A Joint Assessment of Reasoning about General Statements in Mathematics and Biology

This contribution belongs to a larger empirical study that focuses on issues related to the implementation of inquiry-based learning and formative assessment in science and mathematics education, while it also refers to the issue of STEM education. Here, we discuss the two topics from the perspective of professional preparation of primary school teachers. We employ an educational tool called Concept Cartoons and perceive it as a common diagnostic tool for investigating modes of reasoning about general statements in arithmetic, geometry and biology. The presented qualitative exploratory empirical study maps and codes various kinds of reasoning that can be identified with the tool and investigates possibilities of a joint coding procedure. As a result, it provides a conversion table between various modes of reasoning in the three subject domains. The arisen code categories cover the field of generic examples, including the initial stages so that they can be used for scaffolding the process of learning the foundations of deductive reasoning. The joint approach to reasoning in mathematics and biology shows how argumentation and formative assessment can be understood equally and developed simultaneously in both school subjects. It helps us to see how the two school subjects can be integrated didactically.

Use of Screencast in Distance Education GIS Lessons: Students' Views

This study aims to analyze the views of geography teacher students on the GIS course conducted with screencasts during the distance education process. Furthermore, the study reveals, along with the reasons, how the process of capturing and sharing screencasts with students can assist instructors. At the end of the term, 27 students studying in the second year of the geography teaching undergraduate program were asked about their opinions of the lesson. The data were collected through a structured evaluation form consisting of open-ended questions to evaluate the course. In the analysis of the comments obtained, MAXQDA software, which is frequently used in qualitative data analysis, was applied. The expressions in the answers were analyzed using the content analysis technique. Overall, the results prove that the beneficial aspects of the GIS course, which consists of applications and is conducted with screencast, outweigh the theory. Thanks to the screencast model, students can use their time efficiently and watch the videos repeatedly whenever and wherever they want. Nevertheless, the results reveal that extra methods are required to motivate students to transfer theoretical information and that screencasts have some disadvantages.

Examination of Science Self-Regulation Skills of Gifted and Non-Gifted Students

The study aimed to examine and compare the science self-regulation skills of gifted and non-gifted students in this study. Survey design, one of the quantitative methods, was utilized in the research. The sample of the study consisted of 263 gifted students enrolled in science and art center and 482 non-gifted students located in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. Science Self-regulation Scale was used as a data collection tool in the research. Independent samples t-test and one-way analysis of variance were used in the analysis of the data. The findings showed that gifted and non-gifted students had high self-regulation skills towards science. In addition, it was found that although there was no statistically significant difference between the average scores of gifted female and male students on the overall scale, there was a significant difference in the other group. Moreover, while the difference between the mean scores obtained in the dimensions of Refinement, Time Organizing, Organizing, Help Seeking, Metacognitive Self-regulation, and Repetition was in favor of gifted students, it was in favor of non-gifted students regarding the mean scores of critical thinking and effort regulation dimensions. The conclusion and implication were discussed in line with these findings.

The Productive Efficiency of Science and Technology Worldwide: A Frontier Analysis

We are interested in how codified knowledge is produced around the globe (which inputs are used to produce scientific articles and patented inventions) and the efficiency of the process (how do the best performers produce more with the same inputs or produce the same with less inputs). Using a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) efficiency frontier approach, we aim to determine which countries are more efficient at producing codified knowledge. We proxy knowledge production by publications and patents, obtained through human (researchers) and non-human (R&D expenditure) resources. We built a 15-year database with more than 800 observations of these and other variables. Our findings enable us to distinguish efficiency by country, geographical region, and income area. We run four different specifications and correlate the results with partial productivity indexes seeking consistency. Under constant returns to scale, the most traditional producers of knowledge are not fully efficient. Instead, small countries with limited resources appear to be efficient. When we add environmental conditions, both sets of countries are efficient producers of knowledge outputs. High-income regions, on the one hand, and East Asia, North America, and Europe and Central Asia, on the other, are the most efficient regions at producing knowledge.

Statistics Teaching Practice at Czech Universities with Emphasis on Statistical Software

This paper aims to reveal the beliefs of students and fresh university graduates about teaching statistics during their university studies with focus on using statistical software. The objective is to detect the approach of faculties to statistics education and to find out which didactic materials and teaching methods are mainly used. Students’ opinions are captured by means of a questionnaire survey and analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The results show the increasing importance of quantitative research and the necessity of improving statistical thinking. Unfortunately, the teaching methods used in various statistical courses are outdated and unattractive for most students. They call for an active and modern approach. Teaching statistics with the statistical software support seems to be the right way to make statistics accessible to students. The recommendation is to take students’ notions into account when preparing statistical courses.

Investigating Professional Teacher Identity through ESP Courses: Voices from Three EFL Instructors via Case Studies

The current zeitgeist in language teacher education dwells on teacher identity regarding it as one of the big buzzwords to explore and critically reflect teacher qualities from a socio-cognitive perspective. Drawing from this current trend, the research intended to disambiguate three English language instructors’ sense of self-efficacy, perceptions, professional identity and professional competence in one of the most established and prestigious state universities in the country through the qualitative case study method. After selecting ESP practitioners following convenience sampling, autobiographies, informal dialogues, classroom observations, opening interviews, post-observation interviews, and field notes were utilized to gather data. Having scrutinized the professional identities of instructors through the lens of self-efficacy beliefs, perceptions, and professional competence, the study exposed that professional competence came to the fore being the best mediator to gain awareness of professional teacher identity. However, self-efficacy did not subserve as a predictor in exploring the complexity of teacher identity due to discordance with perceptions and realities of identity issues. Finally, some suggestions for further considerations were stated to be operationalized within the EFL context of in-service language teacher education.

Teacher Accountability for Teacher Occupational Professionalism: The Effect of Accountability on Occupational Awareness with the Mediating Roles of Contribution to Organization, Emotional Labor and Personal Development

Accountability enables teachers to exhibit professional behaviors in school processes. However, the contribution of accountability to teacher occupational professionalism depends on the effective structuring of accountability mechanisms. It is necessary to examine how the connection between teacher occupational professionalism and accountability can be effectively established in line with different conceptual models. Therefore, this study investigated the relationship between teacher accountability and occupational professionalism by analyzing a proposed conceptual model of accountability and occupational professionalism dimensions. The first step for effective accountability mechanisms is to raise occupational awareness. Therefore, the effect of teacher accountability on teacher occupational awareness, which is one of the components of occupational professionalism, was examined with the mediating roles of contribution to organization, emotional labor and personal development dimensions of occupational professionalism. Employing correlational research design, the study sample included 576 middle school teachers from Gaziantep province in the southeast of Turkey. The study revealed that contribution to organization and emotional labor play a partially mediating role in the relationship between accountability and occupational awareness. However, teacher personal development has no mediating role. The results present a framework to develop teacher personal accountability supporting teacher occupational professionalism.

Antecedents of private university students’ satisfaction: The effects of traditional and electronic service quality

High competition in the higher education sector, especially private universities, has brought a high attention to service quality that can increase students’ satisfaction and their retention rates. This study aimed to investigate the effect of traditional and electronic service quality of private universities in Jakarta on students’ satisfaction. A total of 151 students’ responses from three private universities in Jakarta were collected. A factor analysis with the Principal Component Analysis method with Varimax rotation, Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and Importance Performance Map Analysis (IPMA) were performed. The results proved that perceived value of traditional service quality and perceived web value significantly affected student satisfaction. The three indicators of perceived quality provided by administrative staff (b=0.198), perceived quality of university infrastructure (β=0.333), and perceived quality of support services (β=0.362) significantly affected students’ satisfaction while in the context of electronic service quality, only accessibility (β=0.469) and attractiveness (β=0.123) had significant effects on students’ satisfaction. Furthermore, the two-dimensional IPMA matrix indicated the dominance of importance (score=0.621) and performance (score=66.438) of perceived value over the perceived web value.

Reporting Verbs and Related Syntactic Choices in Students' Theses: A Study of Two Disciplines

Adopting Hyland's (2002) framework of reporting words (RVs), the paper investigates the use of RVs in Master's theses written in English by students of two disciplines, Economics and Management and Natural Resources. The data were drawn from two sub-corpora, each consisting of 82 Literature Reviews, where other authors' research is summarised and commented on. Besides determining the most frequent communicative functions, in this paper, the RVs are further analysed in terms of the verb tense, voice, and subject-agent. The findings revealed significant differences between the two disciplines. In the former, most RVs were in the present active with named-author as the subject, conveying a neutral attitude towards the reported message and neutrally summarising previous research outcomes. Most RVs were in the past tense in the latter, reporting on past research procedures or outcomes. The findings reveal infrequent use of evaluative or critical verbs. Each discipline's predominant choice may suggest writers' lower ability to highlight the cited sources' direct relevance to their research. The study hopes to contribute to the efficacy of teaching English for Academic Purposes to non-native speakers. It has pedagogical implications for academic writing in both undergraduate and postgraduate courses at non-philological tertiary education institutions.

How Teachers in Elementary Schools Evaluate Their Classroom Environments: An Evaluation of Functions of the Classroom Through an Environmental Approach

Understanding the educational environment and effectively regulating it in consistent with educational objectives is an important factor in facilitating teaching and a crucial ability for the teachers. Investigating the perception of 12 classroom teachers at four elementary schools about their classroom environment, this study aims to reveal the situation about their classroom environment, its effects, and the desired classroom environment in terms of the functions of the classroom environment. Two analytical frameworks, Classroom Functions Theory as well as Environmental Competence, are means to understand this topic. A semi-structured interview form and an observation form were used as data collection instruments. In the study, it was observed that the majority of teachers were able to evaluate the classroom environment, but they remained unsolved about how the classroom can be designed better. Besides, the teachers stated that their classroom environments performed social, symbolic identity, and task instrumentality functions in a limited way for various reasons while largely functioning the shelter and security. Finally, the teachers emphasized that their classes did not fulfill growth and pleasure functions and that most of their desires about the classroom environment were related to these functions.