The purpose of the study was to predict mathematics achievement with self-confidence in mathematics, actual work effort in mathematics, and perceived importance of work effort in mathematics, and to investigate the gender differences with respect to those variables. The study was conducted in Ankara, Turkey with 157 eight-grade students (87 boys, 70 girls) from a private school. The following measuring instruments were used: (1) Confidence in Learning Mathematics Scale, (2) Effort as a Mediator of Mathematical Ability Scale, (3) Homeworks and Mathematics Achievement Tests. The validity and reliability of the measuring instruments were tested by the researcher. The data of this study were analyzed by using Stepwise Multiple Regression Analysis and Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA). The results of the study indicated that (1) the combined effect of three predictor variables (Self-confidence, actual work effort, and perceived Importance of work effort) on students&rsquo / mathematics achievement was significant (R2adj=0.543). Girls&rsquo / mathematics achievement was significantly (R2adj=0.531) affected by three predictor variables (Self-confidence, actual work effort, and perceived importance of work effort). Whereas for boys, two variables (Self-confidence and actual work effort) were the predictors which had a significant combined effect on mathematics achievement (R2adj=0.539). (2) There was no statistically significant mean difference between girls and boys with respect to self-confidence, actual work effort, perceived importance of work effort and mathematics achievement.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the problem solving strategies, problem solving episodes, and metacognition of five Turkish students just graduated from elementary school and explore the interplay of these factors on their problem solving success in mathematics. The research data had been collected by clinical interviews and a self monitoring questionnaire followed by the interviews. Ten mathematical problems that participant students had worked on were selected among the released mathematical literacy items used in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2003. The problem solving strategies used by participants were coded according to the descriptions given by Posamentier &amp / Krulik (1999). The cognitive-metacognitive problem solving framework developed by Artzt and Armour-Thomas (1992) has been used to observe the problem solving episodes of the participants. The coding system developed by Pappas et al. (2003) has been utilized to examine the major components of metacognition (mistake recognition, adaptability, awareness and expression of thought) of the participants. The self-monitoring questionnaire responses were analyzed to crosscheck the results obtained from the clinical interviews. The problem solving behaviors of the participants observed in the study confirmed their academic success levels. The study confirmed that the problem solving success is too complex to be clarified by a unique property or a behavior of the problem solver. The problem solving requires overcoming various obstacles to reach a successful result. Hence, not only the students should have the required mathematical knowledge and a good repertoire of different problem solving strategies, but also they should know when and how to use those strategies, and also they could monitor and regulate their problem solving processes using their metacognitive skills. So mathematics teachers should provide problems that require different problem solving strategies and encourage the students to explore new strategies, to take risks in trying and to discuss failures and successes with peers and teacher.

The purpose of this study was to investigate primary school and mathematics teachers&rsquo / efficacy beliefs and perceptions in the context of the new primary mathematics curriculum and identify differences, if any, in teachers&rsquo / efficacy beliefs and perceptions based on their area of certification, gender, experience and number of students in classroom. The sample consisted of 805 teachers, 696 of whom were primary and 105 of whom were mathematics teachers working in elementary schools located in Mersin, Eskisehir, Bolu, Ankara and Istanbul. The questionnaire administered to participants was adapted by the researcher throughout the study. Results of exploratory factor analysis suggested six dimensions: Utility and Impact of the Curriculum, Impact of the Curriculum regarding Efficacy Beliefs, Efficacy Beliefs regarding the New Curriculum, Utilization of Curriculum, Utilization of Special Techniques, and Teachers&rsquo / Sense of Efficacy. The results of the MANOVA analysis indicated that teachers&rsquo / area of certification and experience had a significant role on the collective dependent variables, while number of students and gender did not. Analysis further revealed that primary teachers had significantly stronger efficacy beliefs about the new curriculum than mathematics teachers. Moreover, teachers with 11-15 and 21 and more years of experience were significantly found to perceive a higher utilization of special techniques than teachers with 10 years or less experience. In a similar sense, teachers with 16-20 years of experience were found to have a significant higher perceived utilization of special techniques than teachers with 5 years or less experience.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between 6th grade students&rsquo / problem solving achievement scores after completing instruction on problem solving and their mathematics achievement mean scores related to Least Common Multiple (LCM), Greatest Common Factor (GCF), Sets and Whole Numbers topics obtained throughout the semester. In addition, the relationship between 6th grade students&rsquo / problem solving achievement scores after completing instruction on problem solving and their actual mathematics net scores obtained from Level Determination Exam (SBS) was investigated. In total, 170 sixth grade students from a private school in Istanbul participated in the study. The data were collected via three sources namely / Problem Solving Achievement Tests (PSATs), Mathematics Achievement Tests (MATs) and SBS exam. Quantitative methods were utilized to examine the research questions and a correlational design was used. The results of the statistical analysis showed that there was a significant positive correlation between students&rsquo / problem solving achievement scores after completing instruction on problem solving and their mathematics achievement mean scores obtained through out the semester related to LCM, GCF, Sets and Whole Numbers Topics. In addition, the findings of the analysis showed that there was a significant large positive correlation between the problem solving achievement scores after completing instruction on problem solving and students&rsquo / actual mathematics net scores obtained from SBS.

This study examined the effects of social-ecological intervention on physical activity (PA) knowledge level and behaviors of rural middle school students. A pre-test post-test control group design was constructed. In addition, qualitative data was collected by focus group discussions after the post-test in experimental group. Two schools from similar rural settings were identified as experimental and control schools. In total 62 students from 6, 7, 8 grades of these schools participated in this study. Experimental school PA environment was changed based on the social-ecological model (SEM) with a focus on intrapersonal, interpersonal, community level, organizational factors, and public policies related with PA. Turkish version of health related fitness (HRF) knowledge test, v pedometer, exercise stages of change, PA self-efficacy, social support, and PA enjoyment questionnaires were used to gather information for the dependent variables for the present study. A focus group discussion was implemented in experimental school. Repeated Measures ANOVA was used for the numerical data analysis. Focus group transcriptions were analyzed by content analysis method. According to HRF knowledge and PA analysis, experimental school students significantly improved their HRF knowledge scores, PA levels, social support compared to the control group students (p&lt / 0.05). Focus groups results supported the quantitative findings. In conclusion, this study indicated the value of SEM in improving the health related fitness knowledge, PA level and social support of students in rural context. Improving the rural school context for PA promotion by SEM is strongly recommended.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of using dynamic geometry software while teaching by guided discovery compared to paper-and-pencil based guided discovery and traditional teaching method on sixth grade students&rsquo / van Hiele geometric thinking levels and geometry achievement. The study was conducted in one of the private schools in Ankara and lasted six weeks. The sample of the study consisted 47 sixth grade students in the school. The present study was designed as pretest-posttest control group quasi-experimental study.In order to gather data, Geometry Achievement Test (GAT) and Van Hiele Geometric Thinking Level Test (VHL) were used. At the end of the research, the data were analyzed by means of analysis of covariance. The results of the study indicated that there was a significant effect of methods of teaching on means of the collective dependent variables of the sixth grade students&rsquo / scores on the POSTVHL after controlling their PREVHL scores, and there was a significant effect of methods of teaching on means of the collective dependent variables of the sixth grade students&rsquo / scores on the POSTGAT after controlling their PREGAT scores.