This study aims to conduct Turkish adaptation, validity and reliability studies of the Teacher Rating Scales of Early Academic Competence. This study also aims to examine and improve early academic competence thoroughly on the basis of teachers’ ratings in Turkey, and lastly to contribute an assessment and measurement instrument to the literature which will enable to conduct further research in the field. This study was designed in a general survey model. The study included normally developing 619 36-72 month-old preschoolers attending to nursery classes and kindergartens affiliated to Afyonkarahisar Ministry of National Education in 2015-2016 academic year. The validity and reliability studies of the data obtained following the implementation of TRS-EAC, was completed. The Cronbach Alpha, split half test, test-retest reliability of the scale and its subscales were measured. TRS-EAC was found to be valid and reliable for 36-72 month-old children. It can be considered that the various studies that can be used TRS-EAC in Turkey will provide important contributions to the measurement power of this test.

In general, teacher educators are considered to be educational specialists whose main task is to communicate content-based concepts to prospective teachers. However, unfortunately, most studies on teacher professional development overlook this specific language-oriented aspect of content-based teaching. Therefore, we address the aforementioned research gap and argue that teacher educators’ evaluation of their language-oriented performance in educational communication enhances the quality of their content-based teaching. Accordingly, we examine how the language-oriented performance of teacher educators is evaluated by both individual teacher educators (sample size N=3) and their students (N=32) in a small-scale intervention study. The findings of the study reveal that there is a relationship between the order of application of five language focus areas (i.e., language awareness, active listening, formalizing interaction, language support, and language and learning development, as noticed by the students), and teacher educators’ ability to apply these areas in accordance with their objectives related to content-based teaching.

By using multi-level modeling, this study explores the impact of students’ perception of the quality of the teacher-student relationship and family structure on student achievement after controlling for socioeconomic status (SES), school urbanicity, and school control. The data from 750 schools and 17,000 10th grade students were analyzed. Family structure and student’s perception of teacher-student relationship, and SES were student-level; school urbanicity and school control were school-level variables. The findings indicated that students, who had a positive perception about their relationship with their teachers, came from families including two biological parents, and had high SES and high math achievement. Students’ SES and attending public school in urban areas were found to be significantly related to students’ math achievement. The math score for public school students was lower than students from private and Catholic schools. The further research should have a design addressing the impact of these variables in a longitudinal term.

The aim of the study is to examine the pre-service teachers’ problem solving skills and curiosity levels according to different variables and to determine whether there is a relationship between them. The research was designed as a descriptive study in the survey model. The sample of the study consists of 1st and 4th grade pre-service teachers in the departments of German, Science, English, Mathematics, Music, Pre-school, Painting, English, Mathematics, Turkish Language Teaching at a university in Turkey. “Curiosity Scale” adapted into Turkish by Demirel and Diker Coskun, “Problem Solving Inventory” adapted into Turkish by Sahin, Sahin and Heppner  and “Personal Information Form” prepared by the researcher were used as data collection tools. In the analysis of the data obtained, SPSS-Windows 22.00 package program was used and descriptive statistics and parametric tests were applied in accordance with the sub-problems of the study. In addition, a correlation analysis was conducted to determine whether there was a relationship between pre-service teachers’ problem solving skills and curiosity levels. Based on the findings, suggestions about the problem solving skills and curiosity levels of the prospective teachers were presented.

The aim of this study is to develop an Entrepreneurship Scale to measure the entrepreneurial skills of 5th grade students and to conduct the reliability and validity of the scale. This research is a descriptive survey method. The pilot application was made with 432 students in Amasya City in Turkey. SPSS 23 and LISREL 8.80 programs were used to analyze the data. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was performed to construct the validity. As a result of exploratory factor analysis, a 4-factor structure emerged on the scale. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the structure, and it was determined that the developed model was in compliance with the criteria in the literature. These sub-factors were identified as meaningful in terms of self-confidence, need for success, personal benefit and leadership and responsibility. The Cronbach Alpha internal consistency coefficient of the scale was determined as 0.77. At the end of the research, a reliable and valid measurement scale about entrepreneurship was developed for the 5^th grade students.

The purpose of this study is to examine the views of nine years old students about media literacy and media literate. Phenomenology approach was used qualitative research designs in the research. The study group consisted of 12 (7 girls, 5 boys) third grade students from two different primary schools in Bayrakli, Izmir, Turkey. Research data were collected through interviews. In these interviews, a semi-structured interview form was used. Content analysis was used to analyze the data. Research findings are grouped under three themes: The meaning of media literacy, Characteristics of media literate and Being able to define themselves as being media literates or not. The findings showed that students mostly defined media literacy as “having a time limit in the use of media tools” and “critical view to the media”. According to students, the media literate is “ the one who uses the media for educational purposes" and as "critics".

This research examines the English language teachers’ motivations related to the usage of role-playing on English language practice in rural secondary schools in Ecuador. The sample consists of 45 English language teachers who work in public schools located in the rural and urban areas of the province of Manabi. A mixture of qualitative and quantitative research approaches is applied to analyze teachers’ motivations about using role-plays in English class and analyze the relationships between teaching motivations and the factors: teachers’ gender and work location. The instruments are (1) Focus group guide to collect participants' voices about the language practice at schools; and the (2) Likert questionnaire created by the research team, titled: Teachers' perceptions about role-play contribution on the foreign language acquisition process. The statistical analysis shows significant relationships between teachers’ perceptions and the factors in gender and work location. It is concluded that English teachers, both female and male from rural and urban locations in Ecuador, are highly motivated to use role-play in secondary schools as a teaching strategy, in spite of the demand of extra time and energy required, because it promotes in teachers and students the collaborative and creative learning; and improves their confidence to express their ideas and feelings using English as a foreign language.

Art is one of the most powerful ways of expressing an individual's internal state, expectations and needs with an aesthetic attitude. Different materials can be used during the expression process including colour, line, sound, movement, word, object and so on. Although the materials used in these branches of art are different from each other, the path followed in the application process and the final results are the same “to reveal an aesthetic product”. In order for an artistic practice to mature and reach the beautiful one, the practitioner must have the art education discipline and acquire certain knowledge, skills and understanding of the art field concerned. The art of painting, which is one of the plastic arts, provides the ability to search for beauty through lines and colours on two dimensional surfaces, to create compositions and express the individual's self with this composition, also has its own beauty value criteria. From this point of view, it was aimed to determine the opinions of the prospective teachers studying in the Department of Painting Education in the study about the beauty criteria that should be in the picture. In this study, survey method which is one of the quantitative research methods was preferred. As a data collection tool, a five - point Likert - type scale was developed by the researchers, and 25 items were used. 110 prospective teachers from various grades participated in the study. The results of the research showed that the prospective teachers greatly contributed to the beauty criteria that should be in the picture.

The aim of this research is to determine the misconceptions among 6th, 7th and 8th grade students about the order of operations in line with arithmetic expressions and posing and solving problems related to arithmetic expressions. The research has a mixed-method research design with concurrent-triangulation design. The study group for the research comprised a total of 240 students with 78 from 6th grade, 80 from 7th grade and 82 from 8th grade chosen with the simple random sampling method from schools located in a city in the Eastern Black Sea Region in Turkey. The research used a two-tier diagnostic test developed by the researcher to determine the misconceptions of students. According to the results of the research, it was determined that 6th, 7th  and 8th grade students performed arithmetic expressions from left to right without paying attention to order of operations, stated that only operations in brackets need to be performed first in terms of order of operations, did not pay attention to order of operation when writing or solving an arithmetic expression equal to a given number, and that students had difficulty posing a problem sentence involving arithmetic expressions and requiring order of operations.

Universities are more than institutions only conducting research and educating students in today’s world. Changing conditions in the world show that there is a need for redefining the functions of universities. This is called the third mission of universities. Starting from this perspective, this study aims to examine, first, the missions of all state and private universities in Turkey within the framework of the “third mission,” one of the most important priorities of universities today. The study results show that universities in Turkey adopted the third mission understanding to a certain extent, and particularly with the influence of the Council of Higher Education (CHE). However, they should do more related to the continuing education (CE), and, partially, to the social engagement (SE) dimensions. While many of the world’s leading universities include concepts such as service-learning, public engagement, or outreach in their missions and programs in order to seek integration with the societies in which they exist and with all the stakeholders with whom they cooperate, collaborate, and conduct important related activities, it is a concern regarding Turkey’s future that many universities (about 23%) did not even reflect the third mission understanding in their mission statements.

In the current study we examined the relationships between student evaluations of lecturers (teaching surveys) and faculty members' perceptions of these surveys as capable of blocking and limiting their professional advancement. Faculty members are judged and evaluated by academic authorities for their academic performance in research and teaching. 178 questionnaires were collected from the faculty of several academic institutions. We employ a mix method analysis, and form a model that reflects the factors perceived by faculty members as having the potential to block their professional advancement in academia. The research findings show that lecturers are of the opinion that teaching load has a detrimental effect on students' evaluations in the surveys. Lecturers at the beginning of their academic life, those in lower ranks: senior teacher and senior lecturer, address the negative aspects of the surveys more than others. The research findings indicate that although more hours are taught in colleges than at universities, it is harder to receive positive survey ratings at colleges. Moreover, since in Israeli academia research is still the main criterion for promotion – faculty members born in Israel were found to teaching less than those born elsewhere. Hence, faculty members think that student surveys are destructive and entail risks for their professional advancement. Assuming that students' voice and opinions on teaching are important – how can a balance be achieved between the research achievements of faculty members and student satisfaction?

In this study, it is aimed to examine the relationship between prospective teachers' occupational anxiety and technological pedagogical content knowledge. Correlational model was used in this study. The participants consisted of 481 prospective teachers studying at Sakarya University Faculty of Education in the spring term of 2018-2019 academic year. Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Scale (TPACKS) and Occupational Anxiety Scale (OAS) were used as data collection instruments. As a result of canonical correlation analysis, it was determined that technological pedagogical content knowledge affects occupational anxiety by 62%.

Computational thinking is a way of thinking that covers 21st century skills and includes new generation concepts such as robotics, coding, informatics and information construction. Computational thinking has reached an important point especially in the field of science in line with the rapid developments in technology. Robotics applications, software-based activities, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) education and problem-based studies are some of the areas where this thinking is used. In this study, which is based on this point, it is aimed to develop a scale for computational thinking. Exploratory sequential design, one of the mixed research methods, was used in the study. First of all, a detailed literature review was conducted and needs analysis was carried out. This study consists of two stages. In the first stage, exploratory factor analysis was performed and analyzed with SPSS 23 program. In the second stage, confirmatory factor analysis was performed and analyzed with LISREL 9.2 program. As a result of the study, the goodness of fit indexes of the scale was found. According to this; X²/df value 1.81; NNFI value 0.97; NFI value 0.93; CFI value 0.98; RMR value 0.05; SRMR value 0.04; AGFI value 0.91 and GFI value was found to be 0.93. When the reliability values of the study were examined, Cronbach’s Alpha value was found to be 0.86. As a result of the research, a computational thinking scale consisting of 3 factors and 30 items was developed. This scale was developed for prospective teachers and can be used at all levels of prospective teachers.

The aim of this study is to compare 2018 Science Course Curriculum (SCC), 2015 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and 2018 High School Entrance Examination (HSE) in terms of content domains, cognitive domains and learning objectives. Qualitative research method, was used in this study. Data were analyzed using document review matrices to determine the similarities and differences between the objectives of SCC, TIMSS and HSE. SCC outcomes and HSE science questions were also classified according to TIMSS cognitive domains. Results show that the learning objectives of the fields of Physics, Biology and Earth Sciences of TIMSS are compatible with those of all grade levels of SCC and that the objectives of Chemistry are compatible with those of the seventh and eighth grades. Most of HSE questions are compatible with the objectives of SCC, however, the latest revision in the curriculum has introduced some eighth grade objectives to other grade levels. HSE science questions measure higher-level skills than TIMSS science questions. The subject domain of the “Organisms and Life” of SCC has the most learning objectives in the levels of “knowing” and “reasoning” while the subject domain of the “Physical Events” has the most learning objectives in the levels of “applying.” Besides, the seventh-, fifth- and eighth-graders have the most objectives in the levels of “knowing,” “applying,” and “reasoning,” respectively. It is hoped that the results will contribute the literature in improvement of science curricula and interpretation of national and international exams.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of Instructional Technologies and Material Design (ITMD) course on pre-service mathematics teachers’ attitudes, efficacy beliefs about using concrete materials, and their opinions regarding the material preparation process. A total of 73 pre-service teachers were participated in this study. The scale developed by Bakkaloglu was used to determine efficacy beliefs of pre-service teachers about using concrete materials, and the attitudes scale developed by Cetin, Bagceci, Kinay and Simsek was used to determine the attitudes towards ITMD course. A written form was also used to reveal the opinions of pre-service teachers regarding the material preparation process. The qualitative data collected from 16 pre-service teachers was analyzed with the MAXQDA. Using content analysis, codes and themes were created separately by the researchers and analyzed through several iterations. As a result of this study, positive changes were found in the attitudes and efficacy beliefs of pre-service teachers. The results obtained from the opinions of the pre-service teachers support this positive change. In other words, it is possible to argue that the attitudes of pre-service teachers towards the material development process changed positively with the positive change in the efficacy beliefs about preparing materials after taking the ITMD course.

Teacher-made tests (TMT) are the most used instruments for assessment and evaluation. This study investigates the cognitive requirements, test construction errors, and item types of TMTs. Content analysis technique is used in order to analyze and classify TMT items based on TIMSS-2019 assessment framework and based on criteria that is constructed to determine test construction errors. The data is consisted of 548 items in 30 exam papers of 18 mathematics teachers from 13 distinct schools. The distribution of TIMSS-2019 cognitive demands of all TMTs indicates that there is a strong emphasis on knowing or applying cognitive domains, with a total percentage of 93. Since 83% of all questions are of multiple choice and 17% are constructed-response type, teachers mostly prefer multiple choice item type. Findings also reveal that except face validity, there are errors concerning test constructions. Consequently, it is suggested that teachers should give more care on preparing items of higher cognitive levels, on tests of mixed type items, and on tests that involve lesser construction errors for more reliable tests. Finally, it is also suggested that measurement and evaluation specialists should be employed in each school or in each local Ministry of National Education Authority at least, in order to support teachers, but if this is not possible in a close time, there must be in-service training programs on measurement and evaluation for teachers to participate in.

This study describes the development and validation of a psychometrically-sound instrument, the Active Learning Strategies Inventory (ALSI), designed to measure learners’ perceptions of their active learning strategies within an active learning context. Active learning encompasses a broad range of pedagogical practices and instructional methods that connect with an individual learner's active learning strategies. In order to fulfill the study's goals, a conceptual framework on learners’ active learning strategies was developed and proposed, drawing upon the research literature on active learning. The development and construct validation of the Active Learning Strategies Inventory (ALSI), based on the conceptual and methodological underpinnings, involved identifying five scales of learners’ active learning strategies: engagement, cognitive processing, orientation to learning, readiness to learn and motivational orientation. An item pool of 20 items was generated following an extensive review of the literature, standardized card sorting procedures including confirmatory factor analysis and scale validation of a pilot (n = 407) survey. The ALSI scale demonstrated strong internal consistency and reliability with a Cronbach's alpha ranging from 0.81 to 0.87. High item loading scores from the factor analysis provided initial support for the instrument's construct validity of the five-factor model. The ALSI scale provides a reliable and valid method for researchers and academicians who wish to measure learners' perceptions of their active learning strategies within an active learning context. Finally, we discuss the implications and address the limitations and directions for future research.

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.

In the current study, the problems posed by pre-service primary school teachers within the context of semi-structured problem formation were analyzed according to their type, cognitive structure, and content knowledge. A total of 134 pre-service primary school teachers attending a state university in Turkey participated in the current study designed in line with the case study design. The pre-service teachers were presented with a table and they were asked to establish a problem suitable for the elementary level using the data given in the table. The data were collected through the established problem statements and written explanations of the participants. The collected data were analyzed by using both content and descriptive analyses. The findings have revealed that the pre-service teachers less preferred real-life problems than routine type of problems and the problems at the level of reasoning than the problems at the levels of knowing and applying. Moreover, nearly half of the pre-service teachers erroneously expressed the grade level for which they established their problem. The results have shown that the pre-service teachers do not adequately use real-life problems and problems at the level of reasoning and that there are deficiencies in their mathematical content knowledge depending on their knowledge of the curriculum.

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.