An Analysis of Technology Acceptance in Turkey using Fuzzy Logic and Structural Equation Modelling

Technology is in a constant progress in the way of satisfying increasing human needs. This fact will hold true for the years to come. However, the level of adaptation to technological advancements varies greatly across countries. The pace of adjustment is directly proportional to the importance attached to and the funds allocated for this purpose. Despite the abundance of technological investments in Turkey in recent years, there are only a few studies analyzing the current level of individual interest in technology. This study therefore aims to determine the technology acceptance of Turkish people by using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) developed by Davis (1989) and to demonstrate the reasons to accept or not accept technology departing from the links between dimensions. While accomplishing this aim, Structural Equation Model (SEM) that is a highly strong multivariable analysis technique that makes possible the evaluation of latent structures like psychosocial needs, and the Fuzzy Logic Theorem that provides strong and significant instruments for the measurement of ambiguities and provides the opportunity to meaningfully represent ambiguous concepts expressed in the natural language were used. According to the findings of this study, it was determined that the perceived ease of use is more influential in people’s acceptance of technology than the perceived usefulness is. It was also found that technology acceptance does not differ significantly at the statistical significance level of 0.05 with respect to the participants’ demographic characteristics (age, gender, education level, hometown etc.). In addition, analyses performed to define the relationships between the dimensions of the TAM yielded results that highly supported the TAM. In other words, the dimensions affect technology acceptance to positive and significant degree

Travelling through Guidebooks

This article presents a journey through the divided city of Nicosia on the island of Cyprus by confronting its dominant representations in guidebooks dating back to 1960s with my personal urban experience in the northern part of the city, and placing these readings in the context of the delicate political history of the city. This approach provides an account of the extant, the constructed as well as the subjectively remembered and imagined spaces of the city. The act of reading books includes spatial and temporal activities: following the lines, stopping at certain words, jumping through paragraphs, searching for certain images and turning the pages back and forth. These activities, in the case of guidebooks, may evoke spatial memories of textures, lights, sounds, streets, buildings and people. Travelling through the different representations of sites in the guidebooks, and mapping this activity of reading, enabled me to lay out the ways in which traditional guidebooks cause a kind of topographical amnesia by privileging dominant knowledge in relation to places and decontextualizing other knowledges. I have used this multiple reading as a critical topographical practice that can question and dismantle the fixed representations in the guidebooks. Such a critical topographical practice is indeed a practice of writing place, referring to the word’s etymological meanings: toposfor ‘place’ and graphe for ‘which writes’ or ‘is written’. This topographical practice critically and subjectively relates knowledge to place and time. It offers the possibility for me – as a traveller and researcher – to temporarily appropriate real spaces and sustain other future spatial possibilities. With the following pieces of writing about sites in Nicosia, I propose possible but partial narratives of places, which are alternative to the officially acclaimed interpretations present in the guidebooks. My alternative narratives of places offer imagining the ground of the controlled buffer zone as unfixable, dead ends as spaces resisting dichotomies of centre-margin, public-private, and local-occupier, and envisioning the horizon as a continuous extension of boundaries

Investigating the Digital Citizenship Levels of ELT Students within the Scope of Remote Learning

It is obvious that using the Internet and technological tools became a ‘must’ throughout the Covid-19 pandemic period. All students and teachers started to use all those tools intensively both in their lessons and at their homes, and this process led to the digitalization of the classrooms and courses. Therefore, information and communication technologies (ICTs) and remote learning spread to all aspects of our lives and led to the emergence of a new concept, namely ‘Digital Citizenship’, making it significant to comprehend where students’ digital competence levels are. In line with this, the objective of this research was to investigate the digital citizenship levels of the participants and how much they are knowledgeable about being conscious digital citizens. Totally, 196 students from an ELT department of a state university in Turkey participated in the study. The study was carried out with a quantitative research method in the 2021-2022 spring semester, and data were collected through the 5-point Likert type “Digital Citizenship Scale”. Responses were evaluated by SPSS v26 statistical package program and based on the findings, it was indicated that almost all dimensions of digital citizenship were met by the participants. Since there was almost no statistically significant in terms of gender, age, and grade variables, the highest dimensions were found at digital commerce and digital responsibility levels.  This current study will pay the way for educators, instructors, curriculum designers, and materials developers to review, redesign and reevaluate the existing language teaching programs. Students will also be aware of their weaknesses and strengths about digital citizenship and realize the significance of the concept of digital citizenship

The effect of some plant extracts on the different biological stages of Tuta absoluta (Meyrick, 1917) (Lepidoptera:Gelechiidae)

Bu çalışmada Laurus nobilis L. (Defne) ve Rosmarinus officinalis L. (Biberiye) bitkilerinin ethanol ve hegzan ekstraktlarının 1- 30 mg/ml arasında hazırlanmış maksimum 14 farklı konsantrasyonlarının Tuta absoluta (Meyrick)' nın yumurta bırakmayı engelleyici, yumurta açılmasına ve çıkan larvalara ergin döneme kadar toksik etkisi, üçüncü dönem larva ve pupalara toksik etkilerinin incelenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Çalışmalar 25±1 0C sıcaklık % 65±5 orantılı nem ve 16: 8 aydınlık: karanlık aydınlatmalı iklim odalarında yürütülmüştür. Ekstraktlar istenilen konsantrasyonlara ayarlandıktan sonra T. absoluta için besin olarak hazırlanan domates yaprakçığı 3 sn süreyle bu ekstrakta daldırılarak uygulamalar yapılmıştır. Sonuç olarak, hem L. nobilis ve hem de R. officinalis ekstraktlarının T. absoluta ` nın yumurta bırakmasını engelleyici etkileri saptanmış, bu etkilerin oldukça yüksek olduğu ve % 100' e varan düzeylere ulaşabildiği gözlenmiştir. Denemelerde yumurta döneminde yapılan uygulamanın yumurtadan ergine kadar geçen süredeki toksik etkileri ve bunun yanı sıra larva ve pupa döneminde yapılan uygulamalardaki toksik etkiler incelendiğinde, hem L. nobilis ve hem de R. officinalis hexan ekstraktlarının oldukça başarılı sonuçlar verdiği gözlenmiştir. Gerek yumurta ve gerekse larva dönemindeki uygulamalarda, konsantrasyon yükseldikçe ölüm oranları da % 100' e ulaşmıştır.This study aimed to determine the effects of ethanol and hexane extracts of Laurus nobilis L. and Rosmarinus officinalis L. (1-30 mg/ml) on Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) in terms of deterrent effects to egg laying, toxic effects to laid eggs from egg hatching to adult stage, and toxic effects to the third stage of larvae and pupae until adult stage. Experiments were conducted under laboratory conditions of 25±10C, relative humidity 65±5 % and 16:8 hours light:dark. Applications were made to tomato leaflets, prepared as food for T. absoluta, by dipping for 3 seconds in to extracts. As a result, it was observed that both L. nobilis and R. officinalis extracts exhibited strong deterrent effects, up to 100 % to egg laying by T. absoluta females. In addition, the hexane extracts of L. nobilis and R. officinalis were quite toxic to eggs from egg stage to adult, and highly toxic also to larvae and pupae when applied in these stages. Increased concentration showed high mortality up to 100 % in egg and larval stages

Analysis Of University Students' Perception Of And Attitudes Towards Biodiversity

Thesis (M.Sc.) -- İstanbul Technical University, Institute of Science and Technology, Yüksek LisansM.Sc. (Yüksek Lisans) -- İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü, TUĞÇE ŞENELTurkey has a very rich biodiversity yet this enourmous richness is seriously under threat. Lack of nature education leads conservation acts and campaigns to be under supported and even rejected by people. To have a sufficient nature education is very important for young population, who are scientists, engineers, decision makers, law makers...etc. of the future. In Turkey, nature education basically consists of biology courses. In this study, two hundred higher education students were asked to participate in a twelve item questionnaire about biodiversity. Their perception and attitudes towards biodiversity were investigated. Results show that although the students know what biodiversity is and they are sensitive about environmental issues they have many confusions, misconceptions and lack of knowledge. Results also underline that, a well planned, early starting nature education which families also will be a part of it is required and this education should be seperated from biology courses and be a life long learning process.Türkiye biyoçeşitlilik açısından çok zengin ancak biyoçeşitliliği de bir o kadar tehdit altında olan bir ülkedir. Doğa eğitimi eksikliği, biyoçeşitlilik kaybına karşı alınan önlemlerin, insanlar tarafından beklenenden az destek görmesine hatta reddedilmesine sebep olmaktadır. Geleceğin bilim adamları, mühendisleri, karar alıcıları, kanun yapıcıları...vs. olan gençlerin biyoçeşitlilik konusunda yeterli bilgiye sahip olmaları büyük önem taşımaktadır. Türkiye'de doğa eğitimi temel olarak biyoloji derslerinden oluşmaktadır. Bu çalışmada iki yüz üniversite öğrencisine, on iki soru içeren bir ankette biyoçeşitlilikle ilgili sorular sorulmuştur. Cevaplar ışığında üniversite öğrencilerinin biyoçeşitlilikle ilgili algı ve tutumları incelenmiştir. Sonuçlar, öğrencilerin biyoçeşitliliğin ne demek olduğunu bilmelerine ve doğa ile ilgili konularda duyarlı olmalarına rağmen, pek çok noktada kafa karışıklıkları, bilgi eksiklikleri ve kavram yanılgıları olduğunu göstermiştir. Sonuçlar ayrıca, Türkiye'de erken yaşlarda başlayacak, iyi planlanmış, okullarla sınırlı kalmayan ve ailelerin de parçası olacağı bir doğa eğitimi gerekliliğini vurgular niteliktedir.M.Sc.Yüksek Lisan

COMPARING THE EFFECT OF SELF-EFFICACY BELIEFS ON ENGLISH LEARNING WITHIN METHODOLOGICAL PLURALISM

This study attempts to determine the effect of self-efficacy beliefs on English preparatory students’ existing capacities via the use of quantitative and qualitative methods within methodological pluralism (a combination of meta-analysis, descriptive survey, and qualitative document analysis plus action research). In the quantitative phase of the research, both meta-analytic method and descriptive method were used. In the meta analytic method, the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis statistical program was used to compute the effect size values of the included studies (N= 12) with the pretest-posttest control group model and carried out between 2000 and 2017 in national and international level. In the descriptive research of the study, the English Self Efficacy Beliefs Scale was used on English preparatory students (N= 117) to determine the effect of self-efficacy beliefs on their language skills. In the qualitative part of the study, data collected both through document analysis (N=7) from the included studies and through semi-structured interviews applied to English preparatory students (N= 58) were analysed via the Maxqda 11 program. The quantitative and quantitative results of the study are consistent and suggest that while self-efficacy beliefs on English learning is high, in terms of using the four skills, listening and speaking are the ones that the participants exhibit the weakest self- efficacy beliefs respectively.  Article visualizations

Hazırlık seviyesinde dijital yaratıcı yazmanın yazma başarısı ve motivasyona etkisi

Yazma becerisi, hem ana dilde hem de yabancı dilde öğretmenler ve öğrenciler için her zaman zorlu bir süreç olmuştur. Öğrenciler fikirlerine nasıl başlayacakları ve onları nasıl organize edecekleri konusunda endişelenirken, öğretmenler öğrencilerini yazma becerilerine karşı motive etmekte sorun yaşarlar. Yazılan ürünün kalitesi istenilen düzeyde olmadığında öğrenciler, yazma sürecindeki en büyük sorunlardan biri olan kaygıyı hissederler. Zorlukların üstesinden gelmek ve bu süreçte öğrenicilere daha faydalı olabilmek için, yenilikçi ve umut vaat eden yöntemler yazma müfredatına entegre edilmelidir. Teknolojinin hayatımızın her aşamasında var olduğu ve büyük bir etkiye sahip olduğu kabul edilmektedir. Teknoloji ilerledikçe, sadece iletişimde değil eğitim sisteminde de büyük bir atılım yapmıştır. Sanal bir ortamda informal dil edinimine ilişkin bireysel deneyimler kazanma ve öğrencilerin motivasyonunu artıran, onları yaşam boyu öğrenenler olmaya yönlendiren öğrenen özerkliğini geliştirme fırsatı sağlamıştır. Bu sebeple, bu deneysel çalışma, dijital bir platform üzerinde web 2.0 teknolojileri esas alınarak B2 seviyesi yaratıcı yazma yeteneğini değerlendirme konusunu araştırmaktadır. Çalışmanın amacı, dijital yaratıcı yazmanın hazırlık okulu öğrencilerinin yazma becerilerini, yazmaya karşı tutum ve beklentilerini belirlemek ve keşfetmektir. Çalışma Türkiye'de bir vakıf üniversitesinin Yabancı Diller Yüksekokulu'nda uygulanmıştır. B2 seviyesinde 66 öğrenci bu çalışmaya katılmıştır. Deney ve kontrol grubu olarak birbirine denk iki grup seçilmiştir. Veriler, yazma becerileri final sınavlarından, Özbay ve Zorbaz tarafından adapte edilen Yazma Kaygısı Ölçeği Türkçe versiyonundan, öntest ve son testlerden ve yaratıcı yazma değerlendirme rubriği ile toplanmıştır. Çalışmaya katılan kişilerden veri toplandıktan sonra, bu kişilerin tutumları, beklentileri, motivasyonları ve yazma yeterlikleri analiz edilmiştir. Araştırmanın sonuçları dijital yaratıcı yazmanın hem akademik yazmayı geliştirdiğini hem de öğrencilerin yazma motivasyonunu artırmaya yardım ettiğini göstermiştir. Son olarak, bulgu ve sonuçlar elde edildikten sonra, hedef kitleye bazı pedagojik tavsiyeler verilmiştir.Writing skills have always been challenging for teachers and students both in the native and foreign languages. Students worry about starting and organizing their ideas, whereas teachers have trouble motivating their students towards writing skills. When the quality of the written product is not at the desired level, students feel anxious which is one of the biggest problems in the writing process. To overcome challenges and be more beneficial to learners in this process, innovative and promising methods should be integrated into the writing curriculum. It is globally accepted that technology has a significant influence and becomes omnipresent in every process of our lives. As technology advances, it has made an immense breakthrough in communication and the education system. It has provided an opportunity to gain individual experiences of informal language acquisition in a virtual environment and promote learner autonomy that increases learners' motivation and leads them to become lifelong learners. Thus, this experimental study investigates the evaluation of B2 level creative writing ability based upon using web 2.0 tools on a digital platform. The study aims to identify and explore the effect of digital creative writing on English Preparatory School students' writing skills, attitudes, and expectations towards writing. The study took place at a foundation university, the School of Foreign Languages in Turkey. 66 students in the B2 level participated in this research. Two groups that were equivalent to each other were chosen as experimental and control groups. Data were collected through final writing skills quizzes, the adaptation of the Daly-Miller Writing Apprehension Test to Turkish developed by Özbay and Zorbaz (2011), pre-test and post-test, creative writing rubric developed by the researcher. After obtaining data from participants who attended the study, attitudes, expectations, motivation, and writing proficiency were analyzed. The results indicated that digital creative writing not only improved academic writing achievement but also helped increase the writing motivation of the students. Finally, after attaining findings and results, some pedagogical recommendations were given for target groups

Basın-Yayın Yoluyla Ailenin Yıpranmasında Vakıfların Üstlenebileceği Görevler

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Vakıf Mal Varlıklarının Korunması ve Değerlendirilmesi

[No Abstract Available