EXAMINATION OF TEACHER STUDENTS' INDUCTIVE THINKING ABILITY

Available literature on researching inductive thinking ability is really rich. Our study presents three types of approaches: it is (1) a constructive element of intelligence, (2) the decisive method of human learning, (3) a key competence playing an important role in understanding. The main objectives of our research were to (1) determine the development level of the inductive, and within that the abstract and analogue thinking of the teacher students starting their studies in higher education, (2) find the background variables by means of which significant differences can be found between the various student groups, (3) respond to the question whether any conclusions regarding the performance expected in the inductive test can be drawn based on the time spent on solving the tasks. The students' analogue reasoning and rule induction are more developed than their diagrammatic thinking. One of the preconditions of a good result achieved in the inductive test is the full utilization of the available time frame. Introducing the ide of specific performance we found that the students having achieved the best results were studying at teacher specialization in full time training, lived in cities and had parents with a degree. The students could be properly grouped according to the time used for problem solution: (1) negligent and superficial, (2) reflective but not persistent enough; (2) persistent and diligent. Knowing the type of training and specialization of the students helps defining/understanding the clusters.