Türkiye’deki Fen Bilgisi Öğretmenlerinin Mesleki İyilik Durumlarının Bazı Demografik ve Kontekst Değişkenleri ile İlişkisi : Çok Değişkenli Analiz

The purpose of this study was twofold: first, to determine the Turkish elementary science teachers’ occupational well-being profile and second, to investigate the relation of science teachers’ occupational well-being to some contextual and demographic characteristics. The contextual variables included class size, years of teaching experience and weekly course hours, while demographic characteristics included gender, graduated faculty, marital status, and having children. Moreover, occupational well-being was examined in terms of job satisfaction and burnout (i.e. emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment). 376 elementary science teachers that were randomly selected across the Turkey participated in the study. Descriptive statistics and canonical correlation analysis were utilized to analyze the data. Results showed that Turkish elementary science teachers experience low level of Emotional exhaustion and high level of personal accomplishment and job satisfaction. Additionally, it was found that as class size and weekly course hour increase, elementary science teachers tend to experience more emotional exhaustion but less job satisfaction. Teachers having children appeared to experience more emotional exhaustion but less job satisfaction. Moreover, a positive relationship was found between teaching experience and occupational well-being (i.e. job satisfaction and personal accomplishment). Female teachers appeared to experience more personal accomplishment and job satisfaction than male teachers. Similarly, teachers graduated from faculties of arts and sciences were found to have higher level of personal accomplishment and job satisfaction than teachers graduated from educational faculties.Bu çalışmanın amacı Türkiye’deki fen bilgisi öğretmenlerinin mesleki iyilik durumlarını incelemek ve bu fen öğretmenlerinin mesleki iyilik durumlarının bazı demografik ve kontekst değişkenleri ile ilişkisini araştırmaktır. Demografik değişkenler cinsiyet, mezun olunan fakülte türü, medeni durum ve çocuk sahibi olma durumunu içerirken, kontekst değişkenleri ortalama sınıf mevcudu, öğretmenin iş deneyimi ve öğretmenin haftalık ders saatini içermektedir. Ayrıca, mesleki iyilik durumu; iş tatmini ve tükenmişlik (duygusal tükenmişlik ve kişisel başarı) olarak ele alınmıştır. Araştırmanın örneklemini Türkiye genelinden basit seçkisiz örnekleme yöntemi ile belirlenen 376 fen bilgisi öğretmeni oluşturmuştur. Veri setinin analizi için betimsel istatistikler ve kanonik korelasyon analizi kullanılmıştır. Analiz sonuçları Türkiye’deki fen bilgisi öğretmenlerinin yaşadığı duygusal tükenmişliğin düşük düzeyde; kişisel başarı hissi ve iş tatmininin ise yüksek düzeyde olduğunu göstermiştir. Ayrıca, ders verilen sınıfların mevcudu ve öğretmenin haftalık ders saati sayısı arttıkça öğretmenlerin daha çok duygusal tükenmişlik ve daha az iş tatmini yaşama eğiliminde oldukları bulunmuştur. Çocuk sahibi olan öğretmenlerin daha çok duygusal tükenmişlik ve daha az iş tatmini yaşadıkları görülmüştür. Bunun yanı sıra, iş deneyiminin iş tatmini ve kişisel başarı hissi ile pozitif yönde ilişkili olduğu bulunmuştur. Bayan öğretmenler, erkek öğretmenlere kıyasla daha yüksek iş tatmini ve kişisel başarı hissi yaşadıklarını ifade etmişlerdir. Benzer şekilde, üniversitelerin fen-edebiyat fakültelerinden mezun öğretmenlerin de eğitim fakültesi mezunlarına göre daha yüksek iş tatmini ve kişisel başarı hissi yaşadıkları bulunmuştur

Measuring Teacher Engagement: Development of the Engaged Teachers Scale (ETS)

The goal of this study was to create and validate a brief multi-dimension scale of teacher engagement—the Engaged Teachers Scale (ETS)—that reflects the particular characteristics of teachers’ work in schools. We collected data from four separate samples of teachers (total N = 823), and followed five steps in developing and validating the ETS.  The result of our five steps of analysis was a 16-item, 4-factor scale of teacher engagement that shows evidence of reliability, validity, and usability for further research. The four factors of the ETS consist of: cognitive engagement, emotional engagement, social engagement: students, and social engagement: colleagues. The ETS was found to correlate positively with a frequently used work engagement measure (the UWES) and to be positively related to, but empirically distinct, from a measure of teachers’ self-efficacy. Our key contribution to the measurement of teacher engagement is the novel inclusion of social engagement with students as a key component of overall engagement at work for teachers. We propose that social engagement should be considered in future iterations of work engagement measures in a range of settings

Biyoloji Öğrenmeye Yönelik Akademik Motivasyon Ölçeği: Ölçek Geliştirme Çalışması

This study aimed to develop "Academic Motivation Scale for Learning Biology (AMSLB)" for high school students. The sample of the study consisted of randomly selected 472 students studying at the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grades of a science high school and five Anatolian high schools located in the central district of Kars. The scale development process included three steps: (1) exploratory factor analysis, (2) replication of the exploratory factor analysis with a different sample, and (3) confirmatory factor analysis. According to the analyses results, the scale was composed of 19 items and 4 sub-scales. These sub-scales were named as Intrinsic Motivation, Amotivation, Extrinsic Motivation - Career and Extrinsic Motivation - Social. The internal consistency of the scale was computed by using Cronbach Alpha and it was revealed that the results derived from this dataset had high reliability.Bu çalışma ile lise öğrencileri için “Biyoloji Öğrenmeye Yönelik Akademik Motivasyon Ölçeği (BAMÖ)” geliştirmek amaçlanmıştır. Araştırmanın örneklemini Kars il merkezinde bulunan, Fen ve Anadolu liselerinden rastgele seçilen 472 adet lise 9, 10, 11 ve 12. sınıf öğrencileri oluşturmaktadır. Ölçme aracının geliştirilmesi süreci, (1) açımlayıcı faktör analizi, (2) açımlayıcı faktör analizinin farklı bir örneklemle tekrarlanması ve (3) doğrulayıcı faktör analizini içerecek şekilde üç aşamada gerçekleştirilmiştir. Analiz sonuçlarına göre, ölçeğin 19 maddeden ve 4 alt boyuttan oluştuğu belirlenmiştir. Bu alt boyutlar, İçsel Motivasyon, Motivasyonsuzluk, Dışsal Motivasyon – Meslek ve Dışsal Motivasyon – Sosyal olarak adlandırılmıştır. Daha sonra ölçme aracının iç tutarlığı Cronbach Alpha ile hesaplanmış ve bu veri setinden elde edilen sonuçların oldukça yüksek güvenirliğe sahip olduğu görülmüştür

Ögrencilerin bilişsel ve duyuşsal ögrenme çıktıları ve bunların sınıftaki ögrenme ortamı algısı ve ögretmen verimliligi ile ilişkisinin çok düzeyli incelenmesi.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the interrelations among 7th grade students’ Science Achievement, self-regulation in science class, perceptions of classroom learning environment, and science teachers’ beliefs and occupational well-being. This was a nationwide cross-sectional study in which 8198 seventh grade students and their 372 science teachers in Turkey participated. Several Hierarchical Linear Modelling analyses were employed to analyze the student-level and teacher-level variables. While student-level variables included Science Achievement, self-regulation in science (i.e., Self-Efficacy, Metacognitive Self-Regulation, Mastery Approach Goals, Mastery Avoidance Goals, Performance Approach Goals, and Performance Avoidance Goals), perceived classroom learning environment (i.e., Student Cohesiveness, Teacher Support, Involvement, Investigation, Task Orientation, Cooperation, and Equity) and Gender, teacher-level variables included science teachers’ beliefs (i.e., Efficacy for Student Engagement, Efficacy for Classroom Management, Efficacy for Instructional Strategies, and Implicit Theories about Ability in Science), occupational well-being (i.e., Emotional Exhaustion, Personal Accomplishment, and Job Satisfaction), Experience, and Gender. It was hypothesized that teacher-level variables had influence on all continuous student-level variables; student-level variables influenced Science Achievement; self-regulation variables mediated the association between classroom learning environment and Science Achievement; and teacher-level variables interacted with student-level variables. Results indicated that perceived classroom learning environment variables were good predictors of students’ cognitive and affective outcomes. Moreover, it was found that students’ self-regulation variables mediated the association between perceived classroom learning environment and Science Achievement. Finally, at the student-level, self-efficacy beliefs in learning science and at the teacher-level science teachers’ self-efficacy for student engagement were found to be best predictors of Science Achievement.Ph.D. - Doctoral Progra

Pre-service Science Teachers’ Conceptions of Sound and the Role of Task Value Beliefs

This study aimed to determine the extent of pre-service science teachers’ (PTS) process and materialistic understanding of sound concept and the role of their task value beliefs in their scientific conception of sound. With this aim, the Sound Concept Inventory Instrument (SCII) was translated and adapted to Turkish. The SCII was administered to 320 PTS from four universities across Turkey. The average percentages of correct responses of PTS to the main and subcategory questions of the SCII showed that PTS hold both materialistic and process views of sound. Moreover, the results of the regression analysis indicated that PTSs’ task value belief was a significant predictor of their scientific view of sound. Based on these findings, a number of recommendations have been suggested for PTS education programs in Turkey

A Multilevel Investigation of Science Achievement: The Role of Learning Environment and Teacher Effectiveness

Contribution Social Cognitive Theory suggests that human functioning can be explained in terms of the reciprocal interactions between personal, behavioral, and environmental factors (Bandura, 1986). Among these factors, classroom learning environment is reported to have important role in students’ academic achievement (Fraser & Walberg, 1991, Walberg, 1981). Therefore, investigating the features of learning environment that positively affects students’ learning outcomes is crucial for improving instructional quality, and reaching educational goals. Actually, studies on learning environment have been remarkably accelerated after 1960’s by the development of several measures of classroom learning environment. Most recently, Fraser, Fisher, and McRobbie (1996) developed WIHIC questionnaire by including subscales which had been frequently found associated with student’s learning outcomes, WIHIC also prepared by considering contemporary cognitive approach to science learning (Kim, Fisher, & Fraser, 2000). WIHIC questionnaire includes 7 dimensions: (1) Student Cohesiveness, emphasizing the student-student interaction in terms of how friendly, helpful, and supportive they are to each other, (2) Teacher Support, concerning how helpful, friendly, and supportive teachers are to their students, (3) Involvement, emphasizing the extent to which students have attentive interest, participate in classroom activities, and enjoy the class, (4) Investigation, focusing on the skills and inquiry and to the extent that students use them in problem solving and investigation, (5) Task Orientation, involving whether students accomplish the given tasks and planned activities, and focus on the works they were expected to do, (6) Cooperation, emphasizing the students cooperation with each other while doing classroom activities, and (7) Equity, concerning whether teachers treat students equally in terms of feedback, praise, asking questions, and opportunities (Waldrip, Fisher & Dorman, 2009). According to Waldrip et al. (2009) using WIHIC when examining learning environments is beneficial for predicting student outcomes. According to relevant literature, another important factor influencing student achievement appears to be teacher effectiveness (Bolyard & Moyer-Packenham, 2008). Teacher effectiveness research considers several characteristics of teachers and suggests that teachers may influence students learning processes by several ways (Patrick & Smart, 1998). In the current study teacher effectiveness was examined in terms of teacher beliefs and occupational well-being. Regarding teacher beliefs, this study focused on teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001) and implicit beliefs about intelligence (Dweck, 1999). Occupational well-being, on the other hand, was investigated in terms of job satisfaction, emotional exhaustion, and personal accomplishment. Although some researchers suggested that teachers’ occupational well-being, self-efficacy beliefs, and implicit beliefs about intelligence have substantial effect on students’ learning processes and classroom learning environment, these variables are rarely studied empirically. Moreover, although there are several studies that examined the relationship between classroom learning environment and student outcomes (e.g., den Brok, Telli, Cakiroglu, Taconis, & Tekkaya, 2010; Chionh & Fraser, 1998; Snyder, 2005; Wolf & Fraser, 2008), little is known about the influence of teacher beliefs and occupational well-being on these variables and these associations. As well as overmentioned teacher variables, teachers’ gender and experience will also be considered while examining the relationship between learning environment and science achievement. Thus, the present study is expected to extend the information about the variables that influence middle school students’ science learning. Accordingly the main research question guided to this study is that: To what extent do perceived classroom learning environment and teacher effectiveness (i.e., occupational well-being, beliefs, experience, and gender) predict students’ science achievement? Method In the present study, correlational survey method was used. A nationally representative teacher and student sample was selected by using two stage random selection method. Each school which includes a science teacher and one of the 7th grade classrooms’ students of that teacher received questionnaires by mail. Valid data were obtained from 372 middle school science teachers and their 8198 seventh grade students. Student questionnaires included What is Happening in This Class (WIHIC) questionnaire (Fraser, Fisher, & McRobbie, 1996). WIHIC includes 56 items and 7 subscales: Student Cohesiveness, Teacher Support, Involvement, Investigation, Task Orientation, Cooperation, and Equity; and each subscale include 8 items. Cranbach’s alpha coefficients of all subscales were ranged between .78 and .88, which shows that internal consistency of responses are high enough. Results of the confirmatory factor analyses also indicated good model fit to the data. Moreover, students’ science achievement was assessed by using 14-item multiple choice Science Achievement Test developed by the researchers. The reliability coefficient (KR 20) was found to be 0.78. Furthermore, Teacher questionnaire included Teachers’ Sense of Self efficacy Scale (TSES) (Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001) which consisted of 12-item 3 subscales: Efficacy for Student Engagement, Efficacy for Instructional Strategies, and Efficacy for Classroom Management. Teachers’ job satisfaction and burnout were measured by using 3-item Teacher Job Satisfaction Scale (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2010) and 2 subscales of Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) (Maslach & Jackson, 1981), respectively. Teachers’ beliefs about students’ ability in science was measured by using 3-item Implicit Theory of Science Ability Scale [adapted from Dweck and Henderson’s (1989) Implicit Theories of Intelligence scale]. Cranbach’s alpha for these scales were ranged between .76 and .87. Confirmatory factor analyses result revealed god model fit for each scale. Hierarchical Linear Modeling HLM was used to analyze the data, since the obtained data were in hierarchical structure which was nested within classes. Therefore, the similarities of the responses to the scales of the students in the same classrooms would not be ignored and more plausible results would be obtained by this way. Expected Outcomes Based on the results of the null model, IntraClass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) for Science Achievement was found to be .295. In other words, in seventh grade classrooms, about 30 percent of the variance in Science Achievement was explained by the differences between classrooms. On the other hand, approximately 70 percent of the variance in Science Achievement was attributable to the differences among students in the same classroom. Namely, this high level distinction among classes suggested using HLM analysis to determine class-level variables influencing science achievement. Then, student-level and class-level variables were included in the model subsequently. Results of the intercepts and slopes as outcomes model showed that among the class level variables, teachers’ Experience (γ = .069, p < .05), Efficacy for Student Engagement (γ = .095, p < .01), and Implicit Theory of Science Ability (γ = .064, p < .05) were significantly predicted students science achievement. Namely, students tended to get higher scores from science test in the classroom thought by science teachers who were more experienced, more confident in student engagement in science class, or hold the belief that people’s ability in science can be improved. Moreover, Involvement (γ = .135, p < .001), and Task Orientation (γ = .192, p < .001), were significantly and positively associated with Science Achievement. However, Investigation (γ = -.031, p < .05) and Cooperation (γ = -.065, p < .001) was found as negatively related to Science Achievement. Results also yielded a cross-level interaction between student and class level predictors of Science Achievement. Teacher’s Gender (γ=.060, p < .01) was significantly associated with the Equity slope coefficient. In other words, Teacher’s gender moderated the effect of Equity on Science Achievement. We can conclude that students’ perception on classroom learning environment is a good predictor of science achievement and teachers have an influence on their achievement too

Lise Öğrencilerinin Biyoloji Dersinde Kullandıkları Üst biliş Stratejilerinin Başarı Hedef Yönelimleri ve Öz-Yeterlik Algıları ile İlişkisinin İncelenmesi

Bu çalışmada lise öğrencilerinin biyoloji dersinde kullandıkları üst biliş stratejilerinin başarı hedef yönelimleri (öğrenme yaklaşma, öğrenme kaçınma, performans yaklaşma, performans kaçınma) ve öz-yeterlik algıları ile ilişkisini incelemek amaçlanmıştır.  Çalışmanın örneklemi 281 lise öğrencisinden oluşmaktadır. Korelasyonel tarama modeline göre gerçekleştirilen araştırmanın verileri Öğrenmede Güdüsel Stratejiler Ölçeğinin Üst Bilişsel Öz-Düzenleme ve Öğrenme ve Performans Öz-Yeterliği alt boyutları ile Başarı Hedef Yönelimi Anketi kullanılarak elde edilmiştir.Çalışmada öncelikle Pearson korelasyon katsayıları hesaplanarak değişkenlerin birbiriyle olan ilişkileri incelenmiştir. Daha sonra öğrencilerin üst biliş stratejilerini yordamak için cinsiyet, önceki döneme ait biyoloji akademik başarı puanı, öz-yeterlik algısı öğrenme yaklaşma hedefleri, öğrenme kaçınma hedefleri, performans yaklaşma hedefleri ve performans kaçınma hedefleri değişkenleri ile çoklu doğrusal regresyon analizi yapılmıştır. Araştırmanın sonuçları göstermiştir ki, bu değişkenler üst biliş stratejileri kullanımının %50’lik kısmını açıklamaktadır ve öz-yeterlik, öğrenme yaklaşma, performans kaçınma hedefleri ve cinsiyet değişkenleri üst biliş strateji kullanımını istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bir şekilde yordamaktadırlar. Biyoloji öğrenme konusunda öz-yeterliği yüksek olan öğrencilerin, biyoloji dersinin içeriğini oldukça iyi öğrenmeyi hedefleyen öğrencilerin, sınıftaki diğer öğrencilerden daha kötü performans sergilemekten kaçınan öğrencilerin ve kız öğrencilerin biyoloji dersinde daha çok üst biliş stratejileri kullandıkları belirlenmiştir

Pre-service Science Teachers’ Conceptions of Sound: The Role of Task Value Beliefs

This study aimed to determine the extent of pre-service science teachers’ (PTS) process and materialistic understanding of sound concept and the role of their task value beliefs in their scientific conception of sound. With this aim, the Sound Concept Inventory Instrument (SCII) was translated and adapted to Turkish. The SCII was administered to 320 PTS from four universities across Turkey. The average percentages of correct responses of PTS to the main and subcategory questions of the SCII showed that PTS hold both materialistic and process views of sound. Moreover, the results of the regression analysis indicated that PTSs’ task value belief was a significant predictor of their scientific view of sound. Based on these findings, a number of recommendations have been suggested for PTS education programs in Turkey