Bridging the Gap: A Manual Primer into Design Computing in the Context of Basic Design Education

Design education is in need of a wider restructuring to accommodate new developments and paradigmatic shifts brought forth by the information age, all of which capitalise a move towards complexity theory, systems science and digital technologies. The intention of this article is to approach one particular aspect of this need: that is, how basic design education can be reconsidered to establish the arguably broken link between the ‘learning by doing’ tradition of a Bauhaus‐oriented basic design education with the computational and parametric logic necessitated by contemporary design technologies. The authors present the overall outlines of a basic design course as offered in Beykent University Department of Industrial Design in Istanbul, Turkey. The programme consists of a series of exercises grouped in five modules and two ‘binders’ that are structured to link the fundamental notions and operations of design thinking covered in basic design courses of the first year with the analytical and computational‐reasoning competencies that are developed mostly in the later years of design education.     

Including the excluded: the case of a student with multiple disabilities*

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to investigate the coherence between mainstreaming laws and practices in Turkey through a case study involving an elementary school student with multiple disabilities, her parents and her general educator. Multiple sources of data were gathered within a 5-year period and were analyzed inductively. Results showed that the laws and actual practice showed discrepancies with practices lacking the necessary special education support services. On the other hand, the limited services provided by the researchers revealed important gains on behalf of the participants, letting the researchers to conclude that mainstreaming and in fact inclusion is possible within the Turkish educational system even with limited resources and supports.     

Mathematics teachers’ knowledge and skills about questioning in the context of modeling activities

Asking effective questions has been considered to be one of the most important indicators of good teaching since questioning is an important instructional tool and the ability to ask effective questions requires sophisticated pedagogical reasoning. Teachers can facilitate students’ higher-level thinking through effective questions. However, teachers’ utilization of effective and higher-level questions is usually limited in traditional settings. The goal of this study is to investigate how secondary mathematics teachers’ knowledge and skills of questioning change when they are engaged in professional development activities based on the modeling perspective. The program included five cycles each of which lasted a month. Each cycle consisted of meetings before and after the implementation of a model-eliciting activity and its implementation. The results showed that the professional development program had a positive effect on teachers’ ability to ask qualitatively different questions in order to move students’ thinking forward.     

Preschool teachers’ views about classroom management models

This survey-based quantitative study investigates 310 Turkish preschool teachers’ views about classroom management, using the following six models of disciplinary strategy: behavioral change theory, Dreikurs’ social discipline model, Canter’s assertive discipline model, the Glasser model of discipline, Kounin’s model, and Gordon’s teacher effectiveness training (TET) model. Data were collected through a demographic information form and the Discipline Strategies Questionnaire. The results showed that the participant teachers usually agreed with items that reflected a child-centered approach to classroom management. Also, the respondents’ views of Dreikurs’ social discipline model and Gordon’s TET model differed according to their gender. The teachers’ views related to behavioral change theory and Gordon’s TET also varied markedly, depending on the ages of the children they taught.     

Stickers to Facts,Imposers, Democracy Advocators,and Committed Impartialists: Preservice Science Teachers’ Beliefs About Teacher’s Roles in Socioscientific Discourses

For science teachers using the discourse of socioscientific issues (SSI), it is important to make a decision as to whether when and how to disclose their own positions. The existing limited literature shows that science teachers prefer one of four roles during SSI discourse: sticker to facts, imposer, democracy advocator, and committed impartialist. The purpose of the present research is to understand the nature of preservice science teachers’ (PST) beliefs underlying such selection. Based on existing literature, we developed a teacher’s belief questionnaire including vignettes representing four teacher’s roles in discussion of genetically modified (GM) foods. Three hundred twenty-four (324) PSTs from a Turkish context experiencing SSI-based reforms completed these questionnaires, selected one of the teacher’s roles, and justified their selection by writing reasons. Content analysis procedures were used in data analysis of this qualitative study. The results show that most PSTs selected dialogical roles (democracy advocators and committed impartialists). Looking at their beliefs, epistemologies and teaching goals work together in PSTs’ selection of their preferred role. In addition, we argue that there is no desired alignment between teachers’ existing beliefs and expectations of SSI reforms. We conclude by indicating certain implications that may enhance such alignment.     

Analysing Concept Maps as an Assessment Tool in Teaching Physics and Comparison with the Achievement Tests

Concept mapping is a technique that paves the way to represent knowledge schematically. In this research, concept mapping was used as an assessment method on the impulse–momentum topic. The purpose of this study was to determine teacher candidates’ knowledge about understanding of the concepts of impulse and momentum by comparing and contrasting two different methods; namely, students’ concept maps and an achievement test. The mean of teacher candidates’ concept map scores are extremely low when compared with the scores of the achievement test. In addition, it was seen that although a great number of concepts were written down, not many relationships were established between these concepts. There is a weak correlation between the achievement test and the concept map scores since concept maps assess the students’ knowledge from a conceptual perspective while the achievement tests measure the level of students’ knowledge on the topic and his/her ability to apply this knowledge on different occasions.     

Respiratory and Hemodynamic Responses to Mobilization of Critically Ill Obese Patients

Purpose

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of mobilization on respiratory and hemodynamic parameters in critically ill obese patients.

Methods

Critically ill obese patients (n = 31) were included in this retrospective study. Data were collected from patients’ files and physiotherapy records of mobilization sessions. Heart rate (HR), systolic/diastolic/mean blood pressure, respiratory rate (RR), and percutaneous oxygen saturation (SpO₂) were recorded. Cardiorespiratory parameters were collected just prior to the mobilization, just after the completion of the mobilization and after 5 minutes recovery period. Respiratory reserve was calculated before and after the mobilization.

Results

A total of 37 mobilization sessions in 31 obese patients (mean age: 63.3 years, mean BMI: 32.2 kg/m²) who received physiotherapy were analyzed. Respiratory rate increased significantly after the completion of the mobilization compared to initial values (p < 0.05). SpO₂ significantly increased (p < 0.05) and all other parameters remained similar (p > 0.05) compared to initial values after the recovery period. Mobilization resulted in a significant increase in respiratory reserve (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

Early mobilization in intensive care unit promotes respiratory reserve in obese patients. We found that mobilization can be performed safely in critically ill obese patients if cardiorespiratory parameters are continuously monitored.Key Words: obesity, mobilization, critically ill patients, physiotherapy     

Investigation of ABCA1 C69T polymorphism in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Introduction:

Non insulin dependent diabetes mellitus is the most common type of diabetes. Genetic factors, lipid profiles, hypertension are potential risk factors for diabetes mellitus. Adenosine binding cassette transporter proteins 1 (ABCA1) plays a role in cholesterol metabolism, especially high density lipoprotein (HDL-cholesterol). There are multiple mechanisms by which HDL-cholesterol can be atheroprotective, it is clear that the relative activity of ABCA1 plays a major role. We aimed to investigate association of ABCA1 C69T gene polymorphism with lipid levels in Turkish type 2 diabetic patients.

Materials and methods:

After isolation of DNA by ethanol precipitation we determined ABCA1 gene polymorphism by using polimerase chain reaction - restriction fragment lenght polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method in 107 type 2 diabetic patients and 50 healthy controls.

Results:

We have observed that the frequency of TT genotype is significantly higher in healthy controls compared to patients (14% vs. 3%; P = 0.008). Also frequency of T allele was higher in controls than in patients (34% vs. 21%; P = 0.020; OR (95% CI) = 0.52 (0.30–0.88)). There was no association of lipid levels and ABCA1 C69T polymorphism subgroups.

Conclusion:

We have found significantly higher frequency of both T allele and genotype in control group when compared to patients that made us think that T allele may be a protective factor against diabetes mellitus. But, we could not find a relationship between genotypes and lipid concentrations in our two groups. Larger studies will help us to understand the relationship between ABCA1 C69T genotype and lipid parameters in diabetes mellitus.     

Reliability and validity of a Turkish version of the DELES

The primary aim of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of a Turkish version of the Distance Education Learning Environment Survey (DELES) in post-secondary distance education. The second aim was to investigate empirically the conceptualisation of the distance education learning environment as a singular latent construct, within a second-order factorial structure that consists of six first-order factors. The DELES is a 34-item instrument for assessing social-psychological perceptions among distance education students. The tested hypotheses concerned key antecedents and consequences of the factorial structure of DELES in the Turkish context using confirmatory factor analyses. Principal component analysis of the Turkish data revealed six main factors of interest, which corresponded to the hypothesised constructs in the original DELES. The data suggested good reliability and validity for the Turkish DELES (DELES-TR) relative to the original version. Further, second-order analyses were conducted with two complementary samples to demonstrate the validity of six dimensions of the DELES-TR and their contributions to an overall factorial structure of social-psychological learning environment in distance education. Initial support for the second-order factorial validity of DELES-TR was found. Results indicate that a dimensional model of DELES-TR with the six first-order factors provided a superior fit to the data than first-order DELES-TR with six factors. Additionally, an investigation was conducted regarding associations between the DELES-TR’s psychosocial scales and a student satisfaction scale. This study is unique in its focus on the learning environment in distance education in the Turkish setting.