Surveying Turkish high school and university student attitudes and approaches to physics problem solving

Student attitudes and approaches to problem solving can impact how well they learn physics. Prior research in the US using a validated Attitude and Approaches to Problem Solving (AAPS) survey suggests that there are major differences between students in introductory physics and astronomy courses and physics experts in terms of their attitudes and approaches to physics problem solving. Here we discuss the validation, administration and analysis of data for the Turkish version of the AAPS survey for high school and university students in Turkey. After the validation and administration of the Turkish version of the survey, the analysis of the data was conducted by grouping the data by grade level, school type, and gender. While there are no statistically significant differences between the averages of various groups on the survey, overall, the university students in Turkey were more expert-like than vocational high school students. On an item by item basis, there are statistically differences between the averages of the groups on many items. For example, on average, the university students demonstrated less expert-like attitudes about the role of equations and formulas in problem solving, in solving difficult problems, and in knowing when the solution is not correct, whereas they displayed more expert-like attitudes and approaches on items related to meta-cognition in physics problem solving. A principal component analysis on the data yields item clusters into which the student responses on various survey items can be grouped. A comparison of the responses of the Turkish and American university students enrolled in algebra-based introductory physics courses shows that on more than half of the items, the responses of these two groups were statistically significantly different with the US students on average responding to the items in more expert-like manner.Comment: 16 pages, Keywords: Physics Education Research, Attitudes and approaches to problem solving, Turkish students, American students, factor analysis, principal component analysi

Introductory students’ attitudes and approaches to physics problem solving: major, achievement level and gender differences

Students’ attitudes and approaches to problem solving are claimed to be related to their ways they learn physics and to their success in solving physics problems. In this study, the Attitudes and Approaches to Problem Solving (AAPS) survey was used to reveal Turkish introductory university students’ attitudes and approaches to physics problem solving. The data were collected from 175 students, in the spring semester of 2015-2016 academic year, from an introductory physics course at a university in the Black See Region of Turkey. The analysis of the data was conducted by grouping the data by major, achievement level, and gender. They were no statistically significant differences between the averages of civil engineering and molecular biology majors, and between male and female students. However, we obtained a small sample correlation between students’ attitudes and exam grades that suggests high achievers’ attitudes and approaches to physics problems are more expert-like than the attitudes and approaches of low achievers. Implications for problem solving strategies and directions for further research are discussedPeer Reviewe

The Effect of In-Service Training Courses on Teacher Achievement: A Meta-analysis Study

One of the ways for teachers to improve classroom activities and student achievement is to receive in-service training (IST). This study examines theses that deal with the effects of IST on teachers‘ achievement by means of meta-analysis. A total of five theses, chosen through screening conducted by specified criteria, were included in this meta-analysis. The effect sizes, obtained from these presented theses, were combined, a common effect size belonging to the efficiency of IST courses (Hedge’s g =3.819) was calculated and the organized IST courses were determined to be highly effective within the thesis. It was revealed that there were not enough studies conducted in Turkey that measure the empirical effectiveness of IST and exploring the effectiveness of IST courses was demonstrated to be a virgin area for researchers

Pre-Service Science Teachers Views on Stem Materials and Stem Competition in Instructional Technologies and Material Development Course

This qualitative study was designed to introduce STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) activities to pre-service science teachers and identify their views about STEM materials. In this context, a competition was organized with 42 pre-service science teachers (13 male- 29 female) who took Instructional Technologies and Material Development course in Elementary Science Education Department in Siirt University. The competition consisted of 5 categories: balloon powered car, mousetrap car, water rocket, spaghetti bridge 1 (durability) and spaghetti bridge 2 (visuality). Structured interview form developed by researchers was used as data collection instrument. The results were analyzed with the conventional content analysis. Results indicated that participants (especially females) are more willing to use STEM materials in their future teaching life. Participants mostly believe that STEM materials facilitate learning, enhance retention and increase self-confidence. However, there are also pre-service science teachers who believe that preparation of STEM materials is difficult, takes too much time and not appropriate to students’ levels

The impact of peer instruction on ninth grade students’ trigonometry knowledge

In this study, we conducted peer instruction (PI) activities to promote student participation in the learning process and test the hypothesis that PI improves student achievement. Two ninth-grade classes were randomly assigned as treatment and control groups. Pre-test and post-test data were obtained for measuring mathematics achievement in trigonometry. Data were analyzed using analysis of covariance procedures with an alpha significance level of 0.05. Results indicated no significant effects of peer instruction on achievement. This study implies that more robust studies are needed to reveal the real effect of PI

The Effect of Student Collaboration in Solving Physics Problems Using an Online Interactive Response System

Advanced technology helps educational institutes to improve student learning performance and outcomes. In this study, our aim is to measure and assess student engagement and collaborative learning in engineering classes when using online technology in solving physics problems. The interactive response system used in this study is a collaborative learning tool that allows teachers to monitor their students’ response and progress in real time. Our results indicated that students have highly positive attitude toward using the interactive response system as a tool in education in order to improve collaborative learning and student engagement in classes. Consequently, student-learning performance has been improved considerably, and technology was successfully incorporated in engineering classes

Bir profesyonel gelişim programının fizik öğretmenlerinin modern fizik ünitesindeki bilgilerine ve öğrencilerinin başarısına etkisi.

This study offers an in-service training course model for teacher professional development titled "teachers teaching teachers" (TTT), where teachers from nearby schools congregate once a week, share their instructional practices, narrate and discuss the subjects that they will present to their students in the following week. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of the TTT course on physics teachers’ knowledge and their students’ achievements in high school Modern Physics Unit (MPU). The study was conducted in the second semester of the 2012-2013 academic year with six high school teachers and 306 students from Anatolian high schools located in Yenimahalle, Altindağ, and Mamak districts of Ankara. Initially, the TTT course was pilot studied by conducting a two-week adaptation meeting. Then, the participant teachers taught (pre-teaching) the tenth grade MPU to one of their classes, and the achievement test was applied to all these classes as pre- and post-tests. Two months later, four (treatment group) of these six teachers taught the MPU to one of their other classes after participating to the TTT course (post-teaching), and the remaining two teachers (placebo group) also taught the same unit to one of their other classes as usual without participating to TTT course. The aim of constructing the placebo group was to eliminate any possible effect of pre-teaching on post-teaching. After post-teaching, the same achievement test was applied to students and a separate achievement test was applied to teachers as pre- and post-test. On the other hand, 12 classes in total were observed and lessons were video recorded in due course of both pre- and post-teachings. Additionally, the TTT courses were also observed and were evaluated by the participant teachers. Document analysis was conducted for the qualitative data that was obtained through class observations including video recordings. For the placebo group, these analyses showed that there was no effect of pre-teaching on the post-teaching of the teachers. For the treatment group, these analyses showed that the TTT had a positive effect on the post-teaching of the teachers. When compared to pre-teaching, an increment was observed in the treatment group teachers’ subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge, however, no change was observed in teachers’ pedagogical knowledge during post-teaching. ANCOVA was used to analyse the quantitative data, which was collected from the MPU achievement test that was applied to the tenth grade students. The results of ANCOVA for the placebo group showed that there was no effect of pre-teaching. The results of ANCOVA for the treatment group showed that there was a significant effect of the TTT on the students’ achievements. The separate achievement test applied to the teachers showed that while the means of the pre- and post-test scores of placebo group teachers were approximately the same, the means of the post-test scores of the treatment group teachers were higher than their means of the pre-test scores. Additionally, the course evaluation form results showed that the participant teachers had positive attitudes toward the TTT course. The successful implementation of the TTT and its positive effects indicate that the programs that possesses effective characteristics of PD can improve teachers’ knowledge and can positively impact student achievement.Ph.D. - Doctoral Progra

KRİTİK DÜŞÜNME GEREKTİREN FİZİK SORULARI VE BUNLARIN ÖĞRENCİLERİN BAŞARISINA ETKİSİ

Bu araştırma, lise seviyesinde verilen fizik dersinde kritik düşünme gerektiren fizik (KDGF) sorularının kullanılmasının öğrenci başarısına etkisini incelemek amacı ile yapılmıştır. Bu çalışma, kontrol gruplu ön test-son test modeline uygun yarı deneysel bir çalışmadır. Üç öğrenci grubu ile yapılan bu araştırma, Özbekistan'da Uluğbek Uluslararası okulda yapılmıştır. 48 öğrenci ile yapılan 6 haftalık çalışma süresinde bir grup deney diğer iki grup kontrol gruplarını oluşturmuştur. Sınıflar random yolla, 10B sınıfı deney, 10A ve 10C sınıfları kontrol grubu olarak belirlenmiştir. Deney ve kontrol grupları oluşturulurken; araştırmacı tarafından hazırlanan Fizik Başarı Testinden (FBT) alınan sonuçlar göz önünde bulundurulmuştur. Araştırmada iki farklı öğretim yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Bunlar; (1) KDGF soruları eşliğinde ders anlatımı ve (2) Geleneksel öğretim yöntemi. Bu çalışma için öncelikle, Newton'un Hareket Kanunları konusu ile ilgili başarı testi ve kritik düşünme gerektiren soruları geliştirildi. Başarı testinin oluşturulmasında, uluslararası okullarda verilen müfredat ve okutulan kitaplar göz önüne alınmıştır. Başarı testi, 2008- 2009 öğretim yılı sonbahar döneminde Ankara'da üç özel lisede, Newton'un Hareket Kanunları konusunu bilen 70 öğrenciye pilot çalışma olarak uygulandı. Tez danışmanının fikirleri doğrultusunda gerekli düzeltmeler yapıldı. Deneysel çalışmaya başlamadan önce yapılan FBT'ine verilen cevaplardan, testin güvenirliği (Cronbach\'s Alpha =0,876) hesaplandı. Deney ve kontrol grupları, son testten toplanan verilerle karşılaştırıldı. KDGF soruları eşliğinde yürütülen derslerin daha fazla ilgi çektiği ve öğrenci başarısını artırmada etkili olduğu görüldü

Embracing the Future: AI's Transformative Potential in Educational Research

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Editorial

We are pleased to publish the first issue of the Journal of Research in Science, Mathematics and Technology Education (JRSMTE). JRSMTE is an excellent example of international collaboration of researchers. It is born with the cooperation of 32 scholars from 22 different countries. Establishing the editorial board took about 6 months. The quality of a journal is in a way reflective of the quality of its editors and editorial board, and its members. That is why, we generally invited and accepted the predominant scholars as editors around the world