The Effectiveness of I Can Problem Solve (ICPS) Program: An Empirical Research on Preschoolers

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the effectiveness of I Can Problem Solve / ICPSProgram developed by Shure (1992) of those children attending preschool educationprograms in the age of 4-5. This program is designed to develop children's thinkingskills. The most important feature of the program is that it teaches children how tothink, not what to do or think in the decision-making process for problem-solving.ICPS is a comprehensive and internationally supported program that was developedas a result of more than 25 years of studies. This research is based on realexperimental models from experimental methods, pretest-posttest control groupdesign. Experimental and control groups were composed of 34 children who attend astate preschool in Balıkesir. The researcher administered 59 sessions InterpersonalProblem-Solving Skills Education Program, adopted into Turkish form for preschoolchildren to the experimental group for five months. Preschool Interpersonal ProblemSolving Test was used for data collection tool in the study. Independent samples t-testwas used to compare the pretest of the groups. Split Plot ANOVA was used forcomparing of the groups pretest and posttest scores. The findings showed that ICPSgiven to children was effective in developing their interpersonal problem solving skills.