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The aim of this study was to determine whether the reliability of raters was provided by assessing reading prosody using the Multidimensional Fluency Scale (MDFS). The study was completed with a cross-sectional design, and in line with this, the prosodic reading skills of 41 fifth-grade students were rated by elementary school classroom teachers and Turkish language arts teachers using the MDFS. Data obtained from the ratings were analyzed with the many-facet Rasch model (MFRM). When the findings are investigated, the reading prosody rubric used in the research served the purposes of the reading prosody criteria, the subdimensions of the rubric could be reliably differentiated, the determined criteria were reliable, and the criteria categories appear to be adequate. Additionally, the severity and leniency of raters were found to differ, and Turkish language arts teachers were found to perform more severe ratings than classroom teachers. It was found that raters were ranked reliably in terms of severity/leniency, and that their levels of severity/leniency differed from each other. Another result obtained is that the prosody criterion that students completed with the most difficulty was phrasing. Therefore, it was concluded that the MDFS is a reliable rubric and that researchers and teachers can reliably use it to assess prosodic reading skills.

This study investigated the mediating role of cultural intelligence in the relationship between social justice and global citizenship. A research model was developed and tested by employing a structural equation modelling (SEM) approach based on data collected from 441 prospective teachers. The results indicated that social justice has a significant direct effect on cultural intelligence, which has a significant direct effect on global citizenship. However, the results indicated that social justice does not have a significant direct effect on global citizenship, whereas social justice has a significant indirect effect on global citizenship through cultural intelligence. The implications of the findings for practice and research were discussed.

Technology education varies across countries depending on the goals they set to achieve. Therefore, comparative research on different technology education approaches can provide a holistic perspective and contribute to the literature. This paper compared the technology-focused courses offered by primary schools in Turkey and Scotland. A qualitative research design was adopted. Data were collected using document review and analyzed using descriptive analysis. The results pointed to differences in technology policies, manifesting themselves in the curricula of the courses offered by the schools. However, the courses also had something in common in terms of structure, goal, content, and approach to learning and teaching. We discussed the differences and similarities based on literature. In order to reveal different dimensions of technology education, comparative education studies that address different countries can be suggested.

The main purpose of this study is to examine the effect of teaching through the "Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) Model" on the reading comprehension skills at primary fourth grade. As a consequence, it was concluded in the study that the pre-test means were close to each other in the experimental and control group and that the experimental group had a higher mean than the control group in the post-test mean scores. Moreover, no significant difference was obtained between the experimental and control groups regarding the pre-tests. Still, a significant difference was obtained in favour of the experimental group for the post-tests. On the other hand, whereas it was determined that there was no significant difference between the experimental and control group for the pre-tests of Reading Comprehension and Main Theme Determination scales, there was a significant difference in favour of the experimental group for the post-tests and gain levels. It was also concluded that the value p which corresponded to Z=0,58 in the Pearson Product-Moment equation was 0.082 (p>0,05), and considering that the result was not significant, the pre-test/ post-test prediction level was not significant, and the power degree of the correlation between them did not present a significant difference.

In this study, the mediating role of readiness for self-directed learning in the relationship between pre-service teachers' teaching-learning approach and lifelong learning skills was examined. The study group consisted of 800 pre-service teachers studying in different universities in Turkey. Data were collected with three different scales. The analysis of the data was carried out using structural equation modelling. According to the findings obtained and the results of the mediation analysis, it is clear that the readiness of self-directed learning in the relationship between constructivist teaching-learning, which is one of the learning teaching approaches, and lifelong learning tendencies has a full mediating role. However, there was no significant relationship between traditional teaching-learning approach and lifelong learning tendencies and readiness for self-directed learning. As a result, the type of learning-teaching approach affects readiness for self-directed learning and therefore lifelong learning tendencies.

This study investigated role of the self-directed learning skills, metacognitive awareness, and 21st century skills and competences in predicting readiness for online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. 21st Century Skills and Competences Scale, Self-Directed Learning Skills Scale, Metacognitive Awareness Inventory, and Readiness for Online Learning Scale were used to collect data from 834 prospective teachers. Structural equation modelling (SEM) results indicated that self-directed learning skills, metacognitive awareness, and 21st century skills and competences positively predict prospective teachers' readiness for online learning. These findings suggested that enhancing prospective teachers' self-directed learning, metacognitive awareness, and 21st century skills and competences may promote their readiness for online learning.

This research aimed to explore the elementary school classroom teachers' perceptions of technology integration into teaching literacy skills. A total of 122 elementary school classroom teachers working at different elementary schools from the middle socioeconomic status setting, enrolled in the study voluntarily. In this study, a self-report questionnaire developed by the researchers was used. The data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to get descriptive statistics (frequencies) corresponding the research questions. The research findings indicated that most of the elementary school teachers employ different perspectives, including whole language, literature-based and balanced instruction, and curriculum and related textbooks to teach literacy skills. In addition, the findings showed that teachers use technology to increase the effectiveness of teaching literacy skills and their goals of technology integration to teach literacy skills differentiate. The teachers also benefit from the social media applications and professional organizations in increasing their awareness of technology integration into teaching literacy skills. These results expand our understanding of Turkish elementary school classroom teachers' technology integration into teaching literacy skills by revealing their perceptions.

This study examines prospective mathematics teachers' ethical knowledge and awareness development in an undergraduate course called 'Morality and Ethics in Education'. Accordingly, prospective teachers' opinions regarding the ethical teacher and the unethical teacher were investigated through metaphors. The current study was designed as a case study and the data were collected from fifty-one prospective mathematics teachers studying at a university in Turkey through an open-ended questionnaire and reflective diaries. The findings show that the prospective teachers were satisfied with the 'Morality and Ethics in Education' course in general. It was effective and helpful to improve prospective teachers' ethical knowledge and awareness. In addition, the prospective teachers showed an interest in ethical values, such as justice, being a good role model and honesty. They describe the ethical teacher as being 'of holy personality, a guide and professional', and the unethical teacher as 'useless and harmful'. In addition, the prospective teachers made a number of suggestions for undergraduate education in the context of improving ethical and moral values.

This research aimed to examine the effects of process-based writing modular program on writer identity. Process based writing modular program has been developed by considering process-based writing approach. In this study, quasi-experimental design with a pretest-posttest was used. The research was carried out with six second grade students. The data was collected through semi-structured interview questions and content analysis method was used in the analysis of the data. The results showed that process-based writing modular program supported the students to think more about the writing subject. In addition, it was found out that the students were more positive about the editing and sharing of the writings they wrote. After the program, it was seen that the students gained sensitivity not only in terms of content but also in terms of formatting. In this process, it was determined that students diversified their writing content and subjects and became willing to write in different text types. In addition, it was found in the post-interview that the discourse about the importance of writing to the students increased.

In this study, the relationship between self-directed learning (SDL) skills and 21st century skills were investigated. In addition, the role of academic field in the relationship between SDL skills and 21st century skills have been investigated. The research data were collected from a total of 568 teacher candidates with various academic fields. The analysis of the data was carried out using structural equation modeling. In addition, the established model was tested separately for each academic field and the groups were compared. According to the findings, there is a positive and statistically significant relationship between SDL skills and 21st century skills. Moreover, SDL skills are a strong predictor of 21st century skills. According to the group comparisons, SDL skills of students in the special ability academic field do not predict 21st century skills. However, SDL skills of students in other academic fields strongly predict 21st century skills. As a result, it can be said that as the SDL skills increase on the basis of the academic field of individuals, 21st century skills will increase too.

This correlational study aimed to explore the relations of background knowledge, automaticity (rate), prosody, and strategy use with reading comprehension (KAPS model of reading comprehension) in the written Turkish language context with 207 fourth grade students. Successful comprehension requires readers to make meaning out of what they read. Our KAPS model of reading comprehension hypothesizes relations of background knowledge, fluency components (rate and prosody), and strategy use with reading comprehension components (literal and deep) in the Turkish language and addresses the direct effects of these predictors on the reading comprehension of fourth grade students. The results showed that, whereas fluency and strategy use made statistically significant contributions to reading comprehension, background knowledge did not. Based on the results, the study affirms the importance of automaticity in word recognition, prosody, and comprehension strategies in contributing to reading comprehension in Turkish and, as such, should be given priority for literacy instruction in Turkish.

This study explores the impact extended participation in literature circles had on the reading attitudes of university-age preservice teachers following their involvement in literature circles for one academic year, as part of their training. The participants of the study consisted of 21 pre-service teachers with a low or moderate level of reading habits and reading attitudes. The research was conducted through a mixed methods approach. Although both quantitative and qualitative data were collected in the study, particular emphasis was given to the data collected from the qualitative part (quan+QUAL). In line with the quantitative data, it was concluded in the study that extended involvement in the literature circles had a positive effect on the reading attitudes of the pre-service teachers. The qualitative data, which was obtained through interviews, revealed four themes. The themes emerged as love and desire for reading, benefits of reading, importance of reading and reading habits as a result of the analysis. The results obtained from the research are important in terms of contributing to the improvement of pre-service teachers who will play important roles in Turkey's becoming a literate society.

In this study, contributions of culturally responsive elementary teachers in the education process are examined. It has been found that having culturally responsive competencies could create positive results in individual, school and societal levels. Within this context, culturally responsive elementary teachers would make a great contribution in the educational process and for education stakeholders, especially for themselves. In addition, culturally responsive elementary teachers would be able to use their individual and professional capacity more effectively since their sociological readiness would be greater. Culturally responsive elementary teachers could also increase students' motivation for school and learning.

This study aims to explore postgraduate teachers' perspectives regarding the "culturally responsive teacher." In doing so, it adopts a basic qualitative approach as the research design. I selected 11 teachers as the study group by using the criterion sampling method. I collected the data from five female and six male teachers from various branches through semistructured interview forms. I used the thematic analysis technique during the data analysis. I categorized the findings under four themes: cultural responsiveness, self-assessment, teacher competencies, and desirable culturally responsive teacher. According to the results, being a culturally responsive teacher requires having certain personal and professional competencies, such as avoiding discrimination, respecting cultural differences, being a role model, having an empathic tendency, and having good communication skills as well as a pedagogical background. In the pre-service period, a number of special methods and practices should be implemented in order to develop culturally responsive teacher competencies of future teachers.

This study aimed to explore the opinions of the preservice teachers about the children's picture books related to single-parent families. A total of 61 preservice teachers majoring in English Language Arts participated, and the data were collected with semi-structured interviews. The data of the research were analyzed using a content analysis method. The trustworthiness of the present study was increased by using peer debriefing and member checking methods. The research findings showed that the preservice teachers who participated in the study liked the children's picture books, but were not sure whether they were appropriate to read these books to students. In addition, the participants criticized the books in terms of cultural and peritextual features, content and diverse family structures. Most of the participants did not find the books appropriate to the Turkish cultural context and noted that they would not read the books in their future classrooms. More research related to this topic needs to be conducted in order to shed light on the underlying reasons of the results obtained from the present study.

This study aims to investigate digital literacy perceptions of preservice teachers, and to identify quantity characteristics of first and second year preservice teachers' digital literacy at a public university in Turkey. That is, pre-service teachers' perceptions of digital literacy and their patterns of knowledge and use of digital literacy were measured within the scope of this study. Multiple sources of data, including a Likert scale and open-ended questions were collected to address the topic. Various statistical techniques and tests such as ANOVA, t-test, and Tukey HSD test were used in the analysis of the obtained data. Qualitative data was analyzed by using the content analysis method. The findings indicated that the model showed a good fit with the data and standardized regression weights indicated that attitude, technical, cognitive, and social factors were significant predictors of digital literacy. In addition, it was identified that the pre-service teachers had high and positive perceptions of digital literacy. However, it was observed in the open-ended questions that they lack the refined cognitive skills to find, evaluate, create, and communicate. The findings were then discussed in light of the relevant literature.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the elementary teaching undergraduate programs in Turkey in terms of educating culturally responsive elementary teachers. In this direction, the phenomenological design was preferred. We collected data from the elementary teacher candidates and instructors via interviews. In the light of the findings and conclusions obtained, we saw that the processes and experiences are not given at the level of acquiring the knowledge and skills related to culturally responsive teaching for the elementary teacher candidates. Furthermore, we determined that the subjects related to culturally responsive teaching are very limited in the content of the course, and they are not carried out with a culturally responsive pedagogy conception in the learning-teaching process. Additionally, we saw that instructors in the elementary teacher education program do not have professional formation knowledge and skills related to culturally responsive teaching. Finally, we made proposals to update the program to promote responsiveness.

The aim of this study is to define the effect of Mesnevî Supported Values Education on the attitudes of 4th grade students in primary school towards the values such as Hospitality, Philanthropy, Patriotism, Giving Importance to the Family Unity and Tolerance. The experimental method including pretest and posttest experimental and control groups was used in order to demonstrate the differences between the attitudes of the experimental group Education was applied and the control group on which Mesnevî Supported Values Education was not applied. The data has been gathered by using attitude scale and interview forms developed by the researchers in this study. In the results obtained by analysing the data, after the application, a significant difference in favor of the experimental group between the attitude scores regarding values such as Hospitality, Philanthropy, Patriotism, Giving Importance to the Family Unity and Tolerance was found between experimental and control groups. No significant difference between the attitude scores of experimental and control groups was found in according to gender, educational background and level of income of parents. In the interviews, it is found that Mesnevî Supported Values Education application objectifies the process of value education, makes value learning easy and has a positive impact on the attitudes of students towards values.

The purpose of this research is to reveal the relationship between women's education, women's labor force participation and national income in G20 countries. The relationships between women's education, women's labor force participation and national income were analyzed by the panel data analysis method for the G20 countries for the period 1997-2018. Stability of series were tested by "Fisher ADF" and "Fisher PP" panel root tests and the series were determined to be I (1). Pedroni (2004) was used to test the existence of cointegration relationships between the series. The series were found to be cointegrated. The long- and short-term relationships of the series were analyzed by the Panel DOLS method and it is determined that the increase of female schooling level increase the female labor force participation rate, increase of female schooling level and female labor force participation rate increase the per capita (real) national income. A two-way causality relationship was found between the ratio of women in higher education and national income per person. In addition, two-way causality relations between women's labor force participation rates and schooling rates at all levels of women were determined. In the study, it is concluded that in G20 countries, women's schooling rate increases the women's participation in the labor market and increases of women's schooling rate and female employment increase the national income per capita in countries.

The research investigated the role of social justice in the relationship between cultural intelligence and attitude toward teaching profession. For a sustainable education, social justice and cultural intelligence are seen crucial in teaching profession. The data of the study were collected from 404 prospective teachers studying at a state university in Turkey by using a paper-based survey. For collecting the data, "Cultural Intelligence Scale (CIS)" developed by Ang et al. (2007) and adapted into Turkish by Ilhan and Cetin (2014); "Social Justice Scale (SJS)" developed by Torres-Harding et al. (2012) and adapted into Turkish by Cirik (2015); and "Attitude Scale of Teaching Profession" developed by Üstüner (2006) were used. A structural model was established and conducted to hypothesize the research questions. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to validate the measurement and structural model. The SEM-based mediating analysis using SPSS AMOS was employed to test the hypothesized relationships. According to the results, cultural intelligence predicted the attitude towards the teaching profession and also social justice. Moreover, social justice was found to be in the full mediating role in the relationship between cultural intelligence and attitude towards the teaching profession. The research concluded that social justice was an important factor in increasing cultural intelligence competencies of teacher candidates to enhance their positive attitude towards teaching profession.

The potential international university education market value is expressed in billions of dollars. Countries are trying to increase their competitiveness to attract international students and get a decent market share. Countries that can accurately analyze the factors affecting the country and school preferences of international students will be more advantageous in developing appropriate competitive strategies. The primary purpose of this study is to try to understand and explain the effects of the quality of university education service and socio-cultural adaptation difficulties factors on the satisfaction levels of international students. The research was carried out at Karabuk University, with the highest number of international students in Turkey. The data obtained through an online questionnaire using the convenience sampling method from 413 international students were analyzed with the "Structural Equation Model." According to the analysis results, assurance and empathy from service quality dimensions, and cultural differences and religious belief variables from socio-cultural adaptation difficulties positively affect general student satisfaction. The research sample mostly consists of Syrian students who migrated to Turkey due to the war and bright students from low-income African, Asian and Middle Eastern countries. Turkish universities form attraction centers for international students flowing toward western countries. In this respect, the results of the research offer original contributions to the higher education literature.

This study investigated the relationship between motivation and academic self-efficacy of teacher candidates during the COVID-19 pandemic period. In addition, the mediating role of self-directed learning skills was also explored. In this study that is based on a correlational design, data were collected from 992 teacher candidates studying in various undergraduate programs of 48 different faculties/colleges of education in Turkey. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling and bootstrapping method. According to the findings, the significant relationships among the variables show that high motivation of teacher candidates is necessary for high academic self-efficacy, and their academic self-efficacy increases even more when they have self-directed learning skills. As a result, during the pandemic candidate teachers with high self-directed learning skills were able to keep their motivation and maintain their academic self-efficacy at a high level. Accordingly, such results could be useful for improving teacher training policies and program content during the pandemic.

This study aims to investigate the comprehension levels of classroom teacher candidates about the key concepts of Life Science Curriculum. The study was carried out within the qualitative research approach and descriptive survey model was adopted. The sample of study consists of final year 114 classroom teacher candidates who are studying Primary Teacher Education Program at two different Education Faculties in Turkey. As a result of analyzing the primary Life Science curriculum, 18 foundational concepts were identified. In order to determine teachers' comprehension levels and conceptual misconceptions about these concepts, "concept definition form" consisting of short answer and open ended semi-structured questions prepared by researchers was used. The data obtained by the application of this form have been analysed through descriptive analysis method. The answers in the explanation section of the concept description form were evaluated in five categories as "comprehension," "partial comprehension," "incomprehension," "miscomprehension" and "no response." According to the findings obtained in the study, it was concluded that teacher candidates understand some of the concepts in the Life Science curriculum at a "good" level, mostly understand at "partially" level, "incomprehension" some concepts or have "miscomprehension." In order to increase curriculum literacy, it is suggested that the primary teacher candidates should be given training about the main concepts related to the Life Science curriculum.

In this study, it was aimed to investigate the contributions of support and class belonging to teacher self-efficacy. A total of 357 teacher candidates from the different departments enrolled in the Pedagogical Formation Education Certificate Program at a state university in the Aegean Region of Turkey participated in the study. Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale, Psychological Sense of Membership Scale and Perceived Support Scale were used to collect data. To examine the relationship between variables, structural equation modeling technique was utilized in the MPLUS program. It was found that the teacher candidates received the most support from their families and the least support from their instructors. Analysis revealed that the support received from the instructors was statistically significantly related to all the sub-dimensions of teacher self-efficacy. Findings showed that class belonging was positively related to all of the sub-dimensions of teacher self-efficacy. Findings suggest that when teacher candidates receive support from their classmates and instructors, their sense of class belonging would increase and eventually, their teacher self-efficacy would grow up

The aim of this research is to evaluate the educational problems in the city of Ordu regarding the reports of the inspectors of education that were done based on their findings of the work they have done during the academic year. In this research, which was designed according to the qualitative research techniques, document inspection and dialoguing techniques were used. The documents are made up of the end of term reports by the city of Ordu inspectors of education. The data that was acquired via document inspection were subjected to content analysis, and the interviews were subjected to descriptive analysis. In these analyses, educational problems of the city of Ordu were divided into three themes as educational activities, administration activities and financial processes; and into twelve subthemes as, physical conditions and equipment, health and security, testing and assessment, counselling, social activities, school-region relations, student affairs, human resources, regulations, cost and salary transactions, purchase of goods and service, maintenance and repair services and parent teacher association. In the research, it was precipitated that the educational problems in the city of Ordu were similar to the general educational problems of Turkey; these detected problems were recurring problems; the offices in charge were not doing anything regarding the solution of these problems; it is necessary to provide better working environments and equipment support, strengthen economically, ameliorate the employee personal rights, provide professional independence, and free from bureaucratic and political constraints, in order for the inspectors of education to do more detailed researches, inspections and evaluations and prepare more effective inspection reports.

This study aims to examine the contribution of the perceived support and sense of class belonging to pre-service teachers' career motivation. A total of 670 pre-service teachers majoring in various teaching areas including science, social studies, Turkish and mathematics at a state university in Aegean Region participated in the study. Self-report questionnaires including the FIT-Choice Scale, the Psychological Sense of School Membership Scale, and the Support Scale were used as data collection tools. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was utilized to determine the extent to what level of the variance explained in the motivational factors and the perception about teaching by support and sense of class belonging. Results of analysis showed statistically significant relations between sense of class belonging and the FIT-Choice scale. Additional to this, it was found to be statistically significant relations between the support types and the FIT-Choice scale, while support from instructors was the strongest predictor of motivation. Future directions and implications were discussed.

The purpose of the current study is to determine teachers' opinions about professional development schools. In the current study; one of the mixed methods, the convergent design was employed. The sampling of the quantitative dimension of the study is comprised of 256 teachers working in 21 elementary and secondary schools in the city of Mugla. The teachers participated in the study on a volunteer basis. The sampling of the qualitative dimension of the study consists of 26 teachers selected from among the 256 teachers. The data of the study were collected through the Professional Development Schools Scale and an interview form. The quantitative data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics and the qualitative data were analyzed by using the inductive content analysis. The findings of the study revealed that the teachers have positive opinions about professional development school applications, they want more developed school-university cooperation, and they think that teacher-academician and teacher-teacher relationships need to be developed. The opinions of academicians working in education faculties about professional development schools can be elicited. A pilot study of professional development school can be conducted in Turkey. [This study was presented as an oral presentation at the conference "International Conference on New Horizons in Education" held on 17-19 July 2017, in Berlin, Germany. This article is presented in both English and Turkish.]

The current study aimed to evaluate the classroom teachers' opinions about in-service training process. Thus, the current study was designed as a descriptive case study. A total of 28 classroom teachers constituted the sample group of the research. The research process was carried out on the classroom teachers working in state elementary schools in the city of Mugla. A semi-structured interview form was used as the data collection tool in the research and the data were collected through focus group interviews. The results showed that teachers experienced significant problems related to in-service trainings and they found such trainings useful for their professional development. Moreover, the teachers made different suggestions for the improvement of these trainings.

The aim of this work is to investigate whether literature has effect on the personality development of individuals or not. This works aims to provide answers to the following research questions: "Does literature have effect on individuals' general harmony level, their social cohesion levels, personal harmony level, self-actualization level, emotional stability level, neurotic tendencies, psychotic symptoms, family relations, social relations, compliance level of social norms and antisocial tendencies? This research was carried out on the students studying in secondary schools located in Kirsehir City, Turkey during 2008 to 2009 academic years. Disproportionate cluster sampling was used to take the sample from 12 different schools. 14 students were randomly selected from each school; a total of 168 students participated in the survey. "Hacettepe Personality Inventory" published by Özgüven and "Personal Information Form" were used as measurement materials. According to the research findings, literature does not have a significant influence on the general, social and personal harmony of individuals, their self-actualization, emotional stability and harmony levels of social norms, neurotic and anti-social tendencies, psychotic symptoms and family relationships; however, literature has a significant influence on their social relations.

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between teachers' beliefs toward learning and beliefs toward standard tests. During the study, correlational survey research model, one of the research models, is adopted. As data collection tool; "Belief Scale Towards Learning" and "Beliefs About Standardized Tests Scale" is used. Data is collected from 659 different branches of teachers, 306 female and 353 male. For analyzing the data; descriptive statistical analyzing methods and correlation-regression analysis are used. According to the findings, it is determined that teachers' beliefs towards constructivist learning are higher than the beliefs towards traditional learning. Secondly, it's determined that there is a positive and significant relationship between beliefs towards traditional learning and beliefs towards standard tests. Furthermore, it's found that there is negative and significant relationship between beliefs towards standard tests and beliefs towards constructivist learning. Finally, it's determined that the beliefs toward traditional and constructivist learning are significant predictor of beliefs toward standard tests.

The aim of this study is to determine the effects of a Process-Based Writing Modular Instructional Program (PBWMIP), supported with graphic organizers and formative assessment, on second-grade primary school students' writing compositions and attitudes toward writing. This quasi-experimental research design study was conducted with 40 second graders who were chosen for either the experimental group or the control group. Data was gathered through written texts and attitude scales related to writing. Pretest and posttest scores of the experimental and control group were analyzed with a two-factor ANOVA test. The results indicate that while there was a statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of the quality of writing compositions in favor of experimental group, there was not a significant difference between the groups in terms of the students' attitudes toward writing.

This study aimed to investigate English language lecturers' perceptions on the transition of classroom teaching to online education because of the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. A sample of 15 lecturers who were teaching in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Turkey and UK volunteered to take part in the study between March and July 2020. Data were collected through semi-structured interview asking their views on this transition, its benefits and challenges on both their teaching and students' learning. Findings showed that lecturers who had proper training in online teaching by their institutions had more positive views on Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT). Although all of the participants believed that online teaching could promote learner autonomy and flexible learning, they agreed that the benefits of ERT diminished without a well-designed and supported technology tool, and the pandemic, in turn, posed more challenges. Accordingly, the paper suggests institutions to set up an institutionally designed pedagogical framework for remote online education and train lecturers within a stipulated time and the framework.

Turkish students on average had lower scores than OECD countries on mathematics, science, and reading at international assessment programs. As PISA measures the extent to which 15-year-old students are prepared to handle the challenges they may encounter in their future lives, and evaluates students' ability to reflect and to apply their knowledge and experience to real-life situations, low scores on this assessment should be investigated carefully. Therefore, in this study we aimed to explore the relationships between new literacy skills, reading, mathematics, and science performance of Turkish students. The results showed that new literacy skills measured in PISA had two dimensional structure including at and outside of school new literacy skills. These new literacy skills were shown to predict reading performance significantly, at school negatively and outside of school positively. It was also shown that reading performance and new literacy skills were effective in the prediction of both mathematics and science performances.

The purpose of this study is to determine the mental models of elementary school students on seasons and to analyze how these models change in terms of grade levels. The study was conducted with 294 students (5th, 6th, 7th and 8th graders) studying in an elementary school of Turkey's Black Sea Region. Qualitative and quantitative data collection methods were used in the study. The students first were asked 3 open ended questions (one of them was a drawing) in order to determine their mental models on seasons. Following this, the students took an achievement test on seasons that consisted of 4 multiple questions. Quantitative data were analyzed by SPSS 20.0 while the qualitative data were analyzed by the researchers by using content analysis technique. The results of the study showed that the students construct the formation of seasons in various ways in their minds. However, differently from the literature, the presence of some new mental models was found. For a full understanding of the seasons, the necessity of a set of pre-learnings has been recommended. It will be useful to design basic activities based on hands-on and learning by doing which will enable the most effective learning and to put this in the textbooks in the most suitable way. Additionally tangible physical-scale hands-on models, 3D simulation modeling and planetarium environment should be used in students' education about formation of seasons.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of an astronomy summer project implemented in different learning activities on elementary school students, pre-service elementary teachers and in-service teachers' astronomy achievement and their attitudes to astronomy field. This study is the result of a five-day, three-stage, science school, "I Learn the Planet I Live on". The first stage involved astronomy science schools with 30 elementary school teachers, the second stage involved 30 pre-service elementary school teachers and the last stage involved 30 primary school pupils (aged 14). Within this scope, 30 elementary school teachers from different cities who volunteered to participate in the project, one seventh grade class of each of these teachers from their own schools, and 30 pre-service teachers attending elementary department of education faculties of universities in Turkey who participated in the astronomy summer project in Samsun City in 2015 make up the sample of the study. For this purpose, within the scope of a nine-day long project, the participants were presented with hands-on activities, outdoor practices, planetarium and observatory activities to enable them to view astronomy education from different views. The study was designed as one group, pre-test post-test experimental research. Astronomy attitude scale and astronomy achievement test were used as pre-test and post-test. The data obtained were evaluated using the SPSS 20.0 software package program. For the analysis of data, a parametric test, a two-way ANOVA for mixed measures, an experiment model, was used. The results of the study showed that the project was effective in increasing the participants' attitudes towards the astronomy field and their astronomy achievement. A comparison of the data from the teachers and the students produced interesting results, notably that more pupils than teachers answered certain questions correctly.

The aim of the research is to examine the internet addiction of adolescents according to their genders, the type of their high-schools and class level, the time interval that they use internet most widely, their internet usage duration and usage purpose. For that, it is studied with 335 high-school students in Elazig city of Turkey in 2015. The internet addiction scale that Young (1998) developed was used to determine internet addiction of adolescents. In the analysis of data, t-test and unilateral variance analysis were used. At the result of analysis, the mean score of that adolescents got by internet addiction scale was determined as [x-bar] = 2,69. In analysis between variables it was seen that the internet addiction level of Science-High School students was lower compared to Anatolian and Vocational High-School students. It was observed that the more the usage duration increases the more the internet addiction increases. It was determined the students who use internet mostly for games or social media are more addicted. Besides; as statistical, a significant difference wasn't determined between genders, classes and the variables that internet is mostly used.

The study first aimed to reveal self-reported computational thinking and new media literacy skill levels of first-year engineering students with various demographics such as gender, departments, and internet use frequency. It was then aimed to test whether there is a significant relation between computational skills and new media literacy skills. The study group consisted of 112 engineering candidates who were enrolled at the engineering faculty of a university in Mugla city in Turkey. The Computational Thinking Scale and the New Media Literacy Scale were used as the data collection instruments. Means and standard deviation were used for descriptive analysis. One-Way Analysis of Variance, two-tailed independent samples t-Test, Tukey HSD test and simple regression were used for statistical analysis. Findings suggest that engineering student participants consider their computational thinking and new media literacy skills to be sufficient. In addition, while the variables such as gender and department were not found to be affecting to the computational thinking and new media literacy levels, internet use frequency was found to be affecting. Furthermore, the study results indicated that the relationship between participant' computational thinking and new media literacy level is statistically significant and positive. Our study adds to the growing body of literature on new media literacy skills through improving computational thinking skills. Findings are then discussed in lights of the relevant literature.

This study aims to assess primary school teachers' knowledge of basic astronomy concepts, such as the sizes and shapes of, and the distances between, the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon, lunar and solar eclipses, and the motions of the Moon and the Earth. Out of a total of 1,533 teachers, 398 (26%) were reached and asked to take a knowledge test. On the knowledge test, the overall performance of the teachers, whose task it is to teach the astronomy concepts in the fifth grade Science and Technology curriculum, stands at 70% while the students' success rate is approximately 50%. It is noteworthy that approximately one out of every three teachers answered the questions incorrectly. In this study, the primary school teachers' low performance on the same questions as the students can be observed as an indicator of this. Placing an astronomy course in undergraduate level in the elementary school teacher-training program could be useful. Thus, pre-service teachers have enough knowledge regarding astronomy subjects before starting their careers.

Problem Statement: School administrators are the first responsible body for the implementation of the counseling and guidance program. For sharing this responsibility, school administrators should be in cooperation with school counselors. Administrators' perceptions on school counseling and guidance services show that school administrators have positive attitudes toward counseling services and they cooperate with the counselors at school. School administrators describe counseling services as necessary and successful activities. However, other studies show that school administrators are of the opinion that counselors should perform tasks that are not in their job descriptions. In short, school administrators' perceptions on school counseling and guidance services and the tasks and missions of school counselors vary greatly and there is no consensus among the administrators. It is important to investigate the perceptions and views of school administrators towards counselors. Therefore, the present study aimed to contribute to the current literature via offering suggestions to increase the productivity and effectiveness of school counselors. Purpose of the Study: The aim of this study is to investigate the perceptions of school administrators who are important shareholders in carrying out school counseling and guidance services. The sub-aims of the study are to investigate the status of school counselors, and the school administrators' expectations of school counselors, both in terms of personal and professional qualifications and in terms of the status and duties of the counselors. Method: This qualitative study investigates the perceptions of school administrators towards school counselors in terms of their roles and duties. The current research utilizes a phenomenological design. The participants of the study were 13 school administrators who were working in primary and secondary schools in downtown Diyarbakir. A semi-structured interview, developed by the researchers, was used to collect the data. Gathered data were first analyzed in terms of descriptive analyses and then digitized. Findings: Research findings show the administrators' positive perceptions of counselors being necessary and important in educational and instructional activities for every shareholder of education. School administrators listed a set of personal and professional qualifications for school counselors. In addition, school administrators are of the opinion that school counselors have some privileges apart from other teachers in terms of their status and role at the school. It is found that school administrators are well aware of the necessity and importance of school counselors, who serve as field experts at schools. Conclusion and Recommendations: In this study it is found that school managers are very aware of and positive about the school counseling and guidance field and counselors' teaching duties and responsibilities. The quality and efficiency of school counseling services should be increased, and the counselors' job description should be clarified by the Ministry of Turkish National Education to prevent confusion. School administrators and other shareholders should support the creation of a common professional identity for school counselors.

Reading fluency is one of the underlying factors of successful language curricula and it is also one of the defining characteristics of good readers. A lack of fluency is a common characteristic of struggling readers. There is a growing body of research that demonstrates proficiency in reading fluency is important for success in learning to read English. While the role of reading fluency is increasingly recognized as important for literacy acquisition in English, less is known about the role that fluency plays in literacy acquisition in other languages. The present manuscript aims to shed light on the impact of reading fluency in the Turkish language context, and also to provide some practical implications for Turkish stakeholders in education system to improve Turkish children`s reading fluency and thereby also improve Turkish children's overall reading proficiency.

The present study attempted to extend our knowledge of the role of reading fluency in contributing to reading comprehension among Turkish students in grades 4 through 8. One hundred students at each grade level were administered assessments of reading fluency, word recognition automaticity and prosody, and silent reading comprehension. Word recognition automaticity was found to be a significant predictor of comprehension at all grade levels tested. Prosody predicted comprehension at all grades levels except grade 4. Regression analyses at each grade level indicate that, except for grade 4, word recognition automaticity and prosody, together contribute to the prediction of reading comprehension. The magnitude of fluency's prediction of comprehension ranged from approximately a quarter to a third of comprehension. The results are discussed in terms of policy and instructional changes that may be considered for reading instruction for Turkish students.

Aim/Purpose: The principal aim of this study was to reveal digital citizenship levels of preservice teachers enrolled in 1st and 2nd year in the education faculty at the Mugla Sitki Koçman University in Mugla, Turkey. Pre-service teachers' perceptions of digital citizenship and their patterns of knowledge of digital citizenship were explored. Background: This study examines the concepts of digital citizenship, including digital communication, digital rights / responsibilities, critical thinking, digital participation, digital security, digital skills, digital ethics, and digital commerce, of pre-service teachers and their interaction with instructional technology. This research study will inform policies and strategies to enhance teacher trainings and education in Turkey. Methodology: A mixed methodology of data sources including a survey and open-ended questions were collected to explore pre-service teachers' perceptions of digital citizenship. The Digital Citizenship Scale was used as the quantitative data collection instrument. Various statistical techniques and tests such as ANOVA, t-Test, and Tukey HSD were used in the analysis of the data. Contribution: This study contributes to existing literature knowledge by demonstrating the patterns of digital citizenship that influence Turkish pre-service teachers' professional development and deepening the discussion of change in policies and strategies in education programs in Turkey. Findings: Results indicated that there was a statistically significant difference of digital citizenship scores of male and female pre-service teachers with male participants scoring higher than female participants. However, participants' mean scores did not significantly differentiate by their departments. Similarly, it was observed that participants' mean scores did not significantly differentiate by the high school types. As far as parent educational background was concerned, the mean scores of the participants did not indicate a significant difference by the education level of the mother, but the scores differed significantly by the father's education level. Similar responses emerged in the open-ended questions. Participants expressed that they felt competent in digital communication and digital participation and their parents are partly influential in the improvement of these skills. In addition, the majority of the participants stated that the major they enrolled did not have any contribution to their digital skills so far. Recommendations for Practitioners: Recommendations for practitioners to include in their teacher education programs training pre-service teachers to become digital citizens. Recommendations for Researchers: Recommendations for researchers to include identifying practical activities that enhance pre-service teachers' digital citizenship skills. Impact on Society: The findings and results of this study will help display a universal digital citizenship model for pre-service and veteran teachers in Turkey as well as to strengthen their interaction with instructional and information technologies through policy and strategy changes in educational settings. Future Research: Further studies should be undertaken, especially in developing countries. Future research can further explore pre-service teachers' perceptions of digital citizenship such as digital rights, responsibilities, and ethics as well as evaluating the opinions of school administrators, students, and parents regarding their perceptions of digital citizenship in educational settings.

Problem Statement: Democracy and education are two concepts that influence, transform, and improve each other in time. In this sense, we could talk about a symbiotic relationship between democracy and education. The social studies teacher himself or herself must primarily be tolerant towards the class, respect both students and fellow teachers, cooperate with all when needed, and then expect such behavior of the students. This is certainly not the sole responsibility of social studies teachers but a collective responsibility incumbent on all teachers. However, a teacher who is teaching the concept of democracy in class is obviously burdened with more responsibility in this context. It is therefore crucial that both the students and the teacher know the extent to which fairness, justice, freedom, and participation are actually practiced in the classroom. If a person's self-concerning remarks are to be taken as significant and realistic, they need to be corroborated by others. In other words, a social studies teacher's declaration "I am democratic" gains significance only if their students, too, declare, "Yes, our teacher is democratic." Purpose of the Study: This study aims to reveal the extent to which social studies teachers' behaviors are democratic in the classroom. Method: The democratic behaviors of social studies teachers in primary school classrooms were assessed by means of two scales (teacher form and student form) developed by the researcher. The arithmetic mean, standard deviation, and t-test were used in the data analysis for comparable results of teacher (N: 194) and student (N: 1712) views. Findings: The in-class democratic behaviors of social studies teachers in public primary schools are considered in four dimensions, i.e., freedom, equality, justice, and participation. According to the results of this study, social studies teachers' perceptions of their democratic behaviors in the classroom are not shared by their students, as far as the freedom, equality, justice and participation dimensions of the research is concerned. Conclusion: When we look at the results of this study, we cannot miss the dichotomy between the perceptions of teachers and those of the students. While social studies teachers claim to apply the core dimensions of democracy to real life, their students claim otherwise. The students who participated in this survey responded that their teachers did not do their share when it came to the free expression of opinions, equal treatment, consideration of their differences, acceptance as they are, fair treatment, and encouraging student participation in the class.

The aim of this research was to examine Turkish pre-service teachers' knowledge and perceived self-efficacy beliefs toward using expository text as an instructional tool in their future classroom settings. The research sample were 346 pre-service teachers who studied in different teacher preparation programs which included elementary classroom and middle content classrooms (for example, science, social studies and Turkish language arts) teaching professions. A teacher efficacy inventory and a knowledge test about using expository text were developed and administered to the pre-service teachers in a public university in Turkey. The research findings showed that there was a small but positive correlation between the pre-service teachers' self-efficacy beliefs scores and the knowledge test scores in spite of the small correlation coefficient between the two variables. In addition, the pre-service teachers rated their self-efficacy beliefs as efficacious in using expository texts in their future classrooms. They also identified themselves as having medium level knowledge about use of expository text. Results indicated that while there was not any significant difference regarding pre-service teachers' perceived self-efficacy mean scores in terms of gender, the pre-service teachers' knowledge mean scores about using expository text differed from each other according to gender. Moreover, findings revealed that the pre-service teachers' perceived self efficacy beliefs and knowledge varied significantly from each other according to their training programs. The pre-service teachers' knowledge had significant differences among course years, in contrast to this, their perceived-self efficacy beliefs did not differ from each other according to course year. Additionally, the interaction between course year and training programs had significant effect on the teachers' perceived self-efficacy beliefs and knowledge about using expository text. (Contains 2 tables.)

The purpose of this study was to explore whether there was a significant correlation between vocabulary and reading comprehension in terms of text types as well as whether the vocabulary was a predictor of reading comprehension in terms of text types. In this regard, the correlational research design was used to explain specific research objectives. The study was conducted in Ankara-Sincan during the 2008-2009 academic years. A total of 120 students having middle socioeconomic status participated in this study. The students in this research were in the fifth-grade at a public school. Reading comprehension and vocabulary tests were developed to evaluate the students' reading comprehension and vocabulary levels. Correlation and bivariate linear regression analyses were used to assess the data obtained from the study. The research findings indicated that there was a medium correlation between vocabulary and narrative text comprehension. In addition, there was a large correlation between vocabulary and expository text comprehension. Compared to the narrative text comprehension, vocabulary was also a strong predictor of expository text comprehension. Vocabulary made more contribution to expository text comprehension than narrative text comprehension.

The aim of this study was to examine fifth grade elementary school students' listening and reading comprehension levels with regard to text types. This study was conducted on 180 fifth grade elementary school students in Sincan-Ankara in the spring semester of the academic year 2008-2009. The comprehension test was administered to students. The results revealed that the students comprehended the narrative text better when they heard it read by the instructor versus when they read text independently. However, it was concluded that there was no significant difference in comprehension expository texts between students who read the text those for whom the text was narrated. Moreover, the achievement of Turkish class was a predictor variable in reading and listening comprehension of students.

This study aimed at learning parents' ideas about the values aimed to be taught in Social Studies lessons in the 4th and 5th grades of the primary education and about values education. Study data were collected by administering "the Values Education I" and "Values Education II" questionnaire forms developed by the researchers. The views of 378 and 387 parents who filled "the Values Education I" and "Values Education II" questionnaires respectively were collected. The results obtained in the light of the collected data are as follows: parents of the students attending at the 4th and 5th grades of primary education used 19 different values to define the values that have to be taught; they listed the reasons of value education as "success, socialization, democratization, self-improvement of the children", "peace" and "necessity to teach these values." Parents deemed both themselves and the school sufficient in terms of values education and they thought that the main responsibility of giving values education belongs first to parents and second to school. Parents gave priority to the values such as "patriotism," "honesty," "attaching importance to family unity," "responsibility," and "hardworking."

One of the most important aims of teaching reading is to help students acquire fluent reading skills. With this aim in mind, this study attempted to support a student with difficulty to become a fluent reader by improving his reading skills using a fluency instruction method called repeated reading. This study was performed with an elementary school student experiencing reading difficulty in Turkey's Kirsehir province in the spring semester of the academic year. The study continued for about 10 weeks and had positive improvements on the student's reading comprehension, automaticity and accuracy skills. The views of the student's parents and class teacher also supported these improvements.

Reading fluency has traditionally been recognized as a competency associated with word recognition and comprehension. As readers become more automatic in word identification they are able to devote less attention and cognitive resources to word decoding and more to text comprehension. The act of reading itself has been associated with growth in vocabulary. Thus, as readers become more fluent, they should be able to cover more text resulting in greater gains in reading vocabulary. This study explores the relationship between fluency and vocabulary among 119 fifth grade Turkish students. Findings confirm that measures of reading fluency are associated with differential levels of vocabulary in students. The findings are discussed in terms of further research and classroom practice for improving students' proficiency in reading.