The knowledge and attitudes of breast self-examination and mammography in a group of women in a rural area in western Turkey

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer appears to be a disease of both the developing and developed worlds. Among Turkish women, breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths. The aims of this cross-sectional study were to determine levels of knowledge about breast cancer and to evaluate health beliefs concerning the model that promotes breast self- examination (BSE) and mammography in a group of women aged 20–64 in a rural area of western Turkey. METHODS: 244 women were recruited by means of cluster sampling in this study. The questionnaire consisted of sociodemographic variables, a risk factors and signs of breast cancer form and the adapted version of Champion's Health Belief Model Scale (CHBMS). Bivariate correlation analysis, Chi square test, Mann-Whitney U test and logistic regression analysis were performed throughout the data analysis. RESULTS: The mean age of the women was 37.7 ± 13.7. 49.2% of women were primary school graduates, 67.6% were married. Although 76.6% of the women in this study reported that they had heard or read about breast cancer, our study revealed that only 56.1% of them had sufficient knowledge of breast cancer, half of whom had acquired the information from health professionals. Level of breast cancer knowledge was the only variable significantly associated with the BSE and mammography practice (p = 0.011, p = 0.007). BSE performers among the study group were more likely to be women who exhibited higher confidence and perceived greater benefits from BSE practice, and those who perceived fewer barriers to BSE performance and possessed knowledge of breast cancer. CONCLUSION: By using the CHBMS constructs for assessment, primary health care providers can more easily understand the beliefs that influence women's BSE and mammography practice

Preservice Mathematics Teachers’s TPACK Development in Statistics Teaching: A Microteaching Lesson Study

This study examined the development of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) of preservice mathematics teachers in statistics teaching that involves virtual manipulatives, in the context of a microteaching lesson study (MLS). Theoretical framework was based on the TPACK framework (Koehler & Mishra, 2009). MLS group which consists of 5 participants studied on a research lesson and implemented it. How TPACK of preservice elementary mathematics teachers was supported regarding the teaching statistics through virtual manipulatives (VM) and how their knowledge domains were affected by MLS are the research questions of this study. The findings showed that preservice mathematics teachers’ TPACK changed and developed through MLS. They were observed to have significant developments regarding some TPACK knowledge domains

Learner Characteristics and Understanding Nature of Science Is There an Association?

The purpose of this study was to investigate the possible associations between preservice science teachers' understanding of nature of science and their learner characteristics; understanding of nature of scientific inquiry, science teaching self-efficacy beliefs, metacognitive awareness level, and faith/worldview schemas. The sample of the current study was 60 3rd-year preservice science teachers enrolled in the Nature of Science and History of Science course. Using a descriptive and associational case study design, data were collected by means of different qualitative and quantitative questionnaires. Analysis of the data revealed that preservice science teachers' understanding of nature of science and nature of scientific inquiry were highly associated. Similarly, science teaching self-efficacy beliefs, metacognitive awareness levels, and faith/worldviews of the preservice science teachers were found to be significantly associated with their understanding of nature of science. Thus, it can be concluded that there might be other factors interfering with the learning processes of nature of science

The effectiveness of a graduate course on science teachers’ percieved TPACK competencies and self-efficacy of TPACK

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework proposes that effective teaching with technology requires combination of content, technology and pedagogy, and emphasizes the relationships, connections, strengths and weaknesses between and among these components. Following a quantitative multiplecase study approach, the purpose of this research is to test the effectiveness of an instructional design named “Theory – Application – Practice (TAP)” for improving science teachers’ TPACK competencies and selfefficacies. The proposed instructional design was implemented in a graduate course for 3 semesters with 18 science teachers. Data were collected by means of pre and post administration of two questionnaires; TPACK self-efficacy scale and perceived competencies of TPACK scale. The Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test results revealed statistically significant increases with large effect size in all of the subscales and total scores of the both of the questionnaires. These results indicated that TAP instructional desi

Application of Draw an Engineer Test (DAET) for a Better Understanding of Middle School Students’Conceptions of Engineering

Engineering is a discipline in STEM, an educational approach that consists of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Engineering applications are favoured in Turkey according to 2017 Science curriculum to improve students’ 21st century skills. To integrate engineering applications to Turkish Science curriculum efficiently, we must understand students’ conceptions of engineering. This study was done to understand middle school students’ conceptions of engineering. Total 75 students from 2 public schools, 43 female and 32 male who are 25 of each 6th, 7th and 8th grade were applied “Draw-An-Engineer-Test(DAET)”. DAET is a research tool for examining students’ conceptions by interpreting their drawn and written reflections. Some outstanding results show male students do not consider engineering as career for women while female students think that engineering is a profession for both genders, students have tendency to civil engineering, and as grade gets higher the conception of engineering is getting narro

Öğretmen adaylarının FeTeMM eğitimine yönelik eğilimlerini bilişsel ve duyuşsal değişkenler açısından incelemek

Öğretmen ve öğretmen adaylarının FeTeMM eğitimine yönelik görüşlerinin, güçlü ve zayıf yanlarının belirlenmesi, uzmanların onlara yönelik tasarlayacağı eğitimleri planlayabilmesi açısından çok değerlidir. Bu bağlamda, ülkemizde öğretmen ve öğretmen adaylarıyla yürütülen FeTeMM araştırmaları için geçerli ve güvenilir ölçme araçlarına ihtiyaç duyulmakta ve bu yüzden ölçek geliştirme ve uyarlama çalışmaları çok önem kazamıştır (Hacıömeroğlu, & Bulut, 2016). Bu noktadan hareketle bu çalışmanın amacı, öğretmen adaylarının FeTeMM eğitimine yönelik eğilimlerini, tutumlarını, inançlarını, öz-yeterliliklerini, bilgi düzeylerini ve 21. yüzyıl becerilerini öğretmeye yönelik özgüven düzeylerini belirlemek ve bu değişkenler arasındaki ilişkileri incelemektir. Çalışma sürecinde yurtdışında geliştirilmiş iki farklı ölçeğin (1) Attitudes, Beliefs, Efficacy and Knowledge of Integrated STEM Teaching Questionnaire (Shahali et al., 2015); ve (2) The 21st Century Skills Teaching Scale (Jia et al., 2016) Türkçe’ye adapte edilmesi ve literatüre kazandırılması da hedeflenmektedir