In the context that it was scrutinized in the present study, peer instruction was initially developed by Eric Mazur, a physicist. The aim of the present study was to determine the impact of peer instruction method on academic achievements and creative thinking skills of the students. The study was conducted with the pre-test-posttest control group method, a quasi-experimental design, which was defined as a two-factor mixed design. The study was conducted with sophomore students attending Firat University (FU), Faculty of Education, Social Studies Teaching Department in Turkey during the 2018-2019 academic year spring semester. The experiment (N = 30) and control (N = 30) groups were determined with convenience sampling (a non-random sampling method). Present study findings demonstrated that peer instruction method improved the achievement and creative thinking skill levels of the students. However, it was observed that the method was more effective on course achievement.

It has been well documented that oral language skills are precursors of the development of written abilities, meaning that improving oral language skills, e.g. vocabulary, listening comprehension, could have positive effects reading comprehension. The main aim of the present study was to analyze the effect of a training program focused on four components of comprehension ability provided in listening or written modality on first-graders’ reading and listening comprehension. The training programs were implemented by school teachers as part of the class’s normal school activities, under the supervision of experts. Their efficacy was compared with the results obtained in a passive control group. Our results showed that both the training programs produced positive effects on listening and reading comprehension (by comparison with a passive control group), and that the gains in reading comprehension were maintained at a five-month follow-up. Findings demonstrated specific improvements in listening comprehension with the listening modality program, as well as an improvement in the modality not directly trained. A similar cross-modality effect was found from the written modality training group, therefore confirming the strict relation between oral and written abilities. Reading comprehension performance of first graders can be improved with activities provided in listening and written modality. Hence, it is possible to enhance reading comprehension even before decoding and fluency in reading are acquired.

This article focuses on the influence of academic training, job issues, personality and demographic characteristics of school counselors on their professional identity construction, which is developed in a theoretical model based on educational-psychological theories. Most of the training in Master's degree studies in school counseling is incompatible with actual job demands; Consequently, when beginning work, school counselors lack suitable training and relevant professional tools. Moreover, in Israel and elsewhere, the definition of school counseling is unclear and inconclusive, and this affects the counselors' professional identity and the quality of their work. The proposed model of the variables that affect school counselors’ professional identity may enhance the relationship between academia and the field, with the aim of promoting academic excellence and a well-formulated professional identity for the profession of school counseling, as well as improving the employment terms of school counselors, in light of the challenges facing higher education systems in the 21st century.

The purpose of this study is to examine the mediator role of cognitive flexibility and difficulties in emotion regulation in the relationship between resilience and distress tolerance amongst college students. The sample of the study involved 1114 students (771 females, 343 males) from various universities in Turkey. The mean age of the sample was 20.65 (Sd=2.77). The Resilience Scale, Distress Tolerance Scale, Cognitive Flexibility Scale, and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) had been used to collect data. In this study, a Serial Multiple Mediation Model was used, as proposed by Hayes. The findings showed that people with a higher level of distress tolerance possess higher degrees of cognitive flexibility and that cognitively more flexible individuals experience less difficulty in emotion regulation, and thus, lower levels of difficulty in emotion regulation were associated with an increase in resilience. Furthermore, the model in its entirety had proven to be statistically significant, accounting for 42% of the total variance.

“Mathematical knowledge for teaching” is a concept indicating the requirement for a specific kind of knowledge required to teach mathematics. Mathematical knowledge for teaching necessitates a more complex structure than what is required to carry out mathematical tasks and the knowledge to do that. The purpose of this study is to realize the adaptation of “Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching -Geometry (MKT-G)” Test that was initially conceived in English to Turkish (or to Turkish culture). During the adaptation process; after the translations of the items, focus group interviews were held with a group consisting of mathematics teacher educators and experienced mathematics teachers, and then the data from 243 elementary mathematics teachers was analyzed via  Item Response Theory (IRT). As a result of the analysis of the test items, psychometric values of the test items indicated that the items in the test performed well in Turkey. Besides, validity and reliability arguments were also tested. As a result, the Turkish version of the MKT-G test is highly reliable and valid to measure the teachers’ knowledge of teaching geometry.

This research aims to reveal the first-year experiences of social studies teachers who have just started their profession in the public sector. Also, it aims to reveal what awaits teachers in the school environment and the current experiences of teachers at the beginning of the profession. Case study design, one of the qualitative research designs, was used in the study. The study group of the research consists of 34 social studies teachers working in secondary schools affiliated to the Ministry of National Education (Turkey) in the districts of Ankara. Participants were selected on an equal basis from all districts of Ankara province. Purposeful sampling, one of the non-random sampling methods was used in determining participants. In addition, criterion sampling was also used in the purposeful sampling phase. The obtained data were subjected to the content and descriptive analysis. As a result of the research, following the latest changes and developments and developing their basic knowledge and skills seems important for teachers who started their profession in the public sector. The multidisciplinary of the social studies branch, attractivity, and the fact that there are no alternatives comes to the fore in teachers' decision-making process to become social studies teachers. In addition, teachers participating in the research suggested to new teachers that they should master their fields, maintain their personal development, get to know the target group, and maintain strong communication in school.

There has been an increased interest in L2 learners’ motivation and autonomy over the past several decades, and both variables are recognized as characteristics of successful language learners. The L2 motivational self system (L2MSS) is a recent approach to L2 motivation research that sheds light on many aspects of a language learners’ self. Additionally, autonomy is known to promote long-term foreign language learning success. Understanding these measures and what variables influence them can help educators determine how to best help their students achieve success in language learning. This study examines Taiwanese university students’ ideal L2 selves and autonomy as measured on questionnaires. This study seeks to examine whether any differences exist between Taiwanese students who attended normal, comprehensive, or vocational high school programs in Taiwan. The results show that while differences exist and several of the L2MSS and autonomy variables are strongly correlated, there are no significant differences between students in these three groups. The results suggest that there may be other variables not measured in this study which do have an impact on a learners’ L2MSS and/or autonomy.

This study examines the effects of the SCAMPER technique-based educational activities in the simple machines unit of a science lesson on students' academic achievement, motivation and attitude. The study examines the effects of the simple machines unit activities in the science lesson through a paired quasi-experimental design, which is one of the quantitative research methods. The sample group of the research consists of 33 eighth-grade students studying in a middle school in the Ortaköy district of the Aksaray province in 2018–2019. The research uses simple random sampling method. The experimental group was given SCAMPER-based activities in the simple machines unit for 4 hours a week with a total of 16 hours, and lessons were conducted with the control group in line with the curriculum. To collect data within the framework of the research, the 'attitude scale towards science lesson', scale for 'students' motivation towards science learning' and 'simple machines unit achievement test' were used. As a result, when compared to the control group, there was a significant difference in the academic achievement and motivation of the experimental group who performed SCAMPER-based activities in the simple machines unit of the science lesson. There was no significant difference between the attitude scores of the experimental and control group as a result of the study.

The purpose of the current study is to determine pre-service teachers’ perception of individual entrepreneurship and opinions about their critical thinking tendency. As the data collection tools, the Individual Entrepreneurship Perception Scale and the Marmara Creative Thinking Tendencies Scale were used in the current study. The participants of the study are 469 freshman, sophomore, junior and senior students attending the Departments of Pre-school Teacher Education and Primary School Teacher Education. In the analysis of the collected data, frequencies, percentages, independent samples t-test, Mann Whitney U test and correlation analysis were employed. The findings obtained from the analyses have revealed that the pre-service teachers’ individual entrepreneurship perceptions and creative thinking tendencies vary significantly depending on the variables of gender and whether they took a course/seminar on entrepreneurship. The pre-service teachers’ individual entrepreneurship perceptions and creative thinking tendencies were found to be not varying significantly depending on the department attended. The pre-service teachers’ personal entrepreneurship perceptions and creative thinking tendencies were found to be above medium. A highly positive and significant correlation was found between the pre-service teachers’ individual entrepreneurship perception and creative thinking tendency total scores. The pre-service teachers can be encouraged to take the course “Economics and Entrepreneurship” and to participate in certificate programs on entrepreneurship.

The main purpose of this research was to reveal the opinions of prospective teachers of special education teacher education program about special education schools and the special education field. This study was used the phenomenological designed. It involved 14 special education teachers of Harbiye Selman Nasir Eskicak Secondary School. The collected data were subjected to data mining by content analysis. Some results had been obtained regarding the dreams and problems and solutions proposed by prospective teachers in a special education institution and special education. It had been found out that prospective teachers design student-centered and differentiate the disability differences among individuals-oriented design when designing special education schools. In addition, they pointed out that there were some problems related to teachers, teaching environment, curriculum, legislation and parents in the field of special education. It had been seen that prospective teachers who produce solutions to these problems have awareness about the field. With the help of the results obtained from the study, suggestions about the special education field were developed.

Positive attitude towards statistics is a desirable aspect in developing statistical thinking and understanding statistical concept. The attitude towards statistics instrument in previous study on rural school students lacked evidence in the validity analysis. Therefore, there is a need to provide a valid instrument that can assess rural secondary school students’ attitude toward statistics. For this purpose, this study was carried out to investigate the validity and reliability analysis of the Survey Attitude towards Statistics (SATS-36) instrument from a sample of rural secondary school students. The SATS-36 is a 7-point Likert type scale questionnaire, used to measure students’ attitude towards statistics. The SATS-36 instrument was distributed to 217 Tenth grade science stream students from a rural district in Sabah, Malaysia, which comprised of 66 (30.4%) boys and 151 (69.6%) girls. A second order Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was carried out to analyze the validity of the SATS-36 instrument as well as to confirm the 6-factor model of SATS-36. The reliability of SATS-36 instrument was assessed through the Cronbach’s Alpha value. Overall, the analysis showed that the SATS-36 instrument shows favorable indices for both its validity and reliability. Thus, it can be concluded that the SATS-36 was a valid and reliable instrument for measuring students’ attitude towards statistics among rural science stream secondary school students.

Learning Indonesian in elementary schools can help students get to know themselves, their culture and other cultures, express ideas, participate in society, and discover and use the analytical and imaginative abilities that are present in them. In the implementation of Indonesian language learning there are many gaps, so it is less able to achieve the specified learning objectives to the maximum. This research was conducted in class 5 of Totosari Elementary School No. 102 Surakarta, Indonesia. The purpose of this research is to explore obstacles in the process of learning Indonesian in elementary schools. This research uses a case study approach. Data collection was carried out by observing the Indonesian learning process, interviewing, and examining the average student test scores. The collected data were analyzed using interactive analysis according to Miles and Huberman. The results of his research are 1) The teacher has not used the media in the learning process especially Indonesian Language learning; 2) Learning is carried out is still conventional; 3) Students in learning tend to memorize subject matter. Through learning innovations that are in accordance with the characteristics of elementary school students are expected to be able to create meaningful learning.

The aim this qualitative study is to determine current situation of policy on teacher employment model in Turkey from the perspectives of contracted teachers. The sample of the study consisted of 24 forms and branch teachers who were determined with the method of convenience sampling. The inclusion criterion for the sample was being contracted teachers who were employed in the provinces of Erzurum and Sanliurfa in Turkey in the academic year of 2017-2018. The data of the study was collected by using a semi-structured interview form consisting of open-ended questions. The data was analyzed by using the qualitative research method of content analysis. The findings of the study were discussed under the themes of the objective of contracted teaching, its negative aspects, and the future of the practice and solution recommendations. According to the results of the study, the vast majority of the participants were aware of the objectives of the practice of contracted teaching. The participants thought that the practice provided continuity in instruction-teaching and teachers at the schools they were appointed to. The vast majority of the participants were of the opinion that the practice of contracted teaching led to status discrimination as tenured-contracted teachers, and this reduced their motivations and organizational commitment. They stated that this practice carried negative aspects in terms of postgraduate education and being prospective teachers.

In a situation where life is insecure and the future seems to hang by a thread, motivating students to learn a second language that has no immediate need in their daily lives could be challenging. This article explores the motivation to learn English as a second language of students and the use of motivational strategies of English teachers in one state of Myanmar, which has undergone civil wars for more than seventy years. Sequential explanatory mixed-method research was employed to investigate this complex phenomenon. Questionnaires, classroom observations, and semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data. A pleasantly surprised finding showed that the students could still remain a certain level of motivation to learn English amidst great hardship and fear in everyday life. As for the teachers’ motivational strategies, most that were observed and reported did not tend to support students’ autonomy. The findings lend support to previous studies on the effects of unstable sociopolitical situations on students and teachers and highlight the needs for effective teacher trainings for pre-service and in-service teachers in such areas.

This study aims at investigating the perceptions of the faculty members of the University of Jordan towards the use of The Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in the educational process and their suggestions to improve them, the study followed the descriptive / analytical approach. The sample consisted of (115) teachers from the faculty members of the University of Jordan, who were chosen intentionally during the second semester 2018/2017. A key tool was developed that was validated and consisted of (70 items). The results showed that the use of MOOCs courses was moderate and positively affect the support of the educational process. The results showed that there were no statistically significant differences attributed to the teaching experience, gender and academic rank variables. While the results showed that there are statistically significant differences to the degree of the use of the faculty members of the University of Jordan MOOCs courses in the educational process according to the collage variable. Results related to the second area of proposals for improving the use of MOOCs courses were also high. In the light of the results of the study, the researcher recommended, based on the answers of faculty members, the need to reconsider the importance of using electronic MOOCs courses in the educational process, And spreading a culture of awareness of the importance of using electronic environments in the educational process, to provide tangible financial and technical support for the production and design of MOOCs courses in cooperation with faculty members and the use of experts.

The purpose of the current study is to investigate middle school students’ self-regulation skills and vocabulary learning strategies in foreign language. The sampling of the current study consists of 990 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade middle school students attending state middle schools in the Mentese district of the city of Mugla, Turkey in school year 2018-2019. As the data collection tools, the Perceived Self-Regulation Scale and the Vocabulary Learning Strategies in Foreign Language Scale were used. In the analysis of the collected data, frequencies, percentages, independent-samples t-test and one-way variance analysis (ANOVA), Post-Hoc Tests (Tukey and Dunnett’s C) and correlation analysis were used. The findings of the present study have revealed that the middle school students’ self-regulation skills and vocabulary learning strategies in foreign language are over the medium value. The middle school students’ self-regulation skills and vocabulary learning strategies in foreign language were found to vary significantly depending on gender, grade level, father-mother attitude and level of interest in English course. A medium, positive and significant correlation was found between the middle school students’ total scores of self-regulation strategies and vocabulary learning strategies in foreign language.

This research aims to explore the effectiveness of interdisciplinary education program based on multicultural education on the tolerance value, attitude and critical thinking skills of the fourth grade primary school students. Single group pre-posttest design has been used in the study. The research has been carried out with 30 fourth-grade students, at a primary school located within the district of Karakocan in Elazig during the 2015-2016 academic year. Among the participants, 15 are females and 15 are males. The research has employed Tolerance Attitude Scale developed by Kaptan-Yarar, tolerance value and critical thinking story tests and scoring rubrics. Descriptive statistics and dependent samples t-test have been used during data analysis. Research results have revealed a statistically significant difference between critical thinking scoring rubric, tolerance value scoring rubric and tolerance attitude scale pretest-posttest scores in favor of posttest. Based on these results, it can be said that the interdisciplinary curriculum developed based on multicultural education improves students' critical thinking skills, tolerance value and attitudes.

In this research, leisure activity engagement of students with intellectual disabilities was examined. This study aims to compare the engagement of students with intellectual disability in leisure time activities that they chose with the ones that were selected by their teachers. Four students diagnosed with intellectual disability at the age of fifteen participated in this study. While the dependent variable of the study is the students' engagement in the leisure time activities, the independent variables are the students’ and their teachers’ leisure time activity selections. The study was designed according to the alternating treatments model, which is one of the single subject research models. The study has revealed that enabling students to choose the leisure activities is more effective in increasing the engagement of three out of four participants in those activities.

Two new instruments were created to assess secondary students’ (ages 14-18) spatial learning attitudes and their interest in science and technology, related careers ideas and perceptions about geospatial technologies. These instruments were designed to evaluate the outcomes of a geospatial learning curriculum project. During a two-year period, we explored the use of these instruments during the prototype testing and pilot testing of a series of socio-environmental science investigations. The instruments were implemented with 664 ninth grade urban students from a population traditionally underrepresented in STEM-related fields. Both classical and Rasch analyses were conducted each year to optimize the instruments. The resulting 24-item Student Interest in Science, Technology and Geospatial Technology (STEM-GEO) measure and 9-item Spatial Learning Attitudes (SLA) measure had high internal consistency reliabilities (Cronbach’s Alpha) as well as acceptable Rasch reliabilities. Content validity and construct validity evidence were also summarized and discussed.

This study aims to identify the effect of metacognitive awareness of reading strategies on self-efficacy perception in reading comprehension of secondary school students and whether self-efficacy perception in reading comprehension of secondary school students differs according to the variables such as their gender and reading habits. In this correlational survey model study, data were collected from the sample of 380 students of 8th grade by using ‘Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory’ developed by Mokhtari and Reichard and translated into Turkish by Ozturk; and ‘Self-Efficacy Scale in Reading Comprehension’ developed by Epcacan and Demirel were used. The data gathered were evaluated statistically by multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) with the help of the SPSS program. As the results of the study, Reading Visual Comprehension, Self-regulation in Reading and Reading Self-confidence subscale scores of self-efficacy perception in reading comprehension, were found to be statistically and significantly larger in the groups that have a tendency to finish books that they start. Moreover, Reading Visual Comprehension, Self-regulation in Reading and Reading Self-confidence subscale scores of self-efficacy perception in reading comprehension, were found to be statistically and significantly larger in the groups that have advanced level of reading habits. Additionally, RSC, SRR and RVC subscale scores of self-efficacy perception in reading comprehension, were found to be significantly different in favor of female participants. General Reading Strategies, Problem Solving Strategies and Supporting Reading Strategies subscales of metacognitive awareness of reading strategies have a positive effect on Reading Visual Comprehension, Self-regulation in Reading and Reading Self-confidence scores of the participants. In other words, metacognitive awareness of reading strategies contributes to self-efficacy perception in reading comprehension of eighth-grade students.