The purpose of this study was to investigate the preservice science teachers&rsquo / perceived technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) on genetics. More specifically, the purpose was to examine the relationships among the components of TPACK and genetics knowledge of the preservice science teachers. Moreover, findings the effect of the demographic information on perceived TPACK was also aimed. This study was conducted with preservice science teachers who were enrolled in elementary science education department of Education Faculties of eight public universities located in Central Anatolia. 1530 preservice science teachers participated to the study. There were two instruments used in this research which were perceived TPACK questionnaire, which was later adopted by the researcher as perceived TPACK on genetics, and genetic concepts test. v Data were analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics. In order to answer the first research question, descriptive information about the components of TPACK was given. Correlational analyses were used to identify the relationship between each component of the perceived TPACK on genetics and their genetic knowledge. Another correlational analysis was conducted for the third research question which seeks the relationships among the components of the TPACK. Moreover, MANOVA was conducted to investigate the impact of gender and year of enrollment on perceived TPACK on genetics of preservice science teachers. The results revealed that genetic knowledge was correlated with each component except the perceived project specific technology knowledge. Moreover, there were positive significant correlations among the components of the TPACK. According to the MANOVA results, the mean scores of male and female preservice science teachers differ in five components of TPACK, namely project specific technology knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, technological content knowledge and technological pedagogical content knowledge. The results of MANOVA for year of enrollment revealed that the mean ETK, GTK, PSTK, and CK scores of participants with different year of enrollment differ significantly.

Effectiveness and usefullness among the important factors that affect success of online learning environments. During this study, a course-content management system developed regarding effectivity and usability related concerns. One major aim of this study is to develop effective and usable system. In this study, a course-content management system designed and developed under the light of previous researches. In the design phase, effective design strategies and characteristics of effective and usable learning systems were explored, and system was designed considering these strategies. Then, development phase applied. After system developed, usability techniques was explored, and heuristic evaluation method was choosed as a usability method to measure usability of the system. During the study, modified version of a checklist that was prepared considering usability heuristics. Applied checklist contains total 108 questions under 13 heuristics (major usability problem). Heuristic evaluation is an expert review method. Therefore, this study should have been evaluated by experts. 8 experts enrolled in this study. All experts are either Phd or graduate students at instructional technology departments and they have enrolled in web-based studies. They investigated the usability of the course-content management system according to the usability related criterias on the checklist. When test results were considered, a course-contentmanagement system developed during this study was found usable. Results of this study may enlighten the way of future studies.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of concrete models on eighth grade students&rsquo / geometry achievement and attitudes toward geometry. The study was conducted on 106 eighth grade students in one of the private school in Ankara. The subjects of the study received instruction with concrete models, and by the traditional method. Cooperative learning method and discovery learning method were also used to provide better classroom environment and to create exciting classroom atmosphere for the use of concrete models. The following measuring instruments were used to collect data: The Geometry Attitude Scale (GAS), Geometry Achievement Test (GAT) and open ended questions. The present study was a matching-only pre-test- post-test control group design. The data of the present study were analyzed by Analysis of Co-Variance and by two-way Analysis of Variance. The results of the study indicated that: (1) There was a statistically significant mean difference between students received instruction with concrete models and those received instruction with traditional method in terms of the GAch / (2) there was no statistically significant mean difference between girls and boys in terms of GAch / (3) there was no statistically significant interaction between treatment and gender on GAch / (4) there was no statistically significant mean difference between students received instruction with concrete models and those received instruction with traditional method in terms of ATG / (5) there was no statistically significant mean difference between girls and boys in terms of ATG / and (6) there was no statistically significant interaction between treatment and gender on ATG.

The main purpose of the study was to compare the effectiveness of multiple intelligences theory based instruction (MITBI) and traditional science instruction (TSI) on 9th grade students&amp / #8217 / understanding of chemical bonding concept and attitudes toward chemistry. In the study, 50 ninth grade students from two classes of Gen&ccedil / Osman high school in Ankara were used. 25 of the students were assigned as experimental group and the other 25 as control group. They were instructed by the same teacher. The study was conducted during May of 2005. The groups were selected from eight 9th grade classes of Gen&ccedil / Osman High School randomly. The students are at the ages between 14 and 16. The group which was assigned as experimental group was instructed by multiple intelligences theory based instruction (MITBI) whereas the other group was traditionally instructed. This experimental study took a period of three weeks. To determine the effectives of multiple intelligences based instruction over traditional science instruction, an achievement test about chemical bonding concept which consisted of 25 items were administered and an attitude scale toward chemistry developed by Geban et al., was applied. Science Process Skill Test was administered to investigate the relationship between the students&amp / #8217 / science process skills and their achievement. For the statistical analysis, t-test, and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) were used. The results showed that students who were instructed by multiple intelligences theory based instruction were achieved higher than the ones which were instructed by the traditional science instruction about chemical bonding concept. There was also a significant difference between the students instructed with Multiple Intelligences Theory Based Instruction (MITBI) and the students instructed with traditional science instruction (TSI) with respect to the attitudes of students toward chemistry. There was no significant difference between the attitudes and achievement of female students and that of male students. Students&amp / #8217 / science process skills had no greater contribution to their success.

With the newly designed curricula, the preparatory year of the Anatolian High Schools (AHS) was terminated while expanding its English program to four years. Within that context, utilizing semi-structured interview protocols this descriptive study aimed to bring an insight into the perceptions of parents, students, and teachers about the new AHS English program. Moreover, the perceptions of the participants on the materials provided by MONE and European Language Portfolio were also aimed to be revealed. Additionally, it was targeted to bring out what participants think about the applicability of the communicative language teaching, student-centered approach, and multiple intelligences, since they were stated in the foreign language curricula. While the population consisted of AHSs in Ankara, the sample of the study made up of 4 groups of parents, students, and teachers from 4 AHSs in Ankara. Each group consisted of 12 interviewees, which makes 36 participants in total. In selecting students and parents convenience sampling, and in selecting teachers purposive sampling was utilized. Analyzing the data collected using content analysis the findings revealed that parents, students, and teachers do not favor the current English language practice in AHSs where preparatory class is terminated. Additionally, the findings showed that in order to learn English, preparatory class is a necessity either after 5-year or after8-year elementary education. Results also showed that all groups perceive English positively and support teaching and learning of the language. As for the perceptions of the participants on the materials, they expressed how insufficient they are in terms of teaching the language and in terms of practicing the language teaching approaches stated in the curriculum. Moreover, it was found that most of the participants did not know about the European Language Portfolio. Lastly, according to the answers, the English language teaching approaches stressed in the curriculum were difficult to be practiced in classes.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the nature of changes in preservice elementary mathematics teachers&rsquo / views and reflections about elementary mathematics classes based on their observations in School Experience I and School Experience II courses. Specifically, this study investigated pre-service elementary mathematics teachers&rsquo / views and reflections about instruction, assessment, and classroom management issues in elementary mathematics classes based on their observations in School Experience I and School Experience II courses. The sample consisted of 19 pre-service elementary mathematics teachers from a teacher education program at Middle East Technical University (METU). Pre-service elementary mathematics teachers involved in this study made their observations in their cooperating schools for 3 months during the spring semester of 2004-2005 academic year and the fall semester of 2007-2008 academic year. The data were collected by means of their School Experience I and School Experience II course reports. The results indicated that although there was commonality in the views and reflections of pre-service elementary mathematics teachers&rsquo / about instruction, assessment, and classroom management issues in elementary mathematics classes, there were differences in their knowledge in the way they perceive instruction, assessment, and classroom management as they progressed through their education. In other words, when School Experience I course reports were compared with School Experience II course reports, pre-service teachers perceived the mathematics instruction as more student-centered and they gave more importance to the alternative assessment strategies in their School Experience II course reports. Furthermore, they defended more positive classroom management methods in their School Experience II course reports.

A component-oriented tool for hierarchical modeling of instructional designs is developed. The motivation is to show that hierarchical representation of instructional designs is easier, better and more effective for modeling. Additionally a modeling language is developed to provide an effective, flexible and easy to use integration model in which all teaching components are discovered, defined and connected. In order to fulfill the above purposes an abstract notation is developed that is sufficiently general and adapting top-down hierarchic approach to represent Units of Learning (UoL), Operational Knowledge Units (OKU), Learning Objects (LO), and Learning Components (LC) with respect to the common structures found in different instructional models. COSEML, a top-down hierarchic, and component oriented modeling language has been used as a reference and the core concept in developing the Educational Component Oriented Modeling Language (ECOML). The high-level architecture of ECOML provides the means for designing instructional structures. It describes how LOs, UoLs, OKUs and LCs are sequenced in a certain context or knowledge domain. The resulting model can be reused in different contexts and across different educational platforms.

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of conceptual change oriented instruction accompanied with analogies on eight grade students&rsquo / understanding of chemical bonding concepts. In addition, the effect of instruction on students&rsquo / attitude toward science as a school subject and the effect of gender difference on understanding of chemical bonding concepts were investigated. Fifty eight-grade students from two classes of a science course taught by the same teacher in B&uuml / y&uuml / kel&ccedil / i Nazim Belger Primary School in the 2010-2011 spring semesters participated in the study. The study included two groups which were selected randomly throughout three classes. One of the groups was defined as control group in which students were instructed by traditionally designed science instruction, while other group was defined as experimental group in which students were instructed by conceptual change texts oriented instruction accompanied with analogies. Chemical Bonding Concept Pre-Test was administered to both groups as a pre-test and Chemical Bonding Concept Post-Test was administered to both groups as a post-test in order to assess their understanding of concepts related to chemical bonding. Students were also given Attitude Scale Towards Science as a School Subject at the beginning and end of the study to determine their attitudes and Science Process Skill Test was used at the beginning of the study to measure their science process skills. The hypotheses were tested by using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results indicated that instruction based on constructivist approach caused a significantly better acquisition of scientific conceptions related to chemical bonding and produced significantly higher positive attitudes toward science as a school subject than the traditionally designed science instruction. Also, science process skill was a strong predictor in understanding the concepts related to chemical bonding. On the other hand, no significant effect of gender difference on understanding the concepts about chemical bonding and students&rsquo / attitudes toward science as a school subject was found.

The main purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of instruction based on constructivist approach over traditionally designed chemistry instruction on ninth grade students&amp / #65533 / understanding of chemical bonding concepts. In addition, the effect of instruction on students&amp / #65533 / attitude toward chemistry as a school subject and the effect of gender difference on understanding of chemical bonding concepts were investigated. Forty-two ninth grade students from two classes of a chemistry course taught by the same teacher in METU Development Foundation Private School 2000-2001 spring semester were enrolled in the study. The classes were randomly assigned as control and experimental groups. Students in the control group were instructed by traditionally designed chemistry instruction whereas students in the experimental group were taught by the instruction based on constructivist approach. Chemical Bonding Concept Test was administered to both groups as a pre-test and post-test in order to assess their understanding of concepts related to chemical bonding. Students were also given Attitude Scale Toward Chemistry as a School Subject at the beginning and end of the study to determine their attitudes and Science Process Skill Test at the beginning of the study to measure their science process skills. The hypotheses were tested by using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results indicated that instruction based on constructivist approach caused a significantly better acquisition of scientific conceptions related to chemical bonding and produced significantly higher positive attitudes toward chemistry as a school subject than the traditionally designed chemistry instruction. In addition, science process skill was a strong predictor in understanding the concepts related to chemical bonding. On the other hand, no significant effect of gender difference on understanding the concepts about chemical bonding and students&amp / #65533 / attitudes toward chemistry as a school subject was found.

This study sought to investigate the effects of multiple intelligences based instruction (MIBI) and learning styles on ninth graders&amp / #8217 / attitudes toward biology, biology achievement, and overall multiple intelligences. This experimental research was conducted in the second term of 2002-2003 educational year in Eregli high school. The sample involved in the study consisted of 64 students from the two different ninth grade classes taught by the same teacher. One class was assigned as the experimental group in which students were exposed to MIBI, whereas the other class was assigned as the control group in which students were exposed to traditional instruction in the unit of diversity and classification of living organisms. The data were obtained from attitudes toward biology scale, unit achievement test, multiple intelligences and Kolb&amp / #8217 / s learning style inventories, interviews with the students and the teacher, and observations in the experimental classroom during the treatment. Multivariate Analysis of Covariance was used for the quantitative data obtained from measuring tools. Results indicated that there was a significant effect of MIBI on students&amp / #8217 / attitudes toward biology and biology achievement, but there was not any significant effect of MIBI on students&amp / #8217 / overall multiple intelligences. In addition, there was not any significant effect of the students&amp / #8217 / learning styles on their attitudes toward biology, biology achievement, or overall multiple intelligences. Moreover, interpretations of the interviews with the students and the teacher, and the observations of the experimental classroom indicated that MIBI had positive contributions on teaching and learning process.