Ibrahim Yildirim

High rates of depressive symptoms among senior high school students preparing for national university entrance examination in Turkey.

Tuncay Ergene, Ph.D., is supported by NIMH, ICORTHA Fogarty International Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities (MH/DD) Research Training Program (D43TW05807) at Children’s Hospital Boston; Principle Investigator (PI): Kerim M. Munir, MD, MPH, DSc. Introduction The purpose of the present study is to determine the prevalence of depressive symptoms among senior high school students preparing national university entrance examination (OSS) in Turkey. The survey was conducted in the second term of students’ senior year at high school, a time when they were exposed to a stressful standardized national examination. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of depressive symptoms and to identify a possible association of depressive symptoms with other student and socio-demographic characteristics. We used the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), adapted for Turkey, to assess self-reported depressive symptoms among 984 students. Overall, 45.1% of the students reported depressive symptoms. The relationship between the presence of depressive symptoms and student gender, family size, living circumstances, academic grade, number of times national exams were taken, monthly family income, daily study time, number of friends of opposite sex and involvement in social activities were examined. Gender, academic succes and monthly family income had statistically significant differences on BDI scores. The high rate of self-reported depressive symptoms reflects heightened exam-related stress, social expectations, worries about future success linked to uncertainty about securing a university placement and personal, familial and demographic factors. The greater prevalence of depressive symptoms among females (49.5%) compared to males (40.6%) highlights higher degrees of stress or vulnerability among female adolescents facing similar circumstances to males in Turkey.

The Students’ Perceptions on Blended Learning: A Q Method Analysis

The purpose of this study was to reveal the students’ perceptions on blended learning through the Q method. The originality of the research stems from determining whether the students have a general tendency towards the blended learning process and evaluating the whole process through identifying its prominent components. The research data was compiled through the Q-Sort and the judgemental statements created by the researchers from 31 students attending the 3rd and 4th classes of the Faculty of Education during the 2016-2017 academic year. The data analysis ascertained that the students were in affirmative consensus on blended learning and the prominent components of the process were listed as teaching staff, face-to-face classes, student roles and the features of online course materials. The findings obtained were discussed within the frame of the relevant literature and the suggestions were made on blended course design.

Harmanlanmış Öğrenmenin Akademik Başarı Üzerine Etkisi: Bir Meta-Analiz Çalışması

Bu arastirmanin amaci Turkiye’de harmanlanmis ogrenmenin ogrencilerin akademik basarilarina etkisini inceleyen 2000-2016 yillari arasinda yurutulen deneysel calisma sonuclarinin meta-analiz metodu ile birlestirilmesidir. Harmanlanmis ogrenmenin Turkiye baglaminda gecerliginin incelenmesi Turkiye alan yazini ve ogretim surecleri bakimindan onem arz etmektedir. Arastirma tek grup incelemesi ile harmanlanmis ogrenmenin akademik basari uzerine genel etkisini ortaya koymasinin yaninda harmanlanmis ogrenme-yuz yuze ogrenme, harmanlanmis ogrenme-cevrim ici ogrenme, harmanlanmis ogrenme-farkli yontemlerle zenginlestirilmis harmanlanmis ogrenme karsilastirmalarini ve alt grup analizlerini de icermektedir. Harmanlanmis ogrenmenin akademik basari uzerine genel etkisine yonelik hesaplanan 3.114 Cohen d degerinin eta-kare karsiligi .708’dir. Bu deger 1064 ogreneni kapsayan 32 deneysel calismanin sonuclarina gore harmanlanmis ogrenmenin ogrenen basarisi uzerinde guclu duzeyde ve %70.8’lik bir katma degere sahip oldugunu gostermektedir. Diger yandan yapilan analizler neticesinde harmanlanmis ogrenmenin yuz yuze ogrenme ve cevrim ici ogrenmeye kiyasla ogrenci basarisinda daha olumlu sonuclar ortaya koydugu belirlenmistir. Ayrica, farkli yontemlerle zenginlestirilmis harmanlanmis ogrenmenin alisilagelen harmanlanmis ogrenmeye nazaran ogrenci basarisi uzerinde daha olumlu bir etkiye sahip oldugu belirlenmistir. Bu da, harmanlanmis ogrenmenin guncel yaklasimlar ile de bir arada etkin bir bicimde kullanilabilecegine isaret etmektedir. Arastirma kapsaminda elde edilen sonuclara yonelik onerilerde bulunulmustur.

Üniversite Öğrencilerinin Eş Seçme Kriterleri

Es seciminde cinsiyet farkliliklari, onemli bir tartisma konusu olusturmaktadir. Bu farkliliklara hem Evrim Kurami hem de Sosyal Rol Kurami acisindan aciklama getirilmektedir. Bu konuda yapilmis calismalarin hemen hepsi Bati kulturunde yapilmistir. Bu nedenle, Turkiye’de yapilmis olan bu calisma, es seciminde cinsiyet farkliliklarina bu kuramlar cercevesinde aciklama getirmeyi amaclamaktadir. Arastirmaya 1126 ogrenci katilmis olup bunlarin 732’si (% 65) kiz, 394’u (% 35) erkek ogrencidir. Ogrencilerin yas ortalamasi 21,8 olup tumu bekardir ve evlenmeyi dusunmektedir. Ogrencilerden acik uclu bir form uzerinde potansiyel bir este bulunmasini en cok arzu ettikleri ve bulunmasini hic arzu etmedikleri ozellikleri yazmalari istenmistir. Daha sonra yapilan temel bilesenler analizi sonucunda belirlenmis 50 arzu edilen ve 50 arzu edilmeyen (toplam 100) ozelligi onem derecesine gore puanlamalari istenmistir. Sonuclara bakildiginda her iki cinsin de potansiyel bir este aradiklari ozelliklerin onem sirasinin neredeyse ayni oldugu; ancak, erkeklere kiyasla kizlarin, ozelliklerin coguna daha fazla onem verdikleri gozlenmistir. Ayrica, hem Evrim Kurami, hem de Sosyal Rol Kurami’ni destekleyici kanitlar elde edilmesine karsin; Turkiye’de, sonuclarin cogu, es seciminde Sosyal Rol Kurami’ni destekler yondedir. Sonuc olarak; hem karmasik es secme surecini anlamak, hem de bu alanda kuramsal ilerleme saglamak icin, cinsiyetin yani sira, es secimini etkileyebilecegi dusunulen sosyo-demografik diger faktorlerin de incelenmesi gerekli gorunmektedir.