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.

Grammar; while originating from the natural structure of the language also is the system which makes it possible for different language functions meet within the body of common rules especially communication. Having command of the language used, speaking and writing it correctly require strong grammar knowledge actually. However only knowing the rules cannot be the indicator of using the language correctly and effectively. For the individual, who learns the rules of the language but cannot transform it to daily life, grammar teaching can be difficult and boring. Instead of considering grammar teaching as an independent and abstract lesson, realizing it through integrating with other learning fields will increase the effect and level of success in grammar teaching. The purpose of this research is to determine the views of first language teachers regarding teaching grammar. The study group of the research consist of 10 Turkish language teachers who work in a city in Turkey (Elazig). Within this research, which was carried out with qualitative pattern, the data was gathered with one on one interview technique using semi structured interview form, which consisted of 10 questions. The data gathered was analyzed with content analysis and interpreted being categorized. Regarding the findings frequency distributions were given and interpreted. As a result of the study it was seen that teaching grammar differs in terms of teachers’ views, in addition in some matters they were under expectations.

The purpose of this research is to examine experiences and opinions of nursery school administrators on natural disaster and emergency management. Therefore, 11 nursery school administrators from Izmit, Kocaeli, which suffered major damage from 1999 earthquake, participated in the research. Interview data were analyzed by content analysis. The results showed that teachers and other personnel weren’t adequately trained about intervention in emergencies, exercises couldn’t be implemented realistically and the parents didn’t have enough information about emergencies. Nursery Schools still suffer from physical disabilities, lack of financial support and educated staff, although they do meet the requirements outlined in official sources. The trainings given to school personnel regarding natural disaster and emergency management are rare and insufficient. Physical deficiencies of school buildings should be checked and schools should be in cooperation with relevant ministries and local authorities for financial support. Starting from the primary school level, training programs on natural disasters and emergencies need to be organized. As a result of the research, it was proposed to organize trainings, overcome the physical deficiencies and to provide schools with enough financial support.

Teaching is a sacred profession performed by self-sacrificing individuals with high responsibilities who are aware of their roles, have undertaken the task of raising future generations, make easier individuals’ process of becoming citizen in a way to ensure the peace and welfare of the communities, and allow them to learn knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors. By Ataturk’s saying, "Teachers are the most devoted and respectable factors of human society all over the world". In hadiths, the sanctity of teaching is expressed as, "Only those two people are admired enviously: The person who uses up and consumes the goods bestowed by Allah on him in the right way, and the person who properly rules over by the wisdom to him by Allah and who also teaches it to others.” From early childhood to puberty, the person studying in public institutions establishes a spiritual association with his/her teacher. The psychical aspect of teaching is also quite predominant. The role of teaching is sometimes mixed up with the roles of mother, father, sister and brother. There are many students who keep fresh their relationships with teachers for many years although their education and training activities do not continue. Based on these, the starting point of the study is about which characteristics the teacher must have to become an ideal teacher. This study was carried out to determine the characteristics of an ideal teacher in line with the opinions of the participants of the faculty of education and pedagogical training program in a University in Istanbul. The research was carried out in the screening model. The research data were collected through semi-structured interview technique to find out student opinions in a clearer way. The study group of the research was established in accordance with the voluntary basis from among the students from the psychological counseling and guidance department, Turkish teaching department, gifted children teaching department and English teaching department and the students who are enrolled in the pedagogical training certificate program in a University, in Istanbul, in the 2015-2016 academic year. Face to face interviews were conducted with each participant in the researcher's working office for half an hour on an average. At the beginning of the interview, students were asked about their genders and the graduated university, department and faculty. Within the context of the interview, the question of "what are the characteristics of an ideal teacher for you" was posed to participants. The personal and professional characteristics that an ideal teacher should have were determined according to the opinions of teacher candidates. The discussion section was structured by the research findings in the literature, and the study was finalized with suggestions.

The purpose of the present study is to test a hypothetical model in order to examine the association between students’ sense of classroom belonging along with four other university class-level variables including faculty-student relationships, connected classroom climate referring peer relationships, loneliness and classroom identity. It is intended to draw attention of teacher educators to the importance of creating sense of community at classroom level through this study in order to improve the quality of teacher education. With this aim, pre-service teachers attending the faculty of education were selected as sample of the study (N= 1425). Each measures used in this study was adapted for college-level students through confirmatory factor analysis in order to test specific predictions concerning each measure’s structure and the results revealed that  all measures have adequate psychometric properties. The model examined with structural equation modeling was an excellent fit with the data, and the results indicated that the fitted model explained 50% of the variance in classroom identity; 47% of the variance in sense of classroom belonging; 14% of the variance in classroom climate; and 9% of the variance in loneliness. Results and implications are discussed.

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 aim of the present study was to figure out whether university students’ learning approaches were shaped via their achievement goal orientations, academic self-efficacy and hope or not. The other objective was to examine if these psychological constructs varied in accordance with the demographic variables including gender, age and class level. 332 undergraduates from two different universities who were in the year of junior and senior participated in the study. The Achievement Goal Orientations Scale, the Academic Self-Efficacy Scale, the Dispositional Hope Scale and the Demographic Form were utilized to reveal the predictive power of these constructs on their learning attitudes measured by the Revised Two-Factor Study Process Questionnaire. Multiple linear regression analysis indicated that learning goal orientation was a pivotal predictor of both deep and surface approach to learning. Academic self-efficacy and hope were the crucial precursors of deep approach while performance-avoidance goal inclination was a considerable predictor of surface approach. Independent samples t-test analysis displayed that the female undergraduates were superior to the male ones in terms of the learning goal tendency. And the students (20 to 22 aged) demonstrated higher scores on the same variable than the other ones (23 to 25 aged). On the basis of class level, there were no significant differences in the scores of achievement goal orientations, academic self-efficacy, hope and learning approaches. The results pointed out the fact that such concepts pertinent to an undergraduate’s academic performance could be viewed as distinctive features engendering different learning attitudes toward scholastic training.

The aim of this study is to examine democracy perception of classroom teachers via metaphor analysis. Study group for research is formed of 253 classroom teachers. “Democracy Metaphors Questionnaire” (DMQ) has been used in collecting data. Content analysis has been used on analysis of qualitative data of research and descriptive statistics have been used on quantitative data. The metaphors that teachers developed with a total 122 metaphor different from one another about democracy are gathered under “Indispensability”, “Equality”, “Social Order”, “Freedom”, “Endeavour”, “Power”, “Variety”, “Progression”, “Conservation”, “Personal Gains” and “Nothingness”. While first three themes under which women teachers gathered being indispensability, equality and endeavour metaphors, men teachers are gathered under indispensability, social order and freedom metaphors. Family environment and upbringing, relations with friends, culture of social environment, political activities in society and news in media tools have been the effective factors in forming democracy perception that the teachers possess.

The different aspects of architectural design and music that act in support of one another have governed the inspiration and utilization of music in design education. This paper describes a Basic Design Studio assignment that involves visualizing music by organizing linear and planar units using basic design principles, with the aim of contributing to the transformation of conceptual thinking to physical formation by the integration of domain material taught in basic design courses. Dealing with music as a design tool, the study relates the perceptional and structural analogy between music and design and discusses its contribution to basic design achievements. The visual expression of the products and the manner in which it relates to appropriate basic design principles and elements qualities are evaluated in the context of organization, abstraction and uniqueness. The assignment given to the students to conduct this evaluation strengthened their ability to transform abstract thinking into physical representation, helped them to understand multidimensional thinking and how to engage in creative thinking, contributed to their architectural education and improved their study skills by giving them experience in coordinating design elements, principles and materials, all of which served to stimulate improvisation and reflection of emotions. From the results of this study, it is recommended that music, which has similar approaches and principles to those of architectural design, can be used as a tool in design and architectural education to support different phases of the creation and expression process.

The main purpose of this research is to examine the relationship between levels of organizational happiness and organizational socialization of physical education and sport teachers. The research is quantitative and correlational model. The population of the research is composed of 257 physical education and sports teachers working in Siirt province. The entire universe was tried to be reached and 244 physical education and sports teachers were reached at the target stage. Within the scope of the research, 2 measurement tools were used. The Organizational Happiness Scale was developed by Bulut. The ''Organizational Socialization Scale'' was developed by Erdogan. Some of the research results are as follows: Arithmetic mean, standard deviation, correlation and simple regression tests were used in the analysis of the research data. Teachers' organizational happiness levels are high and organizational socialization levels are very high. There is a high level of positive correlation (r =, 67) between the levels of organizational happiness and organizational socialization of teachers. Teachers' organizational happiness is predicting organizational socialization. The model explains organizational socialization by 55%.

Teacher education programs are often accused of failing to prepare preservice teachers for real life classroom situations. In the case of research on classroom management, the focal point is often classroom teachers and their educational and behavioral goals rather than students’ experiences. This study aims to explore the perspectives of preservice teachers on their attitudes and behaviors in the university classrooms. For this purpose, 40 preservice teachers, who studied in the Early Childhood Education department at a state university in Turkey, were selected. The interview was chosen as the data collection method. The interview questions were based on the questions that Cothran, Kulinna and Garrahy (2003) used in their study with the secondary physical education students. The collected data were analyzed by the constant comparison method (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) and common themes were constructed through the analytic induction method (LeCompte & Preissle, 1993). In this study, the findings indicated that incompatible behaviors served different functions in teacher education classrooms. The preservice teachers perceived punitive teacher responses to students’ negative behaviors as compelling, ineffective and mostly humiliating practices. The preservice teachers provided three main elements that affect their attitudes, behaviors and experiences in a teacher education classroom. These elements were related to students, teachers, and the context of the classroom. The preservice teachers perceived their positive or negative behaviors mostly as reactions to the behavior of the teacher and the classroom environment.

The purpose of the current study is to determine pre-service teachers’ opinions about 21st century learner and teacher skills. The study group of the current research is comprised of 391 senior students from an education faculty. As the data collection tool, the 21st century Learner Skills Use Questionnaire and 21st Century Teacher Skills Use Questionnaire were employed. In the analysis of the collected data, frequencies, percentages, arithmetic means, independent samples t-Test, One-Way Anova, Correlation, Mann Whitney-U, Kruskal Wallis techniques were used. The findings of the study revealed that the pre-service teachers’ opinions about 21st century learner and teacher skills vary significantly depending on the variables of gender, department attended, academic achievement, experience of private tutoring and practicum teaching (doing practicum teaching at elementary and secondary schools). As a result, it was concluded that the pre-service teachers are ready for using 21st century learner skills (cognitive skills, autonomous skills, collaboration and flexibility skills, innovativeness skills) and teacher skills (administrative skills, technopedagogical skills, affirmative skills, flexible teaching skills, generative skills). However, it was also found that the pre-service teachers were not able to make enough use of learner and teacher skills during their practicum teaching at schools. Moreover, a positive, medium and significant correlation was found between 21st century learner skills and 21st century teacher skills.

The aim of this research is to examine the effects of creative writing activities on the reading and writing attitudes of fourth grade students. This research is a one-group pretest-posttest design of quantitative research methods. The study population of the study is the fourth grade students who are studying in Sorgun district of Yozgat province in Turkey. Cluster sampling was used in the sampling selection. A total of 35 students are in the sample. Creative writing activities were realized for the students for two months. Mean, standard deviation, paired samples t-test were used in the analysis of the data. As a result of the research, creative writing activities led to an increase in reading, writing and language lesson attitude of elementary school fourth graders. Increase in language lesson attitude is significant. The mean increase in Turkish lesson attitude scores was .39 with a 95% confidence interval ranging from 3.43 to 3.82. The effect size statistic (r=.32) indicated a medium effect size.

Participation is recognised as an important indicator of school inclusion and educational success of children with and without disabilities and one of the fundamental human rights. In particular, the participation in leisure activities plays a vital role in children’s life and needs to be given a higher attention. The aim of the present exploratory study was to reflect on the inclusion of children with disabilities in Portuguese schools, by portraying and comparing their participation profiles in leisure activities to those of typically developing peers. The participation patterns in leisure activities of 61 children with disabilities and 114 children without disabilities were assessed. Results indicate that the pattern of participation of children with and without disabilities differs whether they are school or community-based activities. Regarding school-based activities, findings reveal that children with disabilities participate more frequently in these activities, but in solitary and constrained spaces at school compared to children without disabilities. For community contexts, our findings indicate that children with disabilities participate in less diverse activities than children without disabilities. In addition, the range of activities is correlated to their level of independence. This exploratory study contributes to an understanding of the pattern of participation of children with and without disabilities.

This research aims to examine the current situation of multicultural education in elementary schools. Therefore, the views of the classroom teachers on multicultural education have been examined and multicultural education activities have been observed in the classes. Having a case study research method which is considered as one of the qualitative research designs, the study hosts a total of 15 classroom teachers who worked in the province of Elazig during the 2016 and 2017 academic year. The maximum variation sampling method has been used in the research. The research has employed semi-structured interview and observation forms. The research data has been analyzed through content analysis. Research results have revealed that most of the teachers perceive multicultural education as education presented to the individuals with different ethnic identities. Teachers' perceptions towards multicultural education have been identified to be similar in terms of their gender, seniority and educational status. Teachers mostly do student-centred activities related to multicultural education, use drama and case studies in their classes. While practising multicultural education, teachers mostly encounter with student-related problems. The majority of the people have recommended that parents be trained on the relevant subject. Similar results have emerged in the observations made by the researcher. Based on the research findings, several recommendations have been provided. Primary school curricula should be organized taking multicultural education into consideration, and the problems identified by teachers should be eliminated by those concerned.

The primary goal of this research is to explore absenteeism tendency, and the attitudes towards absenteeism and cheating of students who attended the teacher certificate program. In addition, this research aims to identify the views of students and lecturers on cheating and absenteeism. A sequential explanatory mixed-method research design was employed in this research. The sample of the quantitative data was 321 teacher certificate program students studying at Mugla Sitki Kocman University, Turkey. Absenteeism tendency, cheating attitude and absenteeism attitude scales were used to collect the data. Descriptive statistics, correlation, independent t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey HSD tests were used to analyze the data. Qualitative data was collected through semi-structured interview forms. 14 students and 14 lecturers were interviewed, recorded, and transcribed. Qualitative data was analyzed through quantitative content analyses and descriptive analyses. Research findings show that verbal field students have significantly more positive cheating attitudes than quantitative field students. While cheating attitudes show no significant difference between genders, students in physical education departments have higher scores in the dimensions of environmental conditions and opportunity and ability than verbal and quantitative field students. Both students and lecturers describe cheating as “unfair behavior and plagiarism,” and absenteeism as a “right” in unavoidable situations. It is emphasized that the active participation of students in classes mostly depends on the instructor.

This study aims to evaluate the academic outcomes of the flipped classroom approach in the teaching of students who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH). Furthermore, it aims to activate the role of the teacher through encouraging both teachers and students to engage in active learning styles, while acknowledging individual differences. Participants consisted of 12 female undergraduates with hearing disabilities in a 251 CI course (applications of ICT in teaching and learning) at the College of Education, King Saud University. The study was applied throughout a semester on the contents of the course. The content material and pre-class assigned work (e.g. instructional videos and tasks) were delivered through Blackboard (learning management system), while active learning activities were carried out in class. Using mixed methods, students’ perceptions of their new learning environment were explored through a post-term questionnaire distributed at the end of the semester, in addition to writing a reflective report. Furthermore, participants were requested to write a reflective journal at the end of each lecture. Results indicated the effectiveness of the flipped classroom strategy for students. Moreover, the data indicate a positive impact on students' content learning and improved skills (e.g. collaboration and interaction). The content material which was developed for the specific course (251 CI) could be utilized for the remaining students enrolled in this course. The researcher recommends using the flipped classroom teaching strategy for courses in higher education, as the methodology can be extended and implemented through following a similar framework applied in this study.

The research was conducted to determine the opinions of students (10-11 years) on their engagement to mathematics course. These students are 5th grade students at a secondary school in Turkey. Qualitative research method was used in the research. At the study, designed as case study, a total of seven secondary school students were participated the research. The study group was constituted with “snowball sampling” technique of purposeful sampling methods. The data was collected by a semi-structured interview form. Sixteen-page interviews obtained from the interviews were transferred to the computer. Data analysis was performed in content analysis. Codes were listed as a result of analysis. Common themes were constituted from the codes. As a result of the research, three themes, (cognitive, social and emotional engagement) eleven sub-themes and eighty nine codes were determined. It was seen that the students’ most preferred superficial strategies in terms of cognitive engagement; negative opinions towards group work in terms of social engagement; value given to math course in terms of emotional engagement. Students preferred least getting support sub-theme in terms of cognitive engagement; competitive sub-theme in terms of social engagement; value to the mathematics teacher sub-theme in terms of emotional engagement.

This study aims to analyze whether academics’ organizational cynicism attitudes and levels of organizational identification in the field of sports sciences differ based on certain variables and determine if any relationship exists between these two variables. “Organizational Cynicism Scale” and “Academics’ Organizational Cynicism Scale” were applied to 106 academics as a data collection tool. Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal Wallis test were used for nonparametric statistical data analysis. Bonferroni correction was taken into account in order to identify different groups. Spearman order correlation coefficient was calculated in order to identify the correlations among variables. The findings suggest that academics’ organizational cynicism and identification sub-dimensions did not display significant differences in terms of gender, marital status and academic title. However, significant differences were found among some sub-dimensions in terms of sufficiency of institution’s physical facilities, the status of place where the institution is located and financial aid from the institution. Additionally, negative and moderately significant correlations were found between all sub-dimensions of organization cynicism attitude and cognitive/behavioral/affective organizational identification sub-dimensions. It is considered that the present study will make important contributions to educational psychology thanks to its findings.