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Using robotics technologies in education is increasingly common and has the potential to impact students' learning. Educational robotics is a valuable tool for developing students' cognitive and social skills, and it has greatly attracted the interest of teachers and researchers alike, from pre-school to university. The purpose of this study is to understand the behavioral patterns of elementary students and teachers in one-to-one robotics instruction process. The participants were made up of 18 elementary school students and 18 preservice teachers. Quantitative content analysis and lag sequential analysis were used to analyze the student-teacher interactions. According to findings, the students' assembling bricks, sharing ideas and experiences, and the teachers' providing guidance and asking questions were the most frequent behaviors. Regarding behavioral sequences, the teachers' guidance significantly followed the students' behavior of expressing and sharing their ideas that followed the teachers’ questions. The students also significantly tended to play with robots that they themselves designed. Moreover, the teacher-student interactions were discussed in detail in terms of gender differences and difficulty level of robotics activities. The results of this study can be taken into consideration in the design of learning environments with robotics activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The aim of this study is to evaluate the online continuing education program from the perspectives of new graduate nurses. An evaluation framework includes five factors (program and course structure, course materials, technology, support services and assessment). In this study, descriptive research methods were used. Participants of the study included 2.365 registered nurses enrolled in the first online nursing bachelor completion degree program in the country. Data were collected by survey. The findings indicated that students were mostly satisfied with this program. The results of this study suggest that well designed asynchronous online education methods can be effective and appropriate for registered nurses. However, the provision of effective support and technological infrastructure is as vital as the quality of teaching for online learners. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to examine the characteristics, methodologies, and general trends in Educational Technology articles, written by authors from Turkey, published in journals listed in the SSCI, SCI, and ERIC indexes from 1990 to 2011. A total of 1151 (SSCI:813, SCI:38, ERIC:300) articles published in 94 journals were examined via content analysis, using the ‘Educational Technology Papers Classification Form’ (ETPCF). The results show that the number of published Educational Technology studies dramatically increased in the years 2002 and 2007. “Educational environments and technology”, “distance education” and “multimedia” were the predominant subjects of the articles, though there were variations in terms of research topics and methodologies. Regarding research methodologies, quantitative studies were the most common type. Questionnaires and interviews were most commonly used as data collection tools, and the convenience sampling method was also widely used. The frequently studied sample participants were preservice teachers and other undergraduate students. In the present study, cross tabulation is used to present the findings. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Aims: It has been suggested that variations in the proportions of some dietary amino acids can slow down aging. In this study, the influence of amino acids other than methionine on aging was investigated. Main methods: Rats were fed either with normal (ND) or except methionine, protein restricted diet (PREMD) for 4months and oxygen radical production, oxidative protein and DNA damage along with telomere length and telomerase activity were evaluated in the liver. Key findings: Except mitochondrial superoxide production rate, feeding with PREMD significantly decreased the oxygen radical production rate and protein carbonyl levels in the homogenate and mitochondria of 16-month-old rats. Feeding with PREMD prevented 8-OHdG formation in mitochondrial DNA but not in the genomic DNA. Although liver telomerase activities of rats receiving either ND or PREMD seemed to have some variations, these did not reach a statistical significance. Feeding with PREMD conserved the telomere length in the liver. The telomere length of 8- and 16-month-old rats fed PREMD was similar, 16-month-old rats fed ND had telomeres shortened by 36% (p<0.05). Significance: Long-term restriction of the amino acids other than methionine may decrease oxygen radical generation and oxidative damage of cellular constituents, and may also prevent telomere shortening in rat liver. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]