The impact of using mobile-supported learning management systems in teaching web design on the academic success of students and their opinions on the course

This research aimed to examine the impact of using mobile-supported learning management systems (LMS) in teaching web design on the academic success of students and their opinion on the course; and it was conducted on 70 volunteer students (35 experimental, 35 control) enrolled at Giresun University, Technical Sciences Vocational School, Computer Technologies Department, Program of Computer Programming in Spring 2015–2016. After the eight weeks long implementation of Mobile Moodle, which is a mobile-supported LMS, as a supplement to traditional learning methods; t-test was used in order to determine whether the methodology mentioned had a significant impact on the academic success of web design teaching. As a result of the t-test implemented; it was seen that there was a significant level of difference in favor of the experimental group; between the academic success of students in the experimental group where mobile-supported LMS is used and the academic success of the students in the control group where traditional learning methodologies are used. Also, it has been determined that using Mobile LMS has increased the students’ interest.     

Effect of Two-tier Diagnostic Tests on Promoting Learners’ Conceptual Understanding of Variables in Conducting Scientific Experiments

Taking a test generally improves the retention of the material tested. This is a phenomenon commonly referred to as testing effect. The present research investigated whether two-tier diagnostic tests promoted student teachers’ conceptual understanding of variables in conducting scientific experiments, which is a scientific process skill. In this study, 97 preservice science teachers were divided into three groups. All three groups took a physics laboratory course during the fall term in which they learned about variables in the course. Each group was engaged in a different learning activity after the physics laboratory course: taking a two-tier diagnostic test, taking a multiple choice test, or studying a lecture summary. The narratives of the participants before and after the learning activities were transcribed into a format of flow maps to assess their conceptual understanding of variables. The results revealed that the two-tier diagnostic test is an effective tool in promoting conceptual understanding of complex concepts about variables in conducting scientific experiments.     

Higher Education and Unemployment: a cointegration and causality analysis of the case of Turkey

This article analyses the short and the long-term relations between higher education and unemployment in Turkey for the period 1960–2007. It chooses the recently developed ARDL cointegration and Granger causality of Dolado and Lütkepohl (1996) methods. While the proxy of unemployment is total unemployment rate, higher education graduates were chosen to represent higher education. The cointegration and error correction analysis show that higher education is one of the factors which increases the unemployment rate both in the short and the long-run in Turkey. In addition, findings of causality analysis reveal that there is a bi-directional causality between higher education and unemployment and support evidence in favour of Plümper and Schneider (2007)'s theory. Overall, the study concludes that, if governments wish to benefit optimally from the higher education graduates in Turkey, they should not invest more in higher education than the economy needs.     

The effect of portfolios on students' learning: student teachers' views

This study reports on student teachers' views of portfolios as a learning tool when they are combined with a weekly test conducted at the end of each lesson to help student teachers self‐evaluate. Student teachers' written reflections during the process provided data for the study. Analysis of the data showed that a majority of student teachers initially felt that compiling a portfolio would be time‐consuming and an extra burden added to their already busy schedule. However, later on they all found that the process was a useful learning experience. Moreover, the portfolio process – especially combining self‐reflection with weekly tests – encouraged students to study regularly, increased retention and made learning more enjoyable. Suggestions for the successful portfolio implementation include the following: guiding students both at the beginning of and during the process, providing continuous and prompt feedback during the process and making self‐reflection – especially guided by reflection prompts – an essential part of the process.