Measuring Halliwick Foundation course students' perceptions of case-based learning,assessment and transfer of learning

Learning Environments Research - Case-based Learning (CBL) is perceived as an effective pedagogical approach to improving students’ ability to transfer knowledge, concepts and skills learned...     

Understanding community in synchronous online learning: do perceptions match behaviours?

ABSTRACT

The community of inquiry (CoI) framework is becoming increasingly popular in online learning. The relationships among CoI constructs (cognitive, teaching and social presences) were generally investigated through surveys. However, some methodological challenges were noticed in CoI studies such as the limitations in data diversity or data verification. Hypothesising that learners’ perceptions about CoI constructs may not reflect their actual behaviours, this study matches students’ perceptions and actual behaviours reflecting the CoI constructs in an online learning setting in a synchronous online undergraduate programme. Data from CoI surveys, online discussion records and observations were comparatively discussed. The results indicated that relationships between the behaviours and perceptions about CoI constructs were quite positive and students’ perceptions about CoI constructs almost matches with their actual behaviours. Thus, the study confirmed the power of determining the interactions reflecting CoI constructs in online learning within CoI surveys. It is hoped that the study may shed a light with its contribution in providing some evidence for the question of whether conventional data collection techniques in CoI studies is required to be revisited or not.     

Father Psycho-education Program for Developing Interaction with Children: Disability Program Development

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to indicate the effect of fathers’ psycho-education program on their interaction with their children. The participants of the study consisted of 10 fathers in experimental group and 9 fathers in the control group. Mixed research design was carried out. Quantitative data were collected using Personal Information Form, Child–Parent Relationship Scale and Father Involvement Scale. Semi-structured interview form consisting of open-ended questions was used. The fathers were trained for an eight-week period one week after the study group was provided with Fathers’ Interview Form as a pre-test. One week after the study was completed the same test was applied to fathers as the last test. The data obtained from the study were analysed using Non-Parametric Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test. The findings indicated that the training given to fathers increased their interaction with their children. The scores of fathers in the experimental group from the ‘Father Involvement Scale’ were significantly higher than those in the control group. The evaluation of the semi-structured interview questions in the qualitative part of the study, the responsibilities and roles of fathers in raising children altered after their involvement in the fathers’ psychoeducation program. This study proposes disability programand inclusion.     

Reflections from dual-mode alumni on the differences between distance and F2F education

The relevant literature is rich enough about the differences between distance and face to face education. However, the number of studies examining these differences from the viewpoint of dual-mode alumni, those graduated from both distance and face to face education programmes is limited. In this study, opinions of 33 dual-mode alumni from Turkey were analysed. As a result of an inductive content analysis, seven themes were determined. The themes relating to the differences between distance and face to face education were reputation, workload, experience, tuition fees, quality, procrastination and flexibility, respectively. Contrary to expectations, five out of seven themes were found out to be in favour of distance education. The theme of reputation consisted of the most important difference between distance and face to face education. Another interesting theme related to campus life was procrastination which is to the detriment of face to face education. At the end of the study, future research directions and practical implications are presented.     

Question types and wait-time during science related activities in Turkish preschools

The aim of the study is to investigate the types of questions that preschool teachers used during the science-related activities and preschool teachers’ behaviors in terms of wait-time. Through this study, the types of questions (lower level and higher level), the time that teachers allocate to their students to respond, and the teachers’ responses to the students’ answers were investigated. The study was conducted with six teachers working with six-year-old children in preschool institutions. In this qualitative study, the data were obtained through classroom observations. The findings of the study revealed that the teachers mostly asked lower level questions to the students and that they did not use the wait-time strategy effectively. Additionally, the findings showed that the teachers did not pay enough attention to the students’ responses. The teachers allowed students answer the questions as quickly as possible without encouraging them to think over their answers. Moreover, the teachers answered the questions themselves when the students did not give the correct answers. Finally, the teachers mostly dealt with the children actively participating much more than the other students who were less attentive.     

Evaluation by Teachers of “Use of Influence in Agile Management” by School Administration

ABSTRACT

The main aim of this research is to evaluate the use of Influence in Agile Management at schools by the school administration, which is used with the purpose of increasing success and quality of schools. It is evaluated, within this context, that obtaining opinions of teachers from two different educational institutions would contribute to the improvement of the educational sector. This research aims at underlining which type of influence method used by the school administration would be more beneficial. Semi-structured interview, which is one of the types of qualitative approach, has been used in this research and 18 teachers were interviewed from two different educational institutions. According to the results of the semi-structured interview, teachers have expressed that they do not undertake the desired role in the decision-making process on the changes to be made at schools. They added that they are taking part in the decision-making process at low profiles, but they would like to take more active roles. Moreover, it has been observed that there is no initiative or plan to include teachers to the decision-making process and there is no training to the teachers on this issue even in universal values and disability.     

Assessing and Enhancing Pre-service Science Teachers’ Self-Efficacy to Teach Science Through Argumentation: Challenges and Possible Solutions

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of an intervention on pre-service science teachers’ self-efficacy to teach science through argumentation and explore the challenges they experienced while implementing argumentation. Forty pre-service science teachers in their final semester of schooling participated in an intervention that lasted for 11 weeks. Intervention focused on participants’ understanding of argumentation as a scientific practice and as a pedagogical tool. The participants engaged in argument construction, evaluation, and critique, taught three argumentation lessons, engaged in peer observation of teaching, and reflection on their teaching skills. Data were collected through Argumentation Self-Efficacy Scale and an open-ended questionnaire. The results show that the intervention had a significantly positive effect on pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy. Despite this reported self-efficacy, participants experienced significant challenges in guiding their students to construct scientific arguments and assessing the arguments developed by their students. Discussion focuses on implications for professional development of pre-service and in-service science teachers.     

Effects of technology-enhanced constructivist learning on science achievement of students with different cognitive styles

Education and Information Technologies - The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of technology-enhanced constructivist learning on science achievement of seventh-grade students with...     

Exploring prospective teachers’ noticing of students' understanding through micro-case videos

This paper explores the nature of prospective teachers’ noticing of students’ understanding as they analyze and discuss middle school students’ understandings of trapezoids in micro-case videos in the context of geometry. In this exploratory study, the data were obtained from eight prospective middle school mathematics teachers through individual video analysis, reflection papers, and group discussions. The results indicated that the use of purposeful micro-case video designs based on prospective teachers’ background knowledge of quadrilaterals allowed them to be productive in video analyses and discussions. In individual video analyses, prospective teachers attended to various mathematical elements to identify students’ responses but did not always use them to make interpretations of each student’s understanding of trapezoid. In the group discussions of the micro-case videos, in contrast, prospective teachers could provide alternative interpretations of students’ understanding by identifying links between the mathematical elements in students’ responses and the characteristics of students’ understandings. In the group discussions, they provided more detailed and specific instructional actions to support each student’s understanding of trapezoid than their individual video analyses. This study suggests practical implications for teacher education programs on how to use video cases (e.g., firstly, working individually and then having group discussions about the videos) to explore prospective teachers’ professional noticing skills. Considering prospective teachers’ background knowledge of related mathematical contents, this study can also inspire future studies on how to design effective videos about students’ mathematical understanding.