Ict teachers’ visual programming teaching experiences

Since computational thinking is being discussed as a necessary skill for 21st century, many countries decided to integrate visual programming into the elementary school curricula. This study aims to investigate “teaching to code at elementary school level” through the opinions of teachers who have chosen to teach coding as a part of ICT and Software course. The research used a mixed methodology approach, and data were collected through interviews with ICT teachers and followed by a survey. Findings revealed that teachers use various strategies for introducing the coding concept, teach the lesson through examples from daily life, game development, and group studies. Based on interview data, the individual differences of students in terms of overall academic achievement status and interest in coding seemed to be important for coding lessons. Furthermore, findings indicate that learning to code may contribute to students’ development on problem solving, logical thinking, and algorithm design skills, creativity and productivity. © 2017, Ankara University. All rights reserved

Bilişim Teknolojileri Öğretmenlerinin Görsel Programlama Öğretimi Deneyimleri

Hesaplamalı düşünmenin (computational thinking) her öğrencinin kazanması gereken bir “21 yüzyıl becerisi” olduğu düşüncesi bir çok ülkenin ilköğretim düzeyindeki öğretim programlarına görsel kodlama derslerinin dahil olmasını sağlamıştır. Bu araştırma da, halihazırda bilişim teknolojileri dersinde görsel programlama öğretimi yapan öğretmenlerin gözünden  ilköğretimde görsel programlama öğretiminin incelenmesini amaçlamaktadır. Araştırma karma yöntem araştırma yaklaşımıyla yürütülmüş; öğretmenlerle yüz yüze görüşmeler sonrasında bir anket geliştirilerek uygulanmıştır. Bulgular, öğretmenlerin, programlamaya giriş amacıyla birbirlerinden farklı yöntemler kullandıklarını, gerçek hayattan örnekler, oyun tasarımı ve grup çalışmalarıyla ders işlediklerini, öğrencilerin genel akademik başarı durumları ve programlamaya ilgi düzeyleri arasındaki farklılıkların önemli olduğunu ortaya çıkarmıştır. Ayrıca programlamanın, öğrencilerin problem çözme, mantık yürütme ve algoritma oluşturma gibi farklı alanlardaki becerilerinin, yaratıcılık ve üreticiliklerinin gelişmesine katkı sağlayabileceği sonucuna varılmıştır

Göreve yeni başlamış öğretim üyelerinin öğretimle ilgili ihtiyaçlarının belirlenmesi ve öğretim üyesi adaylarının öğretime yönelik gelişimlerini desteklemek amacıyla hazırlanan çevrimiçi bir ortamin değerlendirilmesi.

The purpose of this study was to explore early-career faculty’s needs on teaching related issues and examine the effectiveness of an online environment that was designed as a support to a graduate course on teaching in higher education. The study was carried out through two phases including a needs analysis and evaluation of the online environment. Findings of the needs analysis were used as input data in designing the online environment. An exploratory mixed design was employed to investigate graduate assistants’ perceptions about the effectiveness of the online environment in general, and the components specifically. Results of the first phase revealed that early-career faculty (n=53) were highly willing to participate in faculty instructional development activities, mostly through workshops and internet-based systems. Having students’ active participation into class was found to be one of the biggest concerns of new faculty. The second phase of the study provided descriptive data related to graduate assistants’ (n=10) use of an online environment incorporating a discussion forum, exemplary V teaching case and informative videos. Interaction with people from different academic fields helped the graduate assistants to experience and gain different perspectives about teaching. The graduate course itself raised graduate assistants’ awareness with regard to the teaching aspect of their profession. Online components generally provided the graduate assistants with different perspectives on teaching, and contemplate their future teaching. Based on the findings of the study, it can be concluded that online technologies have a potential to support faculty instructional development through incorporating visual media and communication tools.Ph.D. - Doctoral Progra

Farklı bilişsel stile sahip öğrencilerin hipermedya ortamdaki öğrenme stratejileri

The use of hypermedia for educational purposes gained a great deal of importance for educators. There are many opportunities provided to learners by these environments such as independence from time and place, availability and accessability of the course material, non-linear interaction that provides the learner to regulate his/ her own learning and so on. Although many advantages of hypermedia environment are suggested in the literature, there are also many studies concerning with learning in hypermedia environment concluding that many learners face with problems on these settings. This qualitative study aimed to investigate the affects of three important factors in terms of learning with hypermedia revealed by the literature; cognitive styles, computer competency levels, and domain knowledge levels of the students. To the purpose of the study, participants from a web-enhanced course were selected considering these factors, and interviews and observations were conducted to reveal their learning strategies. Results indicated some differences among the different cognitive style groups of students in terms of their preferred learning strategies. Computer competency levels of the students were also found to be quite important in terms of their patterns to use the hypermedia program. Students2 prior knowledge levels were also important in this study, since different needs and expectations were revealed related to the domain knowledge levels of the participants. Furthermore, a deep understanding about the behaviors, experiences, feelings, and expectations of the students in an instructional hypermedia environment related to suggested different characteristics were gained at the end of the study.M.S. - Master of Scienc

Individual differences in learning with hypermedia: effects of students cognitive styles, computer competency levels, and prior knowledge levels on learning strategies

Hipermedya İle Öğrenmede Kişisel Farklılıklar: Bilişsel Stillerin, Bilgisayar Kullanım Yeterliği ve Ön Alan Bilgisi Düzeylerinin Öğrenme Stratejileri Üzerine Etkisi - Bu çalışma, öğrencilerin, bilişsel stilleri, bilgisayar kullanımı yeterlik düzeyleri ve ön alan bilgilerinin eğitim amaçlı bir hipermedya programındaki öğrenme stratejileri üzerindeki etkilerini incelemektedir. Bu amaçla, Web destekli bir öğrenme ortamındaki 111 öğrenciden 16 sı bilişsel stilleri, bilgisayar kullanımı yeterlik düzeyleri ve ön alan bilgleri baz alınarak seçilmiştir. Öğrencilerin öğrenme stratejilerini ortaya çıkarmak amacıyla yüzyüze görüşme ve gözlem metodları kullanılmıştır. Bulgular, bilişsel stillerin çalışma yönetimi açısından önemli olabileceğini ve bilgisayar kullanımı yeterlik düzeyi ve ön alan bilgisi faktörlerinin de hipermedya programı kullanma örüntülerini etkileyebileceğini göstermiştir

Fostering professional development on teaching via an online platform enriched with real-life case videos and discussions

Faculty development is the key strategy to ensure instructional quality and support institutional change. In order to increase faculty participation, online support is considered to be an effective approach. This study aims to examine the use and effectiveness of an online environment designed to support faculty professional development in teaching. The environment contains real-life teaching case videos, interview and seminar videos, and an online discussion platform, in addition to text-based materials. Findings revealed that participants especially found the teaching case videos useful for their teaching. Online discussions among participants from various disciplines helped to gain awareness of different perspectives, situations, and experiences. The online support for faculty development has the potential to accommodate adjunct faculty's work schedules and limited availability on campus

Using augmented reality to teach fifth grade students about electrical circuits

Augmented reality technology has recently become one of the primary technologies for science education. Although augmented reality is attractive, a need exists for good content, implementation, and evaluations, as in every technology integration process. To this end, this study aims to develop and evaluate an augmented reality application to teach fifth grade students about electrical currents. For this purpose, students' attitudes toward augmented reality applications and science and technology courses were examined using two course designs. In the first design, the students were taught an augmented reality assisted electrical circuit lesson in a group, while, in the second design, the students studied individually. The attitudes of the students studying individually toward the augmented reality applications were significantly higher than the students studying in a group. However, no significant differences existed in the students' attitudes toward science and technology courses. Class observations and teacher interviews provided details about the classroom implications of augmented reality

Tracing users' behaviors in a multimodal instructional material: An eye-tracking study

This study aims to explore user behaviors in instructional environments combining multimodal presentation of information. Cognitive load theory and dual coding theory were taken as the theoretical perspectives for the analyses. For this purpose, user behaviors were analyzed by recording participants' eye movements while they were using an instructional material with synchronized video and PowerPoint slides. 15 participants' eye fixation counts and durations for specific parts of the material were collected. Findings of the study revealed that the participants used the slide and video presentations in a complementary wa