This study investigates the effect of the project based learning approach on 8th students’ attitude towards statistics. With this aim, an attitude scale towards statistics was developed. Quasi experimental research model was used in this study. Following this model in the control group the traditional method was applied to teach statistics wheras in the intervention group project based learning approach was followed. The attitude scale towards statistics was applied as pre-test and post-tests to 70 students studying at two different 8th grade classes of a middle school in Trabzon during the 2011–2012 Academic Year. The results of the study revealed that the project based learning increased students’ attitude towards statistics in the intervention group. Therefore, the use of project based learning approach during statistics course in mathematics classes is recommended.

Schools and teacher induction programs around the world routinely assess teaching best practice to inform accreditation, tenure/promotion, and professional development decisions. Routine assessment is also necessary to ensure that teachers entering the profession get the assistance they need to develop and succeed. We introduce the Item-Level Assessment of Teaching practice (I-LAST) as a flexible framework-based approach for quantitative evaluation of teaching best practice in the induction stages. We based the I-LAST on a novel framework for teaching best practice, and used Fuller’s scale as a framework for understanding the potential of the I-LAST in providing longitudinal measures for growth. Using the context of a year-long teacher induction program in the Midwestern United States, we collected data through an online survey from 46 teaching supervisors who were asked to evaluate their interns. We used the Rasch partial credit model as a criterion for construct validity, and measured dimensionality and reliability from both Rasch and classical frameworks. The I-LAST was found to be a unidimensional, valid, and reliable measure for teaching best practice. It demonstrated the ability to provide reliable scores for specific sub-dimensions of best practice, including those which manifest at various stages along Fuller’s scale. Potential uses of the I-LAST to advance understanding of the role of teacher induction programs in fostering productive growth in new teachers is discussed.

We aimed to determine any factors like as smoking, being regular activity affect dietary glycemic index in university students. This study was carried out at Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey. The participants were 577 randomly selected Turkish healthy female university students aged 17-32 years. The survey included a questionnaire that assessed demographic, 3-day self-reported nutrient intake. The dietary intake was based on the of the recipients. The 3 days included 1 weekend day and the previous or next 2 days. A weighted GI was designed to the diet of the participants with the use of values from the 2002 international table of GI values. BMI was calculated from measurements of height and weight. The differences between living area (house or dormitory)/regular physical activity (do or not)/smoking/nutrition education and mean dietary glycemic index was determined by Independent Sample t-Test. Dietary glycemic index was found high (>70) in 98.4% of participants. Mean dietary glycemic index was found 85.1±6.80 and it was significantly (p<0.05) differences between participants staying house or dormitory, doing physical activity or not, smoking or not and educated on nutrition or not. Participant’s who are smoking, staying dormitory and no educated about nutrition dietary glycemix index was found high than who are not smoking, staying house, doing regular physical activity and educated on nutrition. Conclusion and Implication: It’s important that educated students on health and nutrition to prevent their diets content high glycemic index. It can be help to prevent obesity in the future.

Advances in computer technologies and adoption of related methods and techniques in education have developed parallel to each other. This study focuses on the need to utilize more than one teaching method and technique in education rather than focusing on a single teaching method. By using the pre-test post-test and control group semi-experimental researchmodel, this study examined the effects of the web-assisted education method supported by six thinking hats technique on student achievement, on students’ attitudes towards science and their attitudes towards the use of computers in science classes. The working group of the study was composed of 7th graders in a state secondary school in the 2013-2014 academic year. A working group consists of two randomly selected classes assigned as the experimental and control groups. The working group comprised of 50 students with 25 experimental and 25 control group students. Paired samples t-test, independent samples t-test and ANOVA techniques were used in analyzing the data collected via data collection tools to compare the experimental and control groups. The results showed that web-assisted education materials prepared with the use of the six thinking hats technique increased student attitudes towards science and computers. Students’ attitudes towards computers were similar based on the variables of owning a computer and gender. Paternal education levels had no significant effects on student attitudes towards computers and their academic achievement.

This paper presents a comparative research project on pre-vocational education in lower secondary schools in seven European countries. The primary aim of the study was to better understand how the formal pre-vocational education curriculum is interpreted and shaped by individual teachers. The countries covered are Austria, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Portugal and Scotland. Two research methods have been used. First, a content analysis of the relevant curricula was carried out, focussing on how, and to what extent, pre-vocational education competencies are embedded in the official curriculum in the seven countries covered by the study. Second, 75 teachers took part in qualitative expert interviews about their implementation of the relevant curriculum. This research builds upon previous studies in education and employment and in particular, on a theoretical framework that explores the differences between the ‘prescribed’ curriculum and the ‘enacted’ curriculum. This study will argue that, although it is possible to identify a distinct pre-vocational curriculum within each region in the seven countries, this curriculum is, in practice, taught very differently within the schools and that the differences in curriculum implementation can be explained, amongst other factors, by the availability of resources and the initial and further training of teachers.

Mathematics is an important school subject but one which often poses problems for learners. It has been found that learners do not possess the cognitive capacity to handle understanding procedures, representations, concepts, and applications at the same time. while the extent of field dependency may hold the key to one way by which the working memory can be used more efficiently. This study aims to explore the concept of field dependency which may offer a way forward in reducing the cognitive demands of finite working memory capacity, thus enabling higher performance to be attained. Age and gender were considered. With a sample of 120 secondary school students, the importance of working memory in relation to mathematics performance was confirmed (r = 0.55 ). The extent of field dependency was measured with a larger sample of 547, drawn from five age groups. The outcomes were related to the performance in mathematics examinations, a correlation of 0.32 being obtained overall, with every age group showing positive significant correlations. In this, the more field independent perform much better. The outcomes are interpreted in terms of the increased efficiency in the use of finite working memory capacity resources. It was found that students become more field independent with age but the rate of growth of independence declines with age. Girls tended to be slightly more field-independent than boys, perhaps reflecting maturity or their greater commitment during their years of adolescence. The findings are interpreted in terms of the way the brain processes information and the implications for mathematics education are discussed briefly.

Lesson starts are transitional events which may cause management problems for teachers This study sought junior secondary school mathematics teachers’ beliefs about calculator use in mathematics instruction in Botswana and was descriptive in nature adopting a survey design. The sample of seventeen (17) mathematics teachers from four (4) junior secondary schools in the Tutume Sub-district in Central Educational Region was selected through a purposive random sampling procedure. A questionnaire comprising both closed and open ended questions was designed to collect data then the analysis of results was carried out using descriptive and inferential statistics. As an illustration, a t-test was used to test for differences in teachers’ beliefs by gender while a one-way ANOVA was used to test for difference in their beliefs by experience. The study revealed that most of the teachers expressed their lack of confidence and were incompetent with the use of a calculator in their teaching with female teachers feeling less confident to explain different functions of a calculator than their male counterparts. In addition, the study showed that most of the teachers believed that a calculator was a technological tool that could be useful to the students in the future. On the contrary, most teachers felt that the overuse of calculators by the students could hamper the development of basic computational skills. Therefore, it was recommended that school based training on calculator use should be provided so as to empower teachers with the necessary technological skills for effective classroom instruction. The study findings have implications to research and practice as it provides unique and comprehensive data that will lead to insight for curriculum designers, policy implementers and instructional leaders on effective calculator use in math instruction.

Lesson starts are transitional events which may cause management problems for teachers. In this study 131 lesson starts of equally many teachers were observed in primary and secondary schools in Finland. The results indicated that, in general, the problems were minimal. However, for various reasons lesson starts were delayed by an average of about six minutes. Calculated on this basis, the total loss of instructional time in the whole school year was about five weeks of schooling. No statistically significant relationships were observed between disturbances in the classroom and any background variable studied including grade level, classroom type,(special or mainstream), group size, presence of classroom assistant, sex of the teacher, weekday, time of day of the lesson, or subject of the lesson. In order to maximise instructional time more attention should be paid in future to starting lessons promptly.

Chemistry is one of the subjects that students sit for in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE). The attainment of students in chemistry in KCSE has been quite low. An analysis of the past Chemistry examination papers taken in KCSE reveals that the papers test students’ competencies in various aspects of Cognitive Science Process Skill of Evaluation (CSPSE). It was hypthesised that school characteristics could be influencing students’ acquisition of various aspects of CSPSE. The school characteristics investigated were social set up (single – sex and co-educational schools) and school location (rural and urban schools). The aspects of CSPSE investigated were: reformulation of scientific statements, evaluation of experimental procedures, evaluation of inferences from scientific data, and evaluation of scientific arguments. Cross- sectional survey research design was used in this study. Cognitive Science Process Skills Test (CSPST) was constructed and administered to a stratified random sample of 386 Form Three Chemistry students drawn from Public County Secondary Schools in Rift Valley Province of Kenya. The findings of the study show that students from single-sex secondary schools performed significantly better than their counterparts from co-educational schools in all the categories of CSPSE. The school location did not have a significant influence on students’ performance on CSPSE.

Previous research has found conflicting evidence in studies where students participate in the selection of their course topics in educational settings. Katz and Assor, for example, have argued that the increase in student motivation is probably not due to the mere act of choosing, but to the value of the options with respect to personal interest. The aim of our study was to investigate the impact of choice on aspects of motivation during biology lessons. Our sample consisted of five classes with 118 children of whom 63% were female. Their average age was 10.4 years (SD=0.6). One group of students was asked to select one topic out of four in a majority vote during a biology class, while a control group was simply assigned the same topic. Results: Students who chose their topic reported a higher level of intrinsic motivation than students who were not given the option. A surprising result was that the students in the voting group who did not receive their preferred choice reported the same level of motivation as those who did.

Research indicates attributes and practices for mentor teachers that can be used for effective mentoring. Universities provide guidelines for preservice teacher (mentee) engagement in schools generally from anecdotal evidence, however, what are desirable attributes and practices for mentees? This qualitative study gathers data from 25 mentor teachers through an extended response questionnaire and audio-recorded focus group discussions about attributes and practices for mentees. Findings showed that desirable attributes for mentees included: enthusiasm, being personable, commitment to children, lifelong learning/love of learning, open/reflective to feedback, develop resilience, and taking responsibility for their learning, while desirable practices included: planned and preparation for teaching, reflective practices; understanding school and university policies, knowing students for differentiated learning, and building a teaching repertoire (e.g. teaching strategies, behaviour management, content knowledge, and questioning skills). Preservice teachers need to consider teachers‟ suggestions on desirable attributes and practices that can help them achieve positive teaching experiences.

The aim of the study is to investigate the attitudes of student teachers of Social Studies to tourism for sustainable development. The study participants were the entire cohort of final year student teachers of Social Studies in the College of Education at Sultan Qaboos University in the Sultanate of Oman. There were 65 in total, 26 male and 39 female. Data was gathered through a questionnaire consisting of 37 items divided into 6 areas: attitudes to tourism; the impact of tourism on the economy; the impact of tourism on society and culture; the negative influences of tourism; tourism management, and working in the tourism sector. The results showed that student teachers of Social Studies hold positive attitudes towards tourism for sustainable development. There was no significant difference with regard to gender.

The millennial generation is facing challenges in their career path and they believe that tertiary education can help them to equip better to tackle against. However, some students find it difficult to rush back to classroom due to work commitment. Fortunately, flexible education developed these years allows students to capture knowledge anytime and anywhere easier. In order to deliver courses in line with students’ need, many universities have considered offering alternative studying modes, such as flexible method, to enrich the course delivery. Using a case study, this paper investigates the delivery approach adopted by a school of a well-known university in Australia. This School offers architecture and construction management courses and has successfully adopted the flexible approach, with the aid of various online teaching and learning tools: the Cloud, Elluminate Live!, EchoSystem, Mediawiki and ePortfolio, in delivering subjects. It is welcomed by various cohorts of students. Not only the student numbers have been increased, but the School is also the first preference when students opting architecture and construction management studies. Statistics also indicate students’ satisfaction and course experience are improved. The success of this School proves itself to be an exemplar for other educators planning for flexible delivery.

Scientific literacy has been increasingly considered a major goal of science education. While textbooks remain the most widespread tools for pursuing this goal within classrooms, they have been slow to adapt to the most recent epistemological paradigms, often still conveying distorted views of science and technology. Accordingly, we present herein a theoretical framework specifically intended to highlight the potential of textbooks to promote students’ scientific literacy. It is additionally argued that, often, the misconceptions conveyed by textbooks represent obstacles to the acquisition of a fair image of science and, therefore, to the acquisition of scientific literacy. Finally, a textbook analysis is suggested.

This study focused on the phenomenon of success at work asking whether it would be possible to find factors from top workers’ children and school experiences that would explain their later success. This study was a part of a larger research in which Finnish top workers, employees of the year, who have been selected as successful professionals of their field in Finland were researched. This article focuses on the narrative data collected through qualitative interviews. In this article, their childhood and adolescence experiences were analyzed in order to find out whether successful development could be enhanced already in early phases of life. This study employed the narrative interview method through which top workers were asked to reminisce their childhood and adolescence experiences. What factors have supported their success and how have they coped with adversities in life? According to the results, the most important key to success at work adopted from home was caring upbringing as parents did not set any ambitious goals for success for their children but made the children think about their future and have an optimistic attitude to life. The role of careers counseling at school was also discussed. Analyzing these factors is important if aiming at helping people’s chances of finding an occupation they fit and in which they can use their talents. Experiences and events taking place in childhood and adolescence can be crucial, or at least, direct people in a right direction.

It is well established that girls and boys perform differently in traditional examinations in most countries. This study looks at a sample of 754 school students in Kuwait (aged about 13) and explores how boys and girls differ in the performance in a range of tests related to learner characteristics. The fundamental question is how boys and girls differ in these learner characteristics and do any of the differences relate to examination performance. If the development of such learner characteristic is open to experiences in the formal learning situations, then this opens the door to possible ways to encourage the development of such characteristics, with possible concomitant enhancement of academic performance. It is found that girls outperform the boys in tests which measure extent of field dependency, extent of divergency and skills with the visual-spatial (all at p < 0.001). Confirming previous studies, the girls markedly outperform the boys in all school subject examinations but there are no differences in their measured working memory capacities. In looking at the relationships between various combinations of the measurements made, it is found that boys are much more dependent on working memory than girls in performing in examinations, and the boys are also much more dependent on employing skills related to divergent thought in achieving success in examinations. These observations are interpreted in terms of the way boys and girls learn, with girls being more conscientious and willing to memorise than the boys who, in turn, have to rely on working things out for success: girls tend to memorise; boys tend to try to work it out. This may offer an explanation of the greater success of girls in typical examinations where the accurate recall of information is so often the key to success.

The aim of this study was to determine mental models of 334 pre-school children concerning school. Children in the city center of Kastamonu in the Western Black Sea region of Turkey were included. Content analysis was conducted on pictures drawn by the children, and the models were split into two groups, scientific and nonscientific. The scientific group was split into three types; the nonscientific group, into four. About 40% of the children had a scientificbased school perception, while 60% were nonscientific. No significant difference was found between the mental models of females and males. Few studies have investigated mental models, so this study fills a gap, but further studies would aid the understanding of the relevant pedagogic architecture.

This research paper explores the concept of ‘cost sharing’ which became more prominent in Zambia education with the advent of democratic form of governance in 1991. As a way of responding to the ever diminishing tax revenues, government through the education policy of 1996, allowed higher education institutions including public universities to introduce cost sharing as way of improving financial vibrancy, accountability and cost effectiveness. This paper therefore, uses students’ perceptions to examine the cost sharing policy which has now been existence for almost two decades. More specifically, it explores underlying factors which can make cost sharing more effective and sustainable. In exploring these prospects and challenges, a self administered questionnaire based on convenient sampling was used to collect data from 729 respondents in Zambia’s three biggest public universities. The findings revealed that the current cost sharing policy was appropriate but lacked the government support in its implementation. The study further highlighted the need for re-engineering the current policy by providing details on the implementation process. The study highly recommends that a true cost-sharing model be implemented in an effort towards making public universities more effective and sustainable.

There is a lack of data about the levels of satisfaction among medical students in regards to their academic activities in Malaysia. Therefore, the objective of this study was to fill the gap in the existing knowledge. A cross sectional study was carried out at the International medical school, the Management and Science University of Malaysia, from December 2011 to February 2012. A total of 200 medical students were participated in this study through random sampling. The questionnaires used in this study consisted of socio-demographic questions and questions about the existing academic system. The study found that, despite there was the satisfaction by medical students from some academic aspects, improvements in other areas, such as providing digital library and career counseling, are urgently needed. The present study provides the world community with factual information about the current situation in medical education in Malaysia. The results of the study might assist Malaysian administrators and authorities in better decision making.

This study aimed to comparatively examine the self-efficacy and burnout levels of preschool teachers in Turkey and the United States. Of the general screening models, the study uses the relational screening model. A total of 90 teachers participated in the study. 32 of the participants were from the United States and 58 were from Turkey. The Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale and Burnout Scale were used in the study. The data were analyzed through the Whitney U-Test. According to the analyses regarding the self-efficacy levels of teachers, a significant difference in student participation sub-dimension as well as in total points in favor of the teachers in Turkey were found. However, no significant difference was found between the two countries with regards to teachers’ burnout levels. Regarding the self-efficacy levels of teachers working in Turkey, a significant difference was found in favor of teachers with two to five years of experience in the student participation sub-dimension, while no significant difference was found in the other sub-dimensions and in total points. On the other hand, no significant difference was determined was found between the self-efficacy levels and years of experience for the teachers in the United States.