How Procedural and Conceptual Knowledge in Math Course Drive Analytical Thinking Development

Yalçın Dilekli, Yakup Bahadır Akkaya

Abstract


The aim of this study is to examine the effects of instructional processes in mathematics courses, grounded in conceptual and procedural knowledge, on the analytical thinking skills of primary school students. To achieve this objective, a quasi-experimental design was employed. The study group consisted of 48 fourth-grade students enrolled in a primary school during the 2023–2024 academic year. The students’ analytical thinking skills were measured using a 15-item multiple-choice academic achievement test developed by the researcher. The test assessed core components of analytical thinking, including comparison, part-whole relationships, cause-effect relationships, classification, and sequencing. Prior to data analysis, key statistical assumptions—normality, homogeneity of variances, and equality of variance-covariance matrices—were tested. An independent samples t-test was conducted to assess whether the groups were equivalent in terms of their pre-test scores. To examine the effects of instructional type and time, a mixed-design ANOVA was utilized. Paired samples t-tests were used to analyze within-group differences, and an additional independent samples t-test was conducted to evaluate between-group differences in post-test scores. The findings indicated that instructional processes based on conceptual knowledge were more effective in improving students’ analytical thinking skills than those based on procedural knowledge.

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References


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.51383/jesma.2025.124

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