Relationship between brain hemisphericity and non-routine problem solving skills of prospective teachers

Abstract

The present study aims at answering the question of whether there is any relationship between brain hemisphericity and non-routine problem solving skills of prospective teachers. One hundred twenty-three prospective teachers participated in the study. The Brain Hemisphericity Test and Non-routine Problem Solving Test were used to evaluate participants’ brain dominance and achievement in solving non-routine problems. Spearman Rank Correlation Test results showed that there is no link between cerebral dominance and success in non-routine problem solving. This finding may imply that left-or right-brained students can be equally successful in non-routine problem solving. Besides, it can be encouraging to use non-routine problems in math teaching without any limitation in the sense of brain dominance.