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This study explores users' perceptions of the Virtual Assistant application facilitated by the Anadolu University Open Education System. It assesses the application's effectiveness and user satisfaction by analyzing opinions regarding its importance and the experience it delivers. The research delineates its population as learners engaging with the Virtual Assistant within the Anadolu University Open Education Framework. Employing a sequential explanatory design within mixed-method research methodologies, the investigation commenced with an online Virtual Assistant Satisfaction Survey involving 374 participants as the sample-subsequent focus group discussions with 18 users aimed to delve deeper into satisfaction levels vis-à-vis user expectations. Findings indicate a moderate level of satisfaction among users with the Virtual Assistant application, reflecting a congruence with anticipated outcomes. Moreover, the analysis across various dimensions revealed a comprehensive satisfaction in alignment with user expectations, particularly highlighting approval for the application's adherence to the Open Education website's design language. Conversely, dissatisfaction was noted concerning the specificity and utility of the information provided. The study identifies a disparity in satisfaction levels, with high marks in design aspects and lower evaluations in usability. Recommendations are extended towards enhancing the Virtual Assistant and similar tools through user-centric development and encouraging further research predicated on the insights garnered from this study.

This study explores the perspectives of Indian library professionals on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in libraries. It aims to understand their knowledge, awareness, and views on AI and its challenges and opportunities. The research adopts a quantitative approach, using a closed-ended survey to collect data from 386 library professionals in academic institutions across India. The survey covers various aspects, including socio-demographic information, AI knowledge, perspectives on AI in libraries, ethical considerations, and adopting AI tools and services. The findings indicate that Indian library professionals are generally aware of AI and its potential benefits in libraries. They believe AI can enhance library activities, improve accessibility, and support decision-making. However, there are concerns about AI replacing human intelligence within libraries. Factors such as user privacy, funding, staff expertise, and alignment with institutional goals are essential when implementing AI applications. Ethical considerations, including bias and discrimination, intellectual freedom, and transparency, are also significant concerns. AI tools like smart shelving and optical character recognition (OCR) are among the technologies already adopted in Indian libraries.

This practice report provides an overview of a podcast series designed to support first-year student transition to university and promote wellbeing and belonging. The podcast was established in 2017 in a compulsory first year law subject (Legal Institutions and Methods) at La Trobe University, Australia. The podcasts record interviews with students who have recently completed the subject and are designed to (a) give interviewees an opportunity to reflect on their experiences and (b) provide advice to future commencing law students (i.e., their peers). The podcast is a form of peer-to-peer mentoring that requires a relatively small investment of resources and provides on-demand support to students as they commence their law studies. The concept is readily adaptable to other disciplines.

This research aims to compare the awareness, efficacy and attitudes, and opinions of science teachers (STs) and prospective science teachers (PSTs) toward STEM. In this study, convergent parallel design from mixed methods was used. The study group consists of 45 STs and 177 PSTs. In the quantitative dimension of the study, "Teacher Efficacy and Attitudes Towards STEM Survey" and "STEM Awareness Scale " were applied to the study group, which was formed by sampling criteria and maximum diversity from purposeful sampling. In the qualitative dimension of the research, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 STs and 25 PSTs selected through maximum diversity sampling from purposeful sampling. As a result of the research, it was observed that although the STEM awareness, efficacy, and attitudes of STs and PSTs were similar, they had positive attitudes. However, most of the participants in both groups considered themselves inadequate in STEM, expressed their opinions about the adverse effects of STEM applications as well as their positive effects, and that STEM applications were effective in career selection and country development.

Governments and educational authorities around the world are emphasizing performance evaluation of educational systems. Opinion Mining (OM) has gained acceptance among experts in various regions, including the preparation space. The proposed model involves Two modules: the data preprocessing module and the opinion mining module. The main objective of our article is to enhance educational systems through the analysis of student comments, teacher comments and course comments. Furthermore, the proposed model uses a bundling task to make groups of packs for students from its comments. The datasets were 10,000 instances, 80% of which were for training and 20% for testing. The results showed that K-Means Algorithm had the best accuracy time /Sec of 0.03. The correctly classified 8,000 instances were equal to 96%, and incorrectly classified 2,000 instances were equal to 4%, Accuracy of the model is 95%, Recall is 94.8% and F-Measure is 93.7% between others algorithms. clustering and Association Rule Mining phases Algorithms namely Chi-Square test is good quality than Others Algorithms.

Pre-service science teachers have difficulty with designing learning activities and writing lesson plans using STEM education. This research aims to: (1) develop a learning package to enhance competency in designing learning activities using STEM Education approach for pre-service science teachers, (2) implement the learning package to develop undergraduate students' competency, and (3) study students' opinions toward the instruction. This research was classroom action research, which used ADDIE model (Analysis, Design, Development, Implement, and Evaluate) to develop and implement the learning package in enhancing student competency in designing learning activities. The participants of this study were 31 fourth-year undergraduate students enrolled in the course of Science Instruction, in the program of Bachelor of Education in the Department of General Science, Faculty of Science. The research tools consisted of: (1) the learning packages, (2) the students' competency assessment form by evaluating from tasks and performance of the students using scoring rubrics, (3) the competency self-assessment form, and (4) the students' opinions questionnaire towards the instruction. Both quantitative data and qualitative data were collected by using the competency assessment forms and the questionnaire. The statistics used to analyze the data were mean, standard deviation, and percentage. The results show that 67.74% of students were at excellent level from assessing students' competency, and 32.26% of students were at good level. The mean score of overall competencies of the students were 83.43%. The students' competency from self-assessment was at low level before learning, and it was at very high level after learning, and the students' opinions towards the instruction were highly satisfied. The qualitative data from open ended questions questionnaire were analysed using content analysis. The result showed students' feedback and satisfaction toward learning. The finding can benefit science teachers and curriculum developers in designing learning activities.

Creativity and problem solving are considered to be twenty-first-century competencies, therefore promoting mathematical creativity should be an important part of school mathematics. The study presented in this paper is inspired by the notion of mathematical creativity and the utilization of multiple solution tasks (MSTs) to investigate students' creativity. Multiple solution tasks are mathematical tasks with an explicit requirement to be solved with different methods. For the purpose of the study, we used a textbook question which allows multiple solution pathways as our research instrument. This MST was administered to first-year mathematics students (18-20 years) along with additional questions related to their experience in school mathematics. The results of the study showed that students had difficulties complying with the demands of the task, but generally have a positive disposition toward MSTs. Moreover, the results underline the necessity of incorporating MSTs in mathematics classroom teaching to create a more coherent corpus of mathematical knowledge. The study also provides an example of how a regular textbook task can be used as an MST.

Purpose: The purpose of this manuscript is to explore an assignment given to students in an online gender and leadership graduate course as a tool to help them think critically about how music influences perceptions of gender roles in both society and leadership. Design/methodology/approach: The assignment directs students to review the current Billboard "Hot 100" chart, which lists the top 100 songs in the United States each week based on sales and streams. Students are prompted to identify a song with gendered themes and discuss how the song portrays women and/or men, what gender stereotypes the song supports or refutes, and whether the messaging is positive or negative in nature. Finally, the students discuss ways that the message in the song could influence the listener's opinion about gender stereotypes and what effect that could have on gendered leadership issues. Findings: Students use this assignment as an opportunity to apply the course material that relates to the importance of gender representation and the influence of media on gender issues in leadership. Originality/value: Recommendations are provided to inspire creative ideas for leadership educators who seek to prepare students to understand organizational challenges related to gender issues in leadership.

As part of a 5-year study to develop and validate an instrument for measuring success in long-standing community-based participatory research (CBPR) partnerships, we utilized the Delphi method with a panel of 16 community and academic CBPR experts to assess face and content validity of the instrument's broad concepts of success and measurement items. In addition to incorporating quantitative and qualitative feedback from two online surveys, we included a 2-day face-to-face meeting with the Expert Panel to invite open discussion and diversity of opinion in line with the CBPR principles framing and guiding the study. The face-to-face meeting allowed experts to review the survey data (with maintained anonymity), convey their perspectives, and offer interpretations that were untapped in the online surveys. Using a CBPR approach facilitated a synergistic process that moved above and beyond the consensus achieved in the initial Delphi rounds, to enhance the Delphi technique and the development of items in the instrument.

This study aims to reveal the opinions of teacher candidates on unemployment, which has been observed more seriously among the young in the society recently, the provision of employment to the individuals in the society, and the links between unemployment and the Turkish education system. In this study, which was designed as qualitative research, it was tried to put forward the anxiety, opinions and solution suggestions of the candidate teachers who are fourth-year students in Tokat Gaziosmanpasa University and Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University Education Faculties about unemployment. In the study, in the approaches of teacher candidates to the concept of unemployment, they perceived unemployment as not being able to find a job or being sentenced to a job that was not suitable for its quality; the candidate teachers were observed to explain unemployment through definitions such as disrepute, seeing no respect in society, living in need of others, being left behind in the struggle for survival. It is seen that participants find the vocational guidance in the education system insufficient and unplanned, and they focus on solutions to increase the quality of education, not to increase the duration of education and the number of educational institutions as a suggestion to create employment. It has been stated that the Turkish education system should be saved from its competitive and rote structure that does not respond to the subjective needs of individuals, that teacher training institutions should be removed from their theoretical, multiple-choice examination-oriented structure, and a qualified teacher training system that gives more space to practise should be established.

The implications of how teacher development courses (TDCs) should be designed for integrated STEM education are essential for in-class STEM education practices. This study compares the three TDCs accomplished to support teachers' professional development (PD) for integrated STEM education in terms of pedagogical knowledge, technological knowledge, and strategy. A holistic multiple-case study design was used in this study. Each TDC was considered a case study, and case-specific analyses were made. The findings obtained for each case were then compared. The first TDC included only computer science teachers and showed us the necessity of interdisciplinary work to enhance integrated STEM education. The second TDC demonstrated that this work could be accomplished by combining the content knowledge of teachers from various disciplines; however, the second TDC's drawbacks included identifying real-world problems, a lack of response to the engineering approach for science and mathematics teachers, and the rigidity of the collaborative working strategy. Then, we focused on the role and purpose of "T"echnology. Finally, we gave the teachers learning tasks to work collaboratively with teachers in their disciplines first and teachers from other disciplines later. This study shows how a TDC should be designed effectively to support teachers' PD for integrated STEM education.

With this study we aimed at determining the service-learning experiences of pre-service Turkish language teachers in teaching Turkish to Syrian refugee students. The Community Service Practices course plays an important role in the integration of pre-service teachers in the society. A phenomenological design was used in the study in which we investigated the opinions of pre-service teachers about the service-learning processes. The study was conducted with 23 pre-service Turkish language teachers in Kilis 7 Aralik University. The community service practice was realised in a state school where Syrian secondary school students receive education. Interviews were conducted to collect data from the participants, and the content analysis method was used to analyse the data obtained from the interviews. Themes were formed by classifying and interpreting the data. In the study, the experiences of pre-service teachers with students, the teaching process, teaching environment, students, and service-based learning process were analysed. The results indicate that pre-service teachers developed their awareness, took social responsibility, attained occupational experience, and improved their communication with the refugees during the Community Service Practices course. Considering the results obtained it could be argued that service-learning practices have significant benefits for pre-service teachers and students.

In this teaching case, we describe an experiential learning project that allows students to perform sentiment analysis on a set of tweets (posts made on the social media platform, Twitter) by collecting and analyzing posts that include key words selected by the students. Sentiment analysis refers to the process of identifying and categorizing opinions expressed in a piece of text. The project requires students to make edits to an R script, execute the script to save a collection of tweets that contain specific keywords, then open the file and paste the results into a macro-enabled Excel file that is provided. Students then edit the dataset to cleanse the data and write a report to interpret the findings. The assignment requires only a cursory knowledge of programming and Excel. We assign the project to students taking an introductory information systems course but the project could be suitable for courses in business analytics, marketing, social media, computer science, and other subjects.

The study aims to determine possible relationships between the opinions of teacher candidates regarding distance education, and their attitudes toward the technology used in distance education courses. A quantitative research approach structured in a descriptive and relational survey model was used in the research. 81 teacher candidates studying in three different departments participated in the study. Non-parametric statistics were used to analyze the data, and Descriptive statistics, Kruskal-Wallis and Spearman-Brown correlation analysis were employed. The results revealed that there is a positive and moderately significant relationship between the attitudes of pre-service teachers towards technology and their opinions of the distance education process. It has also been determined that there is a positive and moderate relationship between the opinions of teacher candidates in regard to the sub-dimensions of the scale of the distance education process evaluation (levels of accessibility, usability, attitude, technological facilities, and self-efficacy) and their attitudes towards technology. These findings implicate that educators teaching online learners should consider the characteristics of their learners and make decisions regarding the teaching and learning process to create the optimal learning environment.

This research examines how Turkish undergraduates construct "campus" metaphors to represent their opinions about campus phenomenon in the context of a Turkish university. The present study adopted a phenomenological approach. The participants of this study were 92 students in the 2020-2021 academic year from different faculties and departments at a university in Turkey. For data collection, a short interview form was used to reveal the perspectives of undergraduates on the phenomenon they have created in their minds for the campus. The form contained a statement with blanks for students to produce a simile and justification. The metaphors generated by the undergraduates are gathered under sixteen conceptual categories after the analysis of metaphors. Among the sixteen conceptual categories, there was no prominent difference in conceptualizations of campus between the groups in terms of study years as regards campus as "Involving diversities", Provider", "Designing/manufacturing", "Source of experience", "Improver", "Socializing force", "Friendship", "Belonging", "Source of life", "Source of different emotions". On the other hand, differences in terms of study year were marked concerning campus as "Dynamic", "Undesired", "Trust", "Valuable", "Full of nature", and "Having borders". While Freshmen/Sophomores perceived campus as "Trust", "Full of nature" but "Having borders", Juniors/Seniors considered campus as "Dynamic", valuable but "Undesired". Among the sixteen conceptual categories, there was no difference in conceptualizations of campus between the two groups in terms of gender as regards campus as "Provider", "Designing/manufacturing", "Source of experience", "Improver", "Friendship", "Belonging", "Source of life", "Source of different emotions". Nevertheless, differences in terms of gender were marked concerning campus as "Socializing force", "Dynamic", "Undesired", "Trust", "Valuable", "Full of nature", and "Having borders". Female students perceived campus as a "Socializing force", "Dynamic", "Trust", "Valuable", and "Full of nature" whereas a male student considered it as "Having borders" like a country.

Digitalization has many implications for the development of equality in societies and is also reflected in education. In a digitalized world, literacy is an essential skill for both individual and societal development. This study explores Finnish student teachers' perceptions of the connection between literacy, equality, and digitalization. The research material consists of professional opinion pieces written by student teachers (N=37). The qualitative study examined student teachers' perceptions of literacy, equality, and digitalization. Student teachers' perceptions concerned pupils' polarizing backgrounds for learning, literacy instruction and the challenge of differentiating classes, deterioration of literacy and other learning, and positive aspects of literacy learning. The results show that student teachers recognize the connection between literacy and digitalization and their broad impact on societal development and equity. As future teachers, they perceived the impact of the development of inequalities on everyday school life and on opportunities to learn key skills as a challenge. The results show that the polarizing starting points for pupils is a worrying trend and challenges the future teacher in a digitalizing world. The results of the study underline that teacher training and teachers are important societal actors and reformers.

The purpose of this research is to determine the technological pedagogical content knowledge competencies related to the development of the readiness of future teachers of preschool organisations for innovative activities. This study was carried out in accordance with the phenomenology pattern, one of the qualitative research methods. The study group of the research consists of 25 students studying in the departments of preschool teaching at various universities in Kazakhstan in the 2021-2022 academic year. Research data were collected with a semi-structured interview form developed by the researchers. As a result of the research, the vast majority of preschool teacher candidates stated that they found technology knowledge sufficient to improve their readiness for innovative activities. The majority of preschool teacher candidates participating in the research stated that they found their content knowledge sufficient to improve their readiness for innovative activities. The majority of preschool teacher candidates participating in the research stated that they found their pedagogical knowledge and technological pedagogical content knowledge partially sufficient in improving their readiness for innovative activities. As a result of the research, the necessity of expanding the education curriculum and giving educational conferences in universities in order to increase the technological pedagogical content knowledge of preschool teacher candidates has arisen.

In this study, it was aimed to investigate the effects of guided inquiry learning approach-based laboratory applications on the scientific reasoning skills of pre-service science teachers with different cognitive styles. Additionally, the opinions of pre-service science teachers with different cognitive styles about the effects of the application carried out in the study on the improvement of their scientific reasoning skills were also examined. The sample consisted of five pre-service science teachers studying at a state university in the west of Turkey. In the study, the partially mixed sequential dominant status design, which is a mixed-method research design, was used. The scientific reasoning skills of the participants were determined by using the Classroom Test of Formal Reasoning, and their cognitive styles were identified with the Group Embedded Figures Test. The opinions of the participants were taken through focus group interviews held after the application. As a result of the analysis, it was observed that the participants with field-dependent and field-intermediate cognitive styles achieved more targeted outcomes compared to those with field-independent cognitive styles. The potential relationship of this finding to the use of the guided inquiry learning approach and the hypothetico-deductive reasoning cycle during the applications was analyzed in terms of the concept of information processing, and recommendations were made for researchers. [The appendices included in this article are not numbered.]

Higher-order thinking skills are of great importance for the welfare and development of a particular society since it depends on the quality of the decisions taken by individuals. Apart from families, teachers play a crucial role in equipping pupils with these skills such as critical, analytical, reflective or creative, but to do this, they should initially possess them, which requires a special training tailored for teaching these skills. This study focused on the effectiveness of "Critical and Analytical Thinking" course (CATC) taught at a bachelor of education program based on teacher candidates' opinions regarding course design, materials, delivery and strengths and weaknesses of the course. CATC was delivered online due to COVID-19 pandemic conditions; however, provided invaluable insights for future implementations regarding its delivery, activity types and evaluation system. The study was conducted as an analytical study by incorporating both quantitative and qualitative methods. The data were collected through Critical and Analytical Thinking Survey and written interview forms developed by the researcher. The participants were 78 teacher candidates who took the course and volunteered to participate in the study. The results revealed that CATC was highly influential on their individual and professional development and not only the theoretical but the practical elements of the course were beneficial for the teacher candidates. Based on the research results, this study concluded with a lesson proposal to be implemented both face-to-face and/or online with similar teacher candidates at education faculties. [This manuscript was orally presented in the Ninth International Conference on Curriculum and Instruction: The Effects of the Pandemic on Curriculum in 2021 and was published in the abstract book. This article includes an extended summary in Turkish.]

Current study aimed examining preparatory school students' cyber-loafing levels and opinions about distance education English curriculum. Exploratory sequential pattern of mixed research methods is employed. The sample is consisted of 201 preparatory students who study at the preparatory school at Cag University. The quantitative data of the research was obtained through Cyber-Loafing Scale and Assessment Scale. Qualitative data was gathered by open-ended questions form developed by the researcher. It was concluded that students' cyber-loafing levels are at a medium level and the students' opinions about the distance education English curriculum are also at a medium level. In addition, gender, devices and lessons affect neither students' cyber-loafing levels nor views on distance education curriculum while the daily internet use and frequency showed a significant effect on these variables. Another finding of the study, social media is also a significant factor for cyber-loafing. Furthermore, it is revealed that there is no correlation between cyber-loafing and students' views on distance education English curriculum.

Although there is a growing recognition of the importance of pre-service teachers' experiences abroad, scant research attention has been paid to the lived study-abroad experiences of pre-service language teachers of English in non-Western countries. It is vital to shed light on the experiences of this particular group of teachers because their linguistic and cultural particularities (i.e., non-native speakers of English from the non-Western world) and the characteristics of their future students (i.e., largely monolingual and monocultural) differ notably from those of their counterparts in Western countries. This study examines, through the use of narrative interviews, the transformative learning of a preservice language teacher of English at a Japanese university who participated in a study-abroad program in Sweden. Findings suggested that the participant experienced interrelated, but successive, phases of transformation processes: from having increased confidence to experiencing a disorienting dilemma, and from engaging in critical reflection to performing new roles. Practical implications and research recommendations associated with study-abroad programs for pre-service teachers are also included.

Well-defined teacher competencies can serve as a reference resource for teacher candidates and a road map for teachers who need to equip themselves with new competencies to meet the rapidly changing demands of children and society. This study, which grounded on mixed methods research, aimed to develop a measurable and observable generic teacher competency framework. The study was conducted in three phases. The initial phase was comprised of the literature review on teacher competencies, interviews with teacher candidates, teacher trainers, and education experts on the current teacher competency framework developed by the Turkish Ministry of Education in 2017. The analyses revealed the need for a new framework since the current competency framework does not allow self-evaluation and cannot be used as a road map for teachers and teacher candidates due to the way it is structured. Based on the initial findings, the researchers prepared a draft competency framework, which was evaluated by 397 teachers through information forms and 52 teacher trainers representing all disciplines of educational sciences at a workshop organized by the researchers. The analyses resulted in a framework consisting of six competency domains, 31 sub-competencies and their performance indicators at four competency levels. The core competencies developed seem to be congruent with international frameworks; however, it is also a unique framework with its content, structure and approach. The generic teacher competency framework developed as a result of this study can be utilized for professional development of teachers and teacher candidates as a reference guide and be utilized for evaluation purposes with its measurable and observable performance indicators specified under sub-competencies. It can also be used for the assessment and accreditation of teacher education programmes.

There is a growing consensus that existing arrangements for policy making in education are far from optimal. This paper is about policy making and the roles of--and relationships between--elected officials, civil servants and academics in the making of policy. It aims to open up a conversation about new ways of making education policy that make better use of academic expertise by shedding light on policy making from the perspective of a former policy broker. With specific reference to England, experiences of the world of policy are drawn on to provide an account of the following: the disconnect between academic research and policy; what good policy advice looks like; and, most significantly, what an expert policy advice mechanism in education could look like. The mechanism put forward is one possibility for further discussion within the academic community in the first instance: an independent group of diverse academic experts to provide trustworthy and transparent policy advice to the education ministry. It is envisaged that by bringing a set of insights together here, understandings of the world of policy making will be enhanced and further thinking and conversations about mechanisms for expert policy advice in education will be induced, starting with this flagship journal's readership. The subsequent accumulation of these discussions may then, in time, lead us towards better policy making.

Purpose: This study draws on genre theory to analyze the linguistic and discursive presentation of the self in successful US college application essays. Research Methods: We used qualitative discourse analysis informed by the systemic functional linguistic concepts of field, tenor, and mode to analyze 20 sample application essays identified as exemplary by college admissions staff from 4 US colleges, along with essay-writing advice obtained from websites of 12 US universities. Our analysis aimed to specify (1) the characteristics of the self that are represented in successful essays and (2) how the writers linguistically and discursively construct these characteristics. Findings: Successful essays portrayed a unique and authentic self through distinctive, patterned features that spanned the three categories of field, tenor, and mode. Features related to "field" included extended metaphors representing insights gained from learning and experience, language representing niche interests, verbs suggesting learning or change, and appraisal language positioning the writer as charitable and optimistic; features related to "tenor" did not include direct address or questions but rather implicit persuasion through descriptive representation of the writer's character; and features related to "mode" included micronarratives, extended metaphors that supported cohesion, and syntactic structures that facilitated contrast of the writer's self before and after a significant moment of learning. Implications: As colleges move away from requiring standardized tests for admission, the importance of college application essays has increased. Our findings contribute to efforts to make successful performance of this high-stakes genre more attainable, particularly for first-generation and underrepresented students applying to college.

In this study, we aimed to investigate the prospective primary school teachers' opinions about their experiences in distance education within the scope of twenty-first century skills during COVID-19 pandemic. The phenomenological research method was used for the purpose of enlightening this specific context. The study group involved 16 prospective primary school teachers. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The credibility of the data were provided by obtaining the consent of the participants and by comparing the consistency of codes and themes created by experts in accordance with the twenty-first century skills. The key findings were: (1) no opinion is expressed on information and media literacy; also, participants were not aware of the importance of technology literacy. (2) Emergency remote education cannot provide effective learning and teaching. Participants' awareness of collaboration and communication skills was insufficient. (3) There were positive and negative aspects of emergency distance education towards face-to-face one. The educational environment, which has become digitalized with distance education, shows that there are changes in the views of the participants about the technology competence that they should have in their careers. As a result, remote education does not cause a significant difference in 21st century skills of participants. But the importance and need of twenty-first century skills in the distance education process become more apparent.

Learning to be tolerant is important in multiethnic societies. Based on the premises that tolerance is built through dialogue and that nowadays much informal learning takes place in social media, this paper explores the reactions of young people when they receive racist memes through social media, and how they dare to express their opinions(or not). Responses of undergraduate students to messages presented in print and Facebook were compared using quantitative and qualitative techniques. Quantitative analyses took into consideration their perception of each medium, their self-efficacy, and the amount of invested mental effort. Results showed significant differences in perceptions of each medium, as well as the percentage of students who chose not to respond (26.8% did not respond in Facebook). Using qualitative techniques, a variety of strategies to express or avoid opinions were identified. In order to confirm the identified strategies and investigate further reasons for not responding, the study was replicated using a class discussion forum simulating an instant messaging group. Reasons for keeping silent were categorized. Discussion of the results found refers to the need of including the interaction of sociocultural variables with cognition and media affordances in the theory of media research, as well as to the implications for the learning of values and interculturalism.

This teaching note presents an assignment in which students write an op-ed on a course-related issue and submit it to a newspaper. I argue that an op-ed assignment dovetails with pedagogical goals around democratic citizenship and public sociology. I explain the project's objectives, instructions, and timeline. I present evidence from three courses showing that the assignment fostered understanding of op-eds' form and function; deepened engagement with course-related issues; led many class members to apply their learning to a real-world civic setting; and generated high-quality work. I consider ways the project can be modified and used in other courses.

This article describes outcomes from the Erasmus + project botSTEM, involving a theoretical framework for Science, Technology, Engineering & Technology (STEM) and robotics and teaching activities for preschool teachers and teachers educating children 4-8 years old. Spanish and Swedish preschool teachers' self-efficacy and views of teaching STEM and robotics are presented, using a mixed methodology based on a questionnaire and focus group interviews. The 3-year long project has improved the preschool teachers' self-efficacy in STEM and robotics teaching, as described in a questionnaire answered by the preschool teachers after the project. Possibilities in STEM and robotics teaching experienced by them include an increase in children's agency, knowledge and interest, and the obstacles are mainly structural or technical. Robotics teaching also supports children with special needs when interacting with peers. The results from the botSTEM project point to the benefit of supported long-term professional development for STEM and robotics teaching in preschools.

Academic libraries are fundamental in promoting equitable access to education but are often overlooked and underfunded. The COVID-19 pandemic amplified these inequities. This study investigates how 39 library deans and directors perceived decision-making by university administration during COVID-19's onset. Open-ended survey questions were sent to deans and directors asking them to describe their experiences working with university administration to adjust library services during the crisis. Some library leaders reported that working closely with other departments strengthened their campus connections. Others commented that disagreement between library personnel and university administration caused discord. Some deans and directors were forced to cut staff funding or felt pressured to reopen, while others were trusted to choose their budget and service priorities. The authors recommend that library leaders be more consistently relied upon for their expertise during university decision-making.

With the rising influence of technology, students have become heavy users of instant messaging applications. It makes one wonder about students' motivations in using these applications and their usage habits. The aims of this study were to analyze the messaging activities of university students in blended classroom groups, to investigate the effect of these applications on learning processes, and to understand why student usage is so heavy. The research design was based on a mixed model strategy. Quantitative data were retrieved from a blended classroom group. In the second stage of the research, opinions of participants in the message group and advisors of the participants in their relevant classrooms were included in the research via a semi-structured interview form. Findings of the study revealed that, in a blended classroom group, university students most heavily messaged during the first months of the fall term, but the frequency decreased over time. Furthermore, it became evident that, as time passed, students preferred to conduct messaging in smaller groups. An implication of this research is that any information that a student wants to know about could be shared at specific time periods when students were more active in the blended classroom groups.

Background: Although a large body of research has identified challenges faced by women in STEM fields and strategies to improve the experience for women in STEM, little of this research has examined which strategies undergraduate women would recommend to their peers. In the current study, undergraduate women in STEM fields (N = 89) wrote letters to younger women in STEM about their experiences. The participants were recruited from a small public liberal arts college and a large public research institution in the United States. Participants were juniors and seniors majoring in engineering, mathematics, computer science, physics, biological or biomedical sciences, and chemistry. Results: Using thematic analysis, we identified seven types of advice. The participants shared advice about improving academically, forming communities, finding family support, and seeking out women role models. They also provided general words of encouragement and reassured women that everyone struggles, and failure is not indicative of their potential. In some cases, the letters were consistent with themes from prior research; however, other influences that have been studied by quantitative research were not prominent in women's own advice to their fellow students. For example, although the letters focused on communal themes such as building community, they did not focus on the communal goal of helping others through their careers. Additionally, they highlighted the role of family, which has been relatively neglected in prior work. Conclusions: The present research highlights which empirically supported theories about retention and success in STEM are reflected in students' advice to others. These letters also provide insight into which obstacles and solutions were most salient for women students looking back on their undergraduate STEM careers. The women's letters provide a rich understanding of how women navigate STEM fields and what they would tell future students about persisting in those fields.

Background: One of the technologies that can be used to enhance the education process is digital stories. Digital stories can be used for different purposes due to their benefits to the education process. When the research conducted on higher levels of education has been examined, it has been determined that the use of digital stories in science teaching has a positive effect on teaching and learning process. Yet, no study conducted to investigate the process of using digital stories in pre-school science activities has been found in the literature. Purpose: Through the current study, it was aimed to investigate the pre-service teachers' opinions and experiences about the process including the selection of the science concepts, preparation, and implementation of the digital story by focusing on the use of digital stories in pre-school science activities. Study group and Method: The study was conducted on the basis of the multiple holistic case design. The study group of the current research is comprised of six pre-service teachers with differing levels of technology disposition. In the collection of the research data, observations, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis were used. In the analysis of the collected data, the data obtained from observations, interviews, and document analyses were evaluated together through content analysis. Results: The findings of the current study are presented under two main themes; the digital story as a material for education and the digital story as a means of technology for the teacher. The results are discussed in reference to the advantages of using digital stories in pre-school science activities, the dimensions that need to be improved, limitations of using digital stories, and digital literacy. Conclusion: The current study has produced some data about the advantages of using digital stories in pre-school science activities, which aspects of them should be developed and which bring about limitations to their use. Another important conclusion of the current study points out the importance of incorporating technology in general and digital stories in particular into teacher training programs.

Distance education, also called distance learning, e-learning, and online learning, is a practice of teaching and learning in which teachers and learners are not in a closed class or room in person, but where education takes place through various new-media technologies and all parties (student-teacher, teacher-teacher, student-student) are able to communicate, interact and exchange information and emotions. Being on the agenda of educational science for a long time now and gaining further importance during COVID-19 lockdowns, both advantages (e.g., reducing social anxiety, and a flexible schedule) and disadvantages (lack of social interactivity, and miscommunication) of distance education are highly debated in the related literature. Therefore, this study, through a qualitative method (i.e., a case study design and semi-structured interviews), aims to analyse the opinions and experiences of academics regarding distance education and its applications. The participants consist of 36 lecturers working at 16 different Turkish universities selected by the purposeful sampling method (i.e., typical case sampling). The results suggest that the participants still have doubts about online distance education, and they mention both ups (ease of connection, and cost-effectiveness) and downs (lack of self-motivation, socialization, and the sense of isolation) of it. Nonetheless, none of the academics thinks distance education will replace an in-person learning environment in the near future. Thus, this study presents a general illustration of distance education activities through the views of Turkish academics and gives recommendations for future digital/distance/online learning activities and functionalities.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the Turkish education system in the context of learning organizations according to the opinions of prospective teachers. In this study, in which qualitative research methods and techniques were used, the 4th grade students of Akdeniz University Faculty of Education, Department of Preschool Teaching, who took the school management course in the Turkish Education system, were asked to present their opinions and suggestions. The data were collected using the documentation technique. As a result of the research, some suggestions were made regarding the decrease in quality and quantity problems by giving place to the opinions of the teacher candidates about the Turkish Education system.

The purpose of the present study was to determine the relation between the sense of citizenship of Higher Education students and their opinions on global citizenship. In line with this purpose, the study was planned and conducted in the correlational design in screening model of quantitative research types. The sampling of the study consisted of 300 students, who were studying at a public university in a socioeconomically moderate city in Eastern Turkey, who were selected from undergraduate and associate students by using the "Criteria Sampling Method", constituted the sampling of the study. A data collection tool consisting of three parts was used in the study. The first part was the Personal Information Form, which was used to determine the personal characteristics of the students of the higher education institution participating in the study, the second part was the "Sense of Citizenship Scale", and the third part was the "Student's Opinions Questionnaire Form on Global Citizenship". The data of the study were analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistical methods. As a result of the study, it was determined that the higher education students had high levels of opinions on citizenship and global citizenship. The study also concluded that there was a moderate level relation between the sense of citizenship and global citizenship. It is recommended that additional trainings is provided to both Higher Education teachers and students to further raise the awareness of citizenship and global citizenship of the latter.

The widespread availability of educational technology has made online discussion forums (ODFs) an increasingly viable teaching resource, but teachers may lack guidance on approaches for making effective use of ODFs in their curricula. The current study reports on how an ODF was incorporated into a summative coursework assignment for an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course for undergraduate business students at a Joint Venture university in China. As part of the coursework assignment, the students were organized into online discussion groups for a topic related to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Students were required to post an opinion, reply to three other opinions, and then include an account of their online discussions in a summative coursework research report. Content analysis of a sample of these coursework reports showed evidence of engagement with forum posts through: (a) synthesis of students' views, (b) relating views to theory or practice, (c) critical and reflective thinking about the forum posts, (d) critical thinking about the forum methodology, and (e) explicit stance-taking. This study demonstrates a potential application of ODFs in the context of a coursework assignment and supports the view that ODFs may provide an effective platform for students to share opinions in a course-related task outside of scheduled classes.

The aim of this study is to analyze some studies conducted in Turkey on global warming, and to present these studies in an integrity. Document analysis method was used in the study. 20 scientific studies conducted between the years 2010-2018 have been thematically analyzed in terms of five elements (publication type of studies and distribution by years, objectives, methods, results, suggestions). The findings showed that the most publications were conducted in 2010 and 2013, the studies focused on secondary school students and teacher candidates. It was determined that scanning and special case study were the most preferred research methods, the data were mostly collected through semi-structured interview or survey, frequency/percentage/content analysis was mostly used as data analysis. In addition, it was determined that the students/teacher candidates acquired information about the subject from the media and did not have enough knowledge about global warming. In the studies, it has been suggested that information should be given mostly through the media, and that global warming should be given more place in the curriculum and textbooks. Based on the findings, some suggestions were made for future research on global warming.

Aims and rationale: This study aimed to increase understanding of academic procrastination (AP), as well as indicating strategies which might reduce it. Methods: During phase one, semi-structured interviews were carried out with post-16 students (N=20). Template analysis (TA) was then used to analyse the interview transcripts. General themes were derived which formed the basis of phase two surveys, which were completed by post-16 students (N=343), teachers (N=52), and educational psychologists (EPs, N=43). Quantitative methods, including the Hochberg's GT2 and the Games-Howell procedure, were then employed to compare the mean responses of each group on the survey items. Findings and implications: Support for the constructs making up temporal motivation theory (TMT) was found among all three groups of respondents. However, the respondents also agreed with items relating to additional themes which emerged during phase one, such as emotion, and the role of the teacher. Similarly, support for TMT was observed when it came to strategies aimed at tackling procrastination. Again, the role of emotion was highlighted, as were potential issues with designing and implementing an intervention. Nevertheless, strategies were suggested which are outlined in the discussion, and arranged in relation to each of the themes addressed in the surveys. Limitations: Sample sizes were relatively small, and convenience sampling reduced the likelihood of obtaining a random sample. Template analysis was carried out by one researcher, increasing the likelihood of subjective interpretation. Conclusion: Temporal motivation theory provides a useful--but not entirely comprehensive--theoretical model for understanding academic procrastination (AP) among post-16 students in the UK. Students, teachers and EPs have useful insights into why AP occurs, and each group believes that practical strategies may help to overcome it.

Immigrant Chinese Americans made the recent polling news by being the least racially tolerant in comparison to other Asian American groups over redistributive issues such as college admissions. Rather than treating Chinese immigrants as of monolithic interests and ultimately unassimilable, this study seeks to provide a more nuanced understanding of the contours and sources of their racial attitudes and beliefs. How do new immigrants from China think of issues of race, race relations, and notions of racial equality and justice in multiracial America? What explains their patterns of racial attitudes and opinions especially the controversial issue of race-based college admissions? These are the main research questions we asked through semistructured interviews conducted in Mandarin of 15 undergraduate students from China studying in STEM, social sciences, and humanities in a public research university on the West Coast. We hypothesize that the formation of racial attitudes of U.S. undergraduate students from China is influenced by their own upbringing in China as well as personal experiences of discrimination, local school context, interracial contacts, media exposure, and classroom learning of U.S. racial history on both sides of the Pacific. These experiences, in turn, help structure their perceptions of the dominant ideology, racial beliefs, and race-based policy preferences in the host society of the United States. Our findings confirm prior research on racial learning but also offer new insights on the contours and sources of racial policy opinion on affirmative action in college admissions.

This study, adopting the Foucauldian lenses of citizenship, investigates how a group of students understand the prevailing social discourses and how such understanding and perceptions influence students' sense of citizenship and coping strategies. Drawing on in-depth individual interviews with 28 participants from six universities in Hong Kong, the findings suggest that multiple factors have impacts on the university students' sense of citizenship, including the media as technologies to shape citizenship, the essentialized ideological differences as an apparatus of intervention to shape and act upon individuals, and the legitimacy and discordance of opinions among individuals within both physical and virtual communities. The participants were found to gradually develop an awareness of the discursive construction of the social. They were found to search for their sense of citizenship through (a) opting for one ideological stance and/or keeping silent to avoid being othered within the social discourses existing at the social, community, and family levels; (b) adopting different coping strategies when dealing with their confusion towards conflicting comments; or (c) developing news reading literacy and coming to the realization of the role media plays in discursively constructing new citizens and exercising influence over existing and potential members of communities. The implications of the findings for curriculum design and policy making to develop support measures to facilitate students' positive learning and whole-person development are discussed.

Evolution is a cornerstone that combines all sub-branches of biology in a meaningful way. Developing a true understanding of evolution, however, can only be achieved through comprehensive education. In the community, teachers have an important role in removing erroneous attitudes toward evolution, in which science and biology teachers have a key role. This study aimed to reveal pre-service teachers' perspective on evolution by eliciting the opinions of science pre-service teachers who had attended a 14-week evolution course and those who had not yet taken this course using a delimited draft sentence. According to the data, students who had limited knowledge about evolution, either dogmatically rejected evolution or defined evolution in a simple way, as a change. The rate of rejecting the concept of evolution was decreased among the students who had taken the course about evolution. In addition, there was an increased ratio of those who described evolution using high-level knowledge and a non-rejecting style. Another interesting outcome mentioned in the statements of the students was that keeping the content of the course as wide as possible reduced prejudice against the concept of evolution, decreased rejection rate, and also allowed students to change the erroneous/incorrect ideas that they previously held about evolution.