This study aimed to develop an instructional design that focuses on programming teaching for gifted and talented students and to investigate its effects on the teaching process. During the development of the instructional design; the steps of Morrison, Ross and Kemp Instructional Design Model were followed. Embedded experimental design, one of the mixed-method research designs, was used in the modeling of the study. The participants consisted of students studying at the Science and Art Center (BILSEM) (experimental group: 13 girls and 12 boys, control group: 10 girls and 15 boys). While the instructional design developed by the researchers was applied to the gifted and talented students in the experimental group, the standard activities used in Information Technologies and Software Courses at BILSEM were applied to the gifted and talented students in the control group. “Computational Thinking Scale (CTS)”, “Torrance Creative Thinking Test (TCTT-Figural)” and “Computer Programming Self-Efficacy Scale (CPSES)” were used to collect the data of the quantitative phase of the study. Qualitative data were gathered by using interview form, observation forms, and design thinking rubric. Two-Factor ANOVA Test, Bonferroni Adjustment Multiple Comparisons Test, and interaction graphs were used to analyze quantitative data while qualitative data were analyzed by content analysis. The quantitative results of the research showed that the instructional design was effective on students' computational thinking and creative thinking skills, but not on programming self-efficacy. Qualitative findings revealed that the instructional design helped the students learn the computational concepts, use computational applications, and develop computational-perspectives. Also, students improved their design thinking skills to a certain level and expressed that they enjoyed the design thinking process, learned the course content, and experienced some difficulties.

STEM education is a pedagogical philosophy which aims to draw the interrelationship between science, technology, engineering and mathematics to solve complex problems in real life situations. In order to use STEM education to foster students’ learning, the researchers designed STEM activities for middle school students related to the concept of force and motion in three different approaches: a linear model, a jigsaw learning and a stand-alone engineering design activity. To compare the effectiveness of the three approaches, the researchers analysed students’ reasoning and problem-solving scores gained before and after doing the activities. The result showed students participating in the linear model and in the jigsaw learning significantly outperformed those in the stand-alone engineering design activity. In addition, when comparing conceptual development between those attending the linear model and jigsaw learning, the result showed that the former significantly outperformed the latter. It is therefore suggested that to maximise the effectiveness of STEM activities in promoting conceptual understanding as well as reasoning and problem-solving skills, teachers should adopt the linear model. However, when instructional time is limited, the jigsaw learning can be considered as an alternative approach. The stand-alone engineering design activity although can promote students’ enthusiasm to learn, it may not sufficiently lead to the development of reasoning and problem-solving skills as expected.

The study's goal was to examine the correlation between the computer programming self-efficacy and computational thinking skills of gifted and talented students. The capacity of the computer programming self-efficacy of gifted and talented students to predict their computational thinking skills were also examined. The relational screening model has been implemented in the research. The participants of the study were composed of 106 secondary school gifted and talented students studying the Individual Ability Recognition Program (IAR) at the Science and Art Center in the city center. Typical case sampling was applied for the student identification of the participants, 46 are female and 60 are male. Gifted and talented students' computational thinking skills were assessed using the "Computational Thinking Skills Scale” and the computer programming self-efficacy was measured by using the "Computer Programming Self-Efficacy Scale". Data were analysed by Pearson correlation analysis and simple linear regression analysis in statistical software SPSS 22. Research results found that there was a positive and high correlation between the computer programming self-efficacy and computational thinking skills. The gifted and talented students' computer programming self-efficacy demonstrated 31.5% of the total variance in computational thinking skills. This finding supports the claim which is present in the literature that self-efficacy in computer programming is the affective aspect of computational thinking skills. To predict computational thinking skills, it may be recommended to build multiple models for cognitive and affective skills of gifted and talented students.

Many educators hold beliefs that including students, at least to some degree, has academic and social benefits, however, they struggle with fundamental pedagogy. With a global shift from a segregated lens to that of an inclusive lens, special education teachers who once held positive beliefs towards segregated special education are now faced with a new reality of teaching students with disabilities in inclusive classroom settings. This paper highlights the experiences of ten educators who transitioned from teaching in a self-contained class to an inclusive class. Focus group and interview themes indicated that all had experienced a shift in their pedagogy- their overall beliefs and teaching methods- after they taught students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms. Despite their special education training, these educators were challenged by their own beliefs and expectations, the attitudes of others, and systematic barriers within the education system. Highlights of their change process include the positive performance of students with disabilities, the growth and development of the other students, and their overall pedagogical self-reflection. As a result, a framework, the Inclusive Educators’ Continuum of Change, was developed to highlight the change process and connect this research to the literature on inclusion and teacher change. This diagram can provide teacher educators a framework for discussing pedagogical change. Implications for professional development and teacher training for inclusive practice, as well as maximizing the educator skills in Professional Learning Communities (PLC) and mentorship opportunities will be highlighted.

This paper sought to investigate the mathematics teachers’ reflection on the role of Productive Pedagogies’ framework in festering effective classroom instruction. Two research objectives were used to discuss the reflection of the four mathematic teachers. A qualitative case study was adopted as the design of the study. Classroom observations, Research Journal and Reflective Interviews were organised to collect data for the study, while the narratives approach to data analysis was used to analyse the data collected. From the study, the mathematics teachers were able to gradually adjust to the new framework through effective reflective meetings with their colleagues and with the support of the researcher. They (mathematics teachers) reflected that, the framework helps them developed confidence, positive attitude and interest to their teaching practice. It helped fostered effective collaboration and created an atmosphere of trust between the mathematics teachers and their students. The study also suggested that the pedagogy influence the mathematics teachers to provide and received feedback from their colleagues and from their students. They were also of the view that there was a gradual shift from the traditional teacher centred instruction they are more conversant with to a more student-centred pedagogy. The implication of the study suggests the need to adopt the Productive Pedagogies framework into the Nigerian mathematics classroom to improve mathematics teacher’s classroom instruction.

The curriculum of an elementary school of Indonesian education currently emphasizes the affective aspects as a result of student learning for the sustainability of national development. This fact encourages teachers the responsibility to create and develop effective learning tools to foster tolerance, nationalism, be communicative and friendly, love peace, and social care. The objective of the study is to analyze the needs of students in elementary schools towards the development of educational comics to foster character development. This study uses qualitative approach. Participants were 120 fifth grade students. A questionnaire was used to collect the data of the study. The data were analyzed using an interactive model. The results of the study revealed that there was an interest of students in comic media as a teaching aid containing local wisdom values for character education. In the aspect of construction, comics are needed that are related to the ideal scope and size of the comics. In the aspect of content required comic material set in a national culture containing local wisdom, presentation of the story with the contents of an illustration of nationalism and social awareness. As for the design aspect and appearance, characterizations of cartoons are needed, involving a variety of colors, fonts of proportional size. The conclusion of this research is the development of educational comics media with local wisdom is needed to fulfill the needs of elementary school students as an effort to foster character.

The aim of this study was to examine the pre-service teachers’ Web 2.0 rapid content development self-efficacy belief levels and their opinions about Web 2.0 tools. The study was carried out by using “convergent parallel mixed design”. In the academic year of 2019-2020, 254 pre-service teachers voluntarily participated in the quantitative part of the study and 30 pre-service teachers voluntarily participated in the qualitative part. "Web 2.0 Rapid Content Development Self-Efficacy Belief Scale of Pre-Service Teachers" was used as quantitative data collection tool. In order to collect qualitative data, a semi-structured interview form was prepared by the researchers. While the quantitative data obtained from the pre-service teachers were analyzed with the T Test and ANOVA, the qualitative data were analyzed using the content analysis technique. As a result of the study, pre-service teachers’ Web 2.0 rapid content development self-efficacy belief levels do not differ significantly in terms of gender variable. On the other hand, a significant difference was observed in self-efficacy belief level scores among different departments. Also, the pre-service teachers expressed positive opinions regarding the use of WEB 2.0 tools in the educational environment such as class group formation, presentation preparation and virtual classroom applications.

Digital storytelling has undergone extensive study in different content-areas, but its naturally-combined use with collaborative writing for skills development, and reflective practice remains underresearched in pre-service EFL teacher education. This study undertook joint tech-enhanced retelling of L2 texts by 56 Turkish EFL teacher candidates, rubric-based peer and teacher assessment of final products, comparative analysis of complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) between outliers, and process evaluation using the significant learning taxonomy to explore impacts on L2 writing performance, academic learning, and personal growth. Despite assigning lower scores than the teacher-assessors, especially to the top-performers, the majority of peers successfully fulfilled the job, effectively performed the future reviewer role, and positively reacted to co-construction, and technology integration. CAF and reflection analyses indicated that the biggest difference between the highest- and lowest-scoring groups lay in grammatical accuracy, and lack of mutual interaction could account for the less cooperative group’s poorer performance. The classification of their post-task responses into six kinds of learning gains (foundational knowledge, application, integration, human dimension, caring, and learning how to learn) also revealed that their collaborative digital storytelling experience (CDS) elicited more procedural, critical, creative and practical thinking on the academic learning front, while disciplinary and integrative thinking may have declined due to more immediate preoccupation with task achievement. Their critical thinking was mainly organised around consensus-reaching, fluctuating membership, and logistical challenges, and most demonstrated a clear understanding of the role of positive group dynamics in group outcomes. Despite heightened awareness of the performance-boosting, character-forming, and motivational benefits of collective scaffolding and multimodal meaning-making, a minority could also discern the instrumentality of innovative teaching techniques in their future classroom practices.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between effective communication skills and verbal intelligence levels of Faculty of Sports Sciences students according to variables such as gender, department, age, academic grade point average (GPA), and way of taking the Effective Communication Skills (ECS) course. The correlational survey model was used in the research. The subjects were 230 volunteer university students, chosen by simple random sampling method. The Multiple Intelligence Areas Inventory and The Effective Communication Skills Scale were used. The result showed that there was a significant difference in favor of female students in terms of effective listening by gender. A significant difference was found in favor of the Recreation Department in terms of self-recognition/self-disclosure, I-language, and verbal intelligence sub-dimensions. A significant difference was found in favor of 21-23 age in self-recognition/self-disclosure sub-dimension by age variable. According to academic GPA, a significant difference was found in the verbal intelligence sub-dimension in favor of those whose academic GPA was 3.15-3.57. In addition, according to way of taking the ECS course, a significant difference was found in favor of the compulsory course in the sub-dimensions of ego supportive language, self-recognition/self-disclosure, and I-language. Besides, it was determined that there is a positive and significant relationship between students' effective communication skills and verbal intelligence levels. As a result, it has been determined that, in terms of the development of communication skills, it is important that the ECS course is included in the curriculum as part of the compulsory course.

The purpose of this research is to test the theoretical model developed for the mediator role of perceived organizational support in the relationship between organizational identity and organizational stress. The research is conducted with 320 teachers who work in preschools, primary schools, elementary schools, and high schools. The data were collected using organizational stress scale, perceived organizational support scale, organizational identity scale, and personal information form. The direct and indirect relationships between perceived organizational support, organizational stress, and level of organizational identity were analysed using the Structural Equation Model. The proposed structural model was verified by the analyses. It is observed that the relationships between all variables in the research have significant values and their goodness of fit indices were within the acceptable level. The results of the analyses showed that, organizational identity significantly predicts organizational stress and perceived organizational support. It was also found that the impact of organizational identity on organizational stress was fully mediated by perceived organizational support. According to these results, organizational support plays a mediating role in the relationship between organizational identity and organizational stress.

The aim of the present study is to examine the effect level of procrastination on academic achievement. To this end, a meta-analytic approach was applied and the studies published between January 2000 and May 2020 in Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) and Academic Search Ultimate databases were included in the study. The research was limited to articles examining the correlation between the variables and, accordingly, the correlation coefficient was specified as an index to identify the effect size. After reviewing 22 relevant studies with 8307 participants, the meta-analysis was conducted through Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA) software. The findings revealed that the variables were negatively correlated with each other and the overall effect size of procrastination on academic achievement was found -0.61, which can be interpreted as the medium effect size. The findings of the study endorse the main tenets of theoretical framework regarding the aforementioned link.

Contemporary studies related to teacher autonomy mostly deal with research into how autonomy is perceived by teachers and which variables it is associated with. On the other hand, there are very few studies dealing with how teachers’ instructional autonomy over the curriculum is reflected in the education process. The aim of this study is to reveal in depth the practices carried out in the context of instructional autonomy by science teachers who have different levels of autonomy. The study is based on data gathered from eight teachers employed at different schools in the province of Izmir in Turkey. Interviews, observations and documents were used for collecting the data. The results reveal that while teachers with high instructional autonomy successfully apply contemporary teaching methods, alternative evaluation techniques, high-order thinking skills and effective classroom management, teachers with low instructional autonomy fall short in all of these areas.

The purpose of the study is to examine pre-service teachers' impromptu speaking skills on the basis of the evaluations of the instructor, peers and their own. The study employed a descriptive case study design, one of the qualitative research methods. A total of 23 pre-service math teachers taking the course of Art of Effective Speech in a state university in Turkey in the 2016-2017 academic year participated in the study. The data of the study were collected through the observations of the researcher and pre-service teachers. Descriptive analysis was used in the analysis of the data. As a result of the study, it was found that in most of the observation items, the pre-service teachers found themselves inadequate in terms of impromptu speaking skills while they were found to be adequate by their peers and instructor. In addition, it was revealed that the pre-service teachers found themselves inadequate in some items related to the use of voice while they found themselves adequate in most of the items related to articulation/diction and body language and in all of the items related to communication. However, while the instructor observed that the pre-service teachers were generally competent in all the sub-dimensions, she determined that they needed improvement in the sub-dimensions of eye contact, pausing at the appropriate place and speaking without repeating words.  

The self-report and think-aloud approaches are the two dominant methodologies to measure metacognition. This is problematic, since they generate respondent and confirmation biases, respectively. The Meta-Performance Test is an innovative battery, which evaluates metacognition based on the respondent's performance, mitigating the aforementioned biases. The Meta-Performance Test consists of two tests, the Meta-text, which evaluates metacognition in the domain of reading comprehension, and Meta-number, in the domain of arithmetic expressions solving. The main focus of this article is to present the development of the battery, in terms of its conceptual basis, development strategies and structure. Evidence of its content validity is also presented, through the evaluation of three experts in metacognition, two experts in Spanish language, two experts in mathematics and five students who represent the target population. The results of the judges' evaluations attested to the Meta-Performance Test content validity, and the target population declared that both the battery understanding and taking are adequate. Contributions and future research perspectives of the Meta-Performance Test in the field of metacognition are discussed.

This paper investigated how puppetry could be used to improve the standards of early childhood science education. This study determined the effect of a puppet-making and puppetry workshop on preservice preschool teachers’ beliefs and attitudes towards science education and looked into their experiences during and after puppet-making. Although participants faced some difficulties during the workshop, they developed numerous socioemotional skills. Puppetry activities can help preservice teachers learn how to deliver child-centered, stimulating, and interactive classes. Using puppets in early childhood science education can help teachers develop positive attitudes towards science and offer students high-quality, engaging, and creative activities.

In modern times, the importance of education cannot be overstated. Beyond the acquisition of knowledge, perhaps the most important aim of education may be the development of character in individuals, including vitality, courage, sensitiveness, and intelligence, from which our society may experience increased prosperity, peace, and freedom. In this paper we address the daunting challenge of achieving successful, widespread, and inclusive university education. How do we enliven and engage the students in our classrooms? How can we help each and every student in the class self-actualize and reach the highest potential for learning? Active learning is one well-established and potent solution for accelerating the accumulation of knowledge. In this paper, an experiment in active learning utilizing team-based adaptive online quizzes in an introductory math finance course involving 378 undergraduate students over two years is conducted to explore the potency of this active learning methodology compared to a control group with traditional teaching. We find active learning unambiguously improves knowledge accumulation in the individual students, while simultaneously bolstering inclusive excellence across all students in the class, as measured by a relevant and meaningful quantitative metric. The paper concludes with a discussion comparing the quality of active vs. traditional teaching methods and offers interpretations of the quantitative results. The results of this paper support the widely accepted theme in the literature that active learning has a positive effect on student performance in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) courses.

The early phase is the decisive period for the teachers’ career. Intellectual styles (particularly thinking styles) play a vital role in teachers’ professional development. With the purpose of measuring thinking styles of teachers at the early phase, this study was designed to validate a revised inventory of thinking styles (TSI-R2) for pre-service and early career teachers. A sample of pre-service teachers (n = 248) were invited to join the pilot study and a sample of teachers with one year work experience (n = 252) participated in the main study. Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and reliability analysis were performed. The results suggested that with slight modification, TSI-R2 was a reliable and valid instrument to measure thinking styles of pre-service teachers and early career teachers, which has some implications to enhancing teacher education and development.

Fictional characters give literary works a sense of reality. The actions of fictional characters play a crucial role in children's personality development. Young readers who lack critical reading skills are more likely to incorporate fictional characters into their lives because they have a hard time telling reality from fiction. Therefore, we should determine how children perceive fictional characters and teach them that they are imaginary figures. In this way, we can help them approach those characters' actions from an external and critical perspective. This study adopted a qualitative research design (case study) to investigate secondary school students' perceptions of fictional characters. The sample consisted of 45 secondary school students (28 female and 17 male). Data were collected through interviews and document review techniques. Data were analyzed using content analysis. Results showed that participants were more likely to be interested in and identify with characters with appealing personality traits. They had four types of approaches to fictional characters: (1) Wanting to change the storyline depending on what the fictional character goes through, (2) being influenced by them, (3) seeing them as role models, or (4) ignoring them. They wanted to change the storyline, especially when the villain got what he wanted or when the hero or the victim was unhappy, suggesting that they mostly took the protagonist's side (the good guy). While most participants attributed an ontological meaning to anthropomorphic characters, the symbolic meaning became of secondary importance. They were more interested in and identified more with characters with good living conditions and no death experiences.

The article focused on the use of assessment for learning in promoting active learning and learner participation in mathematics. Assessment for learning (AfL) has been found to enhance learning and improve performance. However, teachers’ use of AfL to enhance active learning has not been clearly outlined. This study is part of the broader research study that explored mathematics teachers’ use of AfL to enhance mathematics teaching and learning in primary schools in Alexandra Township, Johannesburg. A case study research-type and a qualitative approach were used to collect data from mathematics teachers. Nine teachers were purposefully selected from whom data were collected using semi-structured interviews and non-participant observation. The findings revealed that teachers had limited pedagogical knowledge in using AfL to promote active learning in their classrooms. They failed to apply a learner-centred approach that promotes effective learner participation in mathematics classrooms. Therefore, it is recommended that teachers undergo ongoing continuous development on classroom time management and planning for the effective use of AfL.

In this article, we present some core ideas underpinning research that takes a Designs for Learning (DFL) approach guided by theoretical considerations and choices, as well as by practitioners’ challenges and inquiries. These choices shape, and are shaped by, DFL’s research goals and motives, theoretical orientation, research objectives, questions, and practitioners’ participation and ethical considerations. Further, we present and discuss how DFL as a research approach compares to other design-oriented research strategies. Even if a DFL research approach shares several similarities with other approaches of inquiry, we argue that it remains primarily oriented towards knowledge areas that relate to understanding and developing learning and teaching – both in formal education and in informal settings such as museums.