Applications of Tulip Motif in Turkish Art with Geometer’s Sketchpad Program

In the 21st century we live in, technology is developing rapidly. Inevitably, the technologies used in almost every area of daily life will also reflect in the field of education. Educational technologies, which enable students to grasp abstract concepts more easily and facilitate the teaching process for teachers, have increased their impact in schools. The effects of dynamic geometry software on course success, attractiveness, and concretization in mind have been the subject of different studies. Dynamic geometry software that can visualize algebraic expressions with graphics creates an interdisciplinary working environment with its drawing features. Thanks to Geometer’s Sketchpad (GSP), one of this software, students can dynamically create very different patterns and shapes. Students can realize higher-level cognitive learning thanks to the relationships and inferences they make on these shapes. These and similar patterns that emerged thanks to GSP can increase students’ awareness in different fields by combining different disciplines such as history, mathematics and art. In this study, the drawing stages of the tulip motif, which we come across in important architectural works in the Ottoman and Anatolian Seljuk history, which have been the subject of ornament art, are shown via GSP using both the transformation geometry and functions.

Narrowing the Feedback Gap: Examining Student Engagement with Personalized and Actionable Feedback Messages

One of the major factors affecting student learning is feedback. Although the importance of feedback has been recognized in educational institutions, dramatic changes - such as bigger class sizes and a more diverse student population - challenged the provision of effective feedback. In light of these changes, educators have increasingly been using new digital tools to provide student feedback, given the broader adoption and availability of these new technologies. However, despite these efforts, most educators have limited insight into the recipience of their feedback and wonder which students engage with feedback. This problem is referred to as the "feedback gap," which is the difference between the potential and actual use of feedback, preventing educators and instructional designers from understanding feedback recipience among students. In this study, a set of trackable call-to-action (CTA) links were embedded in feedback messages focused on learning processes and self-regulation of learning in one fully online marketing course and one blended bioscience course. These links helped us examine the association between feedback engagement and course success. We also conducted two focus groups with students from one of the courses to further examine student perceptions of feedback messages. Our results across both courses revealed that early engagement with feedback is positively associated with passing the course and that most students considered feedback messages helpful in their learning. Our study also found some interesting demographic differences between students regarding their engagement with the feedback messages. Such insight enables instructors to ask "why" questions, support students' learning, improve feedback processes, and narrow the gap between potential and actual use of feedback. The practical implications of our findings are further discussed.

Examination of Reading Strategies Metacognitive Awareness Levels of French Foreign Language Students in Terms of Various Variables

The act of reading is a complex process in which learners rush their cognitive and metacognitive skills to fonction. The effective use of metacognitive skills is regarded as an important feature becoming prominent in successful reading. In order to exercise reading strategies effectively, students are required to have developed metacognitive awareness. In this study, the level of metacognitive awareness of reading strategies and whether metacognitive awareness varies according to variables such as gender and reading course success have been examined in the 1st grade students studying at Anadolu University Faculty of Education Program of French Language Teaching Program. 32 students voluntarily participated in the study, 19 of whom were Females and 13 of whom were Males. The data of the study have been collected with the Turkish version of the 30-item 5-point Likert-type Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory (MARSI) developed by Mokhtari & Reichard (2002) and adapted into Turkish by Öztürk (2012). According to the findings, students' reading strategies were revealed to have high levels of metacognitive awareness. However, it has been further observed that the level of metacognitive awareness of students' reading course success grades and reading strategies did not make a significant difference in terms of gender. Similarly, it has been observed that there was no significant difference between the students' reading strategies and metacognitive awareness levels and their success grades in the reading course.

New Training Approach for Improving the Spatial Perception and Orientation Ability of Dentistry Students

Introduction: During a basic prosthetics course, dental students train on plastic teeth for fixed partial dentures (FPD). The complexity of manual skill acquisition and the need for extra training led us to develop a portable tool for home training (PhantHome). The aim of the current study was to assess whether training using the portable tool improves students fine motor skill, spatial perception, and orientation and may predict success in preclinical prosthetics courses. Material and Methods: A total of 42 third year dental students were included in this study. A valid dexterity test (Grooved Pegboard test) and a manual test using the portable tool (PhantHome) were conducted in direct and indirect visions using a mirror at two time points: T0: beginning of study, and T1: after training for one month with the portable tool at home. The students’ manual grades in the portable tool, Grooved test, and final prosthetics course grades were compared. Results: The results showed that indirect tasks were significantly more difficult to perform than direct tasks for PhantHome and Grooved tests at T0 and T1 (p < 0.0005). After practicing with the portable PhantHome tool (T1), the students’ scores of in PhantHome and Grooved tests improved significantly (p < 0.04). A regression analysis showed that students’ motor tasks scored at T0 predicted phantom course success in 86.8% of cases (p = 0.005). Conclusion: There was a positive transfer in learning: PhantHome training led to improved performance on the Grooved tests without further training on these tests. Therefore, training in the PhantHome tool can significantly improve performance in the prosthodontics phantom course. The prediction model predicted success in a prosthodontics course with 86% accuracy.

THE EFFECT OF CREATIVE DRAMA METHOD ON STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENTS TOWARDS THE MUSIC LESSON

The aim of this research is to examine the effects of creative drama method on students' achievements towards the music lesson . In addition to this, in the research, it was aimed to develop appropriate educational activities prepared with creative drama method for the theoretical subjects of music, to eliminate the unwillingness of students towards these subjects, to facilitate the learning of information about music theory, to make learning fun and permanent, and to provide the student to learn voluntarily. In this study; For the determined purpose, creative drama method was applied in the teaching of theoretical knowledge of the 4th grade musical perception and information learning field in the 2018-2019 Academic Year Music Course Education Program of the Ministry of Education. The study was carried out by experimental method. The study group consists of 80 students, including 40 students in the Samsun Mimarsinan Primary School, an experimental group and 40 students in the control group. While the subjects pertaining to the musical perception and information learning area were taught by the classroom teacher with the traditional (classical) teaching method in the control group, the experimental group was taught by the researcher using the creative drama method. The pre-test and post-test post-test music course success scale was applied to both groups. With the results obtained from the scale, the effect of creative drama method on students' achievements towards the music lesson was investigated. As a result, it was found that creative drama method had a positive effect on students ' achievements, there was no significant difference according to gender, and the effect on students' achievement levels was 'enormous'.

Advanced Placement Course Credit and Undergraduate Student Success in Gateway Science Courses

Approximately two million students take Advanced Placement (AP) examinations annually. However, departmental policies that allow students to replace introductory courses with AP credit greatly vary within and across universities, even across relatively similar universities. This study examines the impact of AP credit policies on subsequent course success in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics at six large public research universities (N = 48,230 students). Examining average treatment effects for students skipping college courses using inverse-probability weights with regression adjustment, we found that students who skipped actually performed similarly well or better in subsequent courses than students who did not skip, even in contexts where lower AP scores were accepted. We also discovered wide variation in percentage of students who chose to skip when meeting their local policies. Therefore, to reduce unnecessary coursework that is burdensome for both students and universities, we suggest that departments consider modifying AP credit policies and that advisors consider encouraging students to skip when they have eligible AP scores.

Multi-Agent System Observer: Intelligent Support for Engaged E-Learning

Moodle is a widely deployed distance learning platform that provides numerous opportunities to enhance the learning process. Moodle’s importance in maintaining the continuity of education in states of emergency and other circumstances has been particularly demonstrated in the context of the COVID-19 virus’ rapid spread. However, there is a problem with personalizing the learning and monitoring of students’ work. There is room for upgrading the system by applying data mining and different machine-learning methods. The multi-agent Observer system proposed in our paper supports students engaged in learning by monitoring their work and making suggestions based on the prediction of their final course success, using indicators of engagement and machine-learning algorithms. A novelty is that Observer collects data independently of the Moodle database, autonomously creates a training set, and learns from gathered data. Since the data are anonymized, researchers and lecturers can freely use them for purposes broader than that specified for Observer. The paper shows how the methodology, technologies, and techniques used in Observer provide an autonomous system of personalized assistance for students within Moodle platforms.