Hüseyin Ünlü

Internet and democracy: Is the Internet an important predictor for physical education teacher candidates’ attitudes towards democracy?

Abstract Today, in the digital age, the Internet usage is common among university students. The Internet is also an important platform for actively participating in democracy. This study explores physical education (PE) candidate teachers’ attitudes toward the Internet and democracy. It also explores whether the Internet is an important predictor for democracy. In adopting the survey design, a total of 455 PE teacher candidates participated in the study. The study used the “Attitude Scale towards Internet Use” and the “Attitude Scale of Democracy” as data collection tools. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation (Pearson) techniques, and multiple regressions analyses. It was found that PE teacher candidates have positive attitudes towards the Internet and democracy. There was a significant positive correlation (p < .05) found between the Internet and democracy. The study also found that the Internet is an important predictor of negative views of democracy.

Do Prospective Physical Education Teachers Really Want To Be Physical Education Teachers? / Žele li budući učitelji tjelesnog odgoja uistinu postati učitelji tjelesnog odgoja?

The purpose of the present study was to determine the attitudes of prospective physical education teachers to the physical education teaching profession in relation to their gender, year of study, type of high school graduated from and family income. The population of the study was comprised of 696 prospective physical education teachers. The instrument used in the study was the “Attitude Scale for the Profession of Physical Education Teaching”. While data analysis was used for descriptive statistics, independent t-test was used for the comparison in relation to gender of the participants. In addition to the comparison between the year of study they attended, the high schools the participants had graduated from and their family incomes were analyzed using one-way variance analysis (ANOVA). A post-hoc (Tukey) test was used in order to identify the source of differences (source of variance) that emerged. It was found that prospective physical education teachers had a mid-level attitude towards the physical education teaching profession. In addition, significant differences were found between genders, years of study, high schools the participants graduated from and family incomes of the participants.