This study aims to comparatively investigate early literacy home environments the families provided for their children with developmental disability and normally developing children aged between 4 - 6 in the home environment, and parents’ early literacy beliefs. To collect information from the families, Demographic Information Form, Early Literacy Home Environment Scale (ELHES) and Parent Reading Beliefs Inventory Scale (PRBI) were used in this study. 32 families with normally developing children and 20 families of children with developmental disability participated in this research. Kruskal Wallis and Mann Whitney U tests and descriptive statistics were used for the research analysis. At the end of the study, variations found meaningful in some sub-dimensions and it is found out that families of normally developing children provide better early literacy opportunities to their children, and they have more positive literacy beliefs.

Keywords: literacy, early literacy beliefs, early literacy home environment, developmental disability

DOI : 10.16986/HUJE.2019051687 [HTML]

This study aims to investigate the forms and frequency of homework given as part of a 4th grade Turkish course assessment in the state elementary schools in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). Data were collected using questionnaires and structured interviews in this quantitative research. The study sample consisted of 61 primary school teachers who were teaching 4th grade during the 2014-2015 academic year and 51 teachers who had taught 4th grade prior to the date of the study, making a total sample of 112 teachers. Structured interviews were conducted with nine voluntary teachers who participated in the study. Results revealed that homework assignments related to reading comprehension were given significantly more frequently than homework related to speaking or presentation of materials. The teachers’ awareness on the benefits of the kinds of homework given in low frequency was a promising finding. Numerous reasons as to why homework with certain structures could not be given were discussed through structured interviews. Based on specific suggestions made by the teachers on improving the efficiency of homework, a re-evaluation of syllabus materials and a consideration for teacher training on the way homework assignments are formulated in the constructivist approach are highlighted.

Keywords: homework, elementary school teacher, 4th grade, Turkish course, TRNC

DOI : 10.16986/HUJE.2019052440 [HTML]

‘English as a lingua franca’ (ELF) paradigm holds many significant implications in the agenda of language teaching and teacher education. The role of language teacher education programs is pivotal to equip future English language teachers with the necessary theoretical knowledge and practical implications of ELF and World Englishes (WEs). This study presents the impact and implementation of an ELF teacher training course developed to apply the first phase of a two-phase ELF-aware teacher education model combining intensive theoretical training with real classroom practices. In other words, this study aims to investigate how ELF-aware teacher education model originally developed and applied in in-service teacher education context has been adapted and implemented in pre-service teacher education program and what impact it has had on pre-service teachers. The ultimate goal of this model is to intensively train pre-service teachers on ELF in theory as well as raise their critical awareness of their ELF-related teaching practices. The findings imply that the training program enabled the participants to question their deeply-rooted assumptions regarding English language teaching predominantly governed by Standard English and native speaker norms and reset their mindsets in teaching English within a pluricentric framework. Keywords: English as a lingua franca, English language teaching, English language teacher education, ELF-aware language teacher education, ELF-aware pedagogy.

Keywords: English as a lingua franca, English language teaching, English language teacher education, ELF-aware language teacher education, ELF-aware pedagogy.

DOI : 10.16986/HUJE.2019055867 [HTML]

The study focuses on the investigation of the effects of metaconceptual laboratory activities related to photosynthesis and respiration in plants on the conceptual understanding of pre-service science teachers. To this end, the current study was conducted with the participation of 34 pre-service science teachers who were taught the subjects of photosynthesis and respiration in plants through metaconceptual laboratory activities within the context of the General Biology Laboratory Applications Course in the spring term of 2016-2017 academic year. The study employed the single-group pretest-posttest model. The data of the current study were collected by using the “Photosynthesis and Respiration in Plants Concept Test” and “open-ended questions”. The collected data were analyzed through the descriptive analysis technique. As a result of the study, it was found that the use of metaconceptual laboratory activities in biology laboratory applications enhanced the conceptual understanding of the subject of interest and resulted in the elimination of some misconceptions. In this regard, it can be suggested that during biology laboratory activities focusing on teaching of abstract and challenging concepts, students should be rendered more active by means of activities such as constructing the concept map of their metacognition, preparing posters, conducting class and group discussions about experiments and writing journals.

Keywords: science education, metacognitive teaching, metaconceptual laboratory activities

DOI : 10.16986/HUJE.2019052442 [HTML]

The aim of this study is to develop a scale for determining the self-efficacy perceptions of teachers of children in need of special education regarding teaching mathematics (Study I), and to see whether the level of self-efficacy perceptions of them regarding teaching mathematics show differences depending on a variety of variables (gender, age, educational background, professional experience, and special needs of students) (Study II). The “Scale for Self-Efficacy Perceptions of Special Education Teachers Regarding Mathematics Teaching (SSEP-SET-RMT)” which was used as data collection tool, was seen to have appropriate characteristics at the end of the investigation of its validity and reliability in Study I. The study was carried out with 464 teachers graduating from a special education program and working in Istanbul province. It was found out that the special education teachers had an adequate level of mathematics teaching self-efficacy perception and that their mathematics teaching self-efficacy perceptions did not significantly vary by gender, age, professional experience, and student’s special education, but significantly varied by education level. As educational level rose, self-efficacy perception increased among the teachers. As the perceptions of teachers regarding their teaching shape their teaching, attention should be focused on this matter and deficiencies should be eliminated.

Keywords: Mathematics teaching, Mathematics teaching self-efficacy, Special education teachers, Children in need of special education, Scale development

DOI : 10.16986/HUJE.2019052312 [HTML]

Trigonometry is among the mathematics subjects that students have difficulty understanding due to the lack of proper understanding of the basic concepts. Research on radian, a concept that is among the fundamental concepts of trigonometry, has revealed that teachers, pre-service teachers and students lack, in some regards, proper conceptual knowledge about the subject term. Accordingly, studies on the issue bear particular importance. In the relevant literature, studies on the concept of radian focus mainly on students and pre-service teachers. However, there are not any national and contemporary studies that are conducted with teachers. In view of these, the current study aims to analyze mathematics teachers’ ways of understanding of the concept of radian. In this regard, the study attempts to explore the reasons behind teachers’ lack of conceptual knowledge regarding the concept of radian and to propose solutions that would help eliminate these reasons. The study employs case study method. The sample group consists of 41 in-service mathematics teachers who work in different types of schools. General Information Form and Concept Test developed by the researchers of the study as well as unstructured face-to-face interviews were utilized as data collection tools. As a consequence, majority of the participant teachers were found to lack an accurate and complete understanding of the concept of radian and to have some conceptual misunderstandings regarding the subject. In the conclusion section, findings of the study are discussed in relation to the relevant literature and some recommendations are made for teaching the concept of radian more efficiently.

Keywords: the concept of radian, mathematics teachers, trigonometry, conceptual understanding

DOI : 10.16986/HUJE.2019053683 [HTML]

This study aimed to investigate the mediator role of separation anxiety symptoms on between perceived stres and adaptation to university life of freshmen. 269 freshmen particpated the study (86 man, 183 women). Participants’ age range is 17-29 with a mean of 20 (SD = 1.40). Participants completed the University Life Scale, Separation Anxiety Symptoms Inventory and Perceived Stress Scale as paper pencil tests. The mediator role of separation anxiety sypmtoms was tested by SPSS regression analyses. Results indicated that, there is positive relation between perceived stres and separation anxiety. Beside, both perceived stres and separation anxiety have negative relation with adaptation to university life. Finally, Separation anxiety syptoms have a partial mediation effect on between perceived stress-adaptation to university life, perceived stress-academic adaptation, perceived stress-emotional adaptation and perceived stress-opposite sex relations adaptation.

Keywords: perceived stres, separation anxiety, adaptation to university life

DOI : 10.16986/HUJE.2018044072 [HTML]

This study was carried out to determine the social network and the effect and importance of social networks on organizational intelligence. It is aimed to determine the existence of social networks in organizations and their contributions to organizational intelligence. In 2014-2015 academic year, the survey was conducted by using “Multi-dimensional Organizational Intelligence Scale” with three school administrators and 29 teachers. In order to determine the characteristics of the network and the relationships of the actors in the network “Social Network Scale” was used and 48 participants were included in the analysis. As the result of the study, teachers' and administrators' perceptions of the school's intelligence are generally “very high level organizational intelligence” and “high level organizational intelligence”. This situation is also similar in the seven sub-dimensions of organizational intelligence. In terms of the proximity in the network location and number of nodes, participants demonstrated an intense interaction level. Administrators' opinions are more positive than teachers’ opinions both in terms of the sub-dimensions of organizational intelligence and overall organizational intelligence. Members of social networks, especially administrators are able to observe the structure and interactions of network and presence of natural leader. Investigating the social networks can contribute to regulating information flow and to increase the performance and motivations of the members.

Keywords: Social network, Social network analysis, Organizational intelligence, Primary school administrator, Teacher

DOI : 10.16986/HUJE.2019052439 [HTML]

The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between perfectionism and academic procrastination in adolescents academic self-efficacy. The sample of this research consists of 383 female and 219 male students studying in a high school in the İlkadım district of Samsun province. The academic procrastination scale, child and adolescent perfectionism scale, self-efficacy scale for children and personal information form were used in this research. Pearson product-moment correlation analysis, regression, multiple regression analysis, t-test, one way variance analysis (ANOVA) tests were applied to the data of research.The research data was analyzed using SPSS. There was a moderately significant relationship between the academic procrastination of adolescents and academic self efficacy in the negative direction, a significant correlation was found between academic procrastination with the self directed subdimension from perfectionism negatively. Academic self efficacy and perfectionism of adolescents were found to be a significant predictor of academic procratination.The academic procrastination of adolescent and academic self efficacy beliefs differ significantly according to gender but does not significantly differ according to the class level. The social originated subdimension from the level of perfectionism of adolescents differs significantly according to class level and gender, the self directed subdimension does not differ significantly.

Keywords: Academic procrastination, Self-efficacy, Perfectionism

DOI : 10.16986/HUJE.2019050341 [HTML]

The purpose of the study is to develop and analysis of a content-based need assessment survey for physics teachers. For this aim, teacher survey on the Nature of Physics unit (TSNOP) was developed as measuring instrument for the study. TSNOP was used to identify in-service physics teachers’ needs, wants, expectations and problems for the NOP unit based professional development program (PDP). Sixty in-service physics teachers participated to the study. TSNOP includes four specific content area; NOP knowledge and its misconceptions, teaching strategies (methods, techniques), materials/technologies, and assessment techniques. TSNOP consists of structured and unstructured question formats. Survey was analyzed based on each survey dimensions. Thematic coding was used and then data display by frequency analysis and tables. TSNOP results are given and discussed under four dimensions; (a) demographics information from participants, (b) some questions about the teacher previous professional experiences, (c) some more specific questions about how PDP can be organized (e.g., type, context, roles in PDP, time, etc.), (d) teachers’ additional opinions and thoughts about the training. Finally, some implications for teacher training and professional development were discussed in the study.

Keywords: need assessment, content-based survey, professional development, physics teachers

DOI : 10.16986/HUJE.2019052868 [HTML]

The purpose of this study was to determine the competencies of school counselors about child abuse. 30 school counselors with different school settings were interviewed. While 17 school counselors have reported at least one child abuse cases, 13 school counselors did not experience child abuse case in their professional life. Knowledge, trainings and opinions about child abuse were asked to all participants and how to experienced child abuse process was also asked to the counselors who had experiences with working child abuse. The responses were evaluated by categorical and emotional analysis. The findings were classified under three headings; school counselors who have experiences with child abuse cases, school counselors who did not experience child abuse and these both groups. Themes and sub-themes were formed under these groups and they were all expressed in tables. When the results of the study were generally evaluated, school counselors had limited theoretical knowledge and occupational competencies, preventive guidance studies were not at the expected level, school counselors had serious lack of knowledge about how to manage abuse process and how to counsel with abused clients.

Keywords: school counselors, child abuse, competency

DOI : 10.16986/HUJE.2018044070 [HTML]

The purpose of this research is to reveal the difficulties that 7th grade students hav experienced with graphics. The universe of the research is composed of the 7th grade students who are educated in Trabzon in 2016-2017 academic year. The sample is composed of 38 7th grade students. Qualitative method was used in the research. A semi-structured interview form was used to demonstrate the difficulties students have experienced with graphics. In the analysis of the data obtained from the semi-structured interview form, the NVIVO 0.9 program was used. According to the results of the study, It turned out that most of the students thought that they did not have difficulty in reading and drawing graphics. The students who expressed difficulty in drawing the graphic are the reasons why; they have found the graphics to be mixed and they can not draw graphics according to the given. It was seen that, once students' views of difficulty in reading the graphic were examined, they indicated that the graphics were complex, difficult and boring. Besides, while students see themselves as successful in column drawing and drawing, it was seen that they also indicated a line graph as the most difficult type of graphic. In the direction of these results obtained some suggestions for working were presented.

Keywords: Graphic reading, Graphic drawing, Students’ views

DOI : 10.16986/HUJE.2019050634 [HTML]

The objective of the present study was to investigate the relationship between political games and organizational dissent based on teacher views. In the study, “Political Games Perception Scale” and “Organizational Dissent Scale” were applied to teachers with the aim of defining teachers’ perceptions about political games and organizational dissent. Thus, the data were collected with the purpose of examining the relationship between political games and organizational dissent. The levels of teachers’ perceptions and the relationship between these concepts were investigated using the collected data. Therefore, the correlational research design was utilized in the present study. Analysis of the teachers’ perceptions on political games demonstrated that the dimensions of “Alliance-Building Game”, “Strategic-Candidates Game” and “Empire-Building Game” were observed the most, while “Insurgency Game”, “Whistle-Blowing Game” and “Young Turks Game” were observed the least. On organizational dissent, “Upward Dissent” was perceived more when compared to “Lateral Dissent”. Based on the gender variable, the results of political games favored the males in the dimensions of “Insurgency Game”, “Counter-Insurgency Game”, “Sponsorship Game”, “Empire-Building Game”, “Lording Game”, “Rival Camps Game”, “Whistle-Blowing Game” and “Young Turks Game”. At the end of the study, a positive and low correlation was identified between political games and organizational dissent. In conclusion, a relationship between political games and organizational dissent was determined in organizations. The said correlation was positive and low-level. It was also observed that political games and organizational dissent were interrelated concepts.

Keywords: political games, organizational dissent, organizational behavior, educational organization, teacher.

DOI : 10.16986/HUJE.2018045306 [HTML]

This study aims to adapt Teachers’ Perceived Adaptive Performance Scale to Turkish culture. The study was conducted with three different study groups composed of teachers in secondary schools in different provinces of Turkey. First, the linguistic equivalence of the scale was achieved (r=.919) and it was presented to experts’ opinions. Afterwards, to determine the construct validity, AFA and DFA were used, and then reliability analysis was conducted. The internal consistency coefficients for the dimensions and the sum of the scale indicate the reliability of the scale (α=.794-.882); item-total correlations meet the specified criteria (r=.381-.769); significant relationships between the dimensions also indicate internal consistency between dimensions is ensured (r=-.363-.645). The final scale was applied to 732 teachers in 66 secondary schools in Bolu province and descriptive analysis was performed. According to findings, teachers’ perceptions of their adaptive performance were found to be “frequently” in Handling Unexpected Situations dimension, “always” in Interpersonal and Cultural Adaptability dimension, “rarely” in Inability to Cope with Problems dimension, and “always” in the sum of the scale. As a result it was seen that the scale was valid and reliable when adapted to Turkish culture.

Keywords: Adaptive performance, adaptation, validity, reliability, descriptive analysis

DOI : 10.16986/HUJE.2019052615 [HTML]

This study investigated the relationship between collective efficacy and science teaching efficacy beliefs of pre-service teachers. The participants were four junior pre-service science teachers working in a group to fulfill the requirements of a science methods course. They were interviewed three times at regular intervals during one semester. The results revealed that the sources of collective efficacy played an important role in the development of personal science teaching efficacy and science teaching outcome expectancy of the group members. The participants most emphasized the effect of the positive influence of mastery experience. It is concluded that science teacher educators should consider collective efficacy when designing their courses to improve pre-service teachers’ science teaching efficacy beliefs.

Keywords: collective efficacy, pre-service teacher, science methods course, science teaching efficacy beliefs

DOI : 10.16986/HUJE.2019053709 [HTML]