The aim of this study was to investigate the VMLSE perception levels of eighth grade students and differentiations based on variables of gender, state of success, final grade and ability to relate mathematical concepts to daily life and examine their views on this issue. The exploratory design of mixed method, which includes both quantitative and qualitative methods, was used in the study. The survey method was used in the quantitative dimension of the study. In qualitative dimension, phenomenological design which is one of the qualitative research designs is used. The data obtained from the quantitative dimension by VMLSE perception scale were analyzed by t-test and one-way analysis of variance. The data obtained from the semi-structured interview form were analyzed by using the content analysis method for the qualitative dimension of the research. As a consequently, there was a significant difference in VMLSE perceptions based on the variables of final grade, finding one’s self successful in the field of mathematics and ability to relate mathematical concepts; however, there was no significant difference based on gender. Additionally, it was found, the students had the idea that having VMLSE perception would affect mathematics success positively. 

In this study, it was aimed to find out the characteristics of inspiring teachers who inspired teacher candidates to do teaching profession properly. In the study, “An Exploratory Sequential Design” a mixed method where qualitative and quantitative approaches are used concomitantly, was employed to determine the inspiring teacher characteristics. In this design, two steps were respectively followed by the researcher. In the first step grounded theory research design as a qualitative research design was used and in the second step survey research model as a quantitative research design was used. Inspiring Teacher Scale (ITS) was developed by the researchers to collect the data. In the second phase, the study group was extended to continue the quantitative studies. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used first to analyze the data. The results of analysis have demonstrated that the items loaded on four factors, which reflect inspiring teacher characteristics as “teacher communication”, “personal characteristics”, “professional development” and “supporting students in different ways”. Findings suggest that ITS, which has four-factor structures with 36 items, can be suggested as a valid and reliable instrument to determine the characteristics of inspiring teacher. Therefore, in this study the characteristics inspiring teachers were specified according to opinions of teacher candidates and presented to be o model for teacher candidates.

Extracurricular activities represent educational, preplanned actions which enable complete confirmation of students’ personality as well as development of their communication skills and competencies; whilst they enable the teachers to expand their educational influence. Modern school can’t be imagined without innovations or modifications to the entire communicational discourse, since its perspective is to be a progressive model whereat main communicational types of behavior are learnt and formed. The research was carried out at primary and secondary schools in the area of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Mostar region) and it included 590 students and 315 teachers. With this empirical research we have tested the presence of a democratic, voluntary, partnership and pedagogic-stimulating communication within the process of putting the extracurricular activities into realization. The goal of our research was to determine whether there is a statistically significant difference between evaluations made by students and those made by teachers of primary and secondary schools that a democratic, voluntary, partnership and pedagogic stimulating communication is mostly dominant in the process of putting extracurricular activities into realization. The results we have collected have shown the difference between students’ and teachers’ perception of dominant communication in realization of extracurricular activities.

Three methodological approaches were applied to understand the role of interest and self-efficacy in reading and/or writing in students without and with persisting specific learning disabilities (SLDs) in literacy. For each approach students in grades 4 to 9 completed a survey in which they rated 10 reading items and 10 writing items on a Scale 1 to 5; all items were the same but domain varied. The first approach applied Principal Component Analysis with Varimax Rotation to a sample that varied in specific kinds of literacy achievement. The second approach applied bidirectional multiple regressions in a sample of students with diagnosed SLDs-WL to (a) predict literacy achievement from ratings on interest and self-efficacy survey items; and (b) predict ratings on interest and self-efficacy survey items from literacy achievement. The third approach correlated ratings on the surveys with BOLD activation on an fMRI word reading/spelling task in a brain region associated with approach/avoidance and affect in a sample with diagnosed SLDs-WL. The first approach identified two components for the reading items (each correlated differently with reading skills) and two components for the writing items (each correlated differently with writing skills), but the components were not the same for both domains. Multiple regressions supported predicting interest and self-efficacy ratings from current reading achievement, rather than predicting reading achievement from interest and self-efficacy ratings, but also bidirectional relationships between interest or self-efficacy in writing and writing achievement.  The third approach found negative correlations with amygdala connectivity for 2 reading items, but 5 positive and 2 negative correlations with amygdala connectivity for writing items; negative correlations may reflect avoidance and positive correlations approach. Collectively results show the relevance and domain-specificity of interest and self-efficacy in reading and writing for students with persisting SLDs in literacy.

Improving a required course in our curriculum that has proven to be a challenge for our students was the focus of this study. Surveys of both students and instructors attempted to identify specific problem areas. Using the information from these surveys, the researchers developed a series of videos to explain vital course concepts and deployed these into the course sections. The purpose of the videos is to provide consistency across the multiple modalities in which we offer our courses (including online, classroom and via videoconferencing) and to improve overall student understanding. This project seeks to determine how supplemental content focusing on material identified as “difficult,” by students and instructors, can impact student performance. Challenges include the deployment of the videos across various modalities and obtaining sufficient student feedback.

This article introduces a model entitled, “Responsive Teaching through Problem Posing” or RTPP, that addresses a type of reform oriented mathematics teaching based on posing relevant problems, positioning students as experts of mathematics, and facilitating discourse.  RTPP incorporates decades of research on students’ thinking in mathematics and more recent research on responsive teaching practices.  Two classroom case studies are presented.  A high school unit on functions is explored utilizing individual research on the part of the teacher to enact RTPP lessons.  A middle school teacher enacts a RTPP lesson on proportions and utilizes this model to bridge students’ incorrect additive reasoning strategies with correct multiplicative reasoning strategies.  The results showed that both teachers were able to elevate students’ roles in classroom discussions through implementation of RTPP.  Individual research conducted by the high school teacher informed his RTPP approach while participation in professional development sessions with a classroom embedded component influenced the middle school teacher’s enactment of RTPP lessons.  Both teachers used specific teacher moves within RTPP to relinquish their role as mathematics experts in order to elevate their students’ roles in classroom discussions.  The RTPP cycle is offered as a potential model for studying mathematics teaching and learning across a variety of secondary mathematics classrooms.

Assessment for Learning (AfL) may be conceptualized as minute-to-minute, day-by-day interactions between learners and teachers with the improvement of learning as the principal focus. This paper traces the development of an AfL measurement instrument (scale) that can be used for research purposes prior to, during and following professional development in the area. Rasch measurement procedures were applied to data drawn from a convenience sample of 594 teachers from 44 elementary schools in Ireland to create a scale consisting of 20 items distributed across four key AfL assessment strategies: learning intentions and success criteria, questioning and classroom discussion, feedback, and peer-and self-assessment.  This scale, the Assessment for Learning Measurement instrument (AfLMi), has good psychometric properties and is interpretable in a way that makes it potentially useful during system wide improvement initiatives focused on AfL.

In the study, a meta-analysis was conducted to determine the effect of the use of the learning cycle model on the achievements of the students. Doctorate and master theses, made between 2007 and 2016, were searched using the keywords in Turkish and English. As a result of the screening, a total of 123 dissertations, which used learning cycle models to increase the achievement of students, were included in the analysis. As a result of this study, it is confirmed that the effect of learning cycle models on students’ achievement is positive and the determined effect size was found out as 1.164 (% 95 CI, SE = .071) according to random effects model.. In the study, moderator analysis was made according to the learning cycle models, type of the dissertations, disciplines, and education levels of students. The analyses showed that among the learning cycle models, the highest effect size was determined in the 4E Model (2.659), among the dissertations the highest effect size was in master thesis (ES = 1.231), among the disciplines the highest effect size was in the other lessons (ES = 1.637) and among the educational levels the highest effect size was in the high school students (ES = 1.237).

The fact that the prospective Turkish teachers’ having a command of different methods and techniques as being Turkish teachers of the future is important in terms of its positive effects on the comprehension and expression skills of the middle school students. This study used the case study design and the qualitative approach. The aim of the research was to test the effectiveness of literature circle method and contribute to the field in theoretical and practical context. Fourty-six prospective Turkish teachers were conveniently sampled from the state university in Istanbul, to participate in the study. During six weeks, the opinions of prospective Turkish teachers who applied literature circle method were collected through unstructured interview forms. The data collected were subjected to a content analysis. It was concluded that prospective Turkish teachers found the method of literature circle favorible, in terms of cooperation, solidarity, gaining different perspectives, revealing hidden talents, developing self-confidence, aesthetic pleasure, enriching vocabulary and catching the details.

The purpose of this research is to assess the sports and socialization of the students studying in different sports branches in Gumushane University. “Socialization- Sports and Socialization Scale” developed by Sahan was used in this research. A total of 742 students composed of 316 females and 426 males studying in Gumushane University participated in this survey modelled research. Data obtained were evaluated in SPSS package program. Reliability coefficient of the scale was found to be 0.896. T-Test, Kruskall Wallis and Anova were used in statistical assessment of data. Pearson Product-Moment Correlation analysis was used to determine whether there was a significant relation between socialization and sports-socialization scores and the causal relations between two variables were tested with simple linear regression analysis. The study was analyzed in terms of certain variables and it was concluded that the variables of gender, age, place of residence and type of sports done by the participants didn’t make a difference on sports-socialization and socialization scores. It is also observed that there is a positive and significant relation between the variables of socialization and sports-socialization (r= .624, p<.01). In other words, it can be stated that the higher the socialization scores of the participants are, the higher their sports-socialization scores become, accordingly.  

This paper seeks to investigate the implementation of the Productive Pedagogies Framework in Nigerian mathematics classroom setting. The researcher adopted a qualitative case study approach to seeking data for the three research questions postulated for the study. Three mathematics teachers taught mathematics in two secondary schools in two Central states of Nigeria using the Productive Pedagogies framework introduced to them by the researcher. Two major instruments (observation and reflective interviews) were employed to seek information from the teachers and the students. While the researcher uses the grounded theory approached to interpret and or analyzed the data collected. The findings of this study suggest that the teachers made attempts to used Productive Pedagogies framework to achieved quality mathematics classroom instructions. This was demonstrated in their effort to used problem-solving to achieve intellectual quality classrooms instructions, making mathematics classroom instruction relevant to the world around their students, developing an atmosphere of friendship during classroom instruction and identifying and recognizing the differences existed among students during classroom instruction. It was observed that the used of the Productive Pedagogies can increase students’ engagement, collaborations, interactions, substantive conversations and effective inclusion during mathematics classroom instruction in which the research finally recommended the adoption of the Productive Pedagogies framework in the Nigerian mathematics classroom.

Teaching with technology is considered a necessity in the U.S. mathematics classroom. However, few studies have established explicit considerations to support technology-enhanced student achievement. The purpose of this study was to characterize the effectiveness of technology in the mathematics classroom by systematically reviewing meta-analytic research. An exhaustive literature search was conducted. After applying a prioi inclusion criteria the pool of 65 initial meta-analyses was reduce to 13 representative studies. Each study was reviewed and characteristics were coded in four categories: (1) sample, (2) measurement, (3) design, and (4) source. An inductive review of the coded studies produced five unique moderators that were the most salient across studies. Overall mean effect sizes were retrieved or calculated from available study data. Hedges g was used as the common effect size metric for comparison across studies.  The Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework was used to interpret the most salient moderators of effects across studies.  Studies were categorized by didactical functionality and technology type. The results suggest that effects vary by didactical functionality from small to medium. The largest variations were observed for the didactical function of developing conceptual understanding.  Implications for research and instructional praxis are provided.

This study mainly aims to determine the effect of the layered curriculum on the 6th grade students’ learning styles in science lesson. The study group consists of students in the 6/A and 6/D at Fevzi Cakmak Secondary School in the city center of Siirt-Turkey in the academic year of 2015-2016. “Learning Styles Inventory” developed by Kolb and translated into Turkish by Askar and Akkoyunlu, diaries of students and semi-structured interview form developed by researchers and examination of the documents were used as data collection tools. As for data analysis, percent (%) and chi-square techniques were used to determine the learning styles of students, but in the analysis of students’ opinions the descriptive analysis was used. During the study, students were also asked to express their experiences and considerations about learning activities via a diary. The thoughts and feelings reflected in the diaries of students were directly quoted in findings. As a result of the analysis, in pre-test results of the students in the experimental group exposed to the layered curriculum, a significant difference was found in terms of gender; however, no significant difference was found in their post-test results.

The aim of this study is to investigate teachers’ perceptions about the importance of learning innovation toward critical thinking ability in learning mathematics. The subjects in this study are the teachers and the students of grade Vin Al-Islam 6 Al-Fajar, Muhammadiyah 23 and Cokroaminoto Islamic Elementary School Surakarta. The research method used in this research is qualitative case study. The problem in the research is the students' mathematics score is low that is seen from the results of the daily test’s students which showed 85% get grades below the minimal mastery criteria there is 60. The analysis technique used is triangulation. Validation used is qualitative descriptive. Based on the results of interviews to a number of teachers who teach mathematics in the fifth-grade in Pasarkliwon sub-district, it can be concluded that students' critical thinking ability in mathematics is low so that it is required innovative learning model used by the teachers.

Energy literacy is a minimum required capacity for developing a sustainable society that participates in and discusses on energy and environmental (EE) issues. Understanding the energy literacy structure is of significant importance for providing effective energy education to promote people’s awareness of EE issues. In this article, an energy literacy structural model integrated with the Theory of Planned Behavior and Value-Belief-Norm Theory was investigated for 1070 lower secondary students (ages 13-15) in Japan. Structural equation modeling uncovered that the awareness of consequences is the most powerful predictor for the causality between basic energy knowledge and energy-saving behavior through the attitude toward the energy-saving behavior. A conditional process analysis elucidated that (1) the conditional effect of basic energy knowledge on the awareness of consequences depends on scientific literacy, critical thinking ability, and environmental worldview, and (2) the conditional direct and indirect effects in the mediation model of awareness of consequences on the attitude toward energy-saving behavior through the ascription of responsibility depend on environmental worldview or values and family discussion of energy-related issues. The energy literacy model proposed provides a theoretical contribution to the development of an effective energy education program.

The aim of this study is to collect and analyze children's comments on the pictures in children's story books. Four students studied in the first grade of a public primary school in Adana participated in the study. The research model is an example of phenomenology among qualitative research patterns. Focus group method was used as the data collection tool and observation method was used in a second exercise to support the first method. In focus group discussion "The City on the Wind" by Behic Ak, selected as the Book 1, was reviewed along with 4 participating students. In the second exercise, the book named "The Little Match Girl" selected as Book 2 was reviewed. Descriptive analysis and document analysis methods were used in the analysis of the research data. Students' comments on the pictures were collected under four different themes. "Description" among these themes was the most common in student expressions. The sentences for the themes of superficial interpretation, imaginative interpretation and critical understanding were less frequently used by students. Another finding of the study is the number of words students used to describe the picture. Students built short sentences not exceeding 2-3 words.  

This research is part of developing study on the Civic education teaching material based on PBL. This research aims to determine the process of developing the teaching material of Civic education based on PBL for the fourth-grade of elementary school in order to improve students’ learning outcome. The result of the previous study shows that the teaching material does not currently fulfill the students’ need. Method of research used is a descriptive qualitative and quantitative. This research consists of two activities namely the composing of extensive and limited test. In the implementation, the extensive test has a broader scope than limited test. Methods of collecting data in this research are interview, observation, expert assessment and test. The instruments of this research are interview guide, field notes, expert assessment sheet and test sheet of the student learning outcome. Stages in this activity include the preparation of teaching material Civic education based on PBL, experts’ validation of Civic education teaching material based on PBL, and field trials. The result of this research is a draft of teaching material of Civic education based on PBL including introduction, content and closing. It is eligible used by nine experts. The student learning outcome that uses the teaching material Civic education based on PBL is improved.

This study aims to conduct Turkish adaptation, validity and reliability studies of the Teacher Rating Scales of Early Academic Competence. This study also aims to examine and improve early academic competence thoroughly on the basis of teachers’ ratings in Turkey, and lastly to contribute an assessment and measurement instrument to the literature which will enable to conduct further research in the field. This study was designed in a general survey model. The study included normally developing 619 36-72 month-old preschoolers attending to nursery classes and kindergartens affiliated to Afyonkarahisar Ministry of National Education in 2015-2016 academic year. The validity and reliability studies of the data obtained following the implementation of TRS-EAC, was completed. The Cronbach Alpha, split half test, test-retest reliability of the scale and its subscales were measured. TRS-EAC was found to be valid and reliable for 36-72 month-old children. It can be considered that the various studies that can be used TRS-EAC in Turkey will provide important contributions to the measurement power of this test.

This research was conducted to investigate the predictive role of homophobia and unconditional self-acceptance on respect of differences in psychological counselor candidates. Participants were 239 psychological counselor candidates. The Respect of Differences Scale, the Homophobia Scale, and the Unconditional Self-Acceptance Scale were used to collect the data. Path analysis was used to determine the influences of variables on respect of differences. The independent sample t-test and one-way ANOVA were used to determine differences between participants in terms of gender and grade. The results of the analysis indicated that homophobia and unconditional self-acceptance are predictors of respect of differences, and place of living and traditionally have an indirect effect on respect of differences. In addition, female participants reported a higher level of respect of differences than male participants. Similarly, first year college students reported a higher level of respect of differences than fourth year college students.

In general, teacher educators are considered to be educational specialists whose main task is to communicate content-based concepts to prospective teachers. However, unfortunately, most studies on teacher professional development overlook this specific language-oriented aspect of content-based teaching. Therefore, we address the aforementioned research gap and argue that teacher educators’ evaluation of their language-oriented performance in educational communication enhances the quality of their content-based teaching. Accordingly, we examine how the language-oriented performance of teacher educators is evaluated by both individual teacher educators (sample size N=3) and their students (N=32) in a small-scale intervention study. The findings of the study reveal that there is a relationship between the order of application of five language focus areas (i.e., language awareness, active listening, formalizing interaction, language support, and language and learning development, as noticed by the students), and teacher educators’ ability to apply these areas in accordance with their objectives related to content-based teaching.