Visiting Shrines: A Turkish Religious Practice and Its Mental Health Implications

The purpose of the present study was to explore through qualitative methodology the practice of visiting shrines, a religious practice indigenous to Turkish Muslims, and its potential mental health benefits. Thirteen individuals were interviewed at two shrines in Istanbul, Turkey. The researchers focused on visitors’ presenting issues, beliefs regarding the practice, the mental health benefits of the visit, and the behaviors that the visitors engaged in during their visit. The data were analyzed using the Consensual Qualitative Research method. Five domains emerged from the data: (i) degree of religiosity and duties, (ii) knowledge and beliefs about shrines, (iii) purpose of visits, (iv) activities during the visit, and (v) experience and impact of the visit. The findings were discussed based on the mental health benefits of visiting shrines and the counseling and cultural implications.     

Improving the pedagogy of Islamic religious education through an application of critical religious education,variation theory and the learning study model

This study presents a new theoretical and pedagogical framework based on the theories of Critical Religious Education (CRE), Variation Theory (VT) and the Learning Study model with the purpose of improving teaching and learning in Islamic Religious Education (IRE). It reports a Learning Study conducted in a secondary girls Muslim school in London on the topic of ‘Islam and being Muslim’. The aim of this research study is to examine if and how the proposed framework can be applied to IRE lessons, and how it affects the students’ learning. Thirty students of two seventh grade classes and their religious education teacher participated in the study. The data was collected through interviews and written tasks with the students before and after their participation in the study, video-recordings of the research lessons, and meetings with the teacher. Phenomenography and VT were utilised in the analysis of the data. The results suggest that the use of CRE, VT and Learning Study in teaching Islam contributes to students’ learning outcomes by means of helping teacher consider students’ diverse perspectives on religious phenomena when planning and implementing the curricular content, increasing students’ awareness of the ontological and epistemological dimensions of their faith as well as allowing them to make informed judgments about religious phenomena.     

The Integration of Interior Architecture Education With Digital Design Approaches

It is inevitable that as a result of progress in technology and the changes in the ways with which design is conceived, interior architecture schools should be updated according to these requirements and that new educational processes should be tried out. It is for this reason that the scope and aim of this study have been determined as being the formulation of a hybrid educational model for the integration of digital approaches to design within the interior architecture education system. Within the chosen scope and aim of this study, and as a methodology, various algorithmic and parametric approaches have been applied in various practical applications as digital design instruments, and conclusions have been reached concerning the advantages they offer within the design process. The advantages and disadvantages, concerning interior architecture education, of digital approaches to design over the traditional design method, have been presented on the basis of results found during practical applications of digital design, the information found in publications about this subject. A hybrid educational model for the restructuring with digital design instruments of interior architecture education and design studios as experimental areas has been presented. Thanks to this proposed model, the establishment of a computer formatted analytic design system in the guise of dynamic systems will get easier and, the opportunity of restructuring the process and conception of design will also present itself. As the effects of this method are reflected on the products, new geometric approaches and typologies will appear, with the result that designs and digital instruments will constantly be developed and will evolve. In conclusion, educating the designers of the future according to the essence of these approaches will make it possible to train professionals who correctly use and understand the technologies being developed, who have a critical stance, and who can produce renewable designs.     

A professional development program for primary school English language teachers in Turkey: designing a materials bank

This paper presents and discusses an in-service teacher development program that focussed on establishing a materials bank for English language teachers at a private primary school in Ankara, Turkey, and teachers’ evaluations of the program. The program aimed to lead to teacher change as growth and learning, to address school-based needs, and to provide overall quality improvement. Feedback obtained during the professional development program and after its completion demonstrates that teachers improved their knowledge and skills on materials design and curriculum related issues as well as improving the overall quality of instruction and developing a positive attitude towards professional development.     

Promoting Equity,Diversity and Social Justice Through Faculty-Led Transformative Projects

Innovative Higher Education - We present a transformative professional development project with a focus on equity, diversity and social justice (EDSJ) to raise cultural awareness among faculty,...     

Student Participation in Higher Education Institutions in Turkey

After the 2001 meeting of the European Ministers of Education held in Prague, higher education institutions in Turkey took serious actions in order to implement the goals of the Bologna Declaration (1999). Arrangements made for the democratization of universities and student participation in the decision‐making process formed one of the predominant actions. The formal point of these arrangements – aimed at student involvement in the university governance process via Student Councils and their representatives, was prescribed by law and forced universities to comply with the process. The present research provides information about the legal arrangements in higher education institutions concerning student involvement in the university decision‐making process and the obstacles met within the course of application. In addition, it presents the findings of an empirical study related to student representation and involvement in governance through the agency of the Student Councils.     

Enhancing Students' Understanding of Photosynthesis and Respiration in Plant Through Conceptual Change Approach

This study investigated the effectiveness of combining conceptual change text and discussion web strategies on students' understanding of photosynthesis and respiration in plants. Students' conceptual understanding of photosynthesis and respiration in plants was measured using the two-tier diagnostic test developed by Haslam and Treagust (1987, Journal of Biological Education 21: 203--211). The test was administered as pretest and posttest to a total of 233 eighth-grade students in six intact classes of the same school located in an urban area. The test of logical thinking was used to determine the reasoning ability of students. The experimental group was a class of 116 students received discussion web and conceptual change text instruction. A class of 117 students comprised the control group received a traditional instruction. After instruction, data were analyzed with two-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) using the Test of Logical Thinking and pretest scores as covariate. The conceptual change instruction, which explicitly dealt with students' misconceptions, produced significantly greater achievement in understanding of photosynthesis and respiration in plant concepts. Analysis also revealed a significant difference between performance of females and that of males in the favor of females, but the interaction of treatment with gender difference was not significant for learning the concepts.     

Students' achievement in relation to reasoning ability,prior knowledge and gender

This study investigated students' achievement regarding photosynthesis and respiration in plants in relation to reasoning ability, prior knowledge and gender. A total of 117 eighth‐grade students participated in the study. Test of logical thinking and the two‐tier multiple choice tests were administered to determine students' reasoning ability and achievement, respectively. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was conducted to assess the effect of reasoning ability on students' achievement. The independent variable was the reasoning ability (low, medium, high), the dependent variable was the scores on the two‐tier test. Students' grades in science in previous year were used as a covariate. Analysis revealed a statistically significant mean difference between students at high and low formal levels with respect to achievement. Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that reasoning ability, prior knowledge and gender were significant predictors of students' achievement in photosynthesis and respiration in plants, explaining 42% of the variance.     

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.     

The Effectiveness of Mime‐Based Creative Drama Education for Exploring Gesture‐Based User Interfaces

User interfaces that utilise human gestures as input are becoming increasingly prevalent in diverse computing applications. However, few designers possess the deep insight, awareness and experience regarding the nature and usage of gestures in user interfaces to the extent that they are able to exploit the technological affordances and innovate over them. We argue that design students, who will be expected to envision and create such interactions in the future, are constrained as such by their habits that pertain to conventional user interfaces. Design students should gain an understanding of the nature of human gestures and how to use them to add value to UI designs. To this end, we formulated an ‘awareness course’ for design students based on concepts derived from mime art and creative drama. We developed the course iteratively through the involvement of three groups of students. The final version of the course was evaluated by incorporating the perspectives of design educators, an industry expert and the students. We present the details of the course, describe the development process, and discuss the insights revealed by the evaluations.