Route Education and Social Science Journal

1-16

Authors: Ayhan ÇİNİCİ , Gülden AKDAĞ & Abuzer AKGÜN

Abstract The purpose of this study is to investigate the pre-service science teachers’ views on the portfolios that they prepared in Science Teaching Laboratory Application I course. In the study, specific case study design was used. In this study, specific case study design was used. The study was conducted with 35 pre-service science teachers in their third year of science education department throughout seven weeks during 2012-2013 academic years. This study lasted seven weeks in Science Teaching Laboratory Application I course. At the beginning of the implementation process, the content of portfolios were described to pre-service science teacher, the best portfolios formed by the other pre-service science teacher were demonstrated and it was argued that what should be in the content of the portfolios. We asked pre-service science teachers to prepare portfolios about units chosen by researchers in the 6-7-8th grade science education program after the learning of contents of portfolios. We asked pre-service science teachers to put worksheet, concept map, poster, stories, poems, caricature, experiment, study assessment form, peer assessment form and studies reflecting themselves into portfolios. Then each of preservice teacher asked to present the studies put into portfolios to describe and explain why she or he put them into portfolios in about fifteen minutes. The data were collected by semi-structured interviews to investigate the views of pre-service science teachers on the portfolios at the end of the implementation process. The data were analysed inductively. Themes and sub-themes were formed and supported by direct citation. As a result of research, it is found that the pre-service teachers believe that preparing portfolios develops researcher skills, increase competency linked with content knowledge; reveal that they didn’t even know some of the qualifications. Pre-service teachers stated that they would use portfolio when they assigned as a teacher

35-43

Authors: İbrahim YERLİKAYA

The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of hope training program on primary school children hopelesness level based on Cognitive – Behavioral Approach and Hobby Therapy. The subjects are 7th and 8th grade students of Halil Naci Mıhçıoğlu primary school in Altındağ district, Ankara. The dependent variable of the study, that is hoplesness of the children, was measured by the Beck Hopelessness Scale. The hope training program, developed by the researcher and based on Cognitive - Behavioral Appproach, was applied to the first experiment group. On the other hand, the hope training program, developed by the researcher and based on Hobby Therapy, was applied to the second experimental group in 11 sessions. The findings were examined by using varians analysis for mixed design. The results shows that there is a significant difference for both of the two experimental groups according to the hopelessness scores.

68-80

Authors: Fuat TOKUR , Ümit DURUK & Abuzer AKGÜN

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of POE (Predict-Observe-Explain) activities on misconceptions in the context of Plants. Quantitative research methodology was used to design the study. The study was conducted with eighty preservice science teachers taking the course of General Biology Laboratory at Adıyaman University in the fall semester of 2010-2011. With the aim of identifying, replacing and remedying the misconceptions existed at that time in preservice science teachers’ cognitive structures, they were asked to complete a two-tier Conceptual Achievement Test (CAT) on “Growing and Development Process of Flowery Plants” unit. Preservice teachers’s misconceptions detected by this tool were identified and categorized as percentage and frequencies according to their subjects. Findings were investigated in the sub-categories of “Germination of the Seed”, “Flowery Plants’ Lifecycle”, “Feeding in the Plants” and “The Mechanism of Plants’ Growing and Developing Process” respectively. According to post t-test results, there is a significant difference between experimental and control group in favour of the first group in terms of CAT mean scores. This finding make us more relief and support overally that the science courses enriched with POE activities performed in the classroom increase the conceptual achievement and remove some misconceptions at the cognitive level. At the end of the study, it can be suggested to be studied whether these POE activities have effects on the construction of students’ critical thinking abilities and dispositions.

104-126

Authors: Kenan ÖZCAN & Aydın BALYER

The main purpose of education is to prepare students to life and future. In this regard, school and teachers teach them the ways to understand themselves and the world in which they live in a better way. Students have strong emotions about school especially when their memories, emotions and moral structures are violated. This makes the existence of school ethical climate more important at schools. Therefore, teacher-student relationships and teacher-administrator relationships are crucial as well as student-student relationships. The current study purposes to adapt the Elementary School Ethical Climate Index into Turkish and determine teachers and students’ perceptions concerning school ethical climate. The study employed survey method and was conducted in 2012-2013 school year spring term at schools in Adıyaman province. While adapting the scale into Turkish, construct validation was tested with Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The construct that is composed of 3 factors with mean values over 1 explained 46,91% of the total variance. The sub-factors and the total score of correlation coefficient equals to 0,85 or less. In addition, the χ2/df of the scale is 1.65, root mean residual (RMR) is 0.06, the goodness of fit index (GFI) is 0.87, parsimonious goodness of fit index (PGFI) is 0.75, the adjusted goodness-of-fit index (AGFI) is 0.85, the normed fit index (NFI) is 0.95, the non-normed fit index (NNFI) is 0.97, the comparative fit index (CFI) is .98, and the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) is 0.05 as well as the standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) is 0.04) which indicate good fit. The Cronbach Alpha coefficient of total scale was found as 0.91. It is 0.92 for teacher-student relationships sub-dimension, 0.85 for student-teacher relationships/learning environment sub-dimension and 0.72 for the student-student relationships sub-dimension. Results reveal that female students have more positive perceptions regarding ethical school climate compared to their male counterparts. The positive ethical school climate perceptions decrease as the students proceed to higher classes. Ethical school climate perceptions increase for those who read more books yearly basis. The ethical school climate perceptions of teachers who are between 36-50 are higher compared to other teachers in different age groups. There is a significant difference between the teacher-student perceptions in terms of ethical school climate. As a result, it is recommended that the development of school culture should be supported in order to protect ethical school climate at schools. Schools should be structured as learning organizations, accountability policies should be improved and social capital of the school should be developed.

144-147

Authors: Muhammed Nur EN NEMR

This research deals with the philosophical question in the Arab-Islamic civilization, where it is an another creative form for that civilization, it aims to reach determining the nature of this question, and to distinguish it from other philosophical questions. And when this philosophical question was determining the general ontological perception of that civilization, we will define diverse appointments to it in theology, philosophy, and mysticism. If "God" is the main concept on which is leaning against it the whole history of the Arab-Islamic thought, it will determine all other concepts on which build the Islamic perspective, which is achieved through it- the Arab-Islamic civilization- an important historical presence. From here, we must determine its nature, and shed light historically on the diversity of its forms. And thus, knowing philosophical intellectuals which were created by thinkers in their different intellectual creations. This research discusses two main points: the first relates to the importance of the philosophical question in the Arab-Islamic civilization as it is the central question, emerged from it all moral, social, and political values. While the second historically relates to the development of this question, and intellectually to the diversity of its forms. In both cases, the philosophical question, in terms of intellectual distinctive feature of the Arab-Islamic civilization, is what our research will be based upon.