The Effects of Gender and Grade Levels on Turkish Physics Teacher Candidates' Problem Solving Strategies

The aim of this research is to determine how much physics teacher candidates use problem solving strategies and to investigate the effects of gender and grade levels on it. Research data was collected by a Likert-type "Problem Solving Strategies Scale". It has 35 items and its Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient was found 0,82. 141 students from all grade levels had participated into the research voluntarily. The data has been analyzed by using some statistical techniques as frequency, percentage, mean, Standard deviation, t-test, variance analysis and Scheffé Test. It was concluded that there was a statistically significant difference among groups according to the variables of gender and grade levels. It was also found that female teacher candidates use the problem solving strategies more frequently than the male ones; as the class level increased, the frequency of candidates who use problem solving strategies were also increased.