Contribution of Plays and Toys to Children’s Value Education

Plays and toys have an important place in the education of children. Children learn by seeing and doing rather than reading, listening and understanding. Play is an important “job” for children. The basic function of plays is to facilitate children’s adaptation to the world. Children can understand the real world by playing. They deal with unwanted situations by playing games. Moreover, they construct the building blocks of language and concept development through playing. They try different social roles by playing games. Again, through playing, they find the stimulants that are not readily available in real life. Children learn self-regulation, setting up rules and abiding by these rules through plays. They play to experience, understand and learn the things they cannot do in real life. For a child who ascribes a meaning to toys and objects, playing games and playing with toys is a serious business. Situations which are imaginary at first help children learn some rules, take a step beyond their development and construct their own zone of proximal development. All children have an imaginary friend when they are small. During this process which is a normal development pattern and a helpful occupation, the playmate is usually a toy. Playing games and playing with toys is not just an occupation, but also an activity that supports children’s mental health and helps them establish and develop emotional relationships. Plays and toys have a close relationship with education, history, geography, sociology, psychology, politics, industry and tourism, in short, with culture. Plays and toys are used as a method for early diagnosis of some disorders such as learning difficulty and autism. In these days where we seek solutions to digital addiction, plays and toys emerge as an important alternative. Plays also provide a suitable environment for value and morals education. Introducing plays and toys which have an important place in child education and using them more effectively in value and morals education together with other fields of development is of critical importance. In this theoretical article, we tried to address the importance of plays, toys and toy museums from this perspective

Study of the Concepts of Athletic Identity and Continuous Sport Self-Confidence in the Light of Various Variables

This study was planned and conducted for the purpose of examining the relationship between the concepts of athletic identity and continuous sport self-confidence within the framework of various variables. The study group is comprised of 125 sportsmen of different branches, located at the Ankara Eryaman Olympics Preparation Centre. Along with a personal information form, the participants were subjected to the "Athletic Identity Scale" developed by Brewer and Cornelius (2001) in order to measure the athletic identity roles, as well as the "Continuous Sport Self-Confidence Scale," which is a sub-dimension of the measurement tool developed by Vealey (1986) in order to assess sport confidence. In this study, while no significant difference was found between the total points for continuous sport self-confidence according to gender, a significant difference was found between the athletic identity points. No statistically significant difference was found between the total points for continuous sport self-confidence and athletic identity according to their branches, number of national representation and their years of sport. In the meanwhile, it was found that 64% of the sportsmen in the research group were satisfied with their relations with their parents, while 52% were satisfied with their relations with their friends. It was found that 40% of the sportsmen were satisfied with how they used their spare time, and 48% were satisfied with their success in their studies

An Examination of the Pre-competition and Post-competition State Anxiety Levels of Russian Women’s National Volleyball Team Athletes

This study of 14 Russian women’s national volleyball team athletes aimed to determine their pre-competition and post-competition state anxiety levels according to some variables. This descriptive study used the Competition State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2) developed by Martens, Burton, Vealey, Bump and Smith (1990). This inventory has 9 items in 3 sub-factors: cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety and self-confidence.A comparison of the pre-competition and post-competition anxiety levels found no statistically significant differences in cognitive anxiety (p>0.05), somatic anxiety (p>0.05) and self-confidence (p>0.05). The highest pre-competition somatic anxiety score fell after the competition, while cognitive anxiety and self-confidence increased after the competition when it was low. There were no statistically significant differences in the athletes’ pre-competition and post-competition anxiety levels by age or income. Considering that success does not occur without a certain level of anxiety, coaches should consider the impact of psychological factors in technical and tactical training

Teaching Values with Stories and Tales in the Preschool Period

The preschool period is a time when children develop their character and they gain skills they can use throughout their life. During this period, national, religious and moral sentiments of children are shaped and they internalize the values they learn. It is not possible for preschoolers to learn values cognitively through reading, writing, and listening. The introduction of affective and pscyho-motor dimensions requires conscious efforts of role models. The most important materials used for teaching values during the preschool period are stories and tales. We believe that this theoretical study examining how stories and tales can be used as a material to teach children values will be helpful for teachers involved in preschool education, families, program development experts and the relevant departments of the ministry. Keywords: Preschool Education, Story, Tale, Value Educatio

Analysis of Teacher Candidates’ Educational Internet Self-efficacy Beliefs in Terms of Various Variables

AbstractNowadays, the rapid developments in informational technologies result in significant changes in the field of education as well as other fields. One of the most important changes is the use of internet for educational aims. In this sense, a new competence is now among the competencies expected from teachers; moreover, educational use of Internet has become a concept regarded for an efficient teaching process. The aim of this study is to analyze teacher candidates’ educational use of Internet self-efficacy beliefs in terms of various variables. The sample of the study conducted in descriptive model consists of teacher candidates at a state university. Educational Use of Internet Self-Efficacy Beliefs Scale and Personal Information Form were used as data collection tools. It is concluded that teacher candidates’ educational Internet self-efficacy beliefs have meaningful differences in terms of gender, departments they study on, how long they have used the Internet, duration of daily Internet use, the place they get online, and whether they desire to take their lessons online

Effects of potassium and humic acid on emergence, growth and nutrient contents of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) seedling under saline soil conditions

The effects of potassium and humic acid (HA) on emergence, growth and nutrient contents of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L cv. Sultani) seedlings in saline soil conditions were evaluated. Different levels of humic acid (0, 500, 1000 and 1500 mg kg-1-1) were applied on growing media treated with 50 mg NaCl kg-1 before seed sowing. The experiment was designed as randomized completely factorial block and each parcel had ten pots without drainage. Two okra seeds were sown in each pot having 300 cc volumes of growth media. The seedlings were thinned to one after emergence. The seedlings were irrigated with distilled water. Seed emergence, root and shoot size, leaf number, shoot and root dry weights of the plant seedlings were determined. Macro and micro nutrient (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn) contents of seedlings were also determined. All data were subjected to a one-way analysis of variance and separated by Duncan’s multiple range test which was performed using the Costat statistical software. There were statistical differences in terms of effects of potassium and HA on the okra seedling performances. The effects of K, Ca, Na, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn and HA applications on plant mineral (N, P, K, Ca, Cu, Fe, and Mn) contents were significant at p < 0.005.Keywords: Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.), potassium, humic acid, nutrient content, seedling growthAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 9(33), pp. 5343-5346, 16 August, 201