M.A. Theses
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Item An analysis of the earth science chapter in the official Turkish fifth grade science textbook revised in 2013(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2014., 2014.) Mısır, Muhammet Emin.; Muğaloğlu, Ebru Zeynep.; Dal, Burçkin.Earth science education aims not only improvement of scientific literacy but also teaching domain specific characters of earth science. Textbooks have important roles in earth science education. The purpose of the study was to analyze the earth science chapter of the 5th grade science textbook in Turkey in terms of earth science literacy (ESL) and science literacy (SL). In this study, quantitative analysis method was used. SL framework consists of four main themes; science as a body of knowledge, science as a way of investigating, science as a way of thinking and the interaction among science, technology, and society”. Moreover, ESL framework involves six themes which are geological time, spatial thinking, holistic system thinking, fieldwork, knowledge of earth science and earth science, technology and society. The SL framework was retrieved from the science education literature. The ESL framework was developed by the researcher based on the earth science literature. The data analyzed in accordance with frameworks of SL and ESL by two independent researchers. The results showed that the “fieldwork” theme of ESL was most emphasized in the earth science chapter. Moreover, it was found that some of the domain characteristics of earth science education such as geological time, spatial thinking, holistic system thinking were inadequately emphasized. The results also indicated that “science as a body of knowledge” theme was the most emphasized whereas the “scientific thinking” theme was not emphasized adequately. This study will be one of the guides about science textbooks for textbook preparation commission, science educators and teachers.Item The mediator role of emotion regulation on the relationship between temperament and problem behaviors(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2020., 2020.) Meriç, Duygu.; Metindoğan, Ayşegül.The aim of the current study was to explore the mediating role of emotion regulation in the relationship between temperament and problem behaviors in preschoolers. The sample was composed of 200 preschoolers ranged from 57 to 80 monthly age including 95 girls and 105 boys, and the data were collected using the Child Behavior Questionnaire Very Short Form (CBQ), Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL/CTRF) from their mothers, Emotion Regulation Checklist (ERC) from their teachers. Mediational models utilizing PROCESS MACRO established by using two dimensions of problem behaviors (internalizing/ externalizing) as criterion variables, three dimensions of temperament (negative affectivity, surgency, and effortful control) as predictor variables, and two domains of emotion regulation ( emotion regulation and emotion dysregulation) as mediators. In the mediation analyses, both two aspects of emotion regulation; emotion dysregulation, and emotion regulation did not play the mediator role on the link between temperament and problem behaviors. As the main effects, statistically significant relationships were found between temperament dimensions including negative affectivity, surgency, effortful control, and; internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors. In addition, significant positive relationships were found between dimensions of temperament involving surgency and effortful control; and emotion regulation. This study contributed to the early childhood education literature by investigating emotion regulation role on the link between temperament and problem behaviors from a developmental perspective.Item Children's resilience, emotion regulation, social competence, and problem behaviors in an at-risk community in Turkey(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2018., 2018.) Fırat, Yasemin.; Metindoğan, Ayşegül.The first ain1 of the study was to have data about problen1 behaviors of children who live in an at-risk comtnunity and a deprived environtnent in Eastern Turkey. Another ain1 was to have data about children's resilience, ctnotion regulation, social cotnpetence level and traun1atic experiences. The last ain1 of the study was to see if there was a relationship between children's probletn areas, resilience, emotion regulation and social competence and children's trautnatic experiences. Ninety-five children living in an Eastern city of Turkey participated in the study. The results showed that children who were more negatively affected from trautna, which was related to violence exposure, had higher levels of etnotional syn1pto1ns, conduct problems, hyperactivity, peer probletns, anger aggression, anxiety withdrawal and etnotion lability/negativity problen1s. The study also found that children who had better etnotional ties and support frotn their parents, hence considered resilient, had lower etnotion lability/negativity and anger aggression probletns. The study found significant positive correlations between etnotional syn1ptoms, conduct probletns, hyperactivity, peer probletns, anger aggression and etnotion lability/negativity. The study showed significant positive correlation between prosocial cotnpetence, social cotnpetence and etnotion regulation. Finally, the study found significant negative relationships between probletn areas and cotnpetence areas of children. The study contributed to the literature by assessing children's problen1 behaviors, tratunatic experiences related to violence exposure and resilience, etnotion regulation, social cotnpetence level in an at-risk con1tnunity in eastern Turkey.Item Teacher engagement in online professional development follow-up: The role of the workplace and ICT familiarity(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2017., 2017.) Güneş, Canan.; Özel, Serkan.The aim of this study is to examine factors that affect primary school teachers’ participation in an online forum that was set as a follow-up support platform of a professional development workshop about Information and Communication Technology (ICT) use in education. A purposeful sample of 89 primary school teachers participated. The study followed a sequential explanatory mixed design with a quantitative initial phase and a qualitative follow-up that allowed expansion and elaboration on the results of the quantitative phase. The quantitative phase was a prediction study that was conducted via logistic regression. The qualitative phase was a phenomenology conducted via content analysis of classroom observation notes and individual interviews that followed a hierarchical focusing method. Quantitative findings revealed that teachers’ perceived workplace conditions and teachers’ prior forum experience predicted online participation significantly, whereas teachers’ attitudes towards ICT use in education, gender, work experience, and computer competence did not significantly predict online participation. The identified key themes that emerged from the data about teachers’ perceptions of the factors that affect online participation were as follows: (a) teachers’ need to use ICT applications introduced in the workshop, (b) teachers’ reactions to ICT-related problems, (c) training for online forum use, (d) others’ posts on the online forum, and (e) lack of time.Item The relationship between teachers’ power perception, teachers’ perception of child, and child-teacher interaction(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2016., 2016.) Cabi, Nehir.; Göl-Güven, Mine.The main purpose of this study was to analyze the teachers’ perceptions of child, power and their interactions with children. The issues of power, discipline, authority, and the concepts of school, teacher and child were used to examine teachers’ comprehensions of the culture of power in classroom. The sample of the study was four female primary school teachers in a public school in Istanbul, Turkey. The results showed that there was a relational sphere between power and child perceptions of the teachers. The teachers’ perceptions of authority and discipline embedded to the conceptions of child and school context. The teachers’ perceptions of authority and discipline embedded to the conceptions of child and school context. In addition to this, teachers’ child and power perceptions reflected to teacher-child relationship as a shortcut of and nonverbal communication in classroom. Findings suggest that teachers’ explanations about power and child concepts are fed each other by the same concern that is the anxiety of losing their control of power over children. The findings of the current study provide to analyze the internalization and externalization process of power, child and their effects on teacher-child interaction in educational arena.Item The relationship among metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive calibration accuracy and mathematical problem solving performance(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2015., 2015.) Başol, Birce.; Ader, Engin.The purpose of this research was to investigate relationships among metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive calibration accuracy and mathematical problem solving performance. In order to measure metacognition more holistically, metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive calibration (both prospective and retrospective) were taken into consideration together. Mathematical problem solving performance was assessed through three mathematical word problems. In the analyses, judgment bias and different levels of performance of students were taken into consideration. There were 200 participants in the study obtained from seventh grade students from public (N=90) and private (N=110) schools. The convenient sampling method was used in the data collection process of the study. Results demonstrated a significant relationship between prospective and retrospective monitoring accuracy. Another significant relationship was found between problem solving performance and metacognitive monitoring calibration. In terms of judgment bias, students tended to be overconfident in their prospective judgments compared to retrospective ones. Moreover, there is a significant difference between overconfident and underconfident students' performances. High performers tend to be underconfident while low performers are generally overconfident. Lastly, metacognitive knowledge was a differentiating factor for low performers in prospective judgments not in retrospective judgments.Item The effect of mathematics online review sessions through a webcast system on fifth-grade students’ mathematics achievement(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2015., 2015.) Sülün Taş, Aysun.; Özel, Serkan.The present study investigated the effect of mathematics review webcasts on students' mathematics performance depending on the type of webcast access and use (no access, access but not use, access with moderate use, and access with extensive use) controlling for differences in the mathematics background. Moreover, (a) the relationship between students’ webcast use and their mathematics attitudes, (b) students’ perceptions of webcasts for their learning, and (c) students’ habits for using webcast system were examined. A purposive sample of 110 fifth-grade students was recruited from two middle schools which were using interactive white boards (IWB) in mathematics classes. This quasi-experimental research design employed seven instruments. Results indicated the following four major findings. First, planned comparisons ANCOVA results showed that there is a statistically significant difference between no access and access groups on their mathematics performance (p < .005). Next, there was a statistically significant positive correlation between webcast use and mathematics attitude, (r (56) = .326, p = .014). Third, students with webcast access reported that they found mathematics webcast system beneficial, engaging, and easy to use and they generally used mathematics webcasts for review, exam preparation, studying homework, and making up missing lessons. Last, students generally used watched more webcasts after mathematics classes, before mathematics exams and after motivational tools.Item The education of gifted K-8 students in Turkey: policy analysis and program evaluation(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2012., 2012.) Mammadov, Sakhavat.; Gök, Fatma.This study intended to examine two major issues related to the education of gifted K- 8 students in Turkey. The first purpose of this study was to examine the existing policies and their elements regarding the education of gifted K-8 students. The second purpose was to conduct a program evaluation of K-8 Gifted Education Program to address how well the elementary schools with gifted programs respond to the needs of gifted students. The first purpose is carried out through content analysis of publicly available policy documents. The second purpose is fulfilled through case examples of three elementary schools educating gifted students. Two private and one public schools with gifted programs were included in the case. The Classroom Observation Scale (COS) was theinstrument used for classroom observation data collection. In addition, interviews were conducted with teachers and administrators. The findings of this study revealed there is a serious dearth of documented evidence regarding the education policy on gifted students and their schooling in Turkey. The study also revealed the lack of coherence in gifted education policy including definition, identification and placement concerns, and teacher training and personnel preparation. Data collected based on program evaluation provided considerable evidence on the strengths and weaknesses of gifted programs in a public and private schools. Besides some important strength in gifted programs, program evaluation revealed that there are issues of concern such as the lack of well-defined and implemented effective curriculum, weaknesses in instructional strategies and curriculum modification to respond academic needs of gifted learners, and the problems in parent involvement and necessary funding allocation specific to public school. This study will contribute to the body of knowledge related to the policy analysis and evaluation of gifted education programs in Turkey.Item A woman coordinator in an early childhood education center: a case study on defining leadership based on feminine perspective(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2014., 2014.) Seven, Yağmur.; Göl-Güven, Mine.The purpose of this study is to understand how a woman coordinator in an early childhood education center defines the concept of leadership by describing her roles and responsibilities. Considering the purpose, a descriptive case study was used as a research method. Data were collected through an in-depth semi-structured interview, detailed observations, field notes, and audio taped voice recordings of conversations, mostly with the coordinator. Data were coded under the two main categories that are: knowledge as power and relationship. There were two sub-categories under the category of relationship: web of inclusion and life balance. Catalytic leadership, distributed leadership, and adaptive work constituted the main category of knowledge as power. In a relationship with the current leadership theories, expert and legitimate power sources were determined in the leadership style of the case. Moreover, determination to present masculine and feminine types of leadership was linked with the people she interacted with and the situation she was in. Despite attempts to distribute responsibilities and tasks in the early childhood center, the power distribution among stakeholders could not be sustained by the coordinator.Item A collective case study to understand the whys and wherefores of not using technology in mathematics education(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2014., 2014.) Eren, Mehmet.; Özel, Serkan.The purpose of this study was to investigate the barriers of technology integration in primary mathematics education. To determine the barriers, three different themes were used: (a) teachers’ definition of self in integration efforts, (b) the relationship between technology and pedagogy in teachers’ perspectives, and (c) teachers’ understanding of the nature of technology in today’s world. Convenience sampling method was used to select six primary mathematics teachers. A multiple case study design consisting of six distinct cases was used as the methodology. An adapted semi-structured interview was used as the instrument. To make comparisons within and across cases, results were stated under two main headings: Within case analysis and cross case analysis. The data, first of all, revealed that the access barrier to the available sources is prominent in all cases. Secondly, considering pedagogical concerns, the motivation of the students and the pace of the lessons are the points on which technology integration has the greatest impact. Professional development was another barrier participants had a consensus on. In this respect, the participants proposed a ten-stage plan to educate teachers in terms of technology integration. Lastly, but most importantly, it was proposed that technology itself in today’s world can appear as the next barrier.