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This study was conducted to determine the effects of blog-based teaching on academic achievement and pre-service teachers' ideas about this implementation. Participants of the study consist of 51 sophomore students of the department of Computer Education and Educational Technology in Inonu University, Turkey. The research method is a mixed method in which qualitative and quantitative methods are combined. Pretest and post-test quasi-experimental method with control group in the quantitative part and case study in the qualitative part were used. Experimental procedure lasted for 5 weeks during 'Assessment and Evaluation' course that is among the teacher education programs. The web blog was prepared by the researchers in accordance with the purpose of this study, the data was collected through an academic achievement test and interview form. At the end of the research, there is a significant difference between the pre-tests and post-tests of the experimental and control groups. No significant difference between the post-tests of the groups and retention was found. It was observed from the interviews that besides the advantages such as facilitating preparation for the lesson, information sharing, active participation and increase in achievement, there were disadvantages of blog-based teaching such as achieving not a full form of participation, internet and computer requirements. Also, it was concluded that blog-based teaching can be used mostly in verbal lessons by rich resources and data diversification. [This paper was presented at The 3rd International Congress on Curriculum and Instruction, October 22-24, 2015, Adana, Turkey.]

Since academic competences are essential for admission to good educational institutions and competitive markets, students face increasing pressures to meet academic expectations. This study aims to examine university students' state test anxieties based on various variables. Findings obtained from 503 university students show that state test anxiety differs based on such variables as repeated academic failures, academic achievement perception, experiencing test anxiety before and receiving help therefor, parents' evaluations on academic achievement, parents' attitudes, choosing departments willingly, paternal education level, department of education, degree, GPA, and gender while it does not, based on age, family's monthly income, maternal education level. [This paper was presented at the 11th International Forum of Educational Administration (EYFOR-XI), Nov 19-22, 2020, held on-line.]

The role of motivation in foreign language teaching has been a debated issue for long years. One of the problematic issues is the motivation problem encountered in foreign language courses. Because, the most important factor affecting academic success is motivation. Most researchers argued that as the motivation level increases, the level of foreign language learning will increase and students will learn foreign languages more easily. In this research, motivation attitudes of state and private elementary school students in foreign language courses in Turkey were examined. At the same time, the relationship between foreign language and motivation attitude of state and private elementary school students was tried to be determined. The sample of the research is 747 students in 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grades selected by random sampling from a Private Elementary School and a State Elementary School in Adana Province, Turkey, in 2018-2019 academic year. In the research, the participants were applied the Academic Motivation Scale-AMS and there was a significant effect on the motivation of different school type (state and private), gender, school and primary school was not examined. The difference between motivation levels of the students in state and private schools was tried to be determined. In the study, Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficiency and Independent Sample t-test Analysis were performed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences--SPSS 22 Programme. According to the results, it was found that the motivation level differed according to the gender and school type. [Paper presented at the International Cukurova Scientific Research Congress (4th, Adana, Turkey, Feb 21-23, 2020).]

This study tests the direct and indirect effects of online learners' personality traits, self-efficacy, and academic locus of control variables on grade point average (GPA) via path analysis. The participants of the study are 525 online learners from two different universities in Turkey. The results of the study reveal a good fit of the proposed model. Relationships in the research model show that self-efficacy has a positive direct effect and external academic locus of control has a negative direct effect on academic achievement. Conscientiousness, openness, and neuroticism have an indirect effect on the GPA, mediated by self-efficacy and external academic locus of control. Results are interpreted with the intent of providing an enhanced understanding of the importance of personality in students' success at online learning experience. [Paper presented at the International Eurasian Educational Research Congress (3rd, May 31-Jun 3, 2016).]

The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the relationship between academic motivation and social-emotional competency of student-athletes in terms of gender, grade, and active participation in sports. The study group consisted of 200 volunteer student-athletes studying at a sports high school. The Academic Motivation Scale and the Delaware Social-Emotional Competency Scale were used. According to the results, there was a significant difference between the mean scores related to the sub-dimensions of "Intrinsic motivation (IM)-to accomplish, Extrinsic motivation (EM)-introjected regulation, and amotivation" according to the variable of doing active sports, and "self-awareness, social-awareness, and EM-identified regulation" according to gender variable by independent sample t-test. The one-way ANOVA analysis results showed that there was a significant difference between the mean scores of "self-awareness, social-awareness, and IM-to know" sub-dimensions according to the variable of grade. The Pearson Moments Multiplication Correlation test showed that there was a negative relationship between the sub-dimensions self-awareness and social-awareness via EM-identified regulation. This study showed a low negative correlation between academic motivation and social-emotional competency in student-athletes. Significant differences were found between various sub-dimensions according to the variables of gender, grade, and active participation in sports. [This paper was presented at the 13th FIEP European - 29th FIEP World Congress in Istanbul in September, 2018.]

The purpose of this research is to analyze the studies on the Remedial Education Program in Primary Schools using meta-thematic analysis. In this research, qualitative research papers containing the opinions of participants about the Remedial Education Program in Primary Schools (REPPS) were examined by reviewing using Google Scholar and TR Dizin databases. In our research, research papers were determined by making a search using the keywords "Remedial Education Program in Primary Schools" and "REPPS." As a result of the review, 12 articles published as full text, using the qualitative research model and containing participant views, were included in the research. Five themes were developed as a result of this research.

This study investigates the effect of student response system (SRS) on students' achievement and achievement emotions in an English course. The participants were 9th grade students (n = 83, 40 female and 43 male) attending a high school in Turkey. Study involved one experiment and two control groups. In the experimental group, SRS was used to ask questions and to provide immediate feedback to the students. Paper and pencil form of the same questions (that were used in the experimental group) were asked to the students in the control group 1 and immediate feedback was provided. These questions were not used in the control group 2. Before and after the implementation, the English Achievement Test and Class Related and Test Related Achievement Emotions Questionnaires were administered to the experimental and control groups. Mixed ANOVA was used to examine the within and between group differences. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with experimental group students. The results showed that using an SRS had statistically significant effect on students' achievement in English. In terms of the achievement emotions, the SRS had a statistically significant effect on decreasing students' test anxiety. The SRS and using questions and immediate feedback in a paper and pencil format positively impacted students' class-related boredom and enjoyment, and test relief. The results of the interviews supported these findings. Students reported that lessons with SRS were more enjoyable and SRS helped them to learn the subject matter better. They also reported that SRS helped them for the self-assessment of their progress. The findings of the study also showed that technical problems that arise from the lack of internet infrastructure might cause time management problems during the implementation of SRS.

The main purpose of the study is to investigate the effects of prospective teachers' cognitive styles on learning approaches. It is aimed to define whether exist significance differences between defining prospective teachers' cognitive styles and learning approaches and demographic variables within the scope of the mean purpose. The study, designed according to correlational survey model, was conducted at Mugla Sitki Kocman University, Faculty of Education in the 2014-2015 academic year spring semester. As data collection instruments, "The Group Embedded Figures Test" was administered to define prospective teachers' cognitive style in the study. On the other hand "The Revised Two Factor Study Process Questionnaire" was used to reveal prospective teachers' learning approaches. According to the findings, prospective teachers generally have field dependent cognitive style. It is determined that between with prospective teachers' gender and academic success and cognitive style scores there is not any significant difference revealed. However, there is significant difference between branches and cognitive style scores. It has been viewed that prospective teachers prefer deep learning approach generally. There is not significant difference between gender and learning approaches yet there is significant difference between learning approaches-branches and academic success. It is also concluded that as prospective teachers' cognitive styles approaches to field independent, deep learning approach preference of prospective teachers has diminished. [This paper was presented at the International Eurasian Educational Research Congress (3rd, Mugla, Turkey, May 31-June 3, 2016).]

The aim of this research study is to determine how students define their anxiety about learning mathematics, to determine the symptoms of anxiety and to define how anxiety occurs. The phenomenology research design was used in the study. A semi-structured interview form was used as a data collection tool in the research. The data were analyzed through the content analysis. The study group of the research consists of four male and four female 8th graders in two public secondary schools in Uluborlu district of Isparta. According to the results, students predominantly defined mathematics anxiety as frightening/scary. Also, students identified the symptoms of mathematics anxiety mostly as the theme of physical/physical symptoms. Students stated that sociological, psychological and philosophical dimensions were effective in the emergence of mathematical anxiety. Some students expressed common views on the sociological dimension-psychological and psychological-philosophical dimension. The effects of mathematics anxiety have been examined under two titles as the effects related to the psychological and sociological dimensions. While the effects related to the psychological dimension are discussed in terms of course achievement and effects on themselves, the effects related to the sociological dimension are discussed in terms of their effects on their relationship with their family and friends. [This study was presented as an oral presentation at the Eighth International Congress on Curriculum and Instruction, March 25-27, 2021. This article includes an extended summary in Turkish.]

This study focuses on the predictive power of linguistic (i.e., general English proficiency; identified simply as "proficiency" in this paper) and non-linguistic (i.e., language learning anxiety and self-regulation) factors on the academic success of English medium instruction (EMI) students studying in engineering and social sciences programs in a Turkish university setting. Data were collected from 705 conveniently sampled EMI students of four academic subjects (international relations; N = 158; business administration; N = 184; mechatronics engineering; N = 181; mechanical engineering: N = 182) representing two disciplines (i.e., social sciences and engineering) from a public university. Pearson correlation and SEM analyses were run to determine the relationships among language learning anxiety, self-regulation, proficiency and EMI success. Findings revealed that anxiety and self-regulation skills do affect EMI students' proficiency irrespective of academic disciplines. Both self-regulation and proficiency impacted EMI students' academic success in engineering, while only proficiency predicted academic success in the social sciences. These results are discussed and pedagogical implications are given related to the impact of linguistic and non-linguistic factors in EMI contexts.

This paper aims to analyse the applications for raising students' and schools' academic performance in the context of equal opportunities in education in such countries as Canada, Finland and Singapore with high achievement in PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) in 2018 and thus to make recommendations to our country- Türkiye. A qualitative study method was used in this current study. Document analysis technique, a method of qualitative study, was used in collecting the data. The data collected were then described under certain headings through descriptive analysis. The applications for raising academic performance in the context of equal opportunities in education in certain countries with high achievement in PISA (2018) were analysed under the headings of "applications of academic support for students in the context of equal opportunities in education in the countries" and "applications of academic support for schools in the context of equal opportunities in education in the countries". It was found in consequence that mostly local or school-based applications were available for students and schools in the countries. It is evident that applications are performed within a system. Interventions are made according to feedback. All the stakeholders take on active roles in the process. More systematic and local configuration involving all the stakeholders is needed in our country.

School climate which is strongly related with the students' outcomes includes some of the components, among which disciplinary climate in schools was expressed as the dominant one. Safety and order in schools which is strongly related with the physical and emotional security stated as one of the indicator of disciplinary climate in schools. In disciplined schools, more opportunities are found to focus on learning and teaching. So, in these schools, there is a tendency of placing the academic success to the priority. In addition, allocating time to emphasizing on academic success is strongly related with having teaching time that is not interrupted by the basic needs of the students. Moreover, academic pressure which reflect the schools' emphasis on academic success have been discussed in recent studies with its advantages and disadvantages. In this study, the association of safety, order and disciplined issues, limitation of teaching by students' needs, academic pressure, teachers' gender and education level with the schools' emphasis on academic success was investigated by scrutinizing the 4th grade teachers' responses in TIMSS 2015 for three different countries, Finland, Singapore, and Turkey, respectively. Multiple logistic regression was run to analyze the data. The results revealed that schools' emphasis on academic success varies across three countries after controlling aforementioned variables. In addition, the estimated odds ratio for the explanatory variable of "safe, orderly and disciplined school" has the highest value among the explanatory variables for the three countries. [This study was presented as an oral presentation at ERPA International Congresses on Education, 10-12 April 2020.]

The aim of the research is to comparatively investigate the opinions of students in doctoral education in the USA and Turkey about academic self-efficacy. The research used the basic qualitative research pattern from among qualitative research designs. The study group in the research comprised a total of 32 doctoral students with 16 from Turkey and 16 from the USA. Of these students, 25 were male (78%) and 7 were female (22%). With the aim of determining the participant group, criterion sampling was used from the targeted sampling methods. A semi-structured interview form was used to gather data in the research. For analysis of data, the content analysis technique was used. It has been determined by the results obtained from the study that Turkish and American students have similar goals to attend a Ph.D program in some respect and they have a high level of academic self-efficacy belief (ASEB) in using the relevant terminology and reaching the literature. In addition, it has been determined that Turkish students have a weaker academic self- efficacy belief than American students in respect of using scientific research methods and qualitative and quantitative data analysis techniques. [This study was presented as an oral presentation at ERPA International Congresses on Education (April 10-12, 2020).]

The aim of this study was to examine the direct and indirect relationship between student school absenteeism, personal factors (academic self- perception, attitudes towards teacher and school, goal valuation and motivation/ self-regulation), family factors (parents' educational level and income), and academic achievement in structural equation model. Four hundred and twenty three high school students participated in the study. The findings revealed that student absenteeism was negatively related to academic self-perception, attitudes towards teacher and school, goal valuation, motivation/ self-regulation, and academic performance. Results also revealed that student absenteeism differed in respect to parents' educational level and income. Results from SEM analyses noticed that personal and family factors significantly predict previous and current student absenteeism. SEM analyses also revealed that previous student absenteeism significantly predict previous academic achievement. Finally, SEM analyses noticed that previous student absenteeism and previous academic achievement can predict current student absenteeism. Contribution and implications of these findings were discussed in detail. [This paper was presented at the International Congress on Education for the Future: Issues and Challenges (Ankara, Turkey, May 2015).]

This study examines the structural relationship among motivation, deep learning approach, and academic achievement of middle school students in Turkey. Participants were 746 seventh grade and eighth grade students enrolled in public middle schools in Sinop and Ankara, Turkey. Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F) and GPA scores of participants were used in the study. Data were analyzed by Structural Equation Modeling. The results of the study revealed that motivational variables are related with the use of deep learning approach which is related with higher GPA. Path analyses demonstrated that deep learning approach fully mediated the relationship between students' motivational variables and academic achievement. Self-efficacy, task value, and intrinsic goal orientation as the indirect effects through deep learning approach on academic achievement were strong predictors in the model. [This study was presented at the International Congress of Eurasian Educational Researches held in Ankara on June 19-22, 2019.]

Problem Statement: In educational institutions, the effectiveness of communication between teachers and parents, in terms of student achievement and attendance, has a great importance. Parent-teacher communication provides multi-faceted benefits to teachers, the school, and parents as well. However, various obstacles hinder the realization of effective parent-teacher communication in school settings. Purpose of Study: The main purpose of this study is to determine the communication barriers between parents and teachers, based on the views of primary school teachers. This study is seen as important since it addresses the barriers in communication, which is seen as vital for achieving educational aims effectively. Effective communication provides achievement and improvement by providing support to parents, students, teachers, and schools and promoting appropriate environments. Method: This research is a survey type descriptive study. Due to the stratified and random type sample formation, 850 teachers were considered to be taken into the research sample; however, 514 of the distributed questionnaires were found valid. The data collection tool used was a four-dimensioned scale developed by the researchers themselves. In the analysis of the data, parametric and non-parametric tests were used. Findings: The findings revealed that teachers experienced "individual" barriers at a "general" level, but other "socio-cultural," "accessibility," and "field and status" related barriers at were experienced at the "very rare" level without any significant differences considering the gender and branches of the teachers. However, novice teachers (5 years and less work experience) stated significantly the most individual barriers and the most barriers related to the other dimensions as well. Results and Suggestions: The results obtained in this study show the same major communication preventive issues between teachers and parents documented in the literature. Thus, results such as physical distance, socio-cultural differences (language, dress, values), meeting with parents only when money is required, parents' lack of trust in teachers and their unwillingness for cooperation, parents' financial problems and lack of interest about informing parents of school-related issues, inappropriate schedule of school activities, teachers' misbehaviors, parents' education level, parents' mistrust in teachers and managers, and the like also confirm the situation represented in previous research. It was recommended that school managers and teachers adopt an open-door policy for parents; and the schools should take the initiative of realizing collaborative efforts among the school staff, parents, and other relevant institutions in order to eliminate communication barriers. The training of the school administrators, teachers, and families about gaining effective communication skills that will contribute to student achievement should be emphasized. [This paper was presented at the 1st Eurasian Educational Research Congress.]

Since problem solving skills play a central role in middle and secondary school mathematics curricula, this made mathematics educators give importance to this subject. Improving problem solving skills of students is one of the primary aims of education so it is very important to make students gain problem solving skills. Thus, the aim of this research is to investigate views of middle and secondary school mathematics teachers related to improvement of students' problem solving skills. Qualitative research method was used in this study. The research was done on fall term of 2015-2016 academic year. The study was conducted with 115 mathematics teachers (60 middle school and 55 secondary school) working at state schools. Data were gathered by a form consisted of open ended questions and analyzed by descriptive and content analysis techniques. At the end of the research, it is found that teachers had information about the importance of problem solving skills improvement in mathematics education. Also, it is determined that participants thought teachers should have a central role in improving problem solving skills and students should strive in problem solutions. In addition, it was found that teachers believed that mathematics and other lessons improved problem solving skills and improvement in problem solving skills had a positive effect on the achievement in mathematics and other lessons. Lastly, teachers thought that students whose problem solving skills had improved were more successful than the other students and had higher self-confidence than others. They also stated that since it had an impact on improvement in problem solving skills, it should be given importance to level of students when the textbooks were prepared. [This paper was presented at the International Conference on Education in Mathematics, Science & Technology (ICEMST) (2016).]

The objective of this study is to ascertain the effects of immersive virtual reality environments on students' academic achievement utilizing quantitative and qualitative approaches. First, databases of Web of Science, Google Scholar, ERIC, Proquest, YÖK Thesis Center, and ULAKBIM of Turkey were searched, and 31 studies (23 journal papers and 8 theses) were selected for the meta-analysis. In this context, the overall effect size on students' academic achievement was analyzed with the CMA program using subject area and grade level moderator variables. In the second part, content analysis was performed using the ATLAS.ti program for 8 studies selected for the meta-thematic analysis. it was found that immersive virtual reality environments had a positive, moderate (d = 0.526) effect on students' academic achievement. After the meta-thematic analysis, it was observed that immersive virtual reality environments had many positive effects on students' cognitive, affective, and psychomotor skills and that created a perception of reality and sense of presence in students, facilitates learning, increases motivation, creates a safe and interactive learning environment and make many contributions to learning. In addition, it was determined that there may be problems such as technical problems and health problems during the environments, and it was stated that measures should be taken.

This study examines the effect of using animation-based worked examples (ARAWEs) that are prepared using Augmented Reality (AR) technology instead of using traditional paper-based worked examples (TWEs) on the achievement, motivation, and attitude of high school students during their programming education. The research was designed through the "Nonequivalent Control Group Model", one of the quasiexperimental models. The participants consisted of second year students (N=94) who were taking the "Basics of Programming" course in the Department of Information Technologies a vocational and technical Anatolian high school in Turkey. An achievement test was applied to the participants as pre-test and final test. Motivation of the students was measured by means of the "Instructional Materials Motivation Survey" developed by Kutu and Sözbilir (2011), and participant attitudes towards using AR was measured by means of the "AR Attitude Scale" developed by Küçük, Yilmaz, Baydas and Göktas (2014). According to the results, both the achievement and motivation levels of the students studying on ARAWEs increased significantly compared to those studying on TWEs. There was a high level of correlation between the final test scores and the attitude levels of the students studying on ARAWEs. Considering that instructional materials containing animation-based worked examples prepared using AR technology increase students' interest and motivation in the subject, their use in lessons that include teaching problem solving skills, such as mathematics, physics, and chemistry, can be implemented in future studies.

The emergent COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019 has affected the whole world in a short time. Therefore, schools have been closed worldwide, and online learning opportunities have been exploited. Although lessons are taught online, problems have been experienced about measuring and evaluating lessons. This quasi-experimental study with a quantitative method was conducted to offer suggestions for the measurement problems. The present study examined the relationship between the measures of academic achievement obtained through different approaches from the students studying at a university. According to the results, the achievement points earned by the students through weekly blogs had a high level of correlation with the traditional final scores. However, the scores of the practices such as online exams and term papers were not an acceptable fit with the final exams. Therefore, the scores of online missions extended over time can be claimed to be the approach that best substitutes the final exams.

This study examines the effect of using a personal response system (PRS) on students' academic performance and attitude towards science and technology. The study is conducted during the spring semester of the 2018-2019 academic year in a secondary school in northwestern Turkey. The study is designed as a pre-test and post-test control group design, with 21 in the control group and 23 in the experimental group. The Science Achievement Scale and the PRS Attitude Scale were administered to 92 students in the pilot study during the scale development process. The study is conducted on one unit in the course syllabus called "The World of living things and indispensable part of our lives: electricity." The researcher worked with the group two hours a week for six weeks. Every week after the lecture, the class teacher made their students solve multiple-choice questions with PRS in the experimental group and paper-based in the control group. The quantitative section of this study included three tools: the Achievement Test, the Attitude Toward Science Scale, and the Attitude Toward PRS Scale. Although results showed no difference in achievement between pre-test and post-test scores in both groups, the experimental group showed a promising difference in their attitudes toward science. In addition, boys were more positive about PRS than girls based on the PRS attitude scale. The qualitative component involved focus group discussion with a random sample of six surveyed students and an interview with the class teacher. Students provided positive feedback regarding the use of PRS. They appreciated peer discussions that instructors facilitated while using PRS. The teacher was likewise enthusiastic about implementing PRS in his class.

This paper investigated the effect of block-based programming and unplugged coding teaching activities on fifth graders' computational thinking skills, self-efficacy, and academic performance. The teaching activities were conducted within the scope of the "Problem-Solving and Programming" unit of the Information Technologies and Software (ITS) course. The sample consisted of 82 fifth graders of three public middle schools in the academic year of 2020-2021. Participants were recruited using random sampling. The study adopted an embedded mixed design. The quantitative stage employed a pretest-posttest randomized control group design, while the qualitative staged employed a case study. Quantitative data were collected using the Computational Thinking Self-efficacy Scale (CTSES), the International Informatics and Computational Thinking Activity Task Test (IICTATT), and a Computational Thinking Performance Test (CTPT) developed by the researcher. Qualitative data were collected using a semi-structured interview questionnaire. The quantitative data were analyzed using the Kruskal Wallis H, paired sample t-test, and ANCOVA test on the Statistical Package for Social Sciences(SPSS). The qualitative data were analyzed inductively using MAXQDA. There was no significant difference in CTSES scores between groups. Experimental 2 had higher IICTATT and CTPT scores than Experimental-1 and control groups. The qualitative findings were grouped into seven categories.

The aim of this study is to explore the effect size of the drama approach used in the social studies course on academic achievement through the meta-analysis method in the Turkish sample. The academic studies included in this study were searched at the following databases, namely, National Thesis Centre of the Council of Higher Education (YÖK), ULAKBIM TR Index, Google Scholar, and Scopus by using the keywords "creative drama", "drama", and "dramatization". As a result of the database search, the meta-analysis was carried out with 31 academic studies, including 26 master's theses, 2 doctoral dissertations, and 3 academic papers, all conducted on the effect of drama approach on academic achievement in social studies course. The data related to the studies included in the meta-analysis were analyzed by entering them into the CMA (Comprehensive Meta-Analysis) and MetaWin software programs. Due to the fact that the studies included in our meta-analysis were heterogeneous to one another, effect sizes were calculated according to the random effects model. In addition to this, grade levels, the weeks of application, and the number of samples were identified and analyzed as moderator variables. The results showed that the drama approach used in the social studies course had a positive and significant impact on students? academic achievement. Nevertheless, the moderator analyses indicated that the grade level, the week of application, and the number of samples led to no change in the effect size on academic achievement. No publication bias was found in the studies included in the analysis. Based on the results of the study, we have made a number of recommendations for future research to be conducted on the drama approach for teaching purposes in the social studies course.

This paper analyzes the effects of internationalization seen through the Erasmus program in teacher education programs. The study's importance is that teacher training is generally funded for local environments by state systems; subsequently teacher candidates have less opportunity for global curricula. One of Turkey's most vital tools for internationalization is the Erasmus exchange program. Thus, this study focuses on interviews with teacher candidates having international exchange experience and teacher educators involved as program coordinators in their own education faculties. Twelve participants from different teacher training areas at diverse universities were interviewed. The research findings reveal that students' social and cultural skills developed more than their academic competencies and professional teaching skills. Although the program makes an essential contribution to internationalization on both individual and institutional bases; we reveal that course selection problems, difficulties in academic recognition processes, foreign language problems, and the lack of possibility of taking the practicum course abroad have adverse effects on the process. This research addresses knowledge gaps in internationalization policy as teacher candidates, and teacher educators' voices are not heard in such initiatives. The study suggests that education faculties need solid foundations for internationalization efforts.

This paper investigated the effect of active learning techniques on academic performance and learning retention in the fourth-grade science course. This study adopted a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design. Active learning techniques were applied in the experimental group, while the control group continued their routine education. The data were analyzed using a t-test. The results showed that the experimental group had higher academic performance and learning retention than the control group. Our results are consistent with the literature. Our experimental group participants had higher academic performance and learning retention than the control group participants. This suggests that active learning techniques enabled students to play a more active role in teaching/learning. Researchers should conduct longitudinal and mixed-design studies to understand the impact of active learning techniques more depth.

Background: In recent years, science curricula (chemistry, physics, biology, earth science, life science, etc.) in many countries have been prepared and applied according to the inquiry-based learning approach. Although the acquisition and application of the inquiry skills are one of the important objectives of the science curriculum, the inquiry skills of each student do not enhance at the same level. The inquiry level of the learning environment; the importance and value attached to the inquiry in that environment, students who have different goals when attending to the learning environments, and students who do not get involved in the learning process at the same level can be shown as the reasons of this. Purpose: The purpose of this research is to examine both the direct and indirect relationships between the inquiry-based self-efficacy, the achievement goal orientation, the learning strategies, and the inquiry skills variables. Sample: This research was conducted during the 2015-2016 school year among 498 seventh and eighth graders at public schools in Turkey's Aydin province. Design and methods: The Inquiry-based Self-Efficacy Scale, the Goal Orientation Scale, the Learning Approach Scale, and the Inquiry Skills Test were applied to the students. The analysis of data was carried out through the Multilevel Structural Equation Model (MSEM). Results: The findings related to the first model did not provide evidence for either direct or indirect effects of the inquiry-based self-efficacy on inquiry skills, achievement goal orientation, and learning strategies. However, findings from the final models provided evidence for both direct and indirect effects of separately inquiry-based self-efficacy and the achievement goal orientation on the inquiry skills through the learning strategies. Conclusions: This study demonstrates the potential that relations with self-efficacy, achievement goal orientation, and task value theory while improving inquiry skills. (Includes questionnaire.) [This paper was presented at the National Congress of Science and Mathematics Education (12th, Trabzon, Turkey, September 28-30, 2016.]

This study aims to investigate students' perceptions about democratic school climate and sense of community in school. In line with this purpose, it aims to find answers to the following questions: How democratic do students find the school climate? What is students' sense of belonging level at school? What is the academic success level of students? Is there a significant relationship between students' democratic school climate scores and sense of community in school scores? The study, which was designed as a descriptive one to identify the present situation, made use of democratic school climate scale as data collection tool. Students' academic success was evaluated based on their grade point averages. The participants were students in a School of Foreign Languages department in a university in southern Turkey. The study utilized descriptive statistics and Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient analysis techniques. It was found that students' sense of community in school perceptions were higher than their perceptions about democratic school climate. Although there was not a high relationship between academic success and perceptions about sense of community in school and democratic school climate, students with very low academic success had low perceptions about democratic school climate and sense of community in school. As for those with very high academic success, they were found to have high perceptions in relation to these variables. In line with the findings obtained from the study, some recommendations were made for democratic school climate. [This study was presented at VI. International Conference on Critical Education (August 10-13, 2016, London, England).]

The main aim of this study is to investigate the effects of an English language education program that addresses the academic and cognitive needs of gifted children on their academic achievement and creative thinking levels. To this end, through an experimental research design, the unit "Health Problems" in English course book was differentiated for gifted students at Grade 5 and the effects of this differentiation on the students' creative thinking levels and academic achievements were examined. Due to the experimental nature of the study, the Randomized Pre-test Post-test Control Group Design was used. The research was conducted with the students who were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups, according to the results of the Raven SPM Test and Torrance Test of Creative Thinking. The Raven SPM Test and Torrance Test of Creative Thinking were applied in the study. The participants of the study consist of 24 gifted students at Grade 5 in Beyazit-Ford Otosan Primary School that is the only mainstream primary school for gifted students in Turkey. The study was conducted in 2011-2012 academic year. The data were analyzed by means of Mann Whitney-U and Wilcoxon Signed Ranks tests. The findings showed that the differentiated English language education program for gifted students significantly improved their creative thinking levels and academic achievement. [This study was presented at the 11th Good Examples in Education Conference organized in 2014 at the Sabanci University as a poster presentation.]