Journal of Higher Education and Science

012-016

Authors: Özlem İBRAHİMOĞLU, Sevinç MERSİN, Hülya SARAY KILIÇ

The main aim of education in nursing schools is to develop critical thinking skills and psychomotor abilities with universal ethical values so that students can present nursing care to healthy and patient’s individuals and their families. Because of the multidimensional of care, the curriculum should be developed by evaluating learning outcomes so that nurses can improve their individual caregiving capabilities. It seems that the nursing education curriculum has been trying to establish a standard for many years. In this study, nursing education curriculum and learning outcomes were emphasized in order to contribute positively to the nursing education and the graduated student profile. Learning outcomes include knowledge, attitudes, and skills that a student must have at the end of the learning process. These outputs are the skills of the cognitive, affective/psychosocial and psychomotor domains planned for each course at the end of the training. Cognitive learning consists of knowledge, understanding, practice, analysis, synthesis and evaluation steps. Teaching basic concepts in this learning is the first step. Affective/psychosocial learning contains feelings. Positive and negative emotions, attitudes, values, information, personal and social characteristics that the individual possesses are evaluated within this learning. Psychomotor learning focuses on physical skills involving the coordination of brain functions and muscle movements. In order to reach the learning objectives determined during the completion of nursing education, learning outcomes are added to the curriculum. Thus, it is assumed that cognitive, affective/ psychosocial and psychomotor learning outcomes in the curriculum have been achieved. It will be possible to increase the quality of nursing education by evaluating the learning outcomes of the curriculum in addition to the studies aimed at developing the nursing curriculum.

037-042

Authors: Çağdaş CAZ, Ali Gürel GÖKSEL, Ömer Faruk YAZICI

The aim of this study was to examine the level of mobbing among Teaching Staff Training Program (TSTP/OYP) research assistants and to examine the relationship between subjective happiness and mobbing exposure. The sample of the study consisted of 213 OYP research assistants from all over Turkey, 115 of whom were female while 98 were of whom are male. The data collection tools of the study include the Negative Acts Questionnaire-Mobbing (NAQ) which was developed by Einarsen and Raknes (1997), and adapted into Turkish by Cemaloglu (2007); and the Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS) which was developed by Lyubmirsky and Lepper (1999) and adapted into Turkish by Akin and Satici (2011). Although study results revealed there were no significant differences in terms of gender, the mean mobbing exposure score was found to be higher in male academicians. In terms of marital status, it was found that married academicians had higher mobbing exposure scores. Also, the mobbing levels of OYP Research Assistants were found to be a significant predictor of subjective happiness.

052-064

Authors: Ümmühan AVCI, Filiz KALELİOĞLU

The aim of this study is to examine students’ perceptions about the quality of education and teaching in a teacher education program. For this purpose, “Student Course Experience Scale“ which was adapted to Turkish by Özcan (2013) and whose validity and reliability studies were completed was used. In addition, an online semi-structured interview form consisting of open-ended questions was used to get detailed views of students on the quality of learning-teaching processes. The study included 74 students enrolled in a pedagogical formation certificate program of a private university. For quantitative analysis, t-test and one-way ANOVA for independent samples were used, and for qualitative analysis, content analysis was used. Student perceptions of education and teaching quality did not differ significantly according to their gender or graduated programme. Findings from the data provide clues about student perceptions and understanding of the quality of their learning process, including where they need support, and in which areas they feel competent. The findings of this study provide insights for teacher training programmes, institutions, and teaching staff. This study also discusses the factors that should be considered for educating qualified and competent teachers.

078-089

Authors: Yasemin KATRANCI

In this study, it was aimed to develop a scale in order to investigate middle school students’ considerations about mathematics. An evaluation was executed in terms of gender and grade levels in order to verify the scale. For this purpose, a screening model was used as a research model. A convenient sampling method was selected to determine a study group. In this context, the study was conducted with 659 middle school students. In order to identify the factor structure of the scale, exploratory factor analysis was executed and to verify this structure confirmatory factor analysis was also calculated. Furthermore, item analyses were performed. In order to determine the reliability of the scale, Cronbach alpha was also calculated. As a result of the exploratory factor analysis, it was seen that the scale had two sub-factors. These factors were named as positive considerations and negative considerations. It was shown that the developed scale showed a perfect fit according to the confirmatory factor analysis’ results. The item analyses’ results showed that the items on the scale had high-level validity and were sufficiently distinguishable. According to the reliability analyses, it was revealed that both the whole scale and its sub-factors were found sufficiently reliable. In conclusion, it was concluded that the scale was a valid and reliable instrument that could be used to determine middle school students’ thoughts toward mathematics. In addition to this, it was found that even though gender had low effect on mathematical considerations, grade level had a high effect on them.

097-110

Authors: Arzu UZAY, Belda BİLGİÇ, Nihan DEMİRKASIMOĞLU

Authority is an essential part of learning-teaching processes. Generally, distinction is made between pedagogical authority and authoritarian use of power in educational studies. This distinction indicates continuous tension between positive and negative aspects of authority (Harjunen, 2009). Authority is constantly used in educational literature along with power embedded in authority. Power is discussed in relation to abuse of power as a means of oppression and domination in critical pedagogical studies (Rogers, 2011). Authoritarianism is used in the sense of “misuse, overuse, abuse of power” (Watt, 1982). Giroux (1988) and Freire’s (2005) proposals regarding these concepts, which discuss teacher’s professional power and pedagogical authority within confines of authority and authoritarian use of power dilemma, constitute the frame of this work. According to Giroux (2004), public and higher education are one of a few limited areas where students can learn how democratic living conditions can be improved and what individuals’ social citizenship skills mean. Professors’ pedagogical authority and universities playing a key role in the transformation of individuals and society in the face of students benefiting from education service is seen as a worthwhile subject for research. In this study, the opinions of graduate students who are studying in four different education programs under the institute of education sciences at a state university in Turkey, the source of the authority of the faculty and in it the pedagogical authority and authoritarianism dilemma of practical reflection and voltage aimed to analyze the empirical findings axis. It is aimed to analyze the source of the professor’s authority and its reflection on practice in duality and tension of pedagogical authority and authoritarianism through empirical findings. In this context, answers to such questions as what kind of authority professors use, what the source of their authority is, whether students can question this authority were asked for. The research was designed as a phenomenology from qualitative research designs. Criteria sampling technique was used in identifying participants. Semi-structured interview form including open-ended questions was used as a data collection tool. Students’ experience shows the source of the professor’s authority is not consistent with the qualifications they expect. Professor’s authority should be “knowledge in the discipline, the quality of work; however, students claimed professors’ authority comes from titles and legal authority.

123-133

Authors: Nurettin AYAZ, Ahmet ARAKAYA

The success of educational services requires the collective movement of many actors (managers, trainers, administrative staff, students) and the necessity of a system that supplies integrity. However, the quality of services which was provided by these actors should be measured at different times and it should be focused on remedial measures by the context of measurement results. This research was carried out with the idea of contributing to services provided by registrar’s office under higher education institutions. In this study, it was aimed to determine expectations and perceptions in the quality of services which was received from registrar’s office by students. For his purpose, data collected by questionnaire from 507 students who have received services from Karabük University registrar’s office between September 2014-June 2015 period. By the result of analyzing survey data for service quality five dimensions including reliability, enthusiasm, physical features, empathy, and trust was reached. These dimensions were compared with demographic and other features of students’ expectations of service quality are prominent by dimensions of reliability, responsiveness, and confidence.

144-155

Authors: Deniz GÜLMEZ, Mustafa YAVUZ

Higher education is seen as a source of competition for developed and developing countries. In this competitive environment, higher education has become increasingly popular in Turkey in recent times. Higher education systems are undergoing transformation by being influenced by developments such as the increasing number of students, increasing global and knowledge-based economic innovations and researches, and competition among higher education institutions. The review of these changes has led to reconsider the development of higher education system and management structures in terms of institutional aspects. Thus, it is aimed to evaluate the aim and structure dimensions of higher education in Turkey with the two countries that are thought to direct the developments related to higher education in the world. For this purpose, a phenomenological research design was conducted in the study. Criterion sampling and snowball sampling method is used to determine the participants. Study group involves 29 faculty members. The research data were collected through a semi-structural interview form and interviews were made a face to face. Descriptive and content analysis was used analysis of the data. Themes derived from the research were grouped into two dimensions, including aim and structure. As a result, it appears in the US, and UK universities had specific aims and visions, it is shared, and students and academics are quite conscious in this regard. It is seen that universities have uncertain aims in Turkey. It is observed that bureaucracy is high and universities subject to the upper structure in Turkey. In the UK and US administration is an undesirable position and it is seen as the statute in Turkey..

166-179

Authors: Meltem KÜRTÜNCÜ, Hicran YILDIZ, Esra KARAKUŞ

This study was performed in order to determine the effect of cerebral dominance in university students on entrepreneurship and assertiveness. The universe of the study consisted of all of the university students studying at the Bulent Ecevit University in the 2014-2015 academic year while the sample consisted of 1167 students from among those who agreed to participate in the study. Data was collected using a “General Information Form” for sociodemographic characteristics, the “Cerebral Dominance Tool”, the “Rathus Assertiveness Scale” and the “Entrepreneurship Scale”. The cerebral dominance and entrepreneurship scores of the cases were found to show significant difference according to gender (p<0.05), and the cerebral dominance score was found to differ according to a year of study and whether the mother of the participant was alive (p<0.05). A significant relationship between the variables of paternal survival and the relationship between parents and cerebral dominance, entrepreneurship, and assertiveness scores was also found (p<0.05). A significant positive relationship between the cerebral dominance scores of the cases and entrepreneurship was found (p<0.05) with entrepreneurship and assertiveness scores increasing alongside cerebral dominance scores. The level of cerebral dominance affects entrepreneurship in students. For this reason, it has been suggested that the factors affecting cerebral dominance should be determined and that the positive factors should be improved. Thus, the entrepreneurship and assertiveness aspects of the students can be improved.

180-191

Authors: Nursel TOPKAYA, Ertuğrul ŞAHİN, Cem GENÇOĞLU

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to examine the relationship between self-concealment, gender, past psychological help-seeking experience, self-esteem and loss of face among undergraduate students. Consistent with this purpose, a convenience sample of 334 students (220 females, 114 males) who were recruited from different faculties of a university in the Central Black Sea Region of Turkey consisted of study participants. Participants completed the Self Concealment Scale, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Loss of Face Scale and Personal Information Form. Data were analyzed using independent samples t-test, Pearson correlation analysis, and hierarchical regression analysis. Result of this study suggested that undergraduate students who had the past psychological help-seeking experience, who had high loss of face and who had low self-esteem more likely have high self-concealment. Study results may help to a more comprehensive understanding of self-concealment as a personality trait in countries neither exactly individualistic nor collectivistic cultures such as Turkey.