Within the scope of restructuring the secondary education efforts of the Ministry of National Education, it has been decided to abrogate the secondary school level teachers' schools. The purpose of this study is to evaluate Turkey's teacher education practices and the quest for qualified teacher education through the perceptions of the graduates of these high schools. The study is a phenomenological research based on interpretation. Data were obtained through interviews. The data obtained were analyzed in the vetting of candidate teachers, the curriculum to be used in the education process and its accreditation, and whom to be certified as teachers. The main results of this study, conducted with participants from the secondary school level teachers schools’ graduates, show that, in terms of teacher education, teachers' high schools present various opportunities by enrolling successful candidates, educating them as leaders, preparing them for multi-cultural environments. In order to educate qualified teachers, the participants suggest teacher education programs should include individual and group activities, involve training, arts, basic science, and values education courses. In the selection and approval of tenure teacher, besides academic achievement and diploma, advanced communication skills, patience, confidence, and patriotism should be sought in the candidates.

The aim of this study is to determine the problem solving skills and science process skills of six year-old children who attended kindergarten and whether or not there is a difference in problem solving skills and science process skills of children receiving and not receiving the education with GEMS program. In the study using the experimental model with pre-test, post-test and control group, the sample group consisted of a total of 25 children including 11 children in experimental group and 14 children in control group who attended the preschool education. The “GEMS Program” was applied throughout a school year after applying pre-test to the children in the experimental group. In the scope of the study, “General Information Form” to obtain the data about the children and their families, “Parental Evaluation Form” including the evaluation of the parents about their children, “Problem Solving Scale in Science Education (PSSSE)” to determine the problem solving skills of the children and “Science Processes Observation Form (SPOF)” to measure the science process skills of the children were used. According to the results of the study, while a statistically significant difference was observed between the Problem Solving Scale in Science Education mean scores of the children in the experimental group who participated in the GEMS Education Program and of the children in control group, no statistically significant difference was observed between the mean scores obtained by the children in the experimental group from Science Processes Observation Form and the mean scores of the children in the control group.

The purpose of the study is to reveal the effect of cooperative learning on language skills in an English course. The study was carried out for 5 weeks with 66 students studying at the 10th grade at an Anatolian high school in the district of Karadeniz Eregli in Zonguldak during the fall term of the 2015-2016 academic year. The design of the study was ‘nonequivalent control groups pre-test post-test’ which is one of quasi-experimental designs. Data were gathered using an achievement test measuring students’ vocabulary knowledge, grammar knowledge, reading comprehension and listening skills. Results showed that cooperative learning had a larger effect on vocabulary knowledge, grammar, listening and reading skills compared to traditional method.

The aim of this study is to explain and predict prospective preschool teachers’ academic achievements depending on goal orientations they adopt, their critical thinking dispositions and self-regulation skills. Research sample constitutes of 265 prospective preschool teachers attending the Faculty of Educational Sciences in Cukurova University. Research data were collected with the 2x2Achievement Goal Orientations Scale, Self-Regulation Questionnaire and Critical Thinking Disposition Scale. Demographical information about prospective teachers’ gender, age, grade level and academic grade point averages were obtained with the personal information form. For the analysis of research data, One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and discriminant analysis were used. In this study; it was concluded that prospective teachers with high level of learning approach orientation, critical thinking disposition and self-regulation skills had higher levels of academic achievement. However, it was determined that distinguishing variables among prospective preschool teachers with low, medium and high level of academic achievement included learning approach, performance approach goal orientation and critical thinking disposition and self-regulation skills. Correct classification percentage of distinguishing variables according to prospective preschool teachers’ levels of academic achievement was determined as 48.8%. Considering the fact that prospective teachers’ achievement-goal orientations, critical thinking dispositions and self-regulation skills may increase their academic achievement and shape their future teaching performances, it is suggested to implement programs that will contribute to the development of such skills and orientations among prospective preschool teachers.

The present study aims to determine learning styles of students majoring in Music Education Departments in Turkey and thus develop scale on learning styles to be used in piano lessons. Moreover, it is intended to reveal the relationship between students’ learning styles identified by the developed scale and their academic performance in piano lessons. In this sense, an achievement test was developed to assess student’s performances in piano lessons. The research was figured according to relational screening model among the screening models. The population of the research is composed of 3rd grade students majoring in Music Education Departments in Turkey. The sample of the research consists of 473 third grade students out of 730 3’rd year students studying in Music Education Departments. Developed by the researchers to assess students’ performance in piano lesson, the scales titled “Pamukkale Piano Learning Style” and “Piano Performance Test” have been used. In light of the results obtained from the study, a learning style model has been developed to learn piano instrument. According to this model, students’ independent, analytical, dependent and emotional learning styles have been identified. According to the research results, there is no high-level relationship between all learning styles and piano academic performance.

This study aims to evaluate elementary school math teachers' self-efficacy beliefs about classroom management. With the aim of investigating elementary school math teachers' self-efficacy beliefs about classroom management, a classroom management self-efficacy scale was developed.  The 5 point likert scale is composed of 46 items. The scale was applied to 142 math teachers working at elementary schools in Diyarbakir central district. Data were analyzed in terms of gender, seniority, classroom population and weekly course load. To analyze the data, t-test, one way variance analysis (ANOVA), Scheffe and LSD tests were used. The results showed that the math teachers have a positive self-efficacy belief of classroom management and that male teachers are better at maintaining discipline in class. In addition, the research shows that teachers with more experience are better at course design and classroom management and that classroom population has an effect on math teachers' self-efficacy beliefs about classroom management.

The aim of this research is to evaluate the constructivist learning environments of physical education and sport teacher candidates. For this purpose, 928 students (523 male, 405 female) selected by the appropriate sampling method from the Physical Education and Sport Teaching Department of 17 universities consisted the sample of the research. In the study; "Constructivist Learning Environments Evaluation Scale" developed by Arkun and Askar (2010) was used in order to reveal the opinions of the students about the constructivist learning environment. The scale consists of 7 Likert type, 6 sub dimensions and 28 items. The Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient for this study was found to be .93. The lowest score that can be taken from the scale is 28 and the highest score is 196. Kruskal Wallis Variance Analysis and Mann Whitney U test were used because the obtained data did not show normal distribution (Kolmogorov-Smirnov), and the significance level was taken as 0.05. As a result of the research, the constructivist learning environments of 17th universities 3rd and 4th grade teacher candidates were evaluated in terms of age, gender and grade variables. According to this, there was no significant difference when the average scores of constructivist learning environments were compared in terms of age and class levels of physical education and sports teacher candidates. In comparison with gender, female teacher candidates were found to have a more constructive learning environment.

In this work, we have analyzed the opinions of teacher candidates of French as a foreign language on the method that should be used in the teaching of reading-comprehension, one of the main linguistic skills. At the end of the Fall Semester of the 2011-2012 academic year, a survey constituted of three open-ended questions was carried out among teacher candidates studying at the French Language Teaching Programme of the Faculty of Education of Uludag University. Among the 120 students enrolled in the Programme, 64 have participated in the survey voluntarily and expressed their opinions. Students have been priorly informed about the study and the link of the survey prepared via Google Docs has been sent to them through an e-mail where they were asked to fill in the study in Turkish. In the scope of the present work, only student opinions relating to option b of the study's second question -i.e. on the method that should be used in the teaching of the reading skill in French- have been taken into consideration. In this qualitative work based on a case study pattern, opinions have first been sorted out through the content analysis method and have been classified; then, they have been compared with and discussed in the light of opinions and suggestions that already exist in literature. Lastly, findings have been interpreted and presented as a determination.

The aim of the study is to determine views of principals regarding assignment procedure. Data were gathered with the implementation of semi-structured interview forms from 14 administrators in the center of Konya according to ‘Purposive sampling’ method. The data were analyzed by content analysis and the following findings have been reached. There should be criteria such as an examination (written and verbal), developing projects related with the school, receiving academic or in-service training in administration, having experience as assistant principal, preparation of evaluation forms aiming at objectivity and improvement, election of the assistant principal by the principal without any intervention among the successful ones from the written exams, appointment of administrators instead of assignment, acceptance of school administration as a profession, regulations respecting of the objectivity, justice and equality. It is recommended that similar studies be conducted through quantitative research.

This research aims to complete Turkish adaptation, validity and reliability studies for the Math and Me Survey developed by Adelson and McCoach for use in determining the students’ attitudes towards mathematics in the transition from primary school to middle school. Within the scope of validity and reliability studies for the scale, data gathered from 1169 primary school students had item analysis, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis performed. In line with this, 18 items from the original scale were translated to Turkish and item equivalence between the original English and Turkish translation was ensured. During item analysis to determine the construct validity of the scale, an item with low item total correlation value was removed from the scale. The Cronbach alpha coefficient was calculated as .93. The Cronbach alpha coefficients from the scale subdimensions of Enjoyment and Self-Perception were calculated as .91 and .88. The confirmatory factor analysis results for the scale revealed perfect fit with the construct determined in the exploratory factor analysis results. Thus, the Math and Me survey can be said to be a valid and reliable tool for use in Turkish culture.

The inorganic chemistry is one of the essential courses in the education of pre-service chemistry teachers. This study investigates the differences between the adopted learning approaches and achievements of Turkish pre-service chemistry teachers' who received the inorganic chemistry course from the same lecturer. The purposes of this study are to explore the relationship between the inorganic chemistry achievements and the adopted learning approaches of pre-service chemistry teachers and to examine the effect of their learning approaches on their inorganic chemistry achievements. This study was conducted with 127 pre-service chemistry teachers from the Department of Chemistry Education at one of the public university in Turkey. “The Study Process Questionnaire” and “The Inorganic Chemistry Achievement Exams” were used as the data collection tools. The descriptive statistics and chi-square test were used for the data analysis. The results of the study displayed that (1) there is a significant relationship between the pre-service chemistry teachers’ inorganic chemistry achievement and their learning approach; (2) their learning approach has 34 % effect on their inorganic chemistry achievements according to Somers'd value.

This study aims to conduct validity and reliability analysis of Organizational Structure Scale-University version (OSS-U) that enables us to determine organizational structures of universities. The scale was developed based on the Axiomatic Theory by Hage, literature review and expert opinions. The sample of the study consisted of a total of 655 faculty members working at state universities in Turkey. Psychometric features of the scale were tested with three different models. The content validity of the suggested models was tested with Lawshe Analysis; the construct validity with Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) while the reliability was tested with Cronbach alpha which is a measure of internal consistency. As a result of the analyses conducted, all of these three models were determined to be valid and reliable with the relevant sample. It was also revealed that OSS-U can be used as model 1 in which nine dimensions (number of occupational specialties, professional training, professional activities, participation in decisions, hierarchy of authority, standardization, professional latitude, difference in rewards and difference in status) describe one single concept (University Structure), or model 2 in which four subscales (Complexity Scale, Centralization Scale, Formalization Scale and Stratification Scale) are independent pieces of an umbrella term (University Structure) or model 3, as a combination of these two models (model 1 + model 2), where combined subscales that have dimensions in itself describe a hypernym (University).

This study was designed as a case study. Participants were 12 senior pre-service science teachers (PSTs), who took theoretical and practical courses about STEM education and socio-scientific issues (SSIs) during their education at a state university. For the study, in the first 4 weeks, theoretical courses on SSIs and STEM education were carried out. Afterwards, PSTs were asked to choose a SSI and configure this issue as a problem statement to perform a STEM activity. Participants were given a total of 3 weeks to determine the issue and prepare the STEM activity, and the researchers of the study gave systematic feedback during this period. Then, starting from the fifth week of the study, groups started to implement their STEM activities in the class, where their peers were assigned as their students. The activity plans they prepare, the field notes taken by the researchers during the implementation of the activities and the semi-structured interviews about the opinions of the PSTs on the use of SSI in STEM education were the data sources of the study. Findings revealed that PSTs found establishing STEM problem situations over SSIs suitable since they provide features such as conformity to real life, having multiple criteria and providing compatibility with other disciplines. Moreover, after their practices, they pointed out that the activities enabled both the teaching of the SSI and the integrated teaching to be carried out. As a conclusion, it is recommended to use socio-scientific problem situations to perform STEM education.

The aim of the research is to determine the perceptions of the preservice science teachers about the photosynthesis and to reveal the relation between these perceptions and the misconceptions of the existing concepts. In the research, field scanning method was used as a descriptive research method. The sample of the research is composed of 355 preservice science teachers trained in different universities. For the selection of the sample, purposeful sample selection was used and attention was paid to the fact that the preservice science teachers had taken the General Biology-I and General Biology-II courses at the undergraduate level in the determination of the class level to be included in the study. The "Photosynthesis Concept Achievement Test" (PCAT) developed by the researcher and composed of 4 questions was used as a data collection tool. Quantitative data obtained from the study were analyzed using SPSS.20 package program while content analysis was performed in the analysis of qualitative data. As a result of the research, it was determined that the preservice science teachers' perceptions of photosynthesis were in the direction of chemical and biological approaches and that the teacher candidates preferred the chemical approach rather than the biological approach. However, preservice science teachers who prefer the chemical approach have reached the conclusion that they are in much more misconception than the biologically approaching teacher candidates.

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.

Gender differences in mathematics learning outcomes are still evident in many countries participating in large scale international testing, as well as in national testing in Israel, the context in which the study reported here was conducted. The participants were 281 students from three Israeli elementary schools and were in grades 4 and 6. The students completed a questionnaire with items based on a selection of variables included in explanatory models for gender differences in mathematics. It was found that many students held gendered beliefs related to mathematics learning, particularly when the questions asked related to themselves or to significant others in their lives (parents and teachers); the views of the majority of students were gender neutral. When presented with two photographs -a man, and a woman- and asked who was the one more likely to work with mathematics, it was clear that the students’ choices and explanations echoed perceptions of mathematics as a male domain.

The aim of this paper is to determine the influence of blended learning environments on self-regulated and self-directed learning skills of undergraduate students. The explanatory sequential mixed method was used. In total 167 students participated in the study. While sixty students taking “Programming Languages” course at Computer Education and Instructional Technologies Department constituted the experimental group, 102 undergraduates-65 of them from the same department (Control 1) and 42 from Electronic Engineering Department (Control 2) formed the control groups. Self-directed Learning Readiness Scale, Self-regulated Learning Scale and semi-structured interviews were used as data collection instruments. While the experimental group received blended instruction, control groups received traditional instruction for weeks. The findings of the study revealed that self-regulated and self-directed scores of experimental group differed significantly from the control groups` indicating that the use of blended instruction is more effective than traditional instruction in terms of developing self-regulated and self-directed learning skills. Students in the experimental group pointed out that the blended learning environment presented rich content, easy accessibility, effective guidance and motivation.

The purpose of this work is to adapt the existing Moral Competency Index (MCI) developed by Lennick and Kiel in a sample of teachers. The validated Turkish version of MCI is based on the item pool of the original MCI with a slight adaptation of the items to fit the context of teacher leadership. The translated form was administered to 773 teachers in Gaziantep city. Exploratory factor analysis, Cronbach’s Alpha and Split-half reliability, and item analysis were performed through SPSS, while the first and second order confirmatory factor analyses were performed through AMOS. Results showed that adapted Turkish form of MCI (Ogretmen Ahlaki Yeterlik Olcegi) is reliable and valid, and the four-dimensional original factorial structure (integrity, responsibility, forgiveness, and compassion) was confirmed and maintained. Finally, multiple regression analyses were performed. Results showed that female teachers have higher levels of moral competencies in the dimensions of integrity and forgiveness. Also, as teachers’ age increases, their general moral competency scores increase in the dimensions of integrity, responsibility, and compassion.

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.

This paper aims to test the reliability and validity of the Turkish adaptation of DeBaryshe and Binder's Parent Reading Belief Inventory (PRBI) and to investigate parents' literacy beliefs. The primary focus of this paper is to explore parents’ beliefs and practices and their relatedness on the emergent literacy of their children aged 3–7 (M=69.8 months; SD= 9.33 months). As data collection tools, we availed ourselves of the Parent Reading Belief Inventory,(PRBI), Home Literacy Inventory (HLI) and Child Literacy Behaviours (CLB). In addition, the Personal Information Form, prepared by the researchers, was utilized. Moreover, confirmatory factor analyses were performed on samples of parents from Adana, a city in southern Turkey (N= 952). The study showed that a seven-factor structure in the original form of the PRBI was validated , excluding items 8, 30 and 31. Consistent with the results of the confirmatory factor analysis and reliability analysis, it can be concluded that the PRBI is a valid and reliable tool to investigate the process of parents' literacy activities with their children in Turkey.