Vocational Schools in Turkey: An Administrative and Organizational Analysis

The data used in this paper were derived from a larger project which had the aim of critically evaluating the Turkish vocational education system on a number of different levels. This article examines the administrative and organisational practices in a selected group of secondary vocational schools in Turkey from the point of view of school administrators, teachers and industrial managers. The results indicate that the Turkish vocational education system is characterised by a centralised, top-down bureaucracy, which inhibits innovative capacity. The authors argue that a degree of decentralisation is necessary at various levels of the system.     

Abnormal gel flotation in a patient with apperant pneumonia diagnosis: a case report

Introduction:

Serum blood collection tubes with separator gel are widely used by many laboratories for chemistry analyses. We describe a case of a primary blood collection tube filled with blood sample and a floating separator gel.

Materials and methods:

The blood sample was collected from a 51 years old female in intensive care unit with the diagnosis of pneumonia into a BD Vacutainer SST tube (Becton Dickinson, NJ, USA) containing serum separator gel and conveyed to the core laboratory of Marmara University Hospital within 30 minutes from collection. Sample was immediately centrifuged at room temperature at 1500 × g for 10 minutes.

Results:

The analyses revealed a highly increased total protein concentration of 145 g/L (reference interval 64–83 g/L). The nephelometric analyses showed an elevated serum IgG concentration of 108 g/L (reference interval 6.5–16 g/L) and IgG lambda monoclonal band was determined by serum immunofixation electrophoresis.

Conclusion:

Limitation of the separator gel tubes in patients with a high plasma density and its possible effects on test results and laboratory costs should be remembered. The clinical diagnosis stated in the information system should also reveal known comorbid conditions besides the apparent admission reason. This information would avoid resampling, additional testing, and communication efforts with the clinicians.     

Effects of teacher professional characteristics on student achievement: an investigation in blended learning environment with standards-based curriculum

Use of different teaching materials and curriculum for the same subjects is always a confounding factor in studies investigating teacher characteristics and student achievement. The purpose of this study is to understand the effects of different teacher qualities on student achievement in high schools with a standards-based curriculum delivered over a blended learning environment. Utilizing quantitative research approach, this study investigates the effects of teacher characteristics and teaching practices in a course offered through Cisco Networking Academy, which has a standards-oriented curriculum delivered online. Participants in the study were 226 teachers and 3299 students from Networking Academies located in the USA. The findings suggest that certain teacher characteristics such as teaching experience, degree, and primary teaching field do not have effects on student achievement.     

Serum Ischemia-Modified Albumin in Preterm Babies with Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Infants with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) may suffer from severe hypoxia, asphyxia. In this study, we aimed to evaluate serum ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) level as a diagnostic marker for hypoxia in preterm infants with RDS. Thirty-seven premature newborns with RDS were allocated as the study group and 42 healthy preterm neonates were selected as the control group. IMA was measured as absorbance unit (ABSU) in human serum with colorimetric assay method which is based on reduction in albumin cobalt binding. IMA levels were significantly higher in neonates with RDS as compared to the control group (P < 0.001). Cut-off value of IMA (ABSU) was 0.72, the sensitivity level was 91.9 %, the specificity was 78.6 %, positive predictive value was 79.1 % and negative predictive value was 91.7 % at RDS. Area under curve values was 0.93 (P < 0.001; 95 % CI, 0.88–0.98) in the receiver operating characteristic curve. We concluded that elevated blood IMA levels might be accepted as a useful marker for hypoxia in newborn with RDS.     

Relationship satisfaction among Turkish and British adults

We tested three theories (adult attachment, autonomy/relatedness, and gender roles) to understand relationship satisfaction among 150 British and 170 Turkish adults, all involved in romantic relationships. Avoidance, relatedness, autonomy–relatedness, and masculinity mediated the relationship between culture and romantic relationship satisfaction. Additionally, as anticipated, Turkish participants scored lower on relationship satisfaction and autonomy whereas British participants scored lower on avoidance and relatedness. Contrary to expectation, gender role differences (differences between masculinity and femininity) in the United Kingdom were not significantly smaller than in Turkey. It is concluded that adult attachment provides a useful framework for understanding country-level differences.     

Introducing Children to Anatomy: “Getting to Know Our Bodies: The First Step Toward Becoming a Scientist”

Museums are used in every discipline to collect, classify, and present information for scientific purposes. They also serve as an effective educational medium. Since the establishment of a boutique anatomy museum at Bahçeşehir University, lectures, conferences, and seminars have been organized there over the past four years on the history of human anatomy and the human body. In order to raise awareness about the need to make anatomy accessible to kindergarteners and school-aged children, rather than exclusively to undergraduate students, activities that are suited to a wide range of ages have been developed at the museum and at the anatomy laboratory. Four different sessions were conducted, including activities such as lectures using plastic models as props, shaping organs out of playdough, anatomy puzzles, watching cartoons, and examining specimens through a microscope. Healthy and pathologic anatomies were chosen to match daily themes. Among the kindergarteners and elementary school children, no grading was done, nor was any questionnaire administered; however, a survey was administered in the 10–12 age group (N = 64). According to the students' written feedback, 93.75% said they “are happy with microscope activities” while 84.37% said they “had so much fun” participating in the playdough activities. However, 18.75% criticized the activities, saying they “could have been longer.” In conclusion, it is believed that these “getting to know our bodies” activities that were hosted in the anatomy museum, including conferences, workshops, material preparation, and instructional movies, may play an important role in the development of a healthy society.     

Effect of Oral Contraceptive Pills on the Blood Serum Enzymes and DNA Damage in Lymphocytes Among Users

The continuous use of synthetic hormones as contraceptive pill or hormonal replacement therapy among women is increasing day by day. The widespread use of different formulations as oral contraceptives by women throughout their reproductive cycle has given rise to a serious concern for studying the effects of oral contraceptives on enzymatic profile and DNA damage in peripheral blood lymphocytes among users. The present study was carried out on women taking oral contraceptives. The study was based on the questionnaire having the information of reproductive history, fasting, age, health, nature of menstrual cycle, bleeding and other disease. The profile of the blood serum enzymes i.e. alkaline phosphatase (ALP), gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), aminotransferases (SGOT and SGPT), serum proteins (albumin and globulin) and DNA damage in lymphocytes was studied among users and non-users. The results of the present study suggest that OCs not only effects enzymatic activity but also results in DNA damage that may vary with the duration of using oral contraceptives. A significant increase in LDH, GGT, SGPT, SGOT, globulin and decrease in ALP as well as albumin was found among users as compared to non-users. The observed DNA damage was more in users as compared to non-users. Hormonal contraceptives seem to exert DNA damage and also have significant effects on blood serum enzymes.     

Exploring the factors related to acceptance of evolutionary theory among Turkish preservice biology teachers: Toward a more informative conceptual ecology for biological evolution

In this study, using multiple regression analysis, we aimed to explore the factors related to acceptance of evolutionary theory among preservice Turkish biology teachers using conceptual ecology for biological evolution as a theoretical lens. We aimed to determine the extent to which we can account for the variance in acceptance of evolutionary theory by using understanding of evolutionary theory, epistemological beliefs, thinking dispositions, and parents' educational level as independent variables. Preservice biology teachers' thinking dispositions, their understanding of evolutionary theory, and their parents' educational level are positively correlated with acceptance of evolutionary theory. We did not find any significant positive correlation between epistemological beliefs and acceptance of evolution because of low reliability coefficients of subscales of the epistemological beliefs instrument. Together they explained 10.5% of the variance. These results suggest that studying the relationship between acceptance of evolutionary theory and other related factors in a multivariate context is more informative than examining the relationship between acceptance of evolutionary theory and other factors in isolation. Our findings indicate that studying a controversial issue such as acceptance of evolutionary theory in a multivariate fashion, using conceptual ecology as a theoretical lens to interpret the findings, is informative. Our results suggest the inclusion of thinking dispositions in conceptual ecology for biological evolution. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 420–443, 2008     

An international collaborative investigation of beginning seventh grade students' understandings of scientific inquiry: Establishing a baseline

Although understandings of scientific inquiry (as opposed to conducting inquiry) are included in science education reform documents around the world, little is known about what students have learned about inquiry during their elementary school years. This is partially due to the lack of any assessment instrument to measure understandings about scientific inquiry. However, a valid and reliable assessment has recently been developed and published, Views About Scientific Inquiry (VASI; Lederman et al. [2014], Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 51, 65–83). The purpose of this large-scale international project was to collect the first baseline data on what beginning middle school students have learned about scientific inquiry during their elementary school years. Eighteen countries/regions spanning six continents including 2,634 students participated in the study. The participating countries/regions were: Australia, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, England, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Mainland China, New Zealand, Nigeria, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United States. In many countries, science is not formally taught until middle school, which is the rationale for choosing seventh grade students for this investigation. This baseline data will simultaneously provide information on what, if anything, students learn about inquiry in elementary school, as well as their beginning knowledge as they enter secondary school. It is important to note that collecting data from all of the approximately 200 countries globally was not humanly possible, and it was also not possible to collect data from every region of each country. The results overwhelmingly show that students around the world at the beginning of grade seven have very little understandings about scientific inquiry. Some countries do show reasonable understandings in certain aspects but the overall picture of understandings of scientific inquiry is not what is hoped for after completing 6 years of elementary education in any country.     

Results of a citation analysis of knowledge management in education

The purpose of this study was to examine research and trends in knowledge management in education (KME) published in selected professional sources during the period 1990–2008. Citation analysis was used in this study to investigate documents related to KME, which were indexed in the Web of Science, Education Researches Information Center and ScienceDirect. Knowledge management‐ and educational technology‐related keywords were used jointly in the search for documents. There were a total of 125 documents judged to be relevant to the field of KME and were analysed. As a result of this study, it can be seen that the documents and the number of citations related to the KME field has been continuously increasing since 2005. It is recommended that a combination of citation analysis and other types of analyses should be used in future research studies.