The aim of this study was to investigate the digital literacy skills and metaphorical perceptions of teacher candidates. The mixed approach has been used in the analysis. The quantitative dimension of the study consists of the "Digital Literacy Scale" scores collected from the teacher candidates, and the qualitative component is made up of the metaphors they have developed about the definition of digital literacy. The study was carried out with 297 prospective teachers who are pursuing their education at the Faculty of Education in Turkey. When the results of the study were analyzed, it was found that there was no significant difference between the digital literacy scores of the teacher candidates and the departments in which they were trained, but there was a significant difference in the grade and device ownership variables. The definitions were reached as a result of the study of the metaphors that were grouped under the headings "vitality," "integrity," "guidance," "complexity", and "eternity."

Purpose of this research is to determine the perception of value of national boxers who study in physical education and sports department in universities. The research was evaluated with semi-structured interview method which is one of the qualitative research designs. The research group consisted of 11 national boxers studying at Gazi University Faculty of Sport Sciences, Firat University Faculty of Sport Sciences, Selcuk University Faculty of Sport Sciences and Mustafa Kemal University School of Physical Education and Sports in 2016-2017 academic year. Data were accessed through the Personal Information Form (4 questions) and Semi-Structured Interview Form (3 questions) prepared by the researchers. In the analysis of the data, content analysis method was utilized. As a result, national boxers who received sports science education at universities had value perceptions such as discipline, gentlemanship, self-confidence, respect, cooperation, responsibility, empathy, health, ambition, systematic work, tolerance and protection from bad habits and they also do not tolerate discrimination, violence and doping.

The purpose of the current study is to evaluate the undergraduate programs implemented in different Foreign Language Departments on the basis of the pre-service teachers’ opinions by using the “Context-Input-Process-Product (CIPP)” model. The current research was conducted on 40 pre-service teachers from the German, Arabic, French, and English Language Teaching Departments of the Gazi Education Faculty of Gazi University in the city of Ankara in Turkey in 2017-2018 academic year. The study was designed according to the qualitative research model. In this regard, the study employed the phenomenological method. As the data collection tool, a semi-structured interview form developed by the researchers was used. In the analysis of the collected data, the descriptive analysis method was used. In the study, the context, input, process and product dimensions of foreign language teacher training programs were evaluated on the basis of student opinions. According to the results, the participants found the program sufficient in terms of reading, writing and listening skills but inadequate in terms of speaking skill. It seems that the participating students think that the foreign language teaching programs generally meet their needs but do not adequately meet their need for developing their speaking skill. It can be suggested that the class hours devoted to the development of the speaking skill should be increased. Arrangements such as using computer-based programs and increasing speaking lessons can be made for students to improve their speaking skill.

Within the scope of the research, which aims to determine the leisure literacy and leisure exercise levels of the university students who volunteer in sports organizations, it is aimed to analyze the relationship and the differences of certain variables with measurement tools, as well as to examine the relationship and impact between leisure literacy and leisure exercise. In this context, 207 sports organization volunteers who participated in the study participated in the data collection, as well as a demographic information form, as well as the “Leisure Literacy Scale” and “Leisure-Time Exercise Scale" was used. In this study, the internal reliability coefficient for the Leisure literacy scale was .94 and .70 for the leisure exersice questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, independent sample t test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test and Tukey (HSD-LSD) test and Pearson Correlation test and regression analysis were used for data analysis. The findings reveal that participants have high leisure literacy (81.25 ± 14.04) and men exhibit more active leisure exercise levels, certain variables change leisure literacy and leisure exercise levels. On the other hand, positive strong relationships between leisure literacy and leisure exercise were determined, and leisure literacy was found to have a positive effect on leisure exercise level. As a result of the research, it can be stated that the volunteer participants who take part in sports organizations and evaluate their leisure time actively, the literacy knowledge, background and action level for their leisure time is an important factor that makes individuals spend their leisure by exercising.

The aim of this research is to examine the psychological resilience levels of students studying in the Faculty of Sports Sciences according to some variables. The sample of the study consisted of Sports Sciences Faculty students of Duzce University, and the population consisted of 200 students from the Sports Sciences Faculty selected through a convenience sampling method. An eight-item personal information form developed by the researcher for demographic characteristics and ‘‘Short form of resilience scale’’ to determine resilience levels of participants were used. According to data obtained, while resilience levels, grades, gender, branch, department, age, and income variables of participants did not show a significant difference (p>0,05), it showed a significant difference according to sports age and place of living variables (p<0,05). Besides it was determined that resilience scores of male participants were higher than females, and team athletes had higher scores than individual athletes, lower classes had higher scores than upper classes, sports management students had higher scores than coaching and physical education and sports teaching students, and students who had younger age had higher scores than students who had older age. As a result of research, it was determined that resilience could be differed by class, sports age, residence variables. Also, it was revealed that sports age affects resilience negatively.

This study aimed to investigate whether Thai high school students’ perceived teacher support could enhance their reading ability through self-efficacy and sense of school belonging. The theoretical foundation of this study included the theory of social-motivational processes and social cognitive theory. Structural equation modeling was used for analysis and validation. The student questionnaire from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018 survey questions regarding teacher support, sense of school belonging, self-efficacy, and reading ability. The sample consisted of the data collected from the Thai students in the PISA2018 survey, with an effective sample size totaling 7968. The research results of the overall model showed that the perceived teacher support of Thai high school students’ had no direct effect on their reading ability, but their perceived teacher support had an indirect effect on reading ability through their self-efficacy and sense of school belonging. From the results can be seen that high school teachers in Thailand, in supporting and encouraging their students in learning, must simultaneously develop their perceived self-efficacy and sense of school belonging. Only thus can there be obvious help to their students’ reading ability.

Citizenship is an act of being the ideal member of a society that “maintains and adapts to the culture of this society”, besides having a legal status with the duties and rights that the state imposes on the individual. This study aims to determine the citizenship perceptions of primary school teacher candidates and their ideal citizenship narratives.  The study was carried out according to the mixed research design. Three different measurement tools were used in the research and content analysis method was used for the analysis of data. According to the findings of the study, it was concluded that teacher candidates' perceptions of citizenship and ideal citizenship are similar. Accordingly, it was determined that they participated in the items related to traditional citizenship in the scales, and their perceptions of active/social citizenship were relatively low. It was also determined that all of the teacher candidates mentioned the courses they took during the university process in the differentiation of their ideal citizenship perceptions, and the ideal citizenship narratives were built on traditional citizenship as well as the perceptions of citizenship of the pre-service teachers.

This study explores the impact extended participation in literature circles had on the reading attitudes of university-age pre-service 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.

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.

This study was conducted to investigate prospective teachers' spiritual well-beings and life satisfactions in terms of specified variables. 298 students from various departments of universities participated in the study. The Spiritual Well-Being Scale developed by Paloutzian and Ellison, and adapted to Turkish by Eksi and Kardas, the Life Satisfaction Scale developed by Diener et al. and translated and adapted to Turkish by Koker and a Personal Information Form prepared by the researcher were used in the study. This study was a descriptive study based on survey model. The study data were subjected to normality tests and analyzed accordingly. Mann Whitney U Test, Kruskal-Wallis H Test and Spearman Rho correlation coefficient were used to analyze the data. Results of the study, indicated that spiritual well-being levels of prospective teachers significantly varied by gender, year of study, field of study and educational status of father. Life satisfaction levels of prospective teachers significantly varied by field of study. Furthermore, there was a moderate positive correlation between total score for spiritual well-being and life satisfaction.

This research aims at revealing the effects of Second Life (SL) application used in virtual environment in art and design education of creativity. This research is a qualitative study conducted evaluating the results of a group of 16 students studying art and design at universities, for a period of 12 weeks. For SL, a 3D, online, multi-user virtual environment was chosen as the study area.  The process of the research was evaluated by the researcher with a Structured Observation Form (SOF). Student designs were evaluated by four graduated artists/educators and researchers with a Rubric. The study group discovered SL during the application process. They made numerous trials, took risks and tried different solutions in SL. The design process that started with an avatar creation continued with 3D design, adding texture, colour, and script to objects and creating a notecard. According to the researcher’s feedback based on SOF, the group is considered “Good” in the design process. According to the Rubric for creativity, applied by the experts is evaluated as “Accomplished.” As for the rubric applied by the researcher, the group is evaluated “Good.” Based on these results, it can be considered that the inclusion of SL in the art and design education curriculum will contribute to 21st century skills and develop imagination and creativity of students.

E-learning has become a viable mean to both Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), and Small Private Open Courses (SPOCs). Research has shown that the quality and effectiveness of these types of courses depend largely on the contextual factors that may impact the design and development of online courses. This study highlights a design framework for a SPOC offered at Sultan Qaboos University. It employs a design-based research methodology, which is a systematic research approach aimed to improve instructional practices through iterative analysis, design, development, and implementation to produce contextually-sensitive design principles. The sample of this study consists of a diverse group of subjects including instructional designers, subject-matter experts, as well as students. The findings illustrate the importance of contextual logistics that need to be considered in the design and development of SPOCs. The findings also highlight the importance of the DBR as a suitable research methodology for similar developmental studies.

Today’s individuals are expected to have skills in many areas as a natural consequence of the advances that have been taking place in society and technology. Particularly in developed countries, these skills are also called 21^st century skills. Critical, creative and reflective thinking, problem solving and keeping up with the digital age (digital literacy) are some of these skills. Universities play a significant role in raising qualified individuals in our country. Updating the training programs, keeping up with the era and having a say in the digital world makes it a necessity for people who give education in these areas to be competent. From this point of view, this study aimed to explore the digital literacy levels of Turkish academics working in faculties of education and the perceptions of students towards technology integration competence of the academics. In this study, quantitative cross-sectional design was preferred. While selecting the participants, purposeful sampling method was used, and two different participant groups (academics and prospective teachers) were included in the process. Two scales with validity and reliability in the literature were used as data collection tools in the research. In the data collection process, firstly, a survey was administered to academics working in faculties of education, and then another one was conducted with prospective teachers. The results obtained were subjected to quantitative data analysis via SPSS 24 and AMOS 24 software, and descriptive and inferential statistics were generated. The results revealed that the variables of department, age and grade level created a significant difference in the digitalization of academics, whereas the gender variable significantly contributed only to the perceptions of prospective teachers.

Speaking is considered as a challenging skill to improve as it is a productive one which requires the learners to be unique and creative in the way they express themselves. Therefore, teaching speaking takes the attention of the researchers in the field of English language teaching. Therefore, the way “speaking” was integrated into the curriculum of a School of Foreign Languages in one of the state universities in Istanbul was investigated by the researcher to find out whether the speaking component of the program helped students improve their oral language proficiency and to learn both efficiency and sufficiency of it from the perspectives of the students as well as the instructors in that institution. For this purpose, eight students within the program were taken into five different speaking tests in five different weeks sequentially and were interviewed by the researcher afterwards. Additionally, six students who had taken this program of the school previously and were taking their departmental courses at the time of the study were also interviewed to give them the chance to reflect back on their past experiences as learners who applied the knowledge they had acquired from this school. Six different instructors working in this institution were also interviewed. One of them was also observed in her real class environment. Results showed that the program was found “efficient” in some aspects such as the importance given to “speaking” but there were some points that needed consolidation just like the materials.

The language, in the most basic sense, is a means of communication among people. Since the proper and effective use of people’s native language will shape the whole life of an individual, individuals are expected to have native language awareness. There is a strong bilateral relationship between the effective use of native language and native language awareness. All the teachers/preservice teachers and especially native language teachers/preservice teachers, who are role models as being instructors, are expected to have this awareness and help students to gain and transfer it to the future generations.  By this motivation, this study aims to examine language awareness of preservice teachers, an example from Turkey. Through phenomenological design of the qualitative research methods, it has been aimed to reach this goal.  Accordingly, the data were collected through semi-structured and structured opinion forms from 60 preservice teachers studying in a state university. In the study, it was seen that preservice teachers generally have this awareness. It has been revealed that the preservice teachers tend to correct their use of language that they think is wrong, they investigate the word they do not know the spelling when they are indecisive, and they mostly find it necessary to obey the language rules in multimedia. It was concluded that attention in the use of language emphasizes the negativities to be encountered in the dimension of providing social communication in daily life.

The aim of this study is to examine the motivation levels and future expectations of preservice teachers studying in Mathematics and Science Teaching Departments comparatively. The population of study consisted of preservice teachers studying at Mathematics and Science Teaching Departments at Education Faculties of Mehmet Akif Ersoy University and Akdeniz University. The sample consisted of 470 preservice teachers. In research, the correlational survey model was used. Research data were collected with "Adult Motivation Scale" and "Future Expectations Scale". In data analyzing, statistics package program was used. Accordingly, t-test was used for variables with two categories and One Factor Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used for more than two categories. Sheffe multiple comparison test was used if it was significant. Pearson Correlation was used to determine whether there is a significant relationship between preservice teachers' motivation levels and future expectations. According to analysis results, motivation levels of preservice teachers were found to be high. Likewise, it was concluded that preservice teachers' expectations for future were highly positive. In preservice teachers' motivation levels and expectations for future, gender, major, type of high school they graduated and major satisfaction they study were found to be effective.

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 research aims were to examine the relationship among psychological resilience, patience, and happiness levels of physical education teachers employing in İzmir, Afyonkarahisar, and Muğla provinces in the Aegean Region and was to explain whether psychological resilience and patience levels predict happiness. The research was a descriptive study in the relational scanning model. The study participants consisted of 336 PE teachers, 182 (54.2%) were males, and 154 (45.8%) were females.. The data were obtained using the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS), Patience Scale and Oxford Happiness Questionnaire. In the analysis of data were used SPSS 25 statistical program. The analysis of the data descriptive statistics, correlation, and statistical regression methods were used. As a result of the research, it was determined that the psychological resilience, patience, and happiness levels were at medium levels according to the average score the PE teachers got from the scales. It was found that there is a moderate positive relationship between PE teachers' psychological resilience, patience, and happiness levels, and psychological resilience and patience levels are a significant predictor of happiness.

The aim of the research was to investigate the relation between middle school students' perceptions of school climate and school motivation, whether school climate perceptions have a significant power on school motivation as well as to see if those perceptions and motivation differ significantly depending on gender, grade level, and school location variables. The sample of the study consisted of 674 middle school students studying in two state schools, which were located in the central district and village in Kosk province in Aydin in Turkey. Data were collected by using School Climate Perceptions Scale and School Motivation Scale with three questioned personal information form. Results showed that there were significant medium-level correlations between school climate perceptions and school motivation of middle school students. While grade-level variables had significant differences in both school climate perceptions and school motivation of middle school students, the location did not create a difference. On the other hand, gender had a significant difference only with school motivation. Finally, the model tested student-teacher relation significantly predicted 18% of the school motivations of middle school students.

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.