Cuceloglu (1994, 216-217) defines it as "an active and organized mental process aiming to understand ourselves and
the events around us by being aware of our thinking processes, considering others' thinking processes, and
implementing what we have learnt. Examining the definitions, critical thinking is briefly a mental process for
perceiving the world using our existing knowledge. Another concept that is as important as critical thinking is
problem solving. Individuals face problems in certain processes during their lives. In order for individuals to
overcome the problems they encounter, they need to organize their background and use mental processes. Problem
solving includes a set of efforts towards removing the difficulties to achieve an aim (Korkmaz ve Kaptan, 2001). For
life, individuals are expected to provide rationalistic suggestions for solving the problems they face. However, they
may not be succeed in solving a problem they encounter for the first time. Consequently, it is inevitable to train
individuals for problem solving. The solution reached through mastering the problem solving process and using
appropriate methods would not only solve that problem, but also make the solutions of future problems more
effective (Mayer, 1992 cited in Koray & Azar, 2008). Examining related studies, it can be seen that problem solving
training increases problem solving skills. For this reason, it is inevitable that individuals with a high level of critical
thinking are more successful in defining and solving problems. In their study titled as "The Effect of Thinking
Skills Training on Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills", Tok and Sevinç (2010) investigated the effect of
thinking skills training on preschool teacher candidates' critical thinking and problem solving skills. As a result of
the study, it was seen that thinking skills training program positively affected teacher candidates' perceptions
regarding their problem solving skills.