The current study aimed to explore middle school mathematics teachers&rsquo / use of mathematics textbooks and examine their integration of tasks in the textbooks into teaching. The framework of a mixed methods research design guided data collection in this study. A questionnaire called the Use of Mathematics Textbooks Questionnaire was developed and validated to identify the ways teachers benefit from textbooks. The factor analysis revealed four dimensions, namely Reading Student Edition Textbook, Selecting Questions from Workbook, Reading Teacher Edition Textbook, and Selecting Tasks and Problems from Auxilary Books. The results of the study showed that teachers used the student edition textbook for mostly during class and for lesson preparation. Teachers also used the student edition textbook for explaining the topic and the introductory tasks. However, they rarely used it for selecting problems and examples. Teachers read the student edition textbook mostly during and prior to class / and mostly use it for topic explanation, but rarely for problems and examples. They stated that they frequently selected questions from the workbook that were not included in the textbook. However, they occasionally picked questions to use during lessons. They frequently used auxilary books to select questions similar to the ones in the high school entrance exam problems. In examining the process of teachers&rsquo / use of mathematics textbooks, it was argued that there were interpretive processes as teachers engage with and use textbooks. The analysis of interviews and observations showed that teachers read textbooks and select tasks and questions from those books. In their decisions about using tasks from textooks, teachers usually considered the nature of tasks and students&rsquo / characteristics.

This thesis aims to set out an urban design framework, based on pedestrian experiences and pedestrian spaces, in order to take up streets to design or enhance them as pedestrian friendly urban public places. This could also be considered as a model of approach, which assumes a normative manner. Pedestrian urban places are surveyed, then analyses are drawn that will lead to design. In that framework, the study first summarizes theoretical concepts of urbanity, urban quality and pedestrian experiences, which are necessary for examining these places. Then, it puts out how an urban place is examined with respect to the three main headings, which constitute the components of urban places: urban form, urban image and urban activity. The study area, 7th Street in Bah&ccedil / elievler, has become a secondary centre with its vitality and the diversity of activities attracting many people from other districts besides local residents. However, initially planned within a housing cooperative, the neighbourhood has lost much from its cultural and urban accumulation due to global dynamics based on consumption. What is more, 7th Street is quite inadequate in providing an easy circulation both for pedestrians and vehicles as well as providing a quality urban place with its every element. Hence, the street has been examined with the above framework. This is done first with respect to the above mentioned components, and then with the information based on maps, photographs, personal observations and questionnaires which are done in order to find out the problems and characteristics of the users as well as their perceptive qualities. The conclusions together with strengths and weaknesses, which are derived from these surveys, have been used to set specific design guidelines for the area.

In this thesis, Oman&rsquo / s foreign policy between 1970 and 2008 is examined. The main question of this thesis is what the main characteristics of Oman&rsquo / s foreign policy are. In order to identify the main characteristics of Oman&rsquo / s foreign policy its determinants are analyzed by looking at its three interacting environments: domestic, regional and international. In other words, the impacts of these three environments on Oman&rsquo / s foreign policy conceptions, behaviors and decisions are discussed. While examining Oman&rsquo / s foreign policy, special attention is exerted to its foreign policy towards Iran which is the most influential regional power in the Gulf. It is observed that Oman&rsquo / s foreign policy towards Iran is the best telling example of how Oman balances the benefits and constraints of the three environments. Keywords: Oman&rsquo / s Foreign Policy, Characteristics of Oman&rsquo / s Foreign Policy, Domestic, Regional and International Environments, Oman&rsquo / s Foreign Policy Towards Iran.

The objective of this thesis is to analyze the changes in Israeli security policy. The thesis consists of four main parts. In the first part, the factors influencing the formation of Israeli security policy such as history, religion, ideology and threat perceptions are examined. Israeli military doctrine and its offensive, defensive and deterrence strategies are identified as the most important subcomponents of the security policy. The following part analyzes the changes and continuities in Israeli threat perceptions and the implementation of the military doctrine during and after the six main wars of the War of Independence, the war against Egypt in 1956, the Six Day War, the War of Attrition, the Yom Kippur War and the War in Lebanon in 1982. In the third part, the changes in Israeli security policy during 1990s are scrutinized. With the peace process, Israel&rsquo / s existential threat perception decreased but new threat perceptions of terrorism and conventional and nuclear military buildup in the region emerged / therefore security was redefined by the Israeli political and military decision-makers. In the last part the impact of the collapse of peace process and Sharon&rsquo / s coming to power on Israeli security policy is analyzed. Sharon&rsquo / s period can be defined by offensive security strategies aiming at preventing terror which has been the top security problem since the Al Aqsa Intifada. As a result, this thesis argues that Israeli security policy did not indicate significant changes until 1990s, however during 1990s Israeli security situation and security policy changed as a response to the regional and international developments. Post-2000 period witnessed changes as well with Sharon&rsquo / s returning to offensive strategies.

The purpose of this study was to reveal and define the problems middle school mathematics teachers experienced in applying transformational geometry and the solutions they proposed to overcome these problems. A total of six elementary mathematics teachers (grades 5-8) in Ankara participated in the study. The data were collected by means of one-to-one interviews with the participants. The findings indicated that the participants&rsquo / problems divided into three parts. These problems were problems arising from teachers, problems arising from students and problems arising from resources. The participants expressed challenges in teaching due to lack of materials, textbooks, and visualization ability of teachers, classroom size, and time. According to the findings, rotation was the most problematic issue. The participants claimed insufficient technological materials were the reason of this problem. Participants did not feel confidence enough to implement transformational geometry especially in rotation since they lacked adequate training and support. The participants claimed that the Ministry&rsquo / s support should be increased, concrete and technological materials should be sufficient in number, and the duration of transformational geometry lesson should be increased.

This thesis is designed to analyze the relations between the Egyptian women&rsquo / s NGOs and the state in Contemporary Egypt through the interviews conducted with members and administrators of eleven selected women&rsquo / s NGOs based in Cairo. The main aim is to show how these NGOs with different aims and different working areas build their relations with the state, what kind of problems they face and how they cope with them as well as, if there are any, elaborate the relation patterns between the state and different women&rsquo / s NGOs in different fields. The sample of the research consists of twenty-seven women, members and administrators, from eleven women&rsquo / s organizations based in Cairo. The women&rsquo / s organizations that constitute the subject of this research study were selected out of the leading advocacy, research, charity and development NGOs in Cairo. Within this framework, the thesis is mainly based on the qualitative data of the in-depth interviews and the interpretations of the responses given by the interviewees. On the other hand, in order to better analyze and understand existing relations between the state and women&rsquo / s organizations in contemporary Egypt, women&rsquo / s activism and NGOs and their shifting relations with the state will be examined historically as well.

In the present work the effect of isothermal ageing treatment on the microstructure and on the localized corrosion resistance of a duplex stainless steel (DSS) was investigated. Specimens taken from a hot rolled cylindrical duplex stainless bar with 22% Cr grade were solution annealed at 1050&deg / C and then sensitization heat treatments were conducted at 650, 725 and 800&deg / C with duration ranging from 100 to 31622 min. The microstructural changes were examined by the light optical microscopy (LOM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). XRD technique and EDS analysis were used for microstructural evolution. Double Loop Electrochemical Potentiodynamic Reactivation (DLEPR) and standard weight loss immersion acid tests were performed in order to determine the degree of sensitization (DOS) to intergranular corrosion. The surfaces remained after the DLEPR test and the weight loss immersion test were also examined to observe the attack locations and their relationship with the chromium depleted zones. The degree of sensitization is measured by determining the ratio of the maximum current generated by the reactivation (reverse) scan to that of the anodic (forward) scan, (Ir/Ia) x 100. Ir is very small (less than 10-5 A/cm2) for solution annealed samples at 1050&deg / C for 1 hr and those aged at 650&deg / C for 100 and 316 min after the solution heat treatment, with the Ir/Ia ratios of 0.027634%, 0.033428% and 0.058928% respectively. Hence these samples were considered as unsensitized and their microstructure was composed of primary ferrite and austenite. However, Ir increased to values as high as 10-2 A/cm2 and even approached Ia for all samples aged for other temperatures and times, associated with high Ir/Ia ratios. The increased degree of sensitization can be attributed to stronger effect of chromium and molybdenum depleted areas. The microstructure was composed of primary ferrite and austenite including also sigma phase and the secondary austenite that would be responsible for the localized chromium impoverishment. The time required for sensitization was shorter in samples aged at higher temperatures. Accordingly ageing times of 1000 min at 725&deg / C and of 316 min at 800&deg / C were sufficient, whereas times longer than 10000 min was needed to achieve a sensitized structure at 650&deg / C.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prospective teachers&rsquo / knowledge of mistakes held by elementary students in fractions and their proposed strategies to overcome those mistakes. The data were collected from 149 prospective elementary mathematics teachers enrolled in the elementary mathematics education programs from a public university in Central Anatolian Region. Fraction Knowledge Questionnaire was used to accomplish the purpose of the study. The data collection tool included nine open ended questions, and each question had two sub-tasks. In this study, the items in the &ldquo / Fraction Knowledge Questionnaire&rdquo / were analyzed in-depth in order to reach a detailed description of prospective teachers&rsquo / knowledge about students&rsquo / mistakes on fractions. The results of this study revealed that prospective elementary mathematics teachers mostly could identify the students&rsquo / mistakes. However, although prospective teachers could notice the students&rsquo / mistakes, they could give superficial reasons for these mistakes. Furthermore, verbal explanations, using area representation, using real life model, reviewing prior knowledge, teaching standard algorithm, asking guided questions, using simple examples, using counter examples, using drill and practice, making students aware of their mistakes, and increasing students&rsquo / motivation were the suggested strategies by prospective teachers in order to overcome students&rsquo / mistakes in fractions.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the views of upper elementary mathematics teachers and students about the use of manipulatives in teaching and learning mathematics. This study is a qualitative case study. The participants of this study were four elementary mathematics teachers in a private school and their 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students. The data were collected through one-to-one interviews, observations and analyzing documents consisting of annual plan, daily plan, notebooks of students, and the field note that the researcher kept throughout the study. This study revealed that although all the teachers advocate the use of manipulatives in teaching mathematics, they use traditional teaching techniques in their classes. They mentioned different factors affecting their use of manipulatives in teaching mathematics such as not knowing how to use them, grade level, availability of materials, time constraints, students&rsquo / reactions (seeing them as a toy or not being accustomed to them), school administration, classroom management, not finding materials appropriate for the subject being taught and classroom size. In fact, these are the factors that are seen on the surface level. This study indicated that even when teachers are provided with training about the use of manipulatives, supported by the school administration, and provided with manipulatives, the use of manipulatives is largely determined by their views / beliefs about the nature of mathematics, how students can learn mathematics, the effect of manipulatives and their knowledge in using them. Students seemed to like learning by using manipulatives. When conditions were arranged for learning, they were willing to learn through manipulatives.

This study examines the relationship between the performances of US equity REITs and the market risk premium, SMB, HML, MOM as well as an industry index and a real estate index. The statistical significance of the abnormal returns and the beta coefficients of independent variables are examined. The REITs are categorized in seven groups according to their investment areas and the analysis results are compared. Daily return indexes of US equity REITs are collected for the period between 2005 and 2011. These data are then used to estimate the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) of Sharpe (1964) and Lintner (1965), the Fama and French&rsquo / s 3-Factor Model (1993) and Carhart&rsquo / s 4-Factor Model (1995). These models are re-estimated by adding an industry and a real estate index. The empirical results show that these added independent variables improve the available models. Additionally, no abnormal return is detected for REITs and their returns have a positive correlation with the SMB and HML factors and a negative correlation with the MOM factor. Therefore,, the REITs are relatively small and have high book-to-market ratios. The negative MOM coefficients indicate that the losers will win and the winners will lose.