Yuksel Goktas

A Review of ICT Related Courses in Pre-service Teacher Education Programs

This study investigated teacher educators’, prospective teachers’, and K-12 teachers’ opinions about the effectiveness of ICT related courses and the ways to improve the courses in Turkey’s pre-service teacher education programs. The researchers used both quantitative and qualitative research approaches within the data collection and analysis processes. The data were collected from 111 teacher educators, 1,330 prospective teachers, and 1,429 K-12 teachers through questionnaires; and from 6 teacher educators, 6 prospective teachers, and 6 K-12 teachers through interviews. Even though a majority of the participants felt that ICT related courses are effective, most participants recommended that these courses need to be redesigned to be more beneficial in practice.

Razones por las que los alumnos universitarios no utilizan las redes sociales

Although social networking websites (SNSs, especially Facebook) have become highly popular with youths, some university students’ do not want to participate in such sites. This study explores the underlying reasons for high-tech university students’ non-use of social networking websites. The study group (n=20) consisted of 18 to 25-year-old undergraduate students, who were selected by the purposive sampling method. Data were collected from two large state universities in Turkey. Facebook, as one of the most popular social networking websites, was selected as a study context. Qualitative research methods were used in the data collection and analysis processes. The primary reasons for not using social networking websites were that they were perceived to be a waste of time, or an unnecessary tool; that they might lead to an addiction; that they might violate privacy concerns or share unnecessary information; and that they might invoke family concerns. Additionally, the findings indicated that most of the students did not trust virtual friendships, and did not like sharing photographs and political views online. This identification of non-user students’ attitudes about SNSs will help us to better understand individual perceptions and experiences relating to these social services.

İngilizce Öğreniminde Artırılmış Gerçeklik: Öğrencilerin Başarı, Tutum ve Bilişsel Yük Düzeyleri

In this study, achievement, attitude and cognitive load levels of students in learning English by Augmented Reality (AR) is examined. Within this context, it is researched whether cognitive load and attitudes of students differ according to the achievement levels of students or not and the correlation between these variables were revealed. In the study, casual-comparative and correlational methods were used. The sample of the study is composed of 122 fifth-grade students (66 males and 56 females) from 5 different secondary schools in Erzurum. In data analysis, descriptive and inferential analysis methods were used. As the result of the study, it is found that secondary school students are pleased with learning English by the aid of AR, they have a low anxiety level and they want such applications to be used their courses in future. Moreover, it is found that the cognitive load levels of students in the process of self-directed learning in AR environment are low. Another important finding of the study is that the attitudes of successful students are significantly higher than others. In addition, the relationships between attitude, achievement and cognitive load levels were revealed in detail.

What makes a good LMS: an analytical approach to assessment of LMSs

This study aims to describe the key issues in assessment of a learning management system for higher education institutions and eventually to construct a criteria list.

Using augmented reality technology in storytelling activities: examining elementary students' narrative skill and creativity

The aim of the study was to examine the effects of augmented reality technology on stories in terms of narrative skill, story length and creativity and also to examine correlations between these variables. Posttest-only design with a nonequivalent group model was used. In this study, the sample consisted of 100 fifth-grade elementary students, comprising 46 boys and 54 girls. Purposive and convenience sampling methods were applied. For purposive sampling, the group’s ages, education levels, and experiences in storytelling activities were gathered, and for convenience sampling, easy access to schools was considered. As data collection tools, a suitable narrative scale was used which was found in the literature and creative story form was developed by the researcher. According to the findings, mean scores for all variables for the experimental group were higher than those for the control group. Also, a statistically significant mean difference was found between the experimental and control groups with regard to narrative skill, length of stories, and creativity in stories. In fact, a positive correlation was found between all variables. It is important to recognize when a technology is found to contribute positively to narrative skill and creativity in telling stories, and to ensure this technology is used. Determining correlation between these variables may provide a contribution to studies about evaluating the effect of the new technologies.

Educational technology research trends from 2002 to 2014

This study examined subject and research method trends in educational technology field from 2002 to 2014. Content analysis was applied in order to analyze 1255 articles published in BJET and ETR&D journals using the Educational Technology Papers Classification Form. According to the results, learning approaches/theories and learning environments were the subject most preferred by researchers. The most commonly used research methods were quantitative, qualitative, other (review or meta-analysis), and mixed method, in that order. Researchers tended to use questionnaires, documents, and interviews as data collection tools. The most commonly preferred sample type was the purposive sample, and undergraduate students were the most commonly chosen sample group, with the most common sample size being groups of 31–100. Frequencies, percentages, and tables were the most common presentation format for data in quantitative studies, while qualitative studies most often employed content analysis.

Ortaokullarda Artırılmış Gerçeklik Uygulamaları Tutum Ölçeği: Geçerlik ve Güvenirlik Çalışması

The aim of this study is to develop an attitude scale that will help to determine attitudes of secondary school students towards the use of augmented reality applications in education. With this aim, the Augmented Reality Applications Attitude Scale (ARAAS), which is developed in this study, has been presented. The ARAASs validity and reliability studies have been done with 167 students (84 male, 83 female), which are studying in the 5th grade of 7 different secondary schools in Erzurum. As a result of the exploratory factor analysis applied to provide construct validity of the scale, a construct consisted of 15 items and 3 factors has been attained. The results of confirmatory factor analysis carried out to understand whether this construct adjusts very well to this constructs sample data obtained has shown the adjustment to the sample that the scale applied on is at a reasonable level. The ARAASs internal consistency reliability coefficient has been found as .83 for the whole scale. Those results show that ARAAS is a valid and reliable measurement tool.

Mistakes encountered in manuscripts on education and their effects on journal rejections

The goal of this study was to identify common mistakes made in research study manuscripts submitted to journals of Education and the effects of these mistakes on rejection by the journal editors and referees. An online questionnaire was developed for this purpose with 43 items and five open-ended questions. Common mistakes were identified by administering the 43 questions, which were to be answered in two stages: first by using 5-point Likert scale responses, and then by responses arranged according to semantic differential scale (for the effects of the mistakes on rejections). The online questionnaire was sent to the editors and referees of Turkish journals of Education indexed in SSCI and ULAKBIM. Data were then collected from 232 participants and examined. The quantitative data obtained from the questionnaire items were analyzed, and the mean and standard deviation scores were presented in tables. The qualitative data gathered from the open-ended questions were analyzed descriptively. The results show that researchers mostly make mistakes in the discussion, conclusion, and suggestions part of the manuscripts. However, mistakes made in the methods part are the most significant causes of manuscript rejection.

Information retention’s relationships with flow, presence and engagement in guided 3D virtual environments

The purpose of this study was to examine the correlation of different variables with information retention in guided 3D virtual learning environments by employing three experimental designs. In each experiments, different participants were included in the same population and different variables were considered. Information retention test, flow, presence, engagement scales were used as data collection tools. Namely measures of flow, presence and engagement were examined to see their correlation with retention in experiment 1, 2 and 3. As a result, not the total score of flow but focused attention, enjoyment and skill dimensions has a weak but significant correlation with information retention, while the challenge has a moderate and significant negative correlation. In the second experiment, retention had a significant, low-level relationship with teaching presence and cognitive presence, but it did not have a similar relationship with social presence. In the third experiment, information retention significantly correlated with affective and cognitive engagement, but not with behavioral engagement. Although the three studies’ participants were from the same population, It was seen that the differences in the level of relationship between information retention and the variables studied in each study. Nevertheless, it was found that the levels of flow, presence and engagement of students are important for information retention in a guided 3D virtual learning environment. The study is thought to guide researchers to design 3D virtual learning environments for different purposes, considering these variables.

The Native Symbols Engaging Turkish Players to Digital Games in a Playability Perspective

Background. The satisfaction of a player’s gaming experience has a great impact on their game preferences. The goal of this study was to investigate the opinions and experiences of Turkish players of computer games in order to examine the effects of native symbols on their game preferences. Method. The data collection tools were games developed in Turkey, websites for these games, user comments made on the video records of the games, online forums, and an open-ended questionnaire. Results. The results indicate that although native symbols from the players’ home society play a role in shaping the users’ playability perception, it cannot be argued that they change the game preferences. These results may be applied to computer games’ designs, development strategies, and advertising methods to attract all players.