The aim of the research is to determine the predictive power of prospective physical education teachers’ attitudes towards educational technologies for their technological pedagogical content knowledge. In this study, a relational research model was used on a study group that consisted of 529 (Mage=21.49, SD=1.44) prospective physical education teachers. As a data collection tool, a “technology attitude scale” and a “technological pedagogical content knowledge scale” were used. Regarding analyses, inferential statistics as correlation and regression analyses were used, in addition to descriptive analyses. At the end of the research period, it was observed that attitudes towards educational technologies had a high-level effect on technological pedagogical content knowledge, and the variables that constituted a sub-dimension of the attitude scale for educational technologies explained 31% of the total variance in technological pedagogical content knowledge. In addition, it was established that attitudes towards educational technologies and the technological pedagogical content knowledge of prospective physical education teachers were at a high level.

The quality of education and instruction is related to effective execution of educational and instructional activities and efficiency of these activities is related to how the class is managed. Considered to be the manager of the classroom processes and program, teachers are expected to effectively direct and manage various material and human resources for the accomplishment of the goals. The purpose of the current study employing survey method is to determine the effect of gender, the type of the faculty graduated and length of service on teachers’ skills of managing the constructivist learning environment. The sampling of the study consists of 85 Life Sciences, Physics, Chemistry and Biology teachers working in schools located in the city of Muğla in the second term of 2014-2015 school year. As a data collection tool, The Scale of Management Skills of The Constructivist Learning Environment (SMSCLE) developed by Yıldırım (2012) was used. The teachers’ skills of managing constructivist learning environments were examined through frequencies and percentages, whether these skills vary depending on gender and the type of the faculty graduated was investigated with t-test and whether these skills vary depending on their length of service was investigated through one-way variance analysis. At the end of the study, it was concluded that the teachers’ skills of managing the constructivist learning environment are high and gender and the type of the faculty graduated do not significantly affect their skills. Yet, their managing skills vary significantly depending on their length of service

The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of guided, inquiry-based laboratory activities using the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) approach and self-evaluation on students’ science achievement. The study involved three sixth grade classes studying an electricity unit taught by the same primary school teacher. Before the study began, one class was randomly selected to be the control group, and the other two classes were selected to be treatment groups. In the control group, students were instructed using a traditional didactic approach. Treatment groups engaged in guided, inquiry-based activities via the SWH approach. One treatment group was randomly selected to complete a self-evaluation of their SWH reports. Data collection tools included a baseline test at the beginning of the study to establish three skill-based groups and unit-based pretests, posttests, and retention tests. The Cronbach’s alpha reliability of the electricity test was .91. Results indicated no significant mean differences among groups on pretest measures for the unit. Analysis of post and retention tests indicated that students in the SWH and self- evaluation SWH groups scored significantly higher than the students in the control group.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of utilizing the multi-assessment strategy through a constructivist learning atmosphere with regard to perceptions of the pre-service teachers. The participants were 98 third year (junior) pre-service teachers attending to classroom management course in a public university in Turkey. Action research methodology and mixed method were utilized to collect data in this study. The results showed that classroom management field was acknowledged very positively by the most of the pre-service teachers. The authentic activities utilized during the authentic instructions were positively recognized, although they admitted that all process was tiring and took long time. Although open ended questions yielded both positive and negative aspects, utilizing multi-assessment strategy was indicated mostly by the participants as highly effective. Findings indicated that employing constructivist assessment in teacher education may yield positive impacts especially when doing it learning by doing.

Service learning strengthens all involved: Students, faculty members, the community, and higher education institutions. Benefits of service learning for students include gaining real world experiences, personal and transformative outcomes (Conway, Amel, & Gerwien’s, 2009), as well as higher order thinking from reflection on the experience (Molee, Henry, Sessa, & McKinney-Prupis, 2010). To understand the dynamics of service learning upon students' learning and transformation, this narrative case study chronicles women educational leaders' service learning and transformative experiences during doctoral study. These personal narratives are contextualized by the faculty member’s service learning pedagogy and the types of service learning projects chosen. Data collection and analysis are achieved through reflective writing and journaling (Richardson & St. Pierre, 2005). A summary of results reveal  the importance of service learning for students’ academic and professional growth at the doctoral level, as well as the possibility of long-term benefits of service for the community and the transformation of leaders. Results also give faculty members and higher education support services insight into the design and delivery of service learning courses.

Current study examined the effects of virtual and physical laboratory practices on students’ conceptual achievement in the subject of electricity and their attitudes towards simple electric circuits. Two groups (virtual and physical) selected through simple random sampling was taught with web-aided material  called “Electricity in Our Lives”. Quasi experimental research design was used in the study and “Simple Electric Circuits Achievement Test” composed of three dimensions (CCAB, FCC and RCE) and  “Attitude Scale for Simple Electric Circuits” composed of five dimensions were given to the groups are pre and posttests. It was identified that conceptual achievement significantly differed in the CCAB and RCE dimensions of the virtual laboratory implementations on the basis of total scores compared to the physical group whereas no meaningful differences were detected in the FCC dimension. It was also found that virtual laboratory implementations did not generate differences in student attitudes towards simple electric circuits.

The aim of this study are to examine the relationship between prospective classroom teachers’ estimation skills based on calculation and their number sense and to investigate whether their number sense and estimation skills change according to their class level and gender. The participants of the study are 125 prospective classroom teachers studying at faculty of education, department of classroom teaching, in a state university in Turkey. The findings of the study revealed that prospective teachers have a low level of scores in terms of number sense and estimation skills, the scores do not change according to gender but there is a statistically significant difference in terms of their grade levels in number sense test. Additionally, it wasn’t indicated that there is a statistically significant difference between prospective teachers’ number sense and estimation skills scores.

Aim of this study was to determine science and technology teachers’ views about the causes of the problems encountered in laboratories. In this research, phenomenology, a qualitative research design, was used. 21 science and technology teachers who were working in elementary schools in Eskisehir during the 2010–2011 spring semester were the participants of this study. A semi-structured interview form was prepared to collect data. The interview form included three sections. Content analysis was used to deeply analyze and understand the written answers which were obtained from open ended questions. Approxiamately half of teachers expressed that, lack of caution and lack of necessary safety precautions were the causes of laboratory accidents. Moreover, they also expressed that, insufficient science content knowledge and lack of knowledge were influential in the problems encountered. It is thought that, the findings of this study will contribute to determining the causes of problems encountered in laboratories.

The aim of the current study was to examine the correlation between organizational commitment and occupational burnout among the physical education teachers and to determine the mediating role of their self-efficacy perceptions in this relational status. This was a relational study and conducted with cross- sectional method. Sample group was composed of 325 physical education teachers. The relational status among the variables was analyzed with correlation and multiple linear regression analyses. As the result of the study; it was found out that there was a negative correlation between organizational commitment and occupational burnout of the physical education teachers. Besides; it was also identified that there was a negative correlation between teachers’ self-efficacy perceptions and their occupational burnout but a positive correlation between their self-efficacy and organizational commitments. It was discovered that teachers’ self-efficacy perceptions played a mediating role between their organizational commitment and occupational burnout.

This study intends to determine elementary school teachers’ degree of classroom control, which constitutes the consistency in their classroom management and discipline-related behaviour. The major research question was as follows: Is the control approach adopted by teachers related to certain variables (gender, age, subject area, experience)? The study design was based on descriptive and causal- comparative research methods. Research data were collected from 119 elementary school teachers. Results revealed that, in general, elementary school teachers adopted medium-level control. There was no statistically significant difference found between teachers’ control approach and their age, gender, experience, marital status and subject area. If teachers are aware of the philosophy underlying their level of control and if they internalize it, their teaching behaviour is affected. Therefore, teachers can become informed and follow studies about their control approach.

The purpose of this study is to find out the level of speech anxiety of last year students at Education Faculties and the effects of speech anxiety. For this purpose, speech anxiety inventory was delivered  to 540 pre-service teachers at 2013-2014 academic year using stratified sampling method. Relational screening model was used in the study. To explain the relationships among data in the study,  frequency and percentage analysis, t-test, ANOVA, regression analysis and structural equation modelling were used. It is seen that preservice teachers have speech anxiety problems when they have to speak during their teaching activities, when they are demanded to speak all of a sudden, when their speech is interrupted, when they consider that they do not have different points of view and when they cannot balance their speech speed. Preservice teachers use their body language as they are giving speech, and they have less anxiety when they have eye-contact with their audiences, when are talking about themselves and when they are talking about the people they do not know. When preservice teachers’ speech anxiety was investigated with regards to their departments, preservice English teachers and Turkish teachers were found to have higher levels of speech anxiety compared to preservice preschool teachers. When the findings obtained with this study were examined, it was  found that, as presercice teachers’ speech anxiety increases, their desire to participate in the activities also increase.

In order to give the best and accurate orientation to teachers working in school organizations, it seems to be necessary to determine their motivation level. Thus, the purpose of the current study is to determine the motivation level of teachers working in state elementary and secondary schools. Moreover, the study also looks at the relationships between motivation level of teachers and type of the school, the number students in the class, length of service and job satisfaction. The universe of the present study conducted according to descriptive survey model consists of 1310 teachers working in  76 elementary and secondary schools in Menteşe district of the city of Muğla and the sampling is comprised of 398 teachers randomly selected from among the universe. The data collection instrument of the study has two parts, personal information form and teacher motivation scale. In order to determine the factors motivating teachers, “Teacher Motivation Scale” was developed on the basis of “Workers’ Job Satisfaction Evaluation Scale” developed by Gülten İncir (1990), a literature review and expert opinions The Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient of the scale was found to be 0.834. The findings of the study revealed that the motivation level of the teachers working at state schools is high in general. It was also found that the teachers’ motivation levels do not vary significantly depending  on type of the school, the number of students in the class and length of service but vary significantly according to job satisfaction.

Values are of utmost importance for the creation, development and sustainability of a life worthy of human dignity. However, because even superficial views of values are regarded as values themselves, they have become relative and become degenerated; therefore, they have lost the properties – potentials and powers – essential to human dignity. This means that values have turned into subjective options and ideals that are no longer binding to personal, social and international relations. Restoring values’ righteous potential for the establishment of a humanistic life is possible only by enriching our personal perceptions and judgement with social and even universal values and revealing the hierarchical relations among them. All values are integral parts of a qualitative hierarchy of  interrelated values. The primary concern of this study is to fill a niche in the literature by revealing this hierarchical interrelation and building a model to enable analysis of these values in terms of their instrumental or terminal functions, characteristics and scopes. For the purpose of the study, a new theoretical discussion on the hierarchical structure of values is introduced in consideration of their patterns and interrelations through a conceptual analysis of the values. This research is an analytical study based on a comprehensive literature review.