Approach–Method Interaction: The role of teaching method on the effect of context-based approach in physics instruction

The purpose of this study is to explore not only the effect of context-based physics instruction on students’ achievement and motivation in physics, but also how the use of different teaching methods influences it (interaction effect). Therefore, two two-level-independent variables were defined, teaching approach (contextual and non-contextual approaches) and teaching method (traditional and learning cycle methods). Thus, a 2?×?2 factorial design was performed with four treatment groups, including 131 11th-grade students: (1) a traditional method with the non-contextual approach group, (2) a traditional method with the contextual approach group, (3) a learning cycle with the non-contextual approach group, and (4) a learning cycle with the contextual approach group. Prior to and just after the treatments, which took 5 weeks, pre-tests and post-tests on student achievement and motivation were administered. For the analysis of data, multivariate analysis of covariance, simple regressions and follow-up analysis of covariances were performed. Consequently, it was found that the effect of context-based approach on physics achievement is dependent upon the teaching method implemented. That is, the traditional method was observed to increase the effect of the contextual approach while the learning cycle decreased it. Related to the effects on motivation in physics, no evidence was found to claim a significant difference. Based on the findings of this study, further research is suggested for determining which teaching methods are more effective with the context-based approach on students' achievement and motivation in physics.     

Emotional intelligence and negative feelings: a gender specific moderated mediation model

This study aims to clarify the effect of emotional intelligence (EI) on negative feelings (stress, anxiety, burnout and depression) in a gender specific model. Four hundred and twenty-five primary school teachers (326 males, 99 females) completed the measures of EI, stress, anxiety, burnout and depression. The multi-group analysis was performed using a structural equation approach. The moderated mediation results show that there are gender related differences in the relationships of age, emotional intelligence, stress, anxiety, burnout and depression. The results imply that school managers should take into consideration the teachers’ personal variables such as gender and age in order to assess the use of emotional intelligence in coping with negative feelings at the place of work effectively.     

Science Teaching Efficacy of Preservice Elementary Teachers: Examination of the Multiple Factors Reported as Influential

This study explores the science teaching efficacy beliefs of pr-service elementary teachers and the relationship between efficacy beliefs and multiple factors such as antecedent factors (participation in extracurricular activities and number of science and science teaching methods courses taken), conceptual understanding, classroom management beliefs and science teaching attitudes. Science education majors (n?=?71) and elementary education majors (n?=?262) were compared with respect to these variables. Finally, the predictors of two constructs of science teaching efficacy beliefs, personal science teaching efficacy (PSTE) and science teaching outcome expectancy (STOE), were examined by multiple linear regression analysis. According to the results, participation in extracurricular activities has a significant but low correlation with science concept knowledge, science teaching attitudes, PSTE and STOE. In addition, there is a small but significant correlation between science concept knowledge and outcome expectancy, which leads the idea that preservice elementary teachers’ conceptual understanding in science contributes to their science teaching self-efficacy. This study reveals a moderate correlation between science teaching attitudes and STOE and a high correlation between science teaching attitudes and PSTE. Additionally, although the correlation coefficient is low, the number of methodology courses was found to be one of the correlates of science teaching attitudes. Furthermore, students of both majors generally had positive self-efficacy beliefs on both the STOE and PSTE. Specifically, science education majors had higher science teaching self-efficacy than elementary education majors. Regression results showed that science teaching attitude is the major factor in predicting both PSTE and STOE for both groups.     

Development and Validation of Chemistry Self-Efficacy Scale for College Students

This study described the process of developing and validating the College Chemistry Self-Efficacy Scale (CCSS) that can be used to assess college students’ beliefs in their ability to perform essential tasks in chemistry. In the first phase, data collected from 363 college students provided evidence for the validity and reliability of the new scale. Three dimensions emerged: self-efficacy for cognitive skills, self-efficacy for psychomotor skills, and self-efficacy for everyday applications. In the second phase, data collected from an independent sample of 353 college students confirmed the factorial structure of the 21-item CCSS. The Cronbach alpha coefficients ranged from 0.82 to 0.92. In addition, each dimension of the CCSS had moderate and significant correlations with student chemistry achievement and differentiated between major and non-major students. Followed by the additional validation studies, the CCSS will serve as a valuable tool for both instructors and researchers in science education to assess college students’ chemistry self-efficacy beliefs.     

Raising the language awareness of pre‐service English teachers in an EFL context

This study investigates the challenges that non‐native pre‐service English teachers (Haluk, Gaye, Selin, Öznur and Serkan) experience in their target language use when they do their practicum in actual language classrooms. This study found that the common difficulties the student teachers encounter related to certain grammatical structures, explaining unknown words to students, modifying language according to students’ level, and authenticity of the classroom language. During this study, the target language awareness training session was offered by the university supervisor in order to improve the student teachers’ target language use in the classroom. The training sessions included classroom observations, feedback sessions, semi‐structured interviews, retrospective protocols and discussion meetings with the student teachers. The findings indicated that the language awareness training had a positive impact on the target language use of the pre‐service English teachers. Furthermore, this study discusses the curriculum and the requirements of the language teacher education programme in an EFL setting and makes suggestions for the professional development of non‐native pre‐service language teachers.     

Learning teacher-research-mentoring: stories from Turkey

The continuing developmental process of learning mentoring, specifically regarding supporting teacher research, has received relatively little attention in fields such as English language teaching, and this qualitative case study addresses the gap. It explores how three teacher-research-mentors, who were experienced classroom practitioners but novices in research-mentoring, grew into their new role while supporting teacher research projects in different English language higher education contexts in Turkey over a one-year period. Vignettes reveal that they became conscious of needing to provide psychological support to sustain teacher-researchers’ motivation from starting their research projects to completing them successfully, presenting findings and writing them up, and that they also developed in other roles, but as subject-specialists sharing knowledge about research to a lesser extent. Outcomes, in terms of the quality of research produced by the teacher-researchers in their contexts, appeared influenced by the different characteristics of their institutions and the degree of external support in the form of mentor-mentoring the teacher-research-mentors could access. Given the increasing interest around the world in teacher research as an empowering form of professional development, there is a growing need for teacher-research-mentors, and these findings, through shedding light on research-mentors’ developmental needs, might be of interest to teacher educators.     

Reinterpreting City as a Critical Ground in Atelier 1 Projects: Some Prospects and Projections on Ankara

This article is based on the critical approaches developed in Atelier 1, an architectural design studio in the Gazi University Faculty of Architecture, Department of Architecture in Ankara, Turkey. The main theme of Atelier 1 Projects in the 2014–15 academic year was the ‘City as a Critical Ground’, in which the city, ground and criticism were discussed within the interdisciplinary theoretical field of architecture. Atelier 1, involving second, third and fourth year undergraduate students, reinterpreted and redesigned the urban ground of Ankara with a critical approach to reveal its unique identities and implicit values. Ground, accepted as the main critical material in the design process, was criticised not only in its physical sense, but also its social, cultural, political, economic, technological and even psychological aspects. The students were able to discover their own design methods from their criticisms of the urban ground, which also allowed them to determine their sites and programmes. In this way, Atelier 1 promoted freedom and flexibility as well as criticality in the design process, and pointed out that the relationship of architecture with city, ground and criticism should be discussed from a new theoretical perspective, primarily in the architectural design studio, as the core of architectural education. Atelier 1, as a theory‐based architectural design studio, motivated the students to develop a critical approach to the urban ground of Ankara so as to replace the rising formalism with criticism in architecture.     

Transient heat conduction in an anisotropic medium in cylindrical coordinates

Three dimensional, time dependent heat conduction for an anisotropic medium of a triclinic system is solved for an infinitely long hollow or solid cylinder of finite radius with a restriction ε₂₃ = ε₁₂ε₁₃. Several special cases are obtained from the present solution.     

Science Teachers’ Professional Development about Science Centers

Science & Education - The purpose of this study is twofold: first, to delve into professional development (PD) of science teachers’ views about nature of science (NOS) throughout...     

Comparing the job satisfaction of hourly paid and salaried preschool teachers in Turkey

This two-phase mixed-methods study compares the job satisfaction of Turkish preschool teachers who are paid hourly against the satisfaction of those on regular contracts. The participants in its first, quantitative phase were 260 preschool teachers, of whom 81 also participated in the second, qualitative phase. Initial data collection from all phase-one participants was via the Job Satisfaction Scale. Then, in phase two, the members of the hourly paid group were asked three open-ended questions, and the regular-contract teachers two of the same questions, related to the advantages and disadvantages of hourly paid teaching. The results indicated a significant difference in job satisfaction levels between the two types of teachers. None of the interactive effects between preschool teachers’ working status and their gender, age, marital status, and in-service training was statistically significant. In phase two, moreover, more than half of the 41 hourly paid teachers (n?=?22) emphasised that they worked as hourly for economic reasons, while more than a third (n?=?30) of the overall phase-two sample stated that there was no advantage of working as an hourly paid teacher. Working conditions for hourly paid teachers were described as disadvantageous by almost half the members of the phase-two sample (n?=?37).