THE PROGRESS ON LEARNING ACHIEVEMENT AND MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS USING POLYA’S PROBLEM-SOLVING TECHNIQUE COMBINED WITH EDUCATIONAL GAMES ON FRACTION AND DECIMAL WORD PROBLEMS FOR GRADE 6 STUDENTS

Abstract

The objectives of this research were 1) To develop the learning achievement of Grade 6 students on problem solving involving fractions and decimals through the use of Polya’s problem-solving technique integrated with educational games, 2) To enhance their mathematical problem-solving skills, and 3) To examine their satisfaction with the learning process. The participants were 35 students from Grade 6/4 at Sarasas Witaed Suvarnabhumi School, Samut Prakan Province, during the first semester of the 2025 academic year, selected through random sampling. The research instruments consisted of lesson plans based on Polya’s problem-solving technique combined with educational games, an achievement test, a problem-solving skills test, and a satisfaction questionnaire. Data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, and t-test. The findings revealed that: 1) Students’ post-test learning achievement was significantly higher than their pre-test scores at the .05 level; 2) Students’ mathematical problem-solving skills after the intervention were significantly higher than before instruction at the .05 level; and 3) Students’ overall satisfaction with the learning process was at a high level. The results suggest that Polya’s problem-solving technique, when integrated with educational games, is effective in improving mathematics learning, particularly in developing students’ problem-solving ability in real-life contexts.