30 (3), 2015
PREFACE
CONTENTS
INNER COVER
REFEREES/REVIEWERS
PUBLICATION POLICY AND RULES
What Turkish Teachers / Preservice Teachers Should Read? -A Suggested Book List-
Doç. Dr. Ali Fuat ARICIReading is a skill that must be developed permanently in order to realize one self and to keep up with the times. For this, especially Turkish teachers must be good reader and then it is necessary to instill reading habit to students. Main purpose of this research is to specify books which are considered beneficial to read by Turkish teacher and preservice Turkish teacher. For this purpose, interviews were conducted with 25 faculty members who are working in six different universities' Turkish language education department and 25 Turkish teachers working in MoNE. In determining the participants in the study snowball sampling technique was used. To collect data of research, semi-structured data collection tool was developed. Descriptive analysis techniques were used while analyzing the data collected. At the end of the study, the majority of participants stated that Turkish teachers and preservice Turkish teachers don't read books regularly. So they noted that we must have book suggestion list for professional groups. Also, in accordance with the opinion of the participants a suggestion list consists of 100 books has been identified and they have been justified.
Keywords: Turkish teachers, reading, book list, Turkish language education
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Teacher Opinions on the Latest Curriculum and the Problems Experienced in Teaching Grade 11 Physics Curriculum Topics
Prof. Dr. Celal BAYRAK, Arş. Gör. Sevim BEZEN & Yrd. Doç. Dr. Işıl AYKUTLUThis study aims to determine the opinions of physics teachers on the problems experienced in teaching Grade 11 Physics curriculum topics and the latest physics curriculum to be implemented in the 2013–2014 academic year. Qualitative research methods were used in the study participated by 20 physics teachers teaching Grade 11 Physics at 10 different Anatolian High Schools in Çankaya, Ankara during the 2012-2013 academic year. A semi-structured teacher interview form with 10 open-ended questions was also used. Data obtained during the interviews were applied the descriptive analysis technique. At the end of the study, teachers indicated the weakness in students’ mathematical operation skills and the lack of time allocated with respect to the Grade 11 physics topics of “Force and Movement” and “Modern Physics” and that they had difficulties in teaching the abstract concepts particularly in “Modern Physics”. Teachers mentioned as a positive improvement that the intensity of physics topics were reduced in the latest physics curriculum to be implemented in the 2013–2014 academic year and the number of Physics classes per week in Grades 11 and 12 have been increased. However, they stated that the curriculum lacked certain topics, which would cause certain issues in the future according to their point of view. It is recommended that in-service training activities or seminars on the latest curriculum would be useful for teachers to facilitate their adaptation to the program.
Keywords: Physics Curriculum, teacher opinions, physics education
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Explanation of Academic Procrastianation by Some Personal and Psychological Variables
Yrd. Doç. Dr. Çiğdem BERBER ÇELİK & Prof. Dr. Hatice ODACIThe main purpose of this study was to explore how irrational beliefs, self-efficacy belief, self-perception and the fear of negative evaluation account for university students’ academic procrastination behaviors. It was also intended to determine whether academic procrastination behavior differs depending on gender, school attended, class level and academic success. The study group consisted of 1011 university students (582 females, 429 males) studying atvarious schools of the Karadeniz Technical University, Turkey. The academic procrastination scale, irrational belief scale, general self-efficacy scale, social comparison scale, fear of negative evaluation scale and a personal information form were used for data collection. Data analysis was performed on SPSS 15.00 software. The study findings show that academic procrastination behavior differs depending on gender, class level and academic success, but not on the faculty attended. In addition, a positive relation was determined between academic procrastination and irrational beliefs and the fear of negative evaluation, and a negative relation between self-efficacy belief and self-perception. Irrational beliefs, self-efficacy belief, self-perception and fear of negative evaluation were identified as predictors of academic procrastination. The results are discussed in the lightof the literature and suggestions are proposed based on the findings.
Keywords: Academic Procrastination, Irrational Beliefs, Self-Efficacy, Self-Perception, Fear of Negative Evaluation
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A Review of Research in Turkey on Beliefs about Teaching
Res. Asst. Rahime ÇOBANOĞLUThe primary objective of this study was to portray a synthesis of educational research in Turkey as regards pre-service and in-service teachers’ beliefs about teaching. For this end, a comprehensive literature search that was confined to the years between 2000 and 2011 was conducted via electronic databases. This search generated thirty-one research articles that were considered relevant for the scope of the present review. Descriptive analysis of the findings in these studies resulted in four main themes to represent research on beliefs about teaching in Turkey. Namely, these were (a) nature of beliefs about teaching, (b) sources of beliefs about teaching, (c) relationship between beliefs about teaching and classroom practices, and (d) change in beliefs about teaching. The findings from the context of Turkey were discussed in the light of international scholarship on beliefs about teaching. It is considered that the results of this review offer remarkable directions for researchers and practitioners in the field of education in Turkey.
Keywords: teacher beliefs, beliefs about teaching, literature review
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Impact of Prospective Teachers’ Self Control and Knowledge Management in Compiling a Reflective Portfolio
Asc.Prof.Dr. Zehra A. GAZİ, Asc.Prof.Dr. Fahriye A. AKSAL, Dr. Behçet ÖZNACAR & Asc.Prof.Dr. Gökmen Within the framework of action research, connectivity theory has been suggested as a means to encourage learners to manage the process during the teaching practicum. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of self-control and knowledge management abilities of prospective teachers in compiling a reflective portfolio in teaching practice as a part of a teaching practicum course. 44 prospective teachers participated in this study. In the study, qualitative research (i.e. semi structured interviews and reflective reports) was used. Research findings show that the prospective teachers require both self-control and the ability to manage knowledge in compiling a reflective portfolio. Self-control and self-learning through dialogue and negotiation with peers and course tutors enhance the prospective teachers’ reflection, ability in intellectual flexibility and skills in knowledge management. In addition to this, the research findings highlight how connectivity theory can be implemented in course instruction and enhance the professional experience through reflective portfolio
Keywords: Action Research, Knowledge Management, Reflective Portfolio, Self-Control
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Developing Trust in Principal: Its Relationship with Attachment Styles
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pınar BAYHAN KARAPINARTrust is recognized as an essential component of efficient operation and well-functioning of school organizations. Studies of interpersonal trust related to schools suggest that the nature and quality of teachers’ trust in principals contributes to important outcomes. In this sense, prior research has heavily focused on the attributes of the trustee and contextual factors, while neglecting the characteristics of the trustor. Thus, this study proposes an adult attachment style as personal characteristics of teachers developing trust in principals. The sample consists of 317 full-time primary and secondary teachers teaching in four private schools. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that secure and preoccupied attachment styles were positively related to affective trust in principal, whereas none of the attachment styles were significantly related to cognitive trust in principal. The results of the study contribute to our understanding of the role of attachment styles in how teachers perceive and enact trust relationships at school.
Keywords: Trust in principal, attachment style, cognitive trust, affective trust
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Examination of the Variation in Students' Problem Solving Approaches Due to the Use of Mathematical Models in Doppler Effect
Asst. Prof. Dr. Nilüfer DİDİŞ KÖRHASAN & Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özgür ÖZCANThis study aims to investigate students’ problem solving approaches by examining students' use of mathematical models. In this research, since many students think that the concepts of relativity are unfamiliar, abstract and difficult, it was focused on relativistic kinematics- the relativistic Doppler Effect. Sophomores from two cohorts of physics (n=60) and physics teaching (n=32) enrolled in a modern physics course at a university participated in the study. Participants were asked to provide extended written responses to the Doppler Effect problems with a test. Afterwards six students were purposefully selected for semi-structured interviews. Students’ use of mathematical models revealed that students had difficulty in discriminating between fundamental concepts such as frequency and wavelength, source and observer, red-shift and blue-shift, and they consequently used these concepts interchangeably. In addition, because of students' the lack of ability of representing the problem in different forms according to a given physical context, they also had difficulty in determining the appropriate model. In conclusion, students used both physically and mathematically meaningless models and their problem solving approaches varied due to the use of mathematical models
Keywords: Doppler Effect, problem solving, mathematical model, modern physics, physics education.
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Learner’s Autonomy in Teaching/Learning French as a Second Foreign Language
Doç. Dr. Nurten ÖZÇELİKThis research was conducted with the students (n=202) learning French as the second foreign language and attending the French Language Teaching branch of the Foreign Languages Department of Gazi Faculty of Education of Gazi University by using the survey model with the aim of determining foreign language learning prospective teachers’ views of learners’ autonomy in language learning, and to exhibit the correlations between the views according to such variables as gender and grade level. Learner Autonomy Scale (LAS) developed by Egel (2003) and adapted into French by the researcher was utilised as the tool of data collection. The Cronbach Alpha coefficient was calculated as .81 for the scale. According to the findings obtained in the research, the students feel “independent” in preparation for self-management, independent study in language learning, the teacher’s role: instruction/supervision, and other cultures whereas they feel “neutral” in terms of the importance of the class/teacher, choice of content, and evaluation/motivation. According to the results for the t test, statistically significant differences in favour of female students were found between male and female students’ views only on the sub-dimensions of the importance of the class/teacher, and the teacher’s role: instruction/supervision; and thus it was concluded that female participants were more “independent” than the male ones on these two sub-dimensions of the scale. According to grade levels, prospective teachers’ learning autonomy scores were found to differ significantly on the sub-dimensions of independent study, the teacher’s role: instruction/supervision, and choice of content. ANOVA results for the LAS scores received by the prospective teachers according to the grade level exhibit that statistically significant differences hold largely between preparatory class students and the 4th year students.
Keywords: learner’s autonomy, second foreign language, prospective teachers.
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The Teamwork-Based Strategies in the School Instruments (Guitar) Course and the Effects on Student Achievement
Ali Korkut ULUDAĞThis study was conducted to investigate the effect of teamwork strategies, that was prepared systematically for school instruments (guitar) training course, on the achievement levels of students. The study group included 42 students, who were taking School Instruments (Guitar) Training course at Atatürk University, Kazım Karabekir College of Education, Department of Music Education During 2013-2014 Academic year. Pre-test post-test model with the control group was used in the study. One of the study groups was assigned as the experimental group (n: 21) and the other group was appointed as the control group (n: 21) by using the neutral assigning method. The Obtained data was evaluated by SPSS 20 statistical program, and Mann-Whitney U Test and Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test were also used to determine whether there were significant differences between the pre-test and post-test scores from the experimental and control groups. The instruction was given with traditional methods for the control group, while different strategies, which were based on teamwork, were used for the experimental group. Studies that were developed for the current research were used in the instruction of the experimental group, and the question was aimed to be answered was whether these studies caused effective learning in training with teamwork strategies. Based on the results, the experimental group was found more successful than the control group, regarding fulfilling the given responsibilities, practicing and preparing the studies on time, and interpreting the music.
Keywords: School instruments, guitar training, teamwork strategies, guitar playing skills
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Preservice Classroom Teachers' Metaphors about Objective and Evaluation
Arş. Gör. Adnan TAŞGIN & Doç. Dr. Erdoğan KÖSEThe aim of this study is to find out the Preservice classroom teachers’ perceptions about objectives and evaluation via metaphors. This study was carried out with 254 Preservice classroom teachers studying in Classroom Teacher Education Department of Kazım Karabekir Education Faculty of Ataturk University in the fall term of 2012-2013 education year. The data was acquired by the participants filling out “Objective is like …, because…” and “Evaluation is like …, because …” The frequency and percentage analysis and decoding technique belonging to qualitative methods were used during analyzing process of the data. Preservice Classroom Teachers produced 79 metaphors about objective and 69 metaphors about evaluation. Almost all the metaphors about objective produced by Preservice Classroom Teachers has had positive properties. Most of the metaphors about evaluation produced by Preservice Classroom Teachers is focused on both process and product. Some of metaphors about evaluation (such as jail, boring environment, court, and cactus) have negative properties, and the reason is that it is resulted from wrong evaluations.
Keywords: Objective, evaluation, metaphor, preservice classroom teachers
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The Service Quality Perception in Student Affairs: A Single Institutional Experience
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Umur TOSUN & Asst. Prof. Dr. Pınar BAŞGÖZEThe quality perception of the services that support university education (like the student affairs unit) involves a significant discussion when these services are related to the behaviors of the students regarding satisfaction. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to measure the overall satisfaction of H.U. students regarding the Student Affairs Office Directorate (SAOD). It will also evaluate the perception of students regarding the service quality, and to observe the direction in which the quality perception of the students regarding Student Affairs Office Directorate (SAOD) varies. It will be noted how it depends on class levels and visit frequencies and the relation between these perceptions and general satisfaction level of the students regarding the SAOD via the SERVQUAL scale. According to the results, the satisfaction level of H.U. students regarding the SAOD is significantly low. Besides, the students perceive the Reliability dimension among the SERVQUAL dimensions as the highest quality and the Responsiveness dimension as the lowest quality dimension. As the class level of the student goes up, the quality perception of the SAOD goes down and as the number of visits decreases, the quality perception increases. Finally, it is determined that the entirety of the service quality dimensions affects the overall satisfaction level of students regarding the related unit.
Keywords: student affair, service quality, SERVQUAL
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A Study of Trainee Visual Arts Teachers Metaphorical Perception of the Concept of ‘The Teacher’ and ‘The Artist
Doç. Dr. Şehnaz YALÇIN WELLSThe purpose of this research is to examine how students studying at the Fine Arts Education Department Art and Craft Education Department perceive the concepts of being a "teacher" and an "artist" through analysis of metaphors. The research study group is based on 205 students studying at Marmara University in 2013-2014. To collect related data and identify the metaphors every trainee teacher has in mind about the concept of 'the teacher' and 'the artist' the participants had to fill in the blanks in two sentences: "A Teacher is like a/an ..., because ..."; "An artist is like a/an ...., because ...". Metaphor analysis was used in the frame of qualitative method. According to the findings, 181 valid metaphors were detected and classified into 9 categories: teacher as knowledge source, as a mentor, as a shape former, as an expression of love, as a part of life, as a reflection of life, as a leader, as a healer, and as a patient person. The ‘artist’ metaphors were also classified in 9 categories: enlightening mentor artist, reflecting, creativity/freedom, difference/variability, genuine, history making, being a part of life, self-renewal, and producer artist.
Keywords: trainee fine arts teacher, teacher, artist, metaphor
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Using Velicer’s Map Test and Horn’s Parallel Analysis for Determining Component Number
Yrd.Doç.Dr. Güler YAVUZ & Doç. Dr. Nuri DOĞANIn structural validity studies, determining number of dimension of a measurement tool requires critical decisions and variety techiques, methods from those decisions’ basis. Rather than arbitrary decisions if researchers use the methods, techniques which have got statistical basis, the quality of study improves. For this reason instead of using some flawed exploratory factor analysis’s techniques; Velicer’s MAP test, Parallel analysis which are validated procedures have been used in study. For confirming structure, confirmatory factor analysis have been used. Data consist of 4645 students, gathered from PISA 2006 attitude items. Cronbach alpha have been found: 0.916, 0.912, 0.812, respectively. At the end of the confirmatory factor analysis it has seen that the error indices are low, fit indices are more than 0.90. By using O'Connor (2000)’s program, MAP test and the parallel analysis are applied on the same data, it is found that the structure has three dimensions with both methods.
Keywords: validity, map test, parallel analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, pisa
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