students.