Aligning large-scale examinations to the curriculum guidelines: student selection examination and Turkish biology curriculum

AbstractThis study presents findings retrieved from an analysis of the Turkish Biology Curriculum Guidelines and it's the alignment to the Student Selection Examination (SSE). Webb's (2007) alignment criteria were used to investigate relationship among guidelines and assessment. In this process, biology questions of SSE were examined in detail with ten biology teachers. The results showed that although alignment consistency was high according to the depth-of-knowledge consistency and categorical concurrence criterions, the SSE questions and curriculum outcomes were not fully aligned considering low consistency of range of knowledge and balance of representation criterions. Consequently, validity and reliability of the examination for higher education eligibility need to be increased starting from analysis the contents areas and the nature of questions

Case Study For The Evaluation Of Total Quality Of Suburban Buildings In Turkey

Housing demand increased in the 80s and 90s due to rapid industrialization of theTurkey. The rapid and uneven spatial growth within and among cities was largely a result ofmigration from rural areas during the 80's. Many buildings constructed in this period were characterized with low quality of life. Similar to the situation faced in almost all developingcountries, making adequate shelter available, accessible and affordable to meet the housing need for the ever-increasing populations of the urban settlements has always been and remains to be a challenge for Turkey. However, during the past decade, the quality of the life becomes an important issue due to increased wealth of the country. In this study, a case study for the evaluation of the total quality of an existing suburban area that was built in the past and unqualified for today's requirements has been conducted for various criteria

Computational Electromagnetic Analysis of Deformed Nanowires Using the Multilevel Fast Multipole Algorithm

We consider computational analysis of deformed nanowires and their arrays using a full-wave simulation environment based on integral-equation formulations and the multilevel fast multipole algorithm (MLFMA). Without requiring any periodicity assumptions, MLFMA allows for fast and accurate simulations of complex nanowire structures with three-dimensional geometries and random deformations. We present the results of hundreds of simulations, where deformed nanowires are considered as isolated, as well as in array configurations, and their scattering characteristics are compared to those of non-deformed ones. Based on the simulation results, we rigorously investigate common effects of deformations on scattering properties of nanowires and identify strong field enhancements in forward-scattering directions

Resident’s Satisfaction to Evaluate Residential Environment before Urban Regeneration: Kizilay Neighborhood, Izmir

Izmir-Kizilay neighborhood is one of these areas with low building construction quality and illegal interventions that has attracted the attention of municipality officials and professionals for urban regeneration. In this study, quality of the residential environment of the Izmir-Kizilay neighborhood is evaluated from the residents’ point of view. An occupant questionnaire survey is done to collect the data indwelling scale and neighborhood scale. Factors studied in building scale size are: (i) construction conditions and age of the building, (ii) architectural features, (iii) modifications done and the wish for repairs/renovation, (iv) physical condition and energy efficiency, (v) property condition.© 2016. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.Keywords: Urban regeneration; resident satisfaction; residential environment quality; Izmir-Kızılay Neighborhoo

Evaluation of Added Sugar and Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption by University Students

Today, increased intake of sugar and sugar-sweetened beverages is seen today as an important factor in the growing prevalence of chronic diseases, such as obesity, obesity-related diabetes, and coronary heart diseases. This study involved 214 university students from the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics of Ankara University, Faculty of Health Science, which was intended to evaluate the consumption of sugar and sugar-sweetened beverages. The frequency of student consumption of beverages and the quantities and amounts of sugar taken with beverages were questioned. The average total amount of sugar added to drinks by the students was 4.69 ± 6.35 gram, while the average total amount of sugar taken with sugar-sweetened beverages was 11.34 ± 15.32 gram. Female students relative to male students, students in grade 4 compared to grades 2 and 3, and students who had daily breakfast compared to those who did not had lower average sugar consumption (p-value 0.05). It is important to educate university students about the reduction in sugar intake and sugar-containing food in order to avoid many chronic diseases that may be seen in older ages

Effects of different irrigation regimes on vegetative growth, fruit yield and quality of drip-irrigated apricot trees

This study was conducted during five growing seasons from 2004 to 2008 to investigate effects of different irrigation regimes on vegetative growth, fruit yield and quality of Salak apricot trees in semiarid climatic conditions. There were six irrigation treatments, five of which (S1, S2, S3, S4 and S5) were based on adjustment coefficients of class A pan evaporation (0.50, 0.75, 1.00, 1.25 and 1.50). The other treatment (S6) was regulated deficit irrigation treatment that was irrigated by applying 100% of class A pan evaporation until harvest, but was not irrigated after harvest. During the experimental years, the lowest values of irrigation water and evapotranspiration were obtained by S6 and S1 treatments, respectively, while the highest values were obtained for the S5 treatment. There were statistically significant vegetative growth differences among the treatments. The highest vegetative growth values were observed for the S5 and S4 treatments, while the lowest value was observed for the S6. Yields per tree and per unit crown volume did not show statistically significant differences among treatments in all the years studied, while the yield per unit trunk cross-sectional area showed statistically significant differences among treatments only in 2008. The S1 treatment showed higher yields per unit trunk crosssectional area and per unit crown volume than other treatments, while S5 treatment showed higher yield per tree than other treatments in all the years studied. There were no statistically significant fruit quality differences among the treatments. Consequently, the S1 treatment is recommended for apricot trees under the experimental conditions.Keyword: Apricot, class A pan, evapotranspiration, water deficit, vegetative growth, fruit yield and qualityAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 9(36), pp. 5902-5907, 6 September, 201

Environmental Threats and Geographical Education: Students’ Sustainability Awareness—Evaluation

Teaching geography creates an opportunity for the transfer of knowledge about environmental problems and ways of solving them. Teachers from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Turkey, and the United Kingdom indicated strengths and weaknesses of physical geography as well as the selected geographical concepts of: Maps/Cartography, Astronomy/The Earth in the Universe, Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, Endogenic processes, Exogenic processes, and Soils and biosphere. There was a variety in how confident students were around these topic areas. The main types of difficulties identified by the study were: too little time for implementation, difficult terminology, and lack of tools for the proper transfer of knowledge. Moreover, the attractiveness of individual issues for students also varies. The research clearly shows that students lack an awareness of problems related to the environment. There are considerable differences between the level of students’ knowledge about climate change or air and water pollution (relatively high awareness of global warming) and issues related to soil and vegetation cover (low awareness of soil depletion, soil pollution, changing the boundaries of the occurrence of plant zones, etc.). To make people aware of the importance of environment, we should take care of education in relation to global challenge and sustainable development

Determining the Appropriateness of Visual Based Activities in the Primary School Books for Low Vision Students

The general aim of this research is to try to determine the appropriateness of the visuals in the primary school Turkish workbooks for the students with low visibility in terms of visual design elements. In the realization of the work, the document review method was used. In this study, purposive sampling method was used in the selection of student workbooks. The Ministry of National Education Publications Student Workbook which has been studied in the provinces of Ankara city is determined as the document to be examined. Within the scope of the research 1. 2. 3. and 4. Class Turkish lesson, a random theme was determined among the themes in the Student Workbooks and the activities included in that theme were examined. The "Visual Design Principles Evaluation Form" has been prepared so that the necessary data can be collected after the document review for the research is decided. Within the scope of the research, color use, contrast use, font, layout use, and visual complexity are not appropriate for the low vision students. This situation gives the impression that the visual limitations, the low vision students have difficulty in, are not taken into consideration while preparing the visual activities in the Turkish textbooks. It can be said that the elementary school students who see this way out of the way are disadvantaged compared to their peers who have the normal sight power and use the same text book

SPATIO-TEMPORAL ANALYSIS OF POLLUTANT GASES USING SENTINEL-5P TROPOMI DATA ON THE GOOGLE EARTH ENGINE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN THE MARMARA REGION, TÜRKIYE

In this study, the changes in nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) pollutant gases were examined between June 2019 and June 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic period. For this purpose, monthly and annual averages of Sentinel-5P TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) values were calculated on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform. According to the results obtained using the GEE platform, the average column density values of NO2, CO, and SO2 in the Marmara Region between the selected dates were calculated as 8.40E-05 mol/m2, 3.23E-02 mol/m2, and 3.75E-04 mol/m2, respectively. During the lockdown, these values decreased to 7.84E-05 mol/m2, 3.05E-02 mol/m2 and 2.75E-04 mol/m2 respectively. According to TROPOMI data, these three gas column density values showed a decreasing trend during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown period. However, in a 25-month examination in general, these three gas values showed an increasing trend due to population growth, industrialization, and increasing traffic density