Examining the social, psychological effects of the central examinations on teachers and their reflection on the implementation of the teachers' curriculum, this research is qualitative in the phenomenology design. The working group consists of 15 volunteer teachers who work at the state secondary and high schools in Kahramanmaraş during 2017-2018 academic year. The data was gathered through a semi-structured interview form and content analysis was used during data analysis. Research results have revealed the psychological effects of the central examinations on teachers as creating pressure, making them stressful and motivating, while social effects have been determined as the cause of discrimination, competition and solidarity among teachers. It has been found that central examinations affect the image of teachers. Central examinations have positive effects on the professional development of teachers; following the developments regarding the related field, refreshing their knowledge, practicing in question solving and self-assessing themselves. The examinations have also negative effects such as robotizing the teacher, being tiresome and weary and unable to socialize. The results have suggested teachers’ failure in implementing the curriculum as in the program, but they can determine exam-oriented purpose and content, implement method and technique, and make measuring and assessments through multiple choice exams.

Keywords: assessment and evaluation, central examinations, effects of the central examinations

DOI : 10.16986/HUJE.2018040672 [HTML]

Totally of 17 global targets related with various topics such as poverty, inequality, climate changes are defined to be achieved by United Nations for sustainable development up to 2030. As a fourth one of these targets, education for sustainable development which is discussed under the quality of education should be started at an early age and students should acquire knowledge and skills on sustainable development. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the 7th grade students’ development on education for sustainable development as a result of employing an interdisciplinary approach based on Science and Technology Course by considering Social Science, Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge and Turkish courses. The sample of the study which used a mixed method research methodology consisted of 199 7th grade students. The data were collected through document review, surveys, semi-structured interviews and observations. While the document analysis was done according to the document review process, surveys, semi-structured interviews and observations were exposed to content, descriptive and frequency analysis. It was found that the students’ conceptual understandings were positively changed related with the topics of biodiversity, soil pollution, hunger, renewable-nonrenewable energy sources and recycling. Furthermore, it was found that students relate sustainable development topic with Science and Technology, Social Science, Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge Courses but could not relate with Turkish course. As a result of findings, it is recommended that a holistic approach should be followed including environmental, social, economic and cultural aspects in the education for sustainable development, educational objectives related with Turkish course should be expressed more perceptibly and the number of educational objectives related with Turkish course should be increased.

Keywords: science and technology education, sustainable development, 7th grade students, interdisciplinary approach

DOI : 10.16986/HUJE.2018045282 [HTML]

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the predictive role of self-efficacy and coping strategies on university students' cognitive flexibility levels. Besides that, another aim was to examine whether there were significant differences in the level of the university students' cognitive flexibility in terms of gender. The study was carried out with 549 university students. The data used in this study was adopted from Demographic Information Form which was made by researchers, Cognitive Flexibility Inventory, General Self- Efficacy Scale, and Coping Styles Scale. T-Test was used to examine whether there were differences on Cognitive Flexibility Inventory total scores in terms of gender. The Multiple Regression Analysis was utilized to analyze that whether self-efficacy and coping strategies significantly predict the level of cognitive flexibility. Multiple Regression Analysis results revealed that the participants` self-efficacy level and coping strategies` sub-dimensions of self-confidence, submissive, helpless style and seeking of social support significantly predict participants' cognitive flexibility. The participants` self-efficacy level and coping strategies` sub-dimensions of self- confidence, submissive, helpless style and seeking of social support explains %52 of the total variance. Gender does not affect the level of cognitive flexibility.

Keywords: Cognitive flexibility, executive function, self-efficacy, coping.

DOI : 10.16986/HUJE.2018037424 [HTML]

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of perceived teachers’ feedback in the relationship between students’ perceptions of motivational climate, intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, enjoyment and concentration in physical education lessons. Total of 835 middle school students (MAge = 13.83±0.70) voluntarily participated to the cross-sectional data collection. Structural Equation Modeling showed that knowledge of performance feedback positively predicted perceived performance approach climate, perceived mastery climate positively predicted enjoyment, concentration and intrinsic motivation. Furthermore, perceived motivational climate was not found to mediate the relationship between perceived teachers’ feedback and motivation and lesson engagement. The results were discussed in terms of implications for physical education environment.

Keywords: perceived teachers’ feedback, perceived motivational climate, motivation, enjoyment, concentration, physical education.

DOI : 10.16986/HUJE.2018043404 [HTML]

The purpose of this study was to establish the validity and reliability of Turkish version of the Attitude towards STEM Scale developed by The Friday Institute for Educational Innovation (2012) for measuring middle school students’ attitudes towards STEM. The sample of the study consisted of 1323 middle school students (6th, 7th, and 8th graders) who were selected conveniently from 3 metropolitan cities located in different regions of Turkey in the fall semester of the 2017-2018 academic year. The original version of the scale consists of 37 items and it is a 5-point Likert scale. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was conducted for the data obtained from the Turkish version of the scale in order to check whether they fit the four-factor structure of the original scale. The analysis of data showed that it fit the four-factor structure. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) indicates there was a four-factor structure as was in the original scale. The reliability of each factor and the whole scale were checked by computing Cronbach’s coefficient of Alpha (α). Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for the whole scale and the mathematics, science, engineering, and technology, and 21th-century skills were found to be as 0.91, 0.86, 0.87, 0.86, and 0.88, respectively. Based on the findings obtained in this study, The Attitude towards STEM Scale was adapted into Turkish in a valid and reliable way.

Keywords: STEM, attitude scale, adaptation, validity, reliability

DOI : 10.16986/HUJE.2018045061 [HTML]

ABSTRACT: The invariance in the scores of student rating of instruction was studied across high and low achieving classrooms. Achievement levels were determined by the two criteria such as self-reported expected grades and end of semester grades. The data included 625 classrooms. The equality of (i) factorial structure, (ii) factor loadings, (iii) item intercepts, and (iv) error variances of the 7 item rating scale were studied across these groups. With respect to self-reported expected grades, high and low achieving classes produced invariant scale characteristics except strict invariance. On the other hand, with respect to end of semester grades full equality in item intercepts and error variances were not achieved. It seems that comparing the rating results across the classrooms and courses independent of the achievement levels of the students may be misleading especially for the high stake decisions since the origin of the scale is not the same across high and low achieving groups.

Keywords: student rating of instruction, invariance of student ratings, measurement equivalence, multi-group confirmatory factor analysis, validity of student ratings

DOI : 10.16986/HUJE.2018045408 [HTML]

The paper presents the problem of burnout in children at the age of 12–16 years. This problem is one of the components of responses to questions about the negative attitude of students towards school and significant decreases in motivation to learn in secondary-school-aged children (studies by Otis et al. 2005; Gillet et al. 2012; Chow and Yong 2013; Jozsa et al. 2014). The expectations of parents and teachers regarding children’s grades surpass the grades the children might realistically receive. There is no scale available in Poland applicable to the problem of school burnout; thus the Elementary School Students Burnout Scale (Aypay et al., 2011) was translated and adapted by the authors of the present article. The article presents the results of pilot studies and their description. The results prove the accuracy of the scale

Keywords: education; secondary-school student; school burnout; stress

DOI : 10.16986/HUJE.2018043462 [HTML]

In this research, it is aimed to give an orientation training to the teacher candidates of social studies about one of the three dimensional virtual environment Second Life, based on the experimental learning Kolb Model so that they can cover the virtues of this model and can use this model in their teaching process and to design a learning environment for gaining the aimed benefits, determine teachers' experiences and opinions, evaluate the effectiveness of the model applied. For this purpose Second life environment climate planet environment has been designed. To achieve this goal the research is based on Muğla University, education faculty, Department of Social Sciences Teaching Sitki Kocman, 2015-2016 academic year, social studies teacher education 1. and 2. and 3 grade teachers studying methods of sampling for the purpose of easily accessible sampling basis. Due to the nature of the study, one of the qualitative research methods, phenomenology was adopted. Teacher candidates were interviewed twice before and after the event as semi-structured interviews. As data collection tools, observation, interview forms, and document analysis were used. Once interviews have been digitally computed, all data content has been analysed and interpreted by using of schema. According to the findings of the research; experiential learning in virtual environments, using Second Life social studies lesson based on the education of prospective teachers reviews increase the interest and motivation of the class, provides concrete and lasting learning, creates an unordinary level, raise the levels of self-sufficiency, provide instant feedback. In addition, three-dimensional virtual environment Second Life with its reality based design gives a different dimension to education with its Visual and auditory perception, its visual sense evokes the feeling of the climate zone, it's easily understandable, original, informative, and is aimed at students with different learning types and in this way they can learn easily. Besides, limitations discussed that occured in Second Life educational settings, suggestions have been made for the researchers who like to work on this topic. Key words: Three-dimensional Virtual environment, Second Life, Experimental Learning, Social Studies Education.

Keywords: Three-dimensional Virtual environment, Second Life, Experimental Learning, Social Studies Education.

DOI : 10.16986/HUJE.2018045451 [HTML]

Although pronunciation is considered critical in successful as well as effective communication, it only receives sporadic regard due to the prevailing factors in language education. Nevertheless, there is now far greater awareness and increasing need amongst language learners regarding the necessity of possessing a good working pronunciation for a successful communication and international intelligibility. In this respect the fossilized pronunciations in the consonants interfere with and severely disrupt the quality of speech. In an attempt to rehabilitate this situation, this research, unlike the traditional one, offers a model of computer-aided and animated material (tool) to provide important assistance on correcting fossilized consonants. This quasi-experimental study involves a pre-posttest design with both an experimental group and a control group composed of 19 and 18 undergraduate Erasmus students respectively. Following a five-week’s treatment, the subjects were tested on general and fossilized consonants. The results indicate that there was a significant difference between the experimental and the control group, meaning that the treatment group which received the computer-aided and animated material far outperformed the control group which received only traditional method.

Keywords: articulation, computer-aided, consonants, fossilized, pronunciation

DOI : 10.16986/HUJE.2018040668 [HTML]

Forming an item pool for computerized adaptive testing requires a long and demanding process that may be challenging, both in terms of time and cost. Therefore, one may come across such questions as ‘How should an optimal item pool be?’ and/or ‘How many items should exist in an item pool?’ Although research with regard to the features to exist in an optimal item pool vary, there has been no consensus reached about how big the item pool size should be. In the current study, the effect of different item pool size and item distribution on ability estimation and item pool utilization was analysed. 36 different item pools were generated through SimulCAT software. Using 1,000 simulees, single session CAT environments were simulated and two different termination rules were used in the study. Findings of the study indicated that as the size of the item pool increased to a specific size, the precision of measurement increased and the number of unused items decreased. By examining the results according to b parameter, it was found that the effect of b parameter distribution over the results decreased.

Keywords: Computerized adaptive testing, item pool quality, item pool size, item pool utilization, ability estimation

DOI : 10.16986/HUJE.2018042418 [HTML]

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurobiological disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and communication, restricted range of behavior and limited areas of interest and stereotypic behaviors. Literature involves a rich variety of studies utilizing an array of effective methods to teach different skills to individuals with ASD. One of these methods has been video modeling which involves watching the video recording of model performing a target behavior. This method has received considerably empirical support. The present study intended to examine the effectiveness of teaching skills to individuals with ASD how to follow signs in finding the restroom in a public setting by utilizing video modeling in which the model is a peer with an ASD. Participants of the study were three male students whose age ranged between 10 and 13. Results of the study showed that video modeling was effective in acquiring, maintaining and generalizing targeted skills. Findings, limitations of the study and its implications for future research as well as practitioners were discussed.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, video modeling, direction signs, evidence-based practices, peer model

DOI : 10.16986/HUJE.2018040666 [HTML]

This study aims to reveal the relationship between the perceptions of teachers serving at state secondary schools located in central districts of Ankara with regard to their own organizational citizenship behavior and the achievements of the 8th grade students who were registered at these schools during the 2012-2013 academic year. This descriptive study was conducted using a relational survey model. Sample calculated by simple random sampling method. Research was completed with 533 teachers at 85 public secondary schools. As the students’ school success, average grades from the last three years of 8th grader studying in the 2012-2013 academic year have been taken. At the conclusion of the study, it was discovered teachers generally have the perception that they show organizational citizenship behaviors. While seniority of the teachers increase, their organizational citizenship behavior also increases. Besides, the working years of teachers at their present schools positively affects their level of organizational citizenship behavior. In addition, “students’ success” increase positively as the teachers’ “compliance”, “loyalty” and “individual initiative” behaviors increase. Based on the findings of the research, school administrators and educational authorities are advised to spread and improve organizational citizenship behavior in educational organizations.

Keywords: teacher, organizational citizenship behavior, student success

DOI : 10.16986/HUJE.2018037021 [HTML]

In this study, it is aimed to determine the modes and levels of informal reasoning of seventh grade students regarding hydroelectric power plants (HEPP), organic tea, and Green Road considered to be socio-scientific issues. Within this framework, the sub-problems of the research were determined as follows: 1) Are students aware of local socio-scientific issues? 2) How are students’ reasoning modes related to socio-scientific issues according to the roles students take? 3) Is there a difference among students’ reasoning levels according to the roles students take? In the study, phenomenology research design was used. 23 students in the seventh grade in a district of Rize participated in the study. To collect data, a questionnaire developed for this research and consisted of open ended questions was used in the study. Students’ explanations were subjected to descriptive analysis according to economic, ecological and social informal reasoning modes. Then, a rubric was used to determine reasoning levels of the students. It is seen that students’ reasoning levels change when students have assumed different roles for local SSI. Students’ reasoning levels are higher than the other roles when they have assumed the role of “students”. Students’ levels of reasoning related to HEPP were found to be descriptively higher than the other SSI. On the other hand, it is seen that students have the lowest reasoning level in the role of “government official”. It is stated that role-making provides an effective experience in decision-making and that when individuals need to play a role, they have the opportunity to understand the perspectives of others.

Keywords: middle school students, socioscientific issues, informal reasoning, science education

DOI : 10.16986/HUJE.2018045573 [HTML]

This study investigated the effect of the microteaching method on improving preservice social studies teachers’ literacy levels concerning complementary assessment and evaluation techniques. This study, which was implemented the mixed method design, involves two stages. The first stage of the study was designed according to the pretest-posttest control group model, which is one of the true experimental models. To this end, two groups were formed, an experimental group (N=30) and a control group (N=30). “Literacy Test for Complementary Assessment and Evaluation Techniques” and “Assessment Form for the Process of Microteaching” were used as data collection instruments. Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, independent sample t test and two-factor ANOVA were used in the analysis of the data. The second stage of the study was designed according to the case study design and “Observation”, “Structured Interview Form” and “Activity Assessment Diaries” were used to collect the data. The content analysis technique was used to reach concepts and relationships that would explain the data obtained. As a result of the study, it appeared that the microteaching was an effective method in improving preservice social studies teachers’ literacy levels concerning complementary assessment and evaluation techniques.

Keywords: Preservice teachers, assessment literacy, microteaching

DOI : 10.16986/HUJE.2018043466 [HTML]

The purpose of this research is to examine the effect of the Layered Curriculum Method on the students’ achievement in the teaching of “Area Measurement” of the 6th grades’ mathematics lesson. The study group is composed of 107 students from a state secondary school at 2014-2015 academic years. The quasi-experimental research design with a pre- and post-test and a paired control group was used in the study. One of the 6th grades was deter-mined as experimental group; the other two classes were determined as control group. Students in the experimental group were taught according to the Layered Curriculum Method, while in control groups students were taught based on the lecture and question-answer methods. 21 item-Academic achievement test were developed by the researcher was applied to the three groups as pre-test and post-test. Parametric and non-parametric tech-niques were used to interpret the data. As a result of the research, it is indicated that Layered Curriculum Method is more effective on achievement of students.

Keywords: Layered Curriculum Method, area measurement, achievement.

DOI : 10.16986/HUJE.2018044393 [HTML]