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.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the meanings assigned by pre-service teachers to the wastepaper basket and waste (crumpled) papers in their drawings of a scientist. The study was carried out with 220 pre-service teachers during the 2015-2016 academic years. A phenomenological research method was used. First, the pre-service teachers were administered the ‘Draw-A-Scientist Test’ in order to identify their images of a scientist and then they were asked to describe and explain the scientist they drew. And a semi-structured interview was performed with the 34 pre-service teachers who included a wastepaper basket and waste paper in their drawings in order to identify the meanings assigned to the wastepaper and wastepaper basket by these teachers. The data were analysed by using content analysis. The results of the analysis showed that with these figures the pre-service teachers revealed their belief that when scientists conduct research, they follow a confirmatory experimental process in a similar manner to the way school science experiments. Based on these results, it can be suggested in the analysis of the drawings that waste paper and wastepaper baskets can be regarded as indicators of the stereotypical image of scientists and of the scientific method they use.

This study aims to analyse opinions of social studies prospective teachers towards out-of-school learning. It was conducted with 12 prospective teachers who were at their final year at Kafkas University Education Faculty, Social Studies Teaching Department. In this qualitative study, phenomenological design was adopted, and the data was collected with semi-structured interview form which was developed by the researcher. To explain qualitative data and to find relationships, explanatory and inferential codes during analysis were adopted. Based on the results obtained from this study, prospective teachers expressed that they had inadequate knowledge about out-of-school learning, and out-of-school learning may present advantageous to learning process such as learning with doing-experiencing, permanence of subjects, and materialisation of information. Additionally, regarding out-of-school learning, prospective teachers expressed that there may be problems with time and incorrect learning practices. Recommendations were presented for these results.

The study investigates the views of social studies teachers (SSTs) about the advantages and challenges of interactive whiteboard application in social studies lessons. Data was gathered using a questionnaire consisting of 58 items. The sample comprised 483 male and female SSTs from different governorates of Oman who were provided with three training programs about using Interactive Whiteboard (IWB). Data were analyzed by using: Means, T-test and One Way ANOVA.  The results indicated that they considered its effect to be significant in supporting students’ learning process by enhancing the quality of learning environment, excitement of use and importance of use in social studies lessons. It also showed that they used it widely in their lessons but they experienced moderate challenges, including related to technical support and the availability of IWB in all classes. The results also indicated that teachers’ gender and experience influenced their views. The study recommends the provision of more technical support to teachers.

Firstly, the researcher provides an insightful introduction into the phenomenon focused on to explicate the learners’ views about the role of school counselors in line with career selection. To attain the study objectives, the researcher used a multi-unit case study to investigate the perceptions among high-school students about school counselors’ roles and career selection. The investigator used open-ended questionnaires to harness information and then utilized the qualitative descriptive approach to analyze the data. Analysis of the information collected via open-ended questionnaires was done through thematic analysis, which was a subset of the broader qualitative descriptive technique. The findings denoted that high-school learners have varied perceptions with regards to the roles of school counselors and career selection.

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.

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.

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 aim of this study was to adapt and validate Mindful Self-Care Scale (MSCS) with a normative Turkish sample. Participants of the study were 330 university students (232 females and 97 males) along with the age mean of 20.22 (SD=1.32). In order to validate the six factor structure of Mindful Self-care Scale, a confirmatory factor analysis was conducted. For providing evidence over convergent validity, Mindful Attention Awareness Scale-Adolescent version (Brown, West, Loverich & Biegel, 2011) was concurrently used. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis  displayed satisfactory evidence for the six factor Mindful Self-Care Scale (χ2 / df = 1.7; GFI = 0.87, CFI = 0.92; TLI = .91; RMSEA = 0.05). The scale was also found to be significantly correlated to Mindful Attention Awareness Scale-Adolescent (r=.27, p<.001). Also, the Cronbach Alpha value for the whole scale was found .89 yielding satisfactory evidence for the internal consistency of the instrument. The results of the study tentatively yielded that the Mindful Self-Care Scale is a valid and reliable assessment tool of self-care in Turkish culture. As well, further studies examining the psychometric properties of Mindful Self-Care Scale are still needed with larger and diverse samples.

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.

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.

The gender gap in achievement is one of the main challenges that face the educational system in Jordan. Since 1989, educational reform plans have attempted to reduce gender gap in achievement. However, the gender gap in science achievement according to PISA 2015 was higher than that of other participating countries. This study aimed to show the trends, and determine the factors associated with the gender gap in science achievement. The data were obtained from 7267 students, who participated in PISA 2015. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression methods were used, for which the results showed that the gap became wider with the same direction since 2006. In addition to that, the study findings suggested that environmental awareness, and sense of belonging to school are the most important factors associated with gender gap among other personal factors.

In this study, it is aimed to discover childhood fears of 60-72-month-old children through the opinions of preschool children, preschool teachers and mothers. Study group of the investigation consists of 52 participants; 18 children aged 60-72 months, 16 teachers and 18 mothers with preschool children, in Istanbul. An “Interview Form” which consists of 9 questions, was developed by the researchers. According to the findings, there are not significant differences in fear types among preschool children in different socioeconomic levels. In general, the most common fear types among all children are animals, robbery, natural events and nightmares. According to the mothers in lower and middle socioeconomic levels, children are mostly afraid of the dark and loneliness and to the mothers from upper socioeconomic level, they are afraid of strangers and unfamiliar settings, animals and loneliness. According to the teachers working in lower socioeconomic level schools, children are mostly afraid of animals; to the teachers from middle socioeconomic level schools, children are mostly afraid of the dark, strangers and unfamiliar settings; and according to the teachers working in high socioeconomic level schools, children are mostly afraid of separation, strangers and unfamiliar settings and loneliness.

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.

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 aim of the study was to examine the relationship between basketball referees' performance scores gained during a season and their self-efficacy levels. The study was conducted in correlational design and the accessible sampling method was used for the sample selection. The sample of the study consisted of 64 Class-B referees (2% (n=3) were females and 98% (n=61) were males) who actively served in the 2016-2017 season within Turkish Basketball Federation. A demographic information form, "The Referee Self-Efficacy Scale" developed by Karacam and Pulur, and performance scores calculated by the Central Arbitration Committee of Turkish Basketball Federation were used as data collection tools. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS 21 and AMOS programs. The Pearson-Product Moments Correlation Coefficient was used to determine the relationships between the variables. As a result, a positive significant relationship was found between basketball referees' physical fitness, game knowledge, decision-making, pressure, communication, REFS total score, and their performance scores and the variables age and the number of matches refereed. Moreover, a positive significant relationship was found between basketball referees' physical fitness, game knowledge, decision-making, pressure, communication, and REFS total score and their performance scores.