The purpose of this study was to investigate preservice elementary mathematics teachers’ ability of relating mathematical concepts and daily life context. Two research questions were set; what is the preservice elementary mathematics teachers’ level of relating mathematical concepts and daily life context regarding to their education year and their Grade Point Average? and is there a relationship between preservice elementary mathematics teachers’ level of relating mathematical concepts and daily life context and their self efficacy towards mathematics? A survey research was designed with 194 preservice elementary mathematics teachers. A scale and its rubric were developed. Data analyses revealed that preservice mathematics teachers’ level of relating mathematical concepts in daily life context is increased throughout their year of education. Furthermore all participants were found as efficacious towards mathematics and a correlation was captured between their self efficacy towards mathematics and level of relating mathematics in daily life context.

Keywords: mathematics education, mathematical concepts, mathematics in daily life, preservice mathematics teachers, self efficacy towards mathematics
[HTML]

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of Maple software which is a Computer Algebra System, on attitudes towards mathematics. In this research; research group which consist of 47 freshmen students, are selected from Elementary Science Education Program of Kastamonu University in the spring semester of 2005–2006 academic year. The class has been divided into two groups as group-1 and group-2 by their pre-calculus knowledge and attitudes towards mathematics. There are 23 students in the group-1 and 24 students in the group-2. One of these groups took the definite integral concept only in constructivist environment. The other group took the definite integral concept in constructivist environment by using some interactive worksheets and applets developed by researcher by using Maple software. After 28 hours (7 weeks) of lectures, mathematics attitude scale post-test applied to the groups. Collected quantitative data analyzed and results of analyses are interpreted. ANCOVA results show that students which used Maple in learning environment have more positive attitudes toward mathematics than the others when mathematics attitude scale pre-test scores are used as common variable.

Keywords: attitude, computer algebra systems (CAS), constructivism, definite integral.
[HTML]

The purpose of this study is to investigate the opinions of students towards the utilization of educational computer games in their courses. The study was conducted for 9 weeks with twenty-four 6th grade students attending a Social Studies class in a private school located in Ankara, Turkey. The results of this qualitative study indicated that students liked the educational computer game environment, and their motivation towards Social Studies course increased due to the utilization of the game as a supportive course element.

Keywords: educational computer game, social studies, student opinion
[HTML]

As a result of innovations in mathematics education around the world, in Turkey both elementary and secondary school mathematics curricula have changed since 2005. The new curriculum demands integrating Computer Assisted Mathematics Instruction (CAMI) that provides meaningful mathematics learning experiences to students. The negative beliefs against using computer will have caused the failure of this process. The aim of this study is to define the beliefs of primary and secondary education mathematics teachers from the point of different parameters on CAMI. A public questionnaire containing three sub-dimensions was administered to 76 mathematics teachers all of whom working in Trabzon and its districts. According to the findings; a great number mathematics teachers do not have positive beliefs about computer usage in mathematics education and some of them are indecisive. As a result of the study; experience, teaching level and computer literacy level were determined to be factor shaping the beliefs.

Keywords: mathematics education, belief, computer assisted mathematics education
[HTML]

The main aim of this study is to determine teacher candidates’ views regarding classroom management strategies. This descriptive study was carried out on student teachers in their senior year at Gazi University, the Faculty of Education. Data were gathered through a questionnaire. The questionnaire was composed of a scale which included classroom management strategies and open ended questions. Statistical analysis procedures were used to analyze the quantitative data and content analysis procedures were utilized to analyze the qualitative data. The results indicated that the main classroom strategies comprised the use of questioning, drawing attention and warning those children with poor attention in the lesson. In addition, the results showed that there was no significant relationship between teacher candidates’ opinions on classroom management strategies and the gender variable except for several strategies. There was also no significant relationship between teacher candidates’ opinions and the program variable except for several strategies.

Keywords: classroom management, teacher candidates, teacher training.
[HTML]

Although many researchers have particularly focused on financial issues in terms of resource management, very few of these have dealt with the interrelations between psychological elements like perception, attitude and control of money. The use of an instrument to measure perceived adequacy of resources would provide benchmark data for making inter temporal comparisons. In the study, n=500 people were chosen as subjects in accordance with the “Random Sampling Method” from Hacettepe University Central Campus. According to the result 65.5% of the total variance is explained by 7 factors. As a result, the items together seemed to reflect a general dimension explained as perceived adequacy of resources. According to the result of the factor analysis, as expected, the factor loading are divided between 7 factors. The correlations of element points with test points vary between .33 and .57. The Cronbach Alpha coefficient calculated for the measure is found .88. This result shows that the inner consistency of the test is high. The fact that the values found in this study are significant shows that the measure of perceived adequacy of resources is reliable and valid for the Turkish society. This way, it can be concluded that the measure has intercultural validity.

Keywords: family resources, resource management, perception adequacy of resources
[HTML]

There has been a rapid increase in the number of technology certificate programs offered around the world in the last decade. While designing, developing, and implementing these programs little or no consideration is given to geographical, cultural and developmental differences between different regions of the world. This study investigates the students’ success in the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) program – a unique model combining technologysupported learning with local instruction world-wide. The purpose of this study is to investigate how demographic, ability, and motivational factors impact student success in different regions of the world when the curriculum and teaching materials are the same for all students and teachers. 368,159 students who completed the technology course from August 2004 to December 2005 in 5,948 academies in 135 countries were examined. Based on ANOVA and regression, results show that prior achievement, technology skills, and degree impact student achievement regardless of regions’ developmental level.

Keywords: student achievement, technology-supported learning environments
[HTML]

The aims of the study reported in this paper were to identify teachers’ beliefs about mathematics and to analyze possible significant differences in mathematics beliefs in terms of teachers’ branches and gender. Teachers’ mathematics beliefs were investigated by use of a 20-item self-report questionnaire; related to beliefs about process of learning mathematics, use of mathematics, and nature of mathematics. Data of the study were collected from 324 teachers (195 primary school teachers, 52 science teachers, 40 mathematics teachers, and 37 preschool teachers). Findings revealed that (a) whereas the teachers appeared to have beliefs consistent with problem-solving view in few items; they held more traditional beliefs that could be classified as instrumentalist, (b) beliefs of the teacher on mathematics are similar regardless of gender, (c) mathematics teachers have the most instrumentalist view in for some items.

Keywords: teacher, beliefs about mathematics, teachers’ branches, gender
[HTML]

The aim for this research is to analyses the change on the level of teacher self-efficacy perception of preservice teachers’ who take classroom management course. The study was carried out at the Technical Faculty of Education in the Department of Electronic and Computer Education at Gazi University in the second term of 2006-2007 academic years. Totally 91 teacher candidates constitute sample of the research. The research design of the study was preexperimental type that included one group pretest and posttest model has been applied. Before the study, teacher’s efficacy sense of scale with a .94 reliability coefficiency had been applied as pretests. The scale includes total 24 points on the dimensions of student engagement, instructional strategies and classroom management. After a 12-week classroom management course, the same scale had been applied as posttest. Arithmetic mean, dependent t-test and independent t-test were applied for analyzing data. Effect sizes correlation coefficient was also calculated. At the end of this research, it was determined that teacher candidates’ teacher self efficacy perception level after and before they took courses changed positively. On the other hand, the study demonstrated no statistically significant gender, general academic achievement levels and high school type they graduated differences in the teacher sense of self efficacy levels of preservice teachers’.

Keywords: teacher’s vocational courses, classroom management, teacher self-efficacy beliefs, preservice teacher
[HTML]

This research aims to identify how students associate concepts about chemical equilibrium in General Chemistry Course and analyses the relationship between the concept maps developed by students and their problemsolving beliefs. The research was carried out at two stages with 60 university students divided into two equal groups. While group one prepared the concept maps with created linking phrases (KBC) at stage one, selected linking phrases (VBC) were used by those in group two. At stage two, only group one was given linking phrases for constructing the concept map, the other group created their phrase. The research data was collected by means of concept maps prepared at both stages and a problem-solving belief scale. The research revealed that the concept maps prepared with selected linking phrases proved to be more satisfactory. A statistically no significant relationship was found between concept mapping and problem-solving beliefs.

Keywords: concept maps, problem-solving belief, meaningful learning
[HTML]

This study aims to investigate how the teachers who have different background characteristics perceive the goals and content of the English language curriculum implemented at the 6th, 7th and 8th grades of public primary schools. The study was conducted during the 2004-2005 school year with 368 English teachers selected from the seven regions of Turkey. The data was collected by using newly prepared questionnaires whose reliability and validity were sustained through pilot-testing. The results revealed that the goals of the curriculum were attained at the moderate level and there were problems with the curriculum content. The teachers’ perceptions differed according to their school location, teaching experience and educational background. During the curriculum implementation, certain problems were encountered due to lack of resources, students, the program itself and the classroom environment.

Keywords: english language curriculum, teacher perceptions, background characteristics, primary school
[HTML]

This study investigated the middle and high school students’ interests towards the subjects of human biology, specifically, “Human Health and Nutrition” and “Human Body and Organs.” The study also investigated sources of their interests and factors that impact their interests, namely people that they interact and courses that they take about biology and science. 972 students from fifth through tenth grades in 17 schools in Ankara participated in this study. The results show that students’ interests towards human biology in general do not change from fifth to tenth grade. However, students’ interests towards various subjects of biology were decreased. Ninth grade students reported the lowest interest among the grades investigated towards the subject of “Human Health and Nutrition” and “Human Body and Organs.” Factors such as students’ interest in sports, their health concerns, and their desire to protect themselves from diseases might have effected the formation of their interests towards these subjects.

Keywords: interest, differences between male and female students, interest toward biology subjects, and the stimulating factors
[HTML]

Evaluation of student achievement is done during and after the teaching-learning process, and it is perceived as an event which is independent from teaching. However, the methods selected for evaluating the students have various effects on different variables like how students study, how they prepare themselves for evaluation process and to what extend they learn the content. Teaching the content and assessing the level of success are two processes which complete and affect each other in a two dimensional way. Furthermore, selected evaluation method facilitates students’ approaches to content and affects their level of understanding, thus supports students for gaining higher order thinking skills. From this point of view, the purpose of this study was to adopt “Assessment Preferences Inventory”, which is originally developed by Birenbaum (1994), to Turkish. The factor structure of the inventory was investigated by descriptive and confirmatory factor analysis. The findings of the analysis showed that factor structures of the inventory, which have three independent scales with their sub scales, were similar with the original inventory. The internal consistency values of scales range between .58 and .92 having a mean of .79.

Keywords: assessment preferences, inventory adaptation
[HTML]

In this study, computer mediated discourse analysis was used in order to investigate what kinds of communication patterns that students show in an online learning environment. The sample was consisted of 45 students participated in an online discussion forum. After a two-week implementation period, group 3, which was considered as the most active group, was selected out of 6 groups. Messages were categorized according to their topics and focuses in order to determine how group members interacted to complete the task and what the levels of the group’s decision making process were. Later, the messages were grouped under the specific categories according to their functions and the communication patterns reflecting these categories were analyzed. As a result, it was found out that most of the discussions were related to the task; but, the members of the group did not do any research about the topics. Instead, they used their own knowledge and experience in the discussions. Similarly, it was stated that although the participants completed knowledge sharing process, they didn’t experience knowledge creation process. In addition, it was found that all the group members were participated in the discussions and communicated with each other with reciprocal respect.

Keywords: computer mediated communication, discourse analysis, online discussion, online forums
[HTML]

The purpose of this study was to examine preservice mathematics teachers’ knowledge about common (mis)conceptions and difficulties of elementary students. In addition, it was aimed to investigate preservice teachers’ knowledge about the possible sources of these misconception/difficulties, and their suggested strategies to overcome those difficulties. Data was collected from senior preservice elementary mathematics teachers enrolled in a teacher education program at a public university at the end of the spring semester of 2004-2005. Qualitative case study design was used to collect the data. Results revealed that preservice teachers’ knowledge on difficulties that elementary students might have could be grouped under four headings. In addition, preservice teachers suggested various strategies that can be used to overcome students’ difficulties on division of fractions. Research study revealed the importance of content-pedagogy rich courses on preservice teachers’ knowledge related to students’ understanding of mathematics concepts.

Keywords: mathematics education, preservice elementary mathematics teachers, pedagogical content knowledge, division of fractions
[HTML]

This study was conducted to provide a point of view scaling methods using in social sciences and to determine the consistency between the scaling value obtained from two different scaling procedure which were based judgment decision. An attitude scale toward using addictive substances (BYM) have been used as data collection instrument. 84 academician and psychology have been used as judge in this study. A series scaling procedure have been conducted to obtain scaling values for two scaling approaches. In order to determine relationship between scaling values obtained from two different scaling procedures, the Spearman Brown rho correlation coefficient has been calculated. The study revealed that there was low relationship between scale value obtained from two different scaling procedure based on judgement decision and this findings could be used as a evidence that these two scaling procedure have not been produced similar results.

Keywords: scaling, scaling with classfying judgment, scaling with ranking judgment
[HTML]

Concept mapping is a kind of teaching and learning method. In this research, concept mapping was used as an assessment method. Firstly, the physics teacher candidates were asked to draw their own concept maps about impulse and momentum. Afterwards an achievement test about these concepts with 21 questions was administered. Analysis of the drawings revealed that the teacher candidates have problems in applying and understanding the concepts of impulse and momentum. The correlation between scores in concept maps and the achievement test were weak. While the achievement test measures knowledge and using attained knowledge in different situations, the concept maps, on the other hand, measures knowledge from a conceptual point of view.

Keywords: concept maps, physics education, impulse-momentum
[HTML]

Bullying is now recognized as a concern in schools worldwide. Bullying is a relatively new study field classified in the category of aggression. A person is being bullied when he or she is exposed repeatedly and over time to negative actions on the part of one or more persons. This study was conducted to acquire types of bullying behaviors and prevalence of bullying among elementary school children. For this purpose, questionnaire of Colorado School Climate Survey (Garrity et al., 2000) was used as a self-report measure to investigate bullying and applied to 1086 elementary school students at Bursa. The results were generally similar to those reported by most international studies of school bullying. The most prevalent form of bullying is verbal bullying and this is followed by the physical bullying. The boys are reported more than girls as bullies. The most likely location for bullying to occur is the playground and classroom.

Keywords: bullying, elementary school, school climate
[HTML]

This study aimed to investigate the kinds of beliefs pre-service elementary mathematics teachers held about mathematical problem solving. The participants consisted of 244 senior undergraduate students studying in Elementary Mathematics Teacher Education programs at 5 different universities in Turkey. The results indicated that, in general, the preservice teachers held positive beliefs about mathematical problem solving. However, they still had several traditional beliefs related to the importance of computational skills in mathematics education, and following predetermined sequence of steps while solving problems.

Keywords: mathematical problem solving, pre-service mathematics teachers, teacher education
[HTML]

In this study, the successes of students who participated in private skill exam were modelled by using logistic regression. The sample was consisted of 642 (150 girls + 492 boys) individuals who had participated in private skill examination in a university which is located in the East of Turkey. According to success circumstances, dependent variable which was dichotomic was coded as “1” or “0”. After dichotomic design, success and failure circumstances were examined in terms of sub-population and covariance’s changing. At the same time, it would have been like to search the risk ratio for each gender. Therefore, effecting of independent variables on dependent variable was modelled with logistic regression model. Logistic and risk analysis’ were performed by SAS software. As to risk analysis findings, successful male students have more 15 times advantage than unsuccessful students. Besides, successful female students have more 8 times than unsuccessful female students. Wald statistics had been confirmed the risk analysis findings in appropriate border.

Keywords: mixture logistic regression, risk analysis, modeling, private skill
[HTML]

Social change is the change which takes place in the structure, main institutions, the balance between the components or the organisation method of the society. The relationship between education and social change has been discussed for years. According to some philosophers education causes social change and whereas according to the others education is shaped as a result of social change. The most significant functions of education in a society are to socialise individuals, to enable the continuity of the society and to raise generations that would try to establish social change. Especially the effect of universities which are the institutions directing research processes can not be ignored. In recent years, many countries have reformed their higher education systems. Especially the reforms which take place in the higher education systems of developing countries are; establishing new institutions, changing financial and administrative structures, forming evaluation and accreditation mechanisms, program reforms and technological innovations. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of higher education on social change. In this context, fundamental concepts in education, social change and higher education, developments and problems within the framework of social reality have been investigated and some suggestions have been made with an analytical approach.

Keywords: education, social change, higher education
[HTML]

This study was designed to explore pre-service computer teachers’ perception of motivation and response to an instruction based on self-regulated learning strategies. A pre-experimental method was used in this research. Data were collected through the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire developed by Pintrich and others (1993) and the Teacher Self-efficacy Scale developed by Akkoyunlu and others (2005). Frequency, percentage distribution, t- test analysis were used in analyzing data. During the semester, self-regulated strategies were integrated into the Teaching Practice Course. As a result of this study, after the one semester course, students perceive themselves as being more motivated on the course as well as perceiving a higher level of teacher self-efficacy as a computer teacher. This study was an initial step in encouraging students to develop self-regulatory strategies like planning, organizing, monitoring and evaluating their own work. The results provide a reference for instructors that they can embed self-regulatory strategies into their courses.

Keywords: self-regulation strategies, teaching self-efficacy, practicum course
[HTML]

In this review article, conventional portfolio assessment and new developments in portfolio assessment are investigated. The concept of portfolio, portfolio building steps, contents of portfolio, evaluation of portfolio, advantages, disadvantages and concerns in using portfolio as well as validity and reliability of portfolio assessment are discussed considering recent findings from research literature.

Keywords: portfolio, evaluation of portfolio, measurement and assessment methods.
[HTML]

In today’s world technology has been part of everyday life. Education is the field where technological applications are most applicable. Research claims that training offered to teachers in the use of computers positively change their teaching behaviors and their use of computers. The purpose of this study is to explore the self-reported perceptions of a selected group of teachers and teacher candidates on the use of computers in learning/teaching process through the survey method. The study group consists of 51 teachers, and 56 teacher candidates. In analyzing data percentages, frequencies, and means were used. Findings indicate that while teachers prefer to take in-service training courses to learn about computers, teacher candidates learn about computers through trail-error and through getting help from friends. Findings also show that teacher candidates use IT more frequently than teachers.

Keywords: Use of computers in learning/teaching process, perceptions of teacher candidates, teachers’ perceptions
[HTML]

This study investigates biology teacher trainees’ learning strategies. Theoretical background of this study is based on memory and information processing theories. It is aimed to describe which and how often learning strategies are employed by biology teacher trainees when learning biology. The research design is qualitative phenomenological research in nature. Data were gathered through problem-centered (structured) interviews. In addition, triangulation of data sources was maintained by including observation and document analysis techniques. Data were analyzed through NVivo7 qualitative analysis software. The findings indicate that students’ learning strategies go parallel with the strategies in the literature. Students indicated that they used deep-level learning processing strategies as %32.6; attention strategies as %38.1; and, metacognitive strategies as %7.73.

Keywords: biology learning, learning strategies, memory, content analysis.
[HTML]

The purpose of this study is to identify gender differences on the resilience and also, to determine at which level internal protective factors predict the level of resilience. The sample of the study is consisted of 264 college students from Gazi University. To the students participated in the study, The List of Determining Risk Factors, Resilience Scale, Life Orientation Test, Generalized Self Efficacy Scale and Active Planning Subscale of The Attitudes of Coping With Stress Inventory have been used. Data were analyzed by using t-test, Pearson’s product moment correlation coefficients and multiple regression analysis. The results of t-test indicate that students’ resilience does not differ significantly by gender. In this research, significant positive correlations between resilience, optimism, self efficacy and problem solving coping total scores were observed for total sample and girls and boys. The results of multiple regression analysis have indicated that optimism, self efficacy, problem solving coping are the significant predictors of resilience for total sample and girls and boys.

Keywords: resilience, optimistic, self-efficacy, coping with stress.
[HTML]

Aim of this research is to examine effect of STAD (Student Teams-Achievement Divisions) and traditional learning on achievement and self-efficacy in mathematics. Two ninth classes have been randomly selected for treatment and control. The concepts of relation, function and operation were taught over an eight week-period in both groups by the researcher. Quantitative research design was pretest-posttest. We used “Mathematics Achievement Test” and “Scale of Mathematics Self-Efficacy” to measure students’ achievement and self-efficacies. We observed that there was a statistical significant difference on students’ achievement scores (t(58)=3,91, p<,001) and self-efficacy scores (t(58)=2,289, p<,05) in favor of treatment group. Individual interviews with some students in treatment group have been made and all students’ written options in treatment group have been collected to determine the reasons of this effect. These datas have been analyzed using descriptive method.

Keywords: cooperative learning, the students teams-achievement divisions method, mathematics self efficacy
[HTML]

The most recent curricular changes which occurred in 2006, caused changes in the curriculum of German Language Teaching by resulting in implementing courses providing teacher candidates with opportunities to gain experience and develop their abilities in their professions. The school practicum courses offered in the last two semesters of the curriculum provide German teacher candidates with possibility of applying their learning experiences and abilities into their teaching. In this study, it is emphasized that school experiences and practices should be constructed considering action research principles by taking account that school practices play an important role in teaching career. In this paper, suggestions are put forward by giving examples from German language teaching practices.

Keywords: german language teaching, school experience, practice teaching, action research
[HTML]

This paper discusses the relationship between English language trainee teachers’ views on how to deal with large classes at the primary school level, create a positive environment in young learners’ classroom and hold young learners’ attention, and how far their views are reflected in classroom practice. The data were collected by means of questionnaires, tutor logs, discussions (development sessions) and classroom observations over one and a half academic year. The questionnaires shed light on the views of trainees on how to deal with three discipline problems. In their fourth year, trainees systematically wrote tutor logs about their strengths and weaknesses in dealing with these discipline problems and discussed their logs with the researcher at weekly scheduled discussion sessions. Classroom practices were observed by the mentor and researcher at placement schools. The data show that the more teaching experience a trainee has the better his/her views are reflected in classroom practice.

Keywords: classroom discipline problems, teacher views, classroom practice, young learners, English language teacher education
[HTML]

The aim of this study is to investigate assertiveness of the university students according to their major, kind of ÖSS point, their hometown their mother’s-father’s attitudes.. The participants of the study were Hacettepe University Foreing Languages School students who attended the summer school in 2006-2007 school year.. Voltan- Acar Assertiveness Scale was administered to determine dependent variable of the study and a questionanaire which was developed by the researhers was utilized to determine the independent variables. SPSS 13 software was used to analyze the data of the study. To compare the dyadic groups t test and to compare the multiple groups one way ANOVA were used. According to the results, the assertiveness levels of the university students significant difference were not found between gender, the OSS points and the place which the students spent most of their lives . There was a significant difference in favor of democratic parental attitude when the assertiveness level of the students were compared. The findings were discussed in the light of the literature.

Keywords: assertivenes, university students, Voltan-Acar Assertiveness Scale
[HTML]

The interest felt towards a profession can have influence on many aspects of one’s academic life including fulfilling the college degree requirements, the decision to change the subject being studied, satisfaction with the learning process and academic success. This study investigates the extent to which the pre-service teachers of biology are interested in their teaching profession. The study is of a descriptive nature. The study sample of the research comprised 137 teacher trainees studying in the Department of Biology Education at Hacettepe University in the 2006-2007 Academic Year. The data collection tool used was the Teaching Profession Interest Scale developed by the present researchers. The scale was developed based on person-object theory. The instrument consists of four dimensions, namely emotional dimension, valuesrelated dimension, epistemic dimension and intrinsic motivation dimension. The results of the research indicate that the professional interest of the biology teacher candidates is high, that the interest does not exhibit any differences vis-à-vis gender in the dimensions other than the epistemic factors and that the professional interest is at the highest level among final year students. Furthermore, a statistically significant relationship is identified between professional interest and academic success.

Keywords: interest, teaching profession, person-object theory, teacher trainees
[HTML]

With the recent curriculum reform in mathematics education in our country, manipulatives have become an important tool in teaching mathematics. As a result, both teachers and prospective teachers need to develop knowledge and skills to select and use manipulatives appropriately. The current study aims to explore prospective elementary teachers’ knowledge and skills about manipulatives and describe their difficulties regarding the use of manipulatives. For this purpose, the journals and projects completed by prospective teachers and observations on classroom discussions during the teaching methods courses were analyzed. The results of the study revealed that even though prospective teachers have positive attitutes towards using manipulatives, they do not have a clear idea about how manipulatives help students understand mathematical concepts. In particular, they had difficulty in guiding students to establish connections between the concepts and manipulatives. Based on these findings, the ways to help prospective teachers develop knowledge and skills were discussed.

Keywords: mathematics education, manipulatives, prospective teachers
[HTML]

The aim of this study was to determine the elementary teachers’ knowledge about air pollution. Ozone depletion, global warming, acid rain, and renewable energy were also addressed in this study to get holistic picture about air pollution. A total of 183 teachers from the 91 schools in Ankara participated to the study. The data obtained were analyzed by means of both quantitative statistical and document analyses techniques. Results revealed that majority of the teachers have an idea about the basic air pollutants and the air pollution problem it causes, like CO2, CH4, SO2 and NOX, they do not seem as having an in depth knowledge about the air pollutants and corresponding air pollution problems. Teachers’ knowledge about renewable energy was quite satisfactory. It was argued that geographical nature of Turkey (having sunny seasons, being a peninsula, and having spring waters) improved teachers’ knowledge about renewable energy sources.

Keywords: environmental education; environmental knowledge; elementary teachers; air pollution; global warming; ozone depletion
[HTML]

This study has been prepared in order to eliminate the 5th grade students’ misconceptions of the topic of “Light and Sound” in the Science and Technology course by using the Know-Want-Learn strategy accompanied by Problem-Based Learning. Two classes of 5th grade 99 students at Antakya Cemil-Şükrü Çolakoğlu Primary School in spring semester at 2005-2006 academic year were chosen in this study. Both pilot and experimental study were carried out with the same students. The experimental study “Light and Sound” was carried out for 5 weeks. A Light and Sound misconceptions test was used in the study. This test was administered as pretest and posttest before and after the treatment. The findings of the study proved that the most of the misconceptions of the experimental group were removed. Therefore, understanding of experimental group students was better than the control group students.

Keywords: science and technology education, misconceptions, problem based learning, know-want-learn strategy
[HTML]

The coefficient alpha is the most widely used measure of internal consistency for composite scores in the educational and psychological studies. However, due to the difficulties of data gathering in psychometric studies, the minimum sample size for the sample coefficient alpha has been frequently debated. There are various suggested minimum sample sizes for the robust estimate of the population coefficient alpha. This research indicates that the performance of an estimator of the coefficient alpha depends not only on the sample size but also on the largest eigenvalue of the sample data set. Thus, when the largest eigenvalue increases, unbiased estimation of the population coefficient alpha is possible, even though the sample size is small. The simulations in this study were based on Monte-Carlo method with bootstrap technique.

Keywords: Reliability, sample size, coefficient alpha, Monte-Carlo, Simulation
[HTML]

This study has been carried out to develop a tool to measure the level of anxiety of students studying in the 10th and 11th grades of high schools in Turkey. The scale has been created by the application of a pool of items consisting of 45 sentences based on student opinions and expert advice to 365 students and the branching of the results with the "Classification Trees" method to prepare a tree of 23 leaves. The prepared scale is called the Anxiety Tree and is a suggested guidance tool to identify existing anxieties about chemistry for chemistry teachers. It has features to be used as a tool to measure performance.

Keywords: anxiety about chemistry, classification trees, regression analysis, attitude scale.
[HTML]