M.S. Theses

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https://digitalarchive.library.bogazici.edu.tr/handle/123456789/11666

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Browsing M.S. Theses by Author "Akarsu, Füsun."

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    A study for development of statistical literacy scale for undergraduate students
    (Thesis (M.S.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Science and Engineering, 2012., 2012.) Şahin, Füsun.; Akarsu, Füsun.; Yıldırım, Fetih.
    Statistical literacy was defined as the ability to understand basic concepts, vocabulary and symbol of statistics, and some probability; and critically evaluate statistical information in everyday life situations. The aim of this study was to develop a valid and reliable instrument measuring statistical literacy for university students. Statistics content covered in previous instruments on statistics learning (CAOS- Web ARTIST Project, 2005; Statistical Literacy Skills Survey, Schield, 2008; ARTIST Topic Scales, 2006) and 6-12 grades curricula implemented in Turkey were examined. A Statistical Content Rating Form (SLCRF) was formed in the light of knowledge and skills involved in the related domain. Scholars who were offering statistics and research methods courses were asked which statistics topics undergraduate students are required to know for being statistically literate. Content coverage was determined according to scholars’ answers, and then questions were selected among existing instruments in the literature. For topics that questions in the literature are insufficient then new questions were written by the researcher. Suggested questions were examined by experts and the 42 questions were chosen and tried out with a pilot study with 33 participants. Based on the results, the number of questions was reduced to 20 and it was tried again with a sample consisting of 90 participants. Then, the number of questions was reduced to 17 and Statistical Literacy Scale (SLS) was developed. SLS was administered to 476 undergraduate students. The construct validity of SLS was examined with experts’ item based opinions and results of factor analysis. Content validity was assured with SLCRF results. From the data gathered from 476 participants the Cronbach alpha coefficient was calculated as .532. It is possible to say that SLS has the attributes of construct, content, and curricular validity.
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    An ethnographic research: the cultural portraits of middle school mathematics classrooms in an international school
    (Thesis (M.S.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Science and Engineering, 2006., 2006.) Çorlu, Mehmet Sencer.; Akarsu, Füsun.
    The reality that classrooms are becoming more multicultural each day, partly due to globalisation, has changed the classroom cultures from the way they were in the past. Classrooms in international schools are extreme examples of this change. The purpose of this ethnographic study was to describe the formal mathematical enculturation of the middleschool students in an international sc hool. It examined the entire academic year during the ongoing creation of a specific mathematical culture within the classroom and revealed and portrayed how each of its members defined, maintained, and shared the unique mathematical culture of the classroom. Ethnomathematics and mathematical enculturation theories, as well as mathematics as a component of culture became the foundations of this study, providing invaluable contribution in explaining the mathematical culture of the research setting. This study sought answers to questions starting with “how” and “what” instead of answers to questions that start with “why”. The best qualitative approach to describe the everyday life of participants in this particular research was through ethnography. The quantitative analysis was used to supplement the findings. The data obtained from this study proved the dynamic nature of the creation of the culture in an international school mathematics classroom. Thus, the central theory of this study, Bishop’s (1988) mathematical enculturation was verified in terms of its ability to describe the mathematics culture of an international school and to explain the approaches of students to enculturation and acculturation processes.
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    Cross - sectional study on grades, geometry achievement and Van Hiele geometric thinking levels
    (Thesis (M.S.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Science and Engineering, 2012., 2012.) Akbay, Pınar Şener.; Akarsu, Füsun.
    This study was conducted to determine whether there are differences in van Hiele geometric thinking levels of students and to investigate whether there is a correlation between geometry academic achievement and van Hiele Geometry Test scores of students at different grade levels. The van Hiele Geometry Test was examined on the basis of Turkish geometry curricula and contents of the curricula were examined on the basis of van Hiele geometric thinking levels in order to see whether they are aligned to geometric thinking levels of the students. The study was conducted at one of the private schools in Istanbul. The students were at 7th, 8th, 10th and 11th grades. 10th and 11th grades were either at science high school or Anatolian high school. University students were at SCED and PRED departments at Boğaziçi University. The van Hiele geometric thinking levels and scores of the students were determined by the van Hiele Geometry Test which was developed by Usiskin (1982) and has been used widely in educational research studies. The Turkish version which was translated by Duatepe (2000) was administered in the study. The design of the study was causal comparative research design. The data were analyzed by SPSS 17.0. Comparison of van Hiele Geometry Test scores was carried out by ANOVA Dunnet-C Test and the correlation analyses were done by Pearson-r. Multiple comparison analyses revealed that there are significant differences between the van Hiele Geometry Test scores of students at various grade levels. Results of the correlation analyses showed that there are significant correlations between the van Hiele Geometry Test scores and geometry achievement scores of the students at 7th, 8th, 10th and 11th grade levels. The results of the study showed that the geometric thinking levels of the students may not necessarily depend on the age or maturation but may depend more on the geometry curriculum and the geometric thinking levels are correlated with the geometry achievement levels of students.
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    Gifted underachievers and factors affecting underachievement
    (Thesis (M.S.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Science and Engineering, 2002., 2002.) Başlantı, Uğur.; Akarsu, Füsun.
    The study aims to clarify the relationship between the characteristics of gifted underachievers at the university level and reasons for underachievement. Underachievement among gifted university students regarding their personality characteristics, home and parental variables, teacher and school related factors were examined. The students from Bogazici University in Istanbul, who have already demonstrated their intellectual ability and high academic performance in a selective and external standardized university entrance examination constituted the sample. SAAS-R (School Attitude Assessment Survey-Revised) instrument were administered to 91 underachievers to examine the reasons of underachievement. The instrument employed five sub-scales: Academic self-perceptions, attitudes toward teachers, attitudes toward school, goal valuation and motivation/self-regulation. In addition to an instrument, interviews were made with 30 underachievers to make further explanations and to check the findings obtained from the SAAS-R instrument.Findings indicated that the five sub-scales of the SAAS-R instrument can be used to explain the reasons of underachievement among gifted underachievers at Bogazici University. Among the five sub-scales; motivation seemed to be the most exploratory factor. On the other hand, results from the interview indicated that students' responses were parallel with the findings from the SAAS-R instrument. Recommendations based on the results of the study for the teachers, advisors, counselors, researchers and families are discussed.