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This study investigates the way a kindergarten teacher implemented a three-stage project to support children's map understanding. The project, the Map and Play, was designed to help children understand the relationship between reality and its abstract representation. The guided play was adopted as the pedagogical approach because it empowers children to make independent decisions, encourages critical thinking, and offers opportunities for exploration. At the same time, adults take part in purposeful activities alongside the children. The research employed an ethnographic methodology involving classroom observations, video recordings, and interviews. Content analysis was used to explore the data sources. The results illustrated the stages taken to introduce children to the idea of map considering scientific research about how to foster map understanding. The data displays occasional mistakes made by the teacher, offering valuable insights into the dynamics of classrooms where similar activities might be introduced. The MPP was a promising experience for kindergarten children in enhancing their map reasoning and use of spatial language. Still, there is a need for teacher training to guide this complex learning process effectively.

Lifelong learning is all forms of learning from cradle to grave. Lifelong learning requires everyone to improve themselves. People are expected to be lifelong learners because school knowledge is insufficient. In this framework, educational approaches all over the world focus on lifelong learning and need lifelong learners. This study adopted a qualitative research design to investigate teachers' views on lifelong learning. The sample consisted of 30 teachers from different branches. Data were collected using a semi-structured interview guide. The data were analyzed using content analysis. Participants viewed lifelong learning as a process not limited to schools. They also associated it with all kinds of learning activities and personal growth. They believed lifelong learning was necessary for technological advances, social change, and a high quality of life. They stated that the goals of lifelong learning were accessing educational opportunities, increasing knowledge and skills, and transforming students into qualified people. They noted that motivation, education systems, and social and cultural changes affected lifelong learning.

Little is still known about interaction patterns learners form while exchanging peer feedback particularly when working with different peers. To address this gap, this study analyzes patterns of interaction while exchanging feedback on academic paragraphs written by 16 English as a foreign language (EFL) learners enrolled at a state university in Türkiye. The participants were asked to write three academic paragraphs and submit them online. They were paired with a different student for each paragraph feedback session and exchanged their paragraphs. Then they held an online meeting on Microsoft Teams with their partner and exchanged feedback. The meetings were recorded. Next, the students revised their paragraphs considering the peer feedback. They made the changes on their paragraphs only if they found the peer feedback useful and necessary. Patterns of interaction in the recordings were analyzed according to Storch's (2002) framework. According to it, there are four interaction patterns placed on mutuality and equality axes and named as collaborative, dominant/dominant, dominant/passive, and expert/novice. The results showed that the most common pattern was expert/novice. That means in the majority of the peer feedback sessions reviewers controlled the task, but both participants showed engagement. Around half of the participants were consistent in their patterns both as a reviewer and a writer. This study is believed to shed light on EFL learners' roles as writers and reviewers. It is also believed that with a comprehensive peer feedback training, learners could be encouraged to form more collaborative patterns, which is associated with better learning outcomes.

The present research aims to examine whether the questions in the Program for the International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009 reading literacy instrument display differential item functioning (DIF) among the Turkish, French, and American samples based on univariate and multivariate matching techniques before and after the total score, which is the matching variable, is purified of the items flagged with DIF. The study is a correlational survey model research, and the participants of the study consist of 4459 Turkish, French, and American students who took booklets 1, 3, 4, and 6 in the PISA 2009 reading literacy measure. Univariate and multivariate (bivariate, trivariate, and quadrivariate) DIF analyses were performed through logistic regression before and after purifying the matching variable off the items displaying DIF. Literature was used to detect extra matching variables, and multiple linear regression analysis was carried out. As a result of the analyses, it was discovered that using extra matching variables apart from the total score reduces type I errors. It was also concluded that the exclusion of DIF items (removal of items with DIF) while calculating the total score led to variation in the number of questions detected as DIF and DIF levels of the items, although it did not yield consistent results.

Technology has become increasingly prevalent in the field of education. Alongside the growing presence of technology in educational environments, the importance of learning with multimedia tools has also increased. It is believed that individuals need to be aware of how to learn most effectively in these environments for effective learning to take place. This research aims to develop a valid and reliable scale to reveal university students' metacognitive awareness of learning processes with multimedia. To achieve this goal, the study was conducted in two phases. Firstly, a pool of items was created by reviewing the literature, and 407 data were obtained to explore this pool of items. Subsequently, to confirm the structure of the revealed 6-factor scale, 318 data were collected from a second study group. The confirmed scale consists of a total of 41 items under six factors, explaining 54% of the total variance. The reliability coefficients for internal consistency of the scale as a whole were calculated as [omega] = 0.90 and [alpha] = 0.85. The results of the study indicate that the developed scale is a valid, reliable, and effective tool for measuring university students' metacognitive awareness of learning with multimedia.

The main purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of psychological counselors on working with clients from different cultures. Accordingly, the extent of the knowledge of psychological counselors on multicultural counseling approach and their perceptions of this approach, the theoretical competencies thereof, and cultural differences were examined in line with the main purpose of the study. The study was conducted using the basic qualitative design. The study group consists of 17 psychological counselors (eleven females and six males) who were continuing their post-graduate education at Gazi University Institute of Educational Sciences in the Spring Semester of the 2020-2021 Academic Year. Data were collected online with semi-structured interviews. The results revealed that a significant portion of the participants did not consider themselves theoretically competent in the multicultural counseling approach. It was further concluded that the majority of the participants had positive perceptions of cultural differences. On the other hand, the holistic evaluation of the answers indicated that the extent of knowledge and awareness of the significant portion of the participants on cultural differences are rather poor and insufficient. It is recommended to implement psychoeducational programs and training on the subject, to give compulsory courses on multicultural counseling approach in Guidance and Psychological Counseling undergraduate programs, and to direct students to exchange programs to experience cultural differences.

This meta-synthesis reviewed and synthesized the findings of 53 studies on supervisory post-conferences and feedback with a total of 807 participants published between 2004-2023. The aim of this meta-synthesis was to illustrate the trends in the reviewed studies and synthesize the results of the studies on supervisory discourse and models of supervision in the field of English language teaching. The criteria for eligibility for selection were being empirical, peer-reviewed, and published in English. Articles were scanned through the Web of Science, ERIC, SCOPUS, and Google Scholar till July, 2023. The studies lacking a report of detailed and clear-cut data collection and analysis phases were removed in the appraisal phase to avoid a risk of bias. The results indicated that supervisors implemented directive supervisory styles as well as collaborative approaches exploiting power dynamics such as expert power. The findings also showed that the use of conversational techniques such as mediation, mitigators, and elicitation in supervisory talk play a central role in supervising English language teachers. The results suggested that supervised teachers demonstrated confronting, autonomous, and fluid identities when faced with a directive style of supervision. The limitations of evidence for this study related the search strategy, participants and variations in educational settings.

Over the past several decades, the psychological concepts of self-control and grit have gained prominence in the research literature. While these constructs have been studied extensively in isolation, there has been growing interest in understanding the relationship between the two constructs and the factors that mediate this relationship. The current study sought to examine the relationship between self-control and grit in a sample of 1079 undergraduate students (67.9% female) from twelve different state universities. Specifically, this study aimed to examine the mediating role of academic motivation and attention control in this relationship. Correlational analyses revealed that self-control and grit were positively associated with each other, as well as with academic motivation and attention control. Mediation analyses using bootstrapping procedures revealed that academic motivation and attention control partially mediated the relationship between self-control and grit. In other words, higher levels of self-control were associated with higher levels of academic motivation, which was associated with higher levels of grit. Similarly, higher levels of self-control were associated with better attention control, which was associated with higher levels of grit. These findings have important implications for understanding the components that contribute to the development of grit and suggest that interventions aimed at enhancing academic motivation and attention control may promote the development of greater grit in individuals. [Note: The page range (202-218) shown on the PDF is incorrect. The correct page range is 201-218.]

Omer Toprak,1 Yasin Sarı,2 Akif Koç,3 Erhan Sarı,3 Ali Kırık2 1Division of Nephrology, 2Division of Internal Medicine, 3Division of Urology, Department of Medicine, Balikesir University School of Medicine, Balikesir, Turkey Background: Erectile dysfunction (ED) is common in older men with chronic kidney disease. Magnesium is essential for metabolism of nitric oxide which helps in penile erection. There is little information available about the influence of serum magnesium on ED. The aim of the study was to assess the influence of hypomagnesemia on ED in elderly chronic kidney disease patients. Subjects and methods: A total of 372 patients aged 65–85 years, with an estimated glomerular filtration rate of 60–15 mL/min/1.73 m2, were divided into two groups according to serum magnesium levels: hypomagnesemia, n=180; and normomagnesemia, n=192. ED was assessed through the International Index of Erectile Function-5. Hypomagnesemia is defined as serum magnesium

The purpose of this study is to compare the use of elaborated and metacognitive feedback strategies in interactive instructional videos in terms of undergraduate students' engagement and metacognitive awareness levels. This study also aims to investigate undergraduate students' evaluations of elaborated and metacognitive feedback in these instructional videos based on qualitative data. This study used a basic randomized post-test-only experimental design comparing two treatments supported by qualitative data. The participants were 52 preservice teachers who registered for an undergraduate educational technology course offered by a faculty of education. They were randomly assigned to the metacognitive and the elaborated feedback groups. The data were collected with the Short Form of the User Engagement Scale and the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory. In addition, qualitative data were collected through interviews and used to examine students' evaluations of the elaborated and metacognitive feedback used in the interactive instructional videos. The results showed that there was no statistically significant difference between the two types of feedback in terms of students' engagement and metacognitive awareness levels. The qualitative findings indicated that while the two types of feedback did not provide a significant superiority over each other, students viewed the two types of feedback as serving different purposes. Our findings suggest that customizing the type of feedback based on students' answers and subject mastery level, or a thoughtful integration of both types of feedback, could enhance the learning experience in interactive instructional videos.

The purpose of the study is to investigate whether English as a foreign language (EFL) learners are more willing to communicate and study with the same partners or different partners in speaking activities in pairs or small groups and to determine whether there are similarities or differences in learners' views regarding the same and different partners according to different learning environments (face-to-face and online). A qualitative research design was adopted in the study. The participants were EFL learners at the School of Foreign Languages (SFL) of a state university in Izmir, Turkey. The participants were divided into two groups. The first group (FF) included 20 students who took face-to-face education and the second group (OL) consisted of 20 students who took online education. The qualitative data were collected from both groups by means of a structured written interview form. The results revealed two main themes (1- "Feelings," 2- "English language production process") and ten sub-themes (1a- "positive feelings," 1b- "negative feelings," 1c- "both positive and negative feelings," 2a- "developing intimacy," 2b- "collaboration and ease of communication," 2c- "insufficiency of English language production," 2d- "increase of knowledge," 2e- "use of speaking skills," 2f- "insufficiency of socialization and interaction," 2g- "challenges of online education"). The study compares both groups with respect to the above themes and subthemes and discusses implications for the teaching of English.

The aim of this study is to investigate the academic achievement of 6th grade students in grammar course gamified with an online tool and their opinions regarding the application. The study employed quasi-experimental design and a semi-structured interview was utilised to obtain the qualitative data. The application lasted for 6 weeks during which the experimental group received gamified grammar education whereas the control group received content-based language learning. Pre-test and post-tests were applied to both groups to check if there were any differences between the scores. Since the quantitative data were not parametric, Wilcoxon Matched -- Pairs Signed Ranks Test and Mann Whitney U Test were used in the analysis of the data. Also, a semi-structured interview was utilised to learn about the opinions of the students in experimental group. The results yielded a significant difference in favor of students who received gamified grammar learning. The results were also supported by the positive opinions of the students towards gamification of grammar with an online tool as an in-class material.

In this study, it is aimed to determine the effect of video game playing time on academic performance of students who play video games and take computerized accounting courses at Usak University and attend computerized accounting courses. The data obtained with the questionnaire applied to a total of seventy students within the scope of the study were analyzed with the SPSS 26 statistical analysis program. The findings obtained from the study revealed that the majority of the students played video games for 1-2 hours a day on average and preferred Akinsoft software in the computerized accounting course. Other findings obtained from the study show that playing video games accelerates the learning process, using computer, keyboard, mouse, etc. in computerized accounting course. It has been revealed that it provides practicality in the use of technological tools, provides practicality in the creation of accounting slips, facilitates the detection of errors in incorrectly created accounting slips, and enables the different accounting package programs to be investigated curiously. In addition, another finding obtained within the scope of the study revealed that the duration of playing video games contributed to the academic performance of the computerized accounting course at a low level.

The present study aimed to find out the attitudes of Arabic as a foreign language (AFL) and English as a foreign language (EFL) students toward learning foreign languages in the Turkish higher education context within an interdisciplinary perspective. It was designed as a survey study and conducted with 26 Turkish AFL students and 26 Turkish EFL students who were chosen through convenience sampling. The data were collected through the attitude toward learning foreign languages scale for students studying at schools of Foreign Languages and were analyzed with descriptive statistics. According to the findings of the present study, the opinions of the participants related to foreign language lessons and their emotions related to learning foreign languages were positive, while their opinions about learning foreign languages were not very negative. Also, the findings indicated that the participants gave a lot of importance to learning foreign languages and used foreign languages on social media a lot. As a result of these, the findings revealed that both participant AFL and EFL students had a positive attitude toward learning foreign languages. The findings were discussed. The implications and limitations of the present study were explained, and suggestions for future studies were made.

In this study, it is aimed to reveal the images formed in the minds of high school students about the concept of mathematics with the help of their own expressions and drawings. In this qualitative study, the core of 100 high school students' experiences of math was examined with a holistic approach using Online Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (OIPA). In order to obtain in-depth information about the concept of math from the participants, the purposeful sampling method was used. It was paid full attention to ensure that the participants were high school students. The data were obtained by using the OIPA form, which allows students to create stories and drawings about the concept of math. The data obtained were analyzed in three stages by the researcher and an expert psychologist. As a result of the analysis, it was seen that there were deficiencies in students' mathematical literacy in situations such as understanding the role of mathematics in daily life and using it to solve real life problems. Additionally, the students expressed the concept of math using 18 different main themes, most of which contained negative strong emotions. Students associated math most frequently with the themes of life (44%) and difficult math language (38%). The students associated math least frequently with the themes of hate (5%) and unimportant (5%). On the other hand, students explained the math domain with individual factors (74%) the most and exosystem (15%) the least. In line with the results obtained in the study, a few recommendations were made.

In this study, the perceptions of primary school teacher candidates regarding the characteristics and education of gifted students were examined. This qualitative study was conducted with a phenomenological research design. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a total of 62 primary school classroom teachers who were selected using the criterion sampling method. Interview data were analyzed via the descriptive analysis method. The findings of the study showed that primary classroom teacher candidates generally defined giftedness according to the dimensions of high-level mental performance/intelligence and creativity. They considered expert evaluations important in the diagnosis of giftedness, and they also highlighted the importance of identifying the interests of gifted students and applying additional activities and differentiated instructional practices in their education. A particularly noteworthy finding of this study was that primary school teacher candidates considered the lack of competency and knowledge among classroom teachers regarding giftedness as one of the major problems that gifted students may experience in the course of their primary education.

This study aims to investigate the satisfaction and experiences of associate degree students from the child development department on distance education after the earthquake in Türkiye. The research was carried out in a mixed method embedded design with the participation of 133 associate degree students who studied in the child development department in a vocational school affiliated with Bursa Uludag University in the spring term of the 2022-2023 academic year. The quantitate data were collected through "The Distance Education Satisfaction Scale of University Students." The qualitative data were obtained through a semi-structured interview with 20 students from the same study group. Descriptive statistics, Independent samples t-test, Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis H Test, and content analysis were used to analyze the data obtained. According to the findings, online education was less effective than face-to-face education due to the earthquake. The student's satisfaction with distance education differs significantly depending on having technological tools. The students stated that they had difficulties due to the adverse psychological effects of the earthquake and the infrastructure problems. It was determined that distance education's most significant advantage is having a flexible environment and listening to the course recordings. However, they were disadvantaged in not making enough applications during the lessons in online education.

This qualitative study adopted a phenomenological research design to investigate how preservice teachers perceived compassion. The sample consisted of 43 students from Van Yüzüncü Yil University. The data were collected using a semi-structured interview guide. The data were analyzed using content analysis. The results showed that participants associated "compassion" with "pity," "sympathy," "being human'," "affection," "empathy," "help," "favor," "conscience," and "forgiveness." They stated that compassion was necessary to understand others and to maintain social order and peace. The most common forms of compassion were "having compassion for animals," "helping those in need," "helping the poor," "parents' compassion," "helping the old," and "love for children." Participants recommended that parents and teachers be role models for others, inculcate compassion in children, and get them to help others, adopt animals, visit nursing homes, and read books.

This study investigates the progression of social-emotional learning skills in children by integrating music activities into creative drama. The research was executed employing a pre-and post-test control group research design. The research cohort consisted of 40 five-year-old participants, separated into two groups of 20 each, experimental and control. An 8-week comprehensive music education program was implemented exclusively for the experimental group to enhance their social-emotional proficiencies. A personalized information questionnaire was also employed to gather demographic information about the children and their respective parents. The "Vineland Social-Emotional Early Childhood Scale" (VSEECS) and the "Vineland s Test" (EET) were applied as pre-and post-tests to determine children's social-emotional behaviors. The results of this investigation revealed a statistically significant difference in the EET pre-and post-test scores within the experimental group. Conversely, comparing both study groups, no statistically significant difference in EET scores was observed. The lack of a significant difference could be attributed to social-emotional learning activities in the curriculum that were carried out at school. This result may positively affect the control group's emotional expression and social skills. The analysis revealed that no statistically significant difference was observed in the mean scores of the (VSEECS) between the two groups at both the pre-test and post-test scores. In the context of forthcoming research, it is advisable to procure data through systematic observation, interviews, and the implementation of longitudinal investigations to elucidate the impact of music education on the development of children's social-emotional learning skills.

The study employed a quantitative research design using the general survey model to understand a large research population without intervening in variables. It involved 552 teacher candidates from an education faculty in Eastern Anatolia, Turkey, with 142 males and 410 females participating voluntarily. Data were collected using the Computer Game Motivation Scale (CGMS) with 17 items and five sub-dimensions (Concentration, Enjoyment, Escape, Learning, and Socialization), assessed on a five-point Likert scale (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree). The reliability coefficients (Cronbach's Alpha) ranged from 0.77 to 0.95 for scale structures and were 0.94 for the entire scale. Internal consistency coefficients for sub-dimensions varied from .78 to 0.94, with 0.93 for the overall scale. The information form included gender, department/unit, perceived income status, and place of residence inquiries. Male students had higher gaming addiction scores than females, and those in verbal programs scored higher than numerical programs. 2nd and 3rd-year students had higher gaming addiction scores, and students with a perception of very poor income also scored higher in gaming addiction. Interestingly, the place of residence did not significantly affect gaming addiction, likely due to widespread internet and technology access. In summary, this study highlighted how gender, program, class level, and income perception impact gaming addiction among university students, while place of residence does not seem to play a significant role.

This study aimed to prepare, implement and evaluate the effectiveness of a professional development program that develops Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) of teacher educators. Qualitative research methods were used. The research was carried out with 10 teacher educators from different departments. Pre- and post-interviews were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. The program was found to have positive effects. Teacher educators stated that while transferring the knowledge they gained to the classroom environment, the methods they used could affect the education positively and attract the attention of students. Therefore, they planned to use the knowledge they acquired later on. They realized that with the knowledge they gained through this program, they would be a role model for the teachers of the future. At the end of the program, each participant's TPACK development was in line with their own cognitive readiness.