Osman Cekic

Engineering Professionals’ Expectations of Undergraduate Engineering Students

AbstractThis paper presents the results of a study that sought to identify constructs that engineers in academia and industry use to describe attributes they consider important for undergraduate engineering students to possess. We explicitly targeted the attributes of leadership, recognizing and managing change, and synthesizing engineering, business, and social perspectives. Our findings indicate ways that engineering students can engage in technical and nontechnical activities that enhance their undergraduate engineering experiences. The final goal of this ongoing effort is to develop, validate, and implement a tool that examines undergraduate students’ embodiment of the three targeted attributes.

Student Retention in Higher Education in Turkey: A Qualitative Study

The purpose of this article is to investigate student perceptions of college departure in three state universities in Turkey. Since the beginning of the 1990s, higher Education System in Turkey went through a massification of higher education. The rapid growth brought enrollment and dropout issues in the system. A total of 58 participants were included in the qualitative study. Of the 58 participants, 35 students were later enrolled at various other programs. Twenty-three students did not drop out. Results indicated that student retention has been an uncharted territory in Turkey. High levels of dropouts lead to inefficiencies in the higher education system.

Evaluation of Teacher Candidates' Views on Scientific Research Methods

Abstract The purpose of this study is to explore the views of teacher candidates against a research method course. The study employs qualitative research methods. An open-ended protocol was used to collect the data. A total of 93 teacher candidates participated in the study. Forty-five (45) teacher candidates came from the Science and Technology Education Department, while forty-eight (48) of the participants were from the Turkish Language Education Department. An open-ended survey instrument was applied to teacher candidates enrolled in research method courses during the spring semester of 2011-2012. During the course, students were also asked to plan and implement a small scale research project in groups of three or four. The responses were gathered at both the beginning of the semester before the course content was introduced and once again at the end of the semester after the completion of the course. The results were compared by the researchers and meaningful re-occurring themes were established from the data. The results revealed that the students’ perceptions toward scientific (academic) research had changed considerably. Students reported that academic research was not as easy as they had previously thought, nor could the results be predicted from the beginning.