Distance Education Service Quality in Turkey

Universities occupy an important place in the training of qualified manpower needed by a country, in the production of knowledge and in service to the society with the educational services they provide. Due to the limited capacity and increasing demand in higher education, distance education (DE) programs in universities are spreading rapidly. In this study, the components affecting the service quality perception of the DE service offered and the score of the students, who are the most important customers of the DE program, were determined. Service quality was measured by DE-SERVQUAL, which has a 4-factor structure: "e-learning environment", "trust", "accessibility" and "enthusiasm". In the study where 457 valid answers were evaluated, students indicated that accessibility is the most important dimension that determines the DE service quality. It is followed by e-learning environment, reliability and enthusiasm in the descending order. In addition, students gave the lowest score to the e-learning environment dimension in the program they were enrolled in. Keywords: service quality, distance education, DE-SERVQUAL, SERVQUAL

Family Socio-Economic Status, School Location and Students’ Eco-Friendly Knowledge, Attitude and Practices in Nigeria

The school system, regardless of the level of operation, is generally accepted as a major agent of education. It provides avenues for interaction between students and teachers on subject matters. However, the location of the school determines many students’ knowledge, attitude and practices. Also, there is an increasing awareness of the importance of the parents’ role in the progress and educational development of their children. Family background as an important and weighty factor in determining the academic performance attained by the student needs to be investigated. This study adopted a pre-test-post-test control group quasi-experimental design. Intact class of Junior Secondary School II Social Studies students in each of the six schools in Oyo state were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. Three validated instruments were used in this study, and they are the Environmental Education Knowledge Test (EEKT), Environmental Education Attitude Scale (EEAS) and Environmental Education Practice Questionnaire (EEPQ). The data were analyzed using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) with the pretest scores used as covariates. All the null hypotheses were tested at a P < .05 level of significance. The study showed a significant two-way interaction effect of family socioeconomic status and school location on students’ eco-friendly knowledge, attitude and practices. It was recommended that schools should be kept safe and parents should develop more streams of income, as a single income source has become a great economic challenge in Nigeria. Keywords: family socioeconomic status, school location, students’ eco-friendly knowledge, students’ eco-friendly attitude, students’ eco-friendly practices, school security, alternative income

Diversity Management and Cultural Competency of Teacher Candidates in Blacksea Region of Turkey

Ever since the world has been dealing with the problem called Covid-19, everything around us has had to change. This epidemic has affected our lives in many ways and has set us completely new roles and tasks on many things, and education which is one of the most important things among them had been changed. Indeed, the transformation of education had already begun with the improvement of transportation and telecommunication conditions and being able to receive education online in different countries or via the internet has brought new concepts to the academic world. Cultural competence, one of them, is shaped by identity and traditions, thus cultural diversity is the main factor in determining the characteristics of this concept. Meanwhile, the ones who realize the acculturation of the society, the people who created this concept, are the teachers who direct the society in both academic and cultural dimensions. As a result, teachers need to learn to manage diversity to be able to cope with the differences in their classrooms, as they encounter many different cultural characteristics. For this reason, in this study, it is considered worth investigating what kind of dimensions pre-service teachers can have regarding the management of diversity and cultural competencies. The of the research consists of 1073 teacher candidates studying in Artvin Coruh University. The aim of this research was to reveal the diversity management skills and cultural competence levels of education faculty students. In order to reach more in-depth information on what management of diversity and cultural competencies is, the study started with a literature review. Then, Diversity Management Scale (DMS) and Cultural Competence Scale (CCS) were applied to Artvin Çoruh University, in the Black Sea region of Turkey, to faculty of education students (teacher candidates). After the regression analysis of the data for the management of diversity scale, two dimensions have been found which are managerial practices and managerial approaches. Moreover, for the cultural competencies scale, three dimensions were found which are cultural knowledge, cultural sensitivity, and cultural skills. Lastly, a significant relationship was found between Diversity Management and Cultural Competence of the teacher candidates, and cultural competence was found to be a meaningful predictor of diversity management of teacher candidates. Keywords: diversity, culture, cultural competence, diversity management, teachers

The Self-perceived Impact of COVID-19 Human Mobility Restrictions on Armenian Students Aged 14-18

The present article showcases the self-perceived impacts of COVID-19-related human mobility restrictions on the Armenian youth aged 14 to 18. Rather than attempting to discuss policies or theories or concentrate on certain areas of the fabric of human society, such as human rights, economy, health care, this case study makes a bold attempt to illuminate the reader about the condition and self-perceived effects of the crisis on a specific age group in the context of COVID-restricted mobility and ensuing challenges (education, social life, including sports and extracurricular activities, emotional well-being) in a given country, something that has been prevailingly, if not completely, ignored even in those research projects that have addressed the COVID-19-related human mobility limitations for specific groups of people (migrants, the displaced, women, etc.). Thus, the author has attempted to lay the groundwork for further case studies as well as comparative research investigating the human mobility dimension of the COVID-19 crisis for adolescents or various age groups with an emphasis on the effects of reduced or restricted mobility on the intellectual, athletic, social or cultural life of those affected by them. Overall, the participants displayed the whole gamut of both negative and positive experiences and gave varied responses. Keywords: human mobility, COVID-19, students aged 14-18

Teaching the Big Three: Making Sense of Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton

Arguably, the three most important early writers in the English language – indeed, one might say the founders of the language – are Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400), William Shakespeare (1564-1616), and John Milton (1608-1674). Yet our experience at the higher level of education is that students have had little exposure to the life and times of these writers or of their work. Our study shows that, while some Georgian school leavers have been exposed briefly to a bit of Shakespeare, few have chanced to encounter Chaucer and none to Milton. Moreover, while teaching what we might call “The Big Three” of English language and literature, much the same might be said at the master’s level: a bit of Shakespeare, little of Chaucer, and none of Milton. To the extent that students of English as a foreign language encounter any literature at all, they tend to be offered little other than literal translation. “Retell the text.” They miss the nuances of the English language as they would encounter them through the greatest of writers. It is, therefore, essential that those who teach any or all of these great writers develop a strategy to fit the needs of the students while meeting the objectives of the course. The key to making sense of Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton is to make connections to what students already know, to their own experiences, to make these greatest of all English writers relevant to the lives of the students in ways they can understand. Keywords: English literature, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton

Challenges and Solutions: The Experiences of Newly-Qualified Counsellors

The emergence of the increases in the rate of different social vices among the adolescents in high schools calls for re-evaluation and updating of the existing operating counselling services in secondary schools' educational system. The study examined the challenges of the newly qualified school counsellors and the solution proffered. Six research questions were raised to guide the study. It adopted a mixed-method research approach. The results of the findings revealed that the lack of recognition of the role of counsellors in the school system was rated the highest among the challenges experienced by newly-qualified counsellors, non-referral of students who need to be sent to a counsellor by teachers was rated second. From the findings of the study of the awareness campaign on the importance of counselling through various media, the finding “more time should be allotted to practicum for counsellors in training” was the highest-rated as the solution to the challenges experienced by newly-qualified counsellors. The results obtained from the study also revealed that male counsellors might be experiencing different challenges from their female counterparts. The results of the study also show a significant difference in the challenges experienced by newly qualified counsellors based on school type. The findings revealed that there is a significant difference in the solution provided by newly qualified counsellors based on gender. The results also show that the solution provided by a counsellor from private schools does not differ from that of their public schools’ counterpart. Based on the findings of the study recommendations were made: government should provide public enlightenment programmes to parents, school administrators, teachers, and students through jingles, posters, billboards on the need to embrace counselling in the school system and make use of the facility. National University commission should revise the counsellor training programme and increase the period allocated for practicum for the counsellor in training in order to equip them for the tasks ahead. Keywords: challenges, solutions, experiences, newly qualified counsellors

Effect of Drama Technique on Achievement in English Reading Comprehension of Junior Secondary School Students

The study examined the effect of drama technique on achievement in English reading comprehension of junior secondary school students. This study adopted the pre-test – post-test quasi-experimental design. The population of the study comprised all junior secondary school students in Ijebu-North local government, Ogun state. Two junior secondary schools were randomly selected for the purpose of the study. The students in the two schools were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The instrument used for data collection was the Reading Comprehension Achievement Test which has a reliability coefficient of 0.72. The experiment lasted for six weeks. The data were analyzed by Analysis of Co-Variance (ANCOVA) at a 0.05 level of significance. The results show a significant main effect of drama technique and gender on students’ achievement in reading comprehension. The results further show a significant interaction effect of drama technique and gender on students’ achievement in reading comprehension. The study recommends that teachers should adopt the use of drama techniques in teaching comprehension. Keywords: drama technique, reading comprehension, achievement in reading

Impact of Human Rights Education at School, Community and Individual Levels - Case Study of Georgia Research Essay

Since its independence in 1991, the promotion of human rights has been a part of Georgia’s efforts towards the integration into Euro-Atlantic Institutions. However, difficulties in introducing the concept of individual, democratic and human rights are persistent in the teaching/learning process, as these concepts are still not organic and commonly understood in popular culture. Herewith, a growing level of political and societal polarisation between nationalistic and liberal forces impedes the process of effective promotion of universal human rights principles. The article analyzes the tensions between the core values of nationalism and liberal ideology in Georgia, as well as the supporting factors for the promotion of human rights education (HRE). It discusses the potential of HRE in mitigating the societal polarisation and reaching social cohesion around the basic civic values. A conclusion is made that, despite considerable progress achieved in promoting HRE in Georgia during the last decade, complexities remain related to the difficulty of introducing the concepts of individual, democratic and human rights in the teaching/learning process, as such concepts are still not organic and commonly understood in popular culture. Based on the best practices identified in various impact assessment studies on HRE worldwide, recommendations are offered for the schools to introduce transformative and emancipatory learning and make HRE effective through the application of the ‘wholeschool’ approach - an effective tool for bringing tangible changes to the school environment, as well as the impact on the household and community levels. Keywords: human rights education, social cohesion, Georgia, impact of education, wholeschool approach, social cohesion

The Effects of Culture on Learning Styles: The Sample of Ondokuz Mayıs University

This study examines the effect of culture on learning styles. The study sample consisted of undergraduate and graduate students, most of whom are foreign nationals, studying in different departments of Ondokuz Mayıs University in Samsun, Turkey. Based on the experiential learning theory (ELT), Kolb's Learning Styles Inventory (KLSI) was used as a data collection tool to define individual learning styles. By examining previous studies such as the Global Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness (GLOBE), the study focused on categorizing cultural differences. 193 participants from 35 different nationalities were included in one of three cultural clusters (The Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia). In the first part of the study, the dominant learning styles of each cultural cluster were evaluated based on Kolb's traditional 4 learning styles (diverging, converging, assimilating, and accommodating) and the new 9 learning styles (experiencing, imagining, reflecting, analysing, thinking, deciding, acting, balancing) defined in KLSI 3.2 and KLSI 4. It was analysed whether there was a statistically significant difference in the dominant learning styles among the cultural clusters. The results of the analysis showed that there was no significant difference among the cultural clusters according to 4 learning style classifications, whereas there were significant differences among the cultural clusters according to Kolb’s 9 learning style classifications. In the second part of the study, it was evaluated whether there was a significant difference among the cultural clusters according to the modes of grasping experience – concrete experience (CE) and abstract conceptualization (AC) – and two dialectically related modes of transforming experience—reflective observation defined in the ELT model. Keywords: learning style, Kolb learning style inventory (KLSI), culture, cultural dimensions, cultural clusters, higher education

Do Teachers’ Qualifications and Experience Influence Academic Performance of Students in Basic Science in Junior Secondary Schools in Nigeria?

This study investigated the influence of teachers’ qualifications and experience on students’ academic performance in basic science in junior secondary schools in Nigeria. The study was a descriptive survey type of research. Simple random sampling was used to select eight Junior Secondary Schools (J.S.S.) in the Ogun East senatorial district of Ogun State. It included 18basic science teachers and 540 junior secondary school students. The data were collected using a questionnaire and a basic science achievement test. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, one-way analysis of variance and Pearson Product-Moment Correlation. The findings of this study revealed that most of the basic science teachers at the J.S.S. level were not trained as basic science teachers; science teachers’ qualifications influenced students’ academic performance in basic science; basic science teachers’ years of teaching experience did not have a positive correlation with students’ academic performance in basic science. Keywords: Qualification, academic performance, problem-solving