Human Resource Management (HRM) includes recruitment, training, development, motivation and evaluation of the staff who will achieve the goals of the organization and perform the necessary activities to be successful. The success of the organization depends on the effective use and management of human resources. Considering that The Ministry of Turkish National Education has the most crowded personnel and the potential of leading the future human resources, the HRM strategies of this organization becomes significant.  In this study, it is aimed to investigate to the human resources management practices of the Ministry of Turkish National Education from the perspectives of teachers who are also the human resources of the system.  In this research, holistic-multiple case study design was employed and the open-ended interview form which includes nine questions considering the functions of the HRM was utilized as the data collection tool. Research results showed that teachers know the duties and responsibilities which are declared in their job definition but they do not consider some of the significant professional efficiencies such as planning, assessment and evaluation. Moreover, the ministry does not make long-term plans in order to determine the required human resources, and also the functionality and subjectivity of the system is under discussion in terms of selection and appointment. What's more, the desired aims cannot be reached in terms of professional development. Teachers have the anxiety of performance evaluation based on accountability, and they emphasize fair and subjectivity in terms of payment, rewarding and discipline.

It was aimed in this study to determine the teacher candidates' views on the augmented reality applications in education. It is a descriptive study to identify the present situation. Survey model, one of the quantitative research methods, was used in the research. The sample group of the study is comprised of 220 teacher candidates who are studying in the 2nd Grade of 8 departments in Mersin University Faculty of Education. Consisting of 4 sections, 22 items and an open-ended question, a questionnaire was used as a data collection tool in the study to determine the views of teacher candidates about the augmented reality applications in education. The findings obtained from the analysis of the data were shown in frequency and percentage. Qualitative findings obtained from the open-ended question were classified into codes and themes through content analysis method, and frequency and percentages of codes were given. It was found in the study that the teacher candidates did not know well enough about the augmented reality applications and that those who knew them found these applications very entertaining, motivating and facilitating learning, and were also of the same mind to use them widely in education.

Chorus education, which is being practiced within the framework of music education’s branch of voice training, has significant impacts on an individual’s philosophy of life, self-confidence level and socialization. An individual assesses his own life satisfaction level cognitively in terms of many aspects. Chorus education can be seen as the most prominent and contributing aspect as it helps people feel satisfied and happy and moreover, it makes their life more meaningful in various ways. The study aims to interpret the effect of choral participations of middle school students on their life satisfaction. Accordingly, in this research, ‘satisfaction with life scale’ developed by Diener, Emmons, Laresen and Griffin  - later translated in Turkish by Koker - has been used. To that end, middle school students’ satisfaction with life has been investigated through comparisons done within the context of factors such as; gender, age, grade, previous musical instrument experiences as well as choral participation. As a result of the research, it has been identified that the life satisfaction does not vary significantly according to gender, age, grade or previous musical instrument experiences; yet it has been found that that there is a positive effect of choral participation on students’ life with satisfaction.

The purpose of this study is to determine the attitude towards Turkish Course and reveal the perception of students towards Turkish Course and teacher. In this context, a personal information form and Attitude Towards Turkish Course (ATTC) Scale were applied to 419 students who receive education in the center of Kirsehir province, in Turkey. In addition to that, the metaphors of students towards Turkish teacher and course were compiled by means of semi-structured interview form. The students were also required to draw pictures that express their feelings towards Turkish Course. The results can be summarized as follows: it was seen that Turkish teachers were likened to an “angel”, “cotton” and “panda”, and happy emojis and heart figures were drawn towards Turkish Course. It was understood that the attitudes of- female students in comparison to male students, the ones who possess a phone to the ones who do not, the ones who have a higher literacy level to the ones with lower literacy level, the ones with more social media followers to the ones with less followers and the ones who spend more extracurricular time with to the ones who do not- have been developed more positively.

This study aims to assess the effects of teaching programming with mBlock on self-efficacy perceptions and attitudes considering programming. Particularly, this study tries to research whether there is a gender difference in middle school students or not. The study was conducted in pre-test/post-test quasi experimental design. The participants of the study which was completed in twelve weeks were 82 middle school students. The data were collected through “Educational Computer Games Assisted Learning Coding Attitude Scale” and “Computer Programming Self-efficacy Scale”. The results of the research indicate that although the self-efficacy perceptions of boys towards programming were higher than the girls’ at the beginning of the research, this difference was closed at the end of the research. The results also show that teaching programming with mBlock to middle school students did not cause gender differences in self-efficacy perceptions and attitudes regarding programming. Although girls’ attitudes regarding programming were slightly higher than boys’, the difference was not considered to be significant. In addition, it was found that programming with mBlock significantly increased students' self-efficacy perceptions and attitudes towards programming. As a result, teaching programming with mBlock can provide similar possibilities for both genders in self-efficacy perceptions and attitudes regarding programming.

The purpose of this study is to reveal factors considered by mathematics student teachers while posing modelling problems. The participants were twenty-seven mathematics student teachers and posed their modelling problems within their groups. The data were obtained from the modelling problems posed by the participants, their solutions on these problems and the groups’ reflective diaries regarding their problem posing and solution processes. The data were analyzed by using content analysis and the codes were constructed according to the problems’ contents. The participants' diaries were examined in terms of generated codes and the expressions supporting/relating the codes were determined. While designing the problems, the participants considered the factors such as being interesting, understandable, appropriateness to real life and modelling process, model construction, and usability of different mathematical concepts. Their solutions were generally handled in terms of usage of the mathematical statements, appropriateness to the modelling process and being meaningful for real life. Modelling training should be provided to enable the student teachers to develop modelling problems and their designs should be examined and the feedbacks should be given.

To determine the effectiveness of a peer tutorial strategy in the school achievement of English to high school students, whose mother tongue is not English, we made a comparison of two groups; in one, peer tutoring was carried out through the support of high average students and compared with the results of a group that did not receive the intervention. The tutors were 121 students who scored higher than 80 points in the initial exam and accepted to participate in the program. The group of tutees was formed by those who obtained scores lower than 65 and accepted to be tutored (101 formed the experimental group and 112 the control group). The peer tutoring was done in the classroom with the monitoring of the teacher, lasted 11 weeks, and focused on taking class notes and comparing them, giving feedback and clarifying doubts for 30 minutes after the teacher's explanation. The results of the midterm exam and final exam were analyzed through the Student's t-test, showing significant differences in the group that was tutored compared to the low-performing students who did not receive the intervention. The procedure was effective, finding that the use of peer support can improve school performance. It is necessary to monitor the profile of the tutors and systematize the tutorial strategy.

This study aims to determine socialization situations via sport-based physical activity among students at a school of physical education and sports in terms of their demographic features. The population of the study comprises of 480 students studying in different departments at School of Physical Education and Sports at University of Yozgat Bozok during 2017-2018 academic year. The sample of the study comprises of 300 students selected based on convenience sampling method and studying at different departments of School of Physical Education and Sports at University of Yozgat Bozok during 2017-2018 academic year. Personal information form and socialization via sport-based physical activity developed by Yildirim was used as a data collection tool in this search. Frequency analysis, arithmetic mean, t test, Anova test and post-hoc tests were used in the data analysis. The findings of the study demonstrate that significant differences were found between socialization sub-dimensions and sport-based physical activity in terms of gender, monthly expenses, academic department and sports branch varibles (p<.05).

The purpose of this study was to assess the correlation and predictive relationship between self-determination and quality of life of college students with disabilities. Subjects were 145 senior college students recruited from northern Taiwan. Subjects' age ranged from 22 to 25 years and their disabilities varied, including visual impairments (n = 16), hearing impairments (n = 17), speech/language impairment (n = 6), physical disabilities (n = 40), specific learning disability (n = 26), emotional and behavior disorders (n = 5), multiple disabilities (n = 4), autism (n = 23), and health impairments (n = 8). Two measures, the Self-Determination Scale for College Students (SDSCS) and WHOQOL-BREF were used to collect data. The subjects completed the SDSCS in their senior year of college, whereas the WHOQOL-BREF data were collected one year after their graduation. The Pearson correlation and stepwise multiple regression analyses were used to assess the correlation between the SDSCS and the WHOQOL-BREF. Results showed that positive correlations were found between self-determination and quality of life. Subjects’ scores on the SDSCS subscales (Self-Realization, Psychological Empowerment, Autonomy) were able to explain between 30.3%-53.2% of the total variance of their scores on the WHOQOL-BREF domains (Psychological, Social Relationships, Environment). The results of this study re-confirmed the positive correlation between self-determination and quality of life of individuals with disabilities. Furthermore, the study highlighted that self-determination not only has an immediate impact on quality of life for people with disabilities, but it seems to have a long-lasting effect. Suggestions and implications are provided.

Technology is an indispensable part of the educational curriculum, and large budgets have been allocated to provide technological infrastructure in secondary education institutions in Turkey. It is important that teachers have the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK) to successfully integrate technology into their courses. The aim of this study is to examine the development of the TPCK of a mathematics teacher who participated in in-service training course organized for the use of Geogebra software in geometry teaching. The in-service training is designed in accordance with the Technology Integration Model stages, and Geogebra software is used taking into account the learning outcomes of 9th and 10th grade secondary school geometry. The case study method has been employed, and data was collected through interviews, observation, self-assessment forms, and field notes. The findings show that the in-service training helped the maths teacher integrate technology in the teaching and developed the knowledge of curriculum, students’ understandings and learnings, and instructional strategies and methods. With regard to research recommendations and results, professional development programs that will provide TPCK development can be organized so that teachers can use the ever-evolving technologies in their classes along with the appropriate pedagogical approaches.

Students’ test anxiety is known to have significant influences on essential academic outcomes, and given the increased testing of school-aged children gender differences also appear in dimensions of test anxiety: thoughts, off-task behaviors, and autonomic reactions. This study examined: (i) whether there is a pattern of correlations exist among three dimensions of test anxiety that are tapped by the Children’s Test Anxiety Scale (Wren & Benson, 2004) and (ii) whether gender differences exist in the strength of these test anxiety dimensions. Students (N= 414) from 3 public schools, attending to the fourth grade (205 Females; 209 Males) were asked to rate on the thoughts (cognitive), off-task behaviors (behavioral), autonomic reactions (physiological) dimensions. The results revealed a strong relationship between thoughts and autonomic reactions (r = .57). Applying a multivariate approach, gender differences were found to be significant in overall test anxiety favoring females. Results also revealed a small female advantage for thoughts and autonomic reactions, Ƞ2 = .012 and Ƞ2= .016; but quite a small male advantage for off-task behaviors Ƞ2=.009. Taken as a whole, we need to seriously consider the implications of these differences and pay attention particularly to females in elementary schools.

This is a descriptive study investigating the perception of children about discipline through metaphors developed by them. A total of 445 students participated in the research and the data was collected with the “Discipline Metaphors Survey (DMS)” developed by the researchers. At the end of the study, 143 metaphors, 94 positive and 49 negative, about discipline were gathered. The participating children mostly perceived discipline as a phenomenon guiding their behavior, maintaining the order, and as being necessary for the social life. Learning and development, self-control, protection mechanism, planned and ordered study, as well as collaboration are further positive perceptions of discipline. Negative metaphors, on the other hand, were usually power and control oriented and the discipline committee was described as the ultimate authority entity. Based on the students’ views, discipline was provided through classroom rules and for misbehavior the teachers tended to use warnings, shouting/scolding and punishment. School rules, dress code as well as prohibited product checks at the entrance of the school, the Discipline Committee and discipline rules were reported as the most common practices of discipline in school. Most of the students who thought that punishment is necessary for discipline stated that the punishment should not involve physical violence and that it should be reasonable. Further expectations of the students found in the study included warning without shouting, doing enjoyable activities to address individual differences, informing everybody about the rules. Children’s perception about discipline was usually affected by their teachers followed by their family and the school administration respectively.

Recent science education standards emphasize the importance of the instruction of nature of science (NOS) concepts at all levels of schooling from pre-K to K-12. Delivering a proper NOS education to students is excessively dependent on their teachers with an adequate understanding of NOS concepts. The present study investigated the science conceptions of preschool and elementary teacher candidates. The data collected from a total of 506 prospective teachers were analyzed with respect to the following demographic variables: majors, genders, grade levels, high schools and GPAs of teacher candidates. “Student Understanding of Science and Scientific Inquiry (SUSSI)” developed originally by Liang et al. (2008) was the instrument used to collect data in this study. The data analyses were conducted using MANOVA and Pearson Correlation Coefficient. The corresponding mean scores of the teacher candidates in specific aspects of NOS ranged from “poor” to “informed” conceptions of science. All but one of the demographic variables yielded statistically insignificant results on the NOS conceptions of teacher candidates. The majors of the teacher candidates were detected as a significant variable influencing the conceptions of the teacher candidates. The results of the study were discussed in reference with the relevant literature.

In this research, After I have realized some technological applications in the course of general physics laboratory II of the science teacher program, this research aims to examine the effects of the students' attitudes towards technology and the information of the communication technology (ICT) with the mixed method. For this application, after the introduction of Arduino was done, it was used as a measuring instrument in the laboratory; it also used the Fritzing program for circuit diagrams and the e-support system for sending poster studies. The research was carried out with the 50 first-year students of the department of science education at Kocaeli University. In this study, the attitude scales toward technology and ICT were used to collect the quantitative data, and a semi-structured interview form was used to collect the qualitative data. For the quantitative analyses in the study, “t-Test for Dependent Groups” and “A Two-Way ANOVA was used for Complex Measurements”, for the qualitative analyses, “Descriptive Analysis” was used. The two analyses were combined according to the mixed method research model and interpreted. The results of the research showed that technological applications in the physics of the laboratory such as using arduino, fritzing program, and poster studies have a significant effect on the attitudes of students in the study group toward technology and ICT, and it was supported by the qualitative research.

Literacy has been defined in the literature frequently. Each new interpretation leads to the idea that the definition can change based on the relevant environment, instruments used and/or the intended objective and there might be different types of literacy including computer literacy, media literacy and visual literacy (Reinking, McKenna, Labbo and Kieffer, 1997; Tuman, 1994). This is also true for computer literacy and mathematical literacy. Therefore, there is a need for studies on computer and mathematical literacy. The objective of the present study was to determine the computer and mathematical literacy levels of secondary school 6th grade students and to reveal the correlation between computer and mathematical literacy levels. The study sample included students that attended provincial, district and village schools, as well as the private schools. The correlation between the computer and mathematical literacy levels of the students that were selected from various regions was determined and the differences based on these levels among the schools were also identified. Since the study aimed to determine the correlation between computer literacy and mathematics literacy of the 6th grade students, relational screening model was utilized in the study. Relational (correlative) studies aim to determine whether there is a correlation between two or more variables (Karasar, 2009). Study population included 139 6th grade students attending a secondary school in Turkey. In the study, “Mathematics Literacy Scale” and “Computer Literacy Scale,” which were developed by the author and tested for validity and reliability were used. The obtained data were analyzed by specific statistical techniques. After the findings were analyzed, results were discussed based on the findings in the literature and necessary recommendations were presented.

This research study aims to evaluate the graduate theses and articles conducted on the concept of instructional leadership over the period between 2002 and 2017 in Turkey by means of methodological and statistical analysis techniques. In the study, which is configured by using the case study design as one of the qualitative research methods, the related theses are obtained from the database of the Council of Higher Education Thesis Center in Turkey, whereas the related articles are provided through article archives of the National Academic Network and Google Scholar website. The data collected via the academic publication evaluation form are evaluated by frequency analysis using. In the study, 104 postgraduate theses and 35 articles on instructional leadership are conducted, many of which using scales as data collection tools. Lack of due diligence in validity and reliability studies, selection of mostly teachers for sampling, and usage of descriptive t-test and one-way ANOVA techniques in data analyses are detected. As a result, it is shown that similar studies using similar datasets and the same data collection tools have been carried out on instructional leadership. Mixed research and scale development studies in which qualitative and quantitative methods can be used collocation.

The purpose of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of the activities, which are prepared by teaching techniques that support scientific creativity, on the scientific creativity levels of prospective pre-school teachers. In the research, combined design is used, which is one of the mixed research approaches. The study group of the research included a total of 46 prospective pre-school teachers who have studied in the Education Faculty of Kafkas University in 2016-2017 academic year. The applications were carried out in the "science education" which is one of the third-grade 5th-semester courses of the pre-primary education program. The application process was completed in 4 hours a week for a total of 40 hours. In the analysis of the quantitative data collected by Scientific Creativity Test, percentage calculation and t-test were used. Explanatory and inferential codes were used in the analysis of qualitative data obtained from the in-class observations. As a result of the research, it was seen that the course activities in which different techniques were used positively influenced the scientific creativity levels of the prospective teachers. Prospective teachers' level of skills involved in creative trait, creative process, and creative product sub-dimensions also developed. It has been suggested in the direction of these results that different techniques should be used together to develop scientific creativity.

This study aims to investigate the anxiety levels of secondary school students towards science course depending on a number of variables. Research sample consists of 2245 students who continue their education at public schools in Denizli in the academic year of 2017-2018. "Anxiety Scale for Science Course-which is developed by Kagitci and Kurbanoglu and "Personal Information Form" are used as data collection tools in the research. SPSS 22.0 package program is used for analysis of the data. Descriptive survey model is used in research. Parametric tests including One-Way ANOVA and independent samples t-test are used for analyzing data. As a result of the research, it is found out that secondary school students’ science anxiety levels significantly differ depending on the variables such as class level, the grade they received in science course, scientific books they read, the documentaries they watch, enjoying the science course and science teacher, educational level of parents, reviewing what they learn in science course and experiencing parental pressure for studying science course. However, there is found no significant difference between students' anxiety levels in terms of gender and their getting support while studying science.

Among school psycho-social factors with considerable effect on student outcomes are both school and classroom climate.  Because how students perceive the classroom climate strongly predicts achievement, measuring classroom climate gains importance and the need for testing the existing results across cultures persists.  In this study, we assessed the validity and measurement invariance of the Turkish adaptation of the Student Personal Perception of Classroom Climate Scale (SPPCC) developed in English (US).  Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) and measurement invariance (MI) analyses by sex were performed on 629 students’ data.  CFA results confirmed the factorial structure of the SPPCC.  Results of the MI analyses showed that the SPPCC measures the same construct for females and males in a non-English context.  Latent mean comparisons revealed girls perceived the classroom climate more positively than boys.  We concluded that this study in the Turkish context is a further step in developing evidence of the extent to which SPCC provides psychometrically sound scores.

The major purpose of this study was to create a path analysis model of academic success in a group of university students, which included the variables of academic confidence and psychological capital with a mediator variable - academic coping. 400 undergraduates from Marmara University and Istanbul Commerce University who were in sophomore, junior and senior years participated in the study. The Academic Behavioral Confidence Scale, the Academic Coping Strategies Scale and the Psychological Capital Test Battery composed of the Academic Self-Efficacy Scale, the Life Orientation Test, the Hope Scale and the Resilience Scale were utilized to disclose the predictive roles of these variables on academic success. The results of path analyses showed that academic confidence and psychological capital had pivotal direct and indirect effects on academic success via the mediator variable – academic coping. Academic coping had also a direct influence on academic success.  The findings of the study are essential for telling both vocational counselors and educational psychologists the fact that career interventions for university students should consider the non-cognitive factors on their academic achievements.