International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications (IJONTE)

July, 2015

Volume: 6 Issue: 3

ISSN 1309-6249

http://ijonte.org

International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications July 2015 Volume: 6 Issue: 3 ISSN 1309-6249

Contact Addresses

Prof. Dr. Zeki Kaya, Gazi Üniversitesi, Gazi Eğitim Fakültesi, Eğitim Bilimleri Bölümü Tenik Okullar Ankara/Türkiye E. Mail: [email protected]

Prof. Dr. Uğur Demiray, Anadolu Üniversitesi, İletişim Bilimleri Fakültesi, Yunusemre Kampüsü, 26470 Eskişehir/Türkiye E. Mail: [email protected] Phone: +905422322167 Assoc. Prof. Dr. Beyhan Zabun, Gazi Üniversitesi, Gazi Eğitim Fakültesi, Tenik Okullar Ankara/Türkiye E. Mail: [email protected]

Assist. Prof. Dr. Ilknur Istifci, Anadolu Üniversitesi, Yabancı Diller Yüksek Okulu, İki Eylül Kampusü, 26470 Eskişehir/Türkiye E. Mail: [email protected] Phone: +902223350580

Abstracting & Indexing

International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications (IJONTE) is currently indexed, abstracted and listed starting with the first issue in:

International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications July 2015 Volume: 6 Issue: 3 ISSN 1309-6249

Sponsors

Editors

Prof. Dr. Zeki Kaya, Gazi University- Turkey Prof. Dr. Ugur Demiray, Anadolu University- Turkey

Associate Editors

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Beyhan Zabun, Gazi University- Turkey Assist. Prof. Dr. Ilknur Istifci, Anadolu University- Turkey Dr. Nazan Dogruer, Eastern Mediterranean University- TRNC Dr. Ramadan Eyyam, Eastern Mediterranean University- TRNC Dr. Ufuk Tanyeri, Ankara University- Turkey

Assistant Editor

Ipek Menevis, Eastern Mediterranean University- TRNC

Editorial Board

Prof. Dr. Ali H. Raddaoui, University of Sfax- Tunisia Prof. Dr. Abdul Hakim Juri, University of Kuala Lumpur- Malaysia Prof. Dr. Ali Murat Sunbul, Selcuk University- Turkey Prof. Dr. Ahmet Pehlivan, Cyprus International University- TRNC Prof. Dr. Ali Simsek, Anadolu University- Turkey Prof. Dr. Antoinette J. Muntjewerff, Amsterdam University- Netherlands Prof. Dr. Antonis Lionarakis, Hellenic Open University- Greece Prof. Dr. Augustyn Bańka, Nicolaus Copernicus University- Poland Prof. Dr. Boriss Misnevs, Transport and Telecommunication Institute- Latvia Prof. Dr. Charlotte Nirmalani (Lani) Gunawardena, University of New Mexico- USA Prof. Dr. Christine Howe, University of Cambridge- United Kingdom Prof. Dr. Cevat Celep, Kocaeli University- Turkey Prof. Dr. Cleborne D. Maddux, University of Nevada- USA

International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications July 2015 Volume: 6 Issue: 3 ISSN 1309-6249

Prof. Dr. Coskun Bayrak, Anadolu University- Turkey Prof. Dr. Danièle Moore, Simon Fraser University- Canada Prof. Dr. Emine Demiray, Anadolu University- Turkey Prof. Dr. Erol Yildiz, Alpen-Adria University- Austria Prof. Dr. Esmahan Agaoglu, Anadolu University- Turkey Prof. Dr. Francis Glasgow, Guyana University- South America Prof. Dr. Gonca Telli Yamamoto, Okan University- Turkey Prof. Dr. Gul Nurgalieva, Joint-stock company,"National Center of Information"- Kazakhstan Prof. Dr. Harold Bekkering, University of Nijmegen- Netherlands Prof. Dr. H. Ferhan Odabasi, Anadolu University- Turkey Prof. Dr. Heli Ruokamo, University of Lapland- Finland Prof. Dr. I. Hakki Mirici, Hacettepe University- Turkey Prof. Dr. Jim Flood, Open University- United Kingdom Prof. Dr. Jozef Gašparík, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava- Slovakia Prof. Dr. Kiyoshi Nakabayashi, Kumamoto University- Japan Prof. Dr. K. M. Gupta, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology- India Prof. Dr. Liliana Ezechil, University of Piteşti- Romania Prof. Dr. Manuel Alberto M. Ferreira, Lisbon University Institute- Portugal Prof. Dr. Marie J. Myers, Queen's University- Canada Prof. Dr. Mehmet Durdu Karsli, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University- Turkey Prof. Dr. Mehmet Kesim, Anadolu University- Turkey Prof. Dr. Meral Aksu, Middle East Technical University- Turkey Prof. Dr. Min Jou, National Taiwan Normal University- Taiwan Prof. Dr. Modafar Ati, Abu Dhabi University- United Arab Emirates Prof. Dr. Mohamed Abolgasem Artemimi, Zawia Engineering College- Libya Prof. Dr. Mufit Komleksiz, Cyprus International University- TRNC Prof. Dr. Mustafa Cakir, Anadolu University- Turkey Prof. Dr. Nedim Gurses, Anadolu University- Turkey Prof. Dr. Paul Kawachi, Bejing Normal University- China Prof. Dr. Ramesh C. Sharma, Indira Gandhi National Open University- India Prof. Dr. Richard C. Hunter, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign- USA Prof. Dr. Roberta E. (Bobby) Harreveld, Queensland University- Australia Prof. Dr. Rozhan M. Idrus, School of Distance Education, University Sains- Malaysia Prof. Dr. Santosh Panda, Indira Gandhi National Open University- India Prof. Dr. Selahattin Gelbal, Hacettepe University- Turkey Prof. Dr. Sharif H. Guseynov, Transport and Telecommunication Institute- Latvia Prof. Dr. Tamar Lominadze, Georgian Technical University- Georgia Prof. Dr. Tanja Betz, Goethe University- Germany Prof. Dr. Tony Townsend, University of Glasgow- United Kingdom Prof. Dr. Valentina Dagiene, Institute of Mathematics and Informatics- Lithuania Prof. Dr. Xibin Han, Tsinghua University- China Prof. Dr. Yavuz Akpinar, Bogaziçi University- Turkey Prof. Dr. Yoav Yair,The Open University of Israel- Israel Prof. Dr. Yuksel Kavak, Hacettepe University- Turkey Assoc. Prof. Dr. Carlos Machado, Vrije University- Belgium Assoc. Prof. Dr. Danny Bernard Martin, University of Ilinois at Chicago- USA Assoc. Prof. Dr. Demetrios G. Sampson, University of Piraeus- Greece Assoc. Prof. Dr. Irfan Yurdabakan, Dokuz Eykul University- Turkey Assoc. Prof. Dr. Natalija Lepkova, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University- Lithuania Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nigel Bagnall, The University of Sydney- Australia iv Copyright © International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications / www.ijonte.org

International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications July 2015 Volume: 6 Issue: 3 ISSN 1309-6249

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ozgen Korkmaz, Mevlana University- Turkey Assoc. Prof. Dr. Piet Kommers, University of Twente- Netherlands Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rositsa Doneva, Paisii Hilendarski University of Plovdiv- Bulgaria Assoc. Prof. Dr. S. Raja, ASL Pauls College of Engineering and Technology- India Assoc. Prof. Dr. Shivakumar Deene, Karnataka State Open University- India Assoc. Prof. Dr. Steve Wheeler, University of Plymouth- United Kingdom Assist. Prof. Dr. Katherine Sinitsa, International Research and Training Center- Ukrania Assist. Prof. Dr. Roxana Criu, Cuza University- Romania Assist. Prof. Dr. Zdena Lustigova, Charles University- Czech Republic Dr. Carmencita L. Castolo, Polytechnic University- Philippines Dr. Hisham Mobaideen, Mu'tah University- Jordan Dr. Simon Stobart, University of Teesside- United Kingdom

International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications July 2015 Volume: 6 Issue: 3 From Editors ISSN 1309-6249

Dear IJONTE Readers,

International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications- IJONTE appears on your screen now as Volume 6, Number 3. In this issue it publishes 20 articles. And this time, 35 authors from 9 different countries are placed. These are Bangladesh, Czech Republic, Namibia, Serbia, Slovenia, Taiwan (ROC), United Kingdom, Turkey and USA.

Our journal has been published for over five years. It has been followed by many people and a lot of articles have been sent to be published. 342 articles have been sent to referees for forthcoming issues. They will be published according to the order and the results. Articles are sent to referees without names and addresses of the authors. The articles who get positive responses will be published and the authors will be informed. The articles who are not accepted to be published will be returned to their authors.

We wish you success and easiness in your studies.

Cordially,

1st July, 2015

Editors Prof. Dr. Zeki KAYA, Gazi University, Ankara- TURKEY Prof. Dr. Ugur DEMIRAY, Anadolu University, Eskisehir- TURKEY Assoc. Prof. Dr. Beyhan ZABUN, Gazi University, Ankara- TURKEY Assist. Prof. Dr. Ilknur ISTIFCI, Anadolu University, Eskisehir- TURKEY

International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications July 2015 Volume: 6 Issue: 3 Contents ISSN 1309-6249

ARTICLES……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...vi

01. CHALLENGES AND BARRIERS IN IMPLEMENTING LIFELONG LEARNING IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES Prof. Dr. Ali YAZICI, Prof. Dr. Alipaşa AYAS- TURKEY………………………………………………………………………………………1

02. TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’ AWARENESS LEVEL OF THEIR ROLES IN DISTANCE EDUCATION Canan DEVECI- TURKEY……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….10

03. IMPLEMENTATION OF FOSTERING GIFTEDNESS IN SCIENCE TEACHER TRAINING Assoc. Prof. Dr. Josef TRNA, Assist. Prof. Dr. Eva TRNOVA- CZECH REPUBLIC………………………………………….……18

04. DESIGNING PCM INSTRUCTION BY USING ASSURE INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN MODEL Res. Assist. Bünyamin BAVLI, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yavuz ERİŞEN- TURKEY…………………………………………………….……27

05. SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS’ OPINIONS OF THEIR ‘MULTIPLE INTELLEGENCE AREAS’ LEVELS Assist. Prof. Dr. Celal GÜLŞEN, PhDc. Mehmet DEMİR- TURKEY……………………………………………………….…………..41

06. RATIONAL LEARNING IN THE CONTEXT OF SCHOOL (NON) SUCCESS Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bisera JEVTIĆ, Assist. Prof. Dr. Vesna LJ. MINIĆ, Assist. Prof. Dr. Marija JOVANOVIĆ- SERBIA…………………………………………………………………………………………………51

07. A STUDY ON ENGLISH PREPARATORY PROGRAM STUDENTS’ USE AND ACCEPTANCE OF MOBILE PHONES Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat HISMANOGLU, Assist. Prof. Dr. Yuksel ERSAN, Ress. Assist. Rasit COLAK- TURKEY…...63

08. THE EFFECT OF MUSIC EDUCATION ON THE EMPATHY OF MEDICAL STUDENTS Assist. Prof. Dr. Yüksel PİRGON –TURKEY……………………………………………………………………………………………..……..77

09. RELATIONS BETWEEN CERTAIN TYPES OF MOTIVATION AND SELF-ORIENTATION Kristina RANĐELOVIĆ, Dr. Dušan TODOROVIĆ – SERBIA…………………………………………………………………….………...87

10. LEARNING ASSESSMENT IN A SELF LEARNING MATERIAL Prof. Dr. Mohammad Habibur RAHMAN- BANGLADESH………………………………………………………………………………95

11. CONTEXT AWARE UBIQUITOUS LEARNING MILIEUS IN DISTANCE LEARNING Res. Assist. Hakan KILINC, Prof. Dr. T. Volkan YUZER- TURKEY……………………….………………………………………….102

12. DISTANCE EDUCATION UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS' EXPERIENCES OF PROJECT WORK SUPERVISION IN NAMIBIA Dr. Nchindo Richardson MBUKUSA- NAMIBIA………………………………………………………………………………………..….112

13. COMPETITIVENESS AND MOTIVATION FOR EDUCATION AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS Prof. Dr. Darja KOBAL GRUM, Assist. Prof. Dr. Bojan GRUM- SLOVENIA……………………………………………………..125

14. DISTANCE LANGUAGE LEARNING: STUDENTS’ VIEWS OF CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS PhDc. Rahmat BUDIMAN- UNITED KINGDOM…………………………………………………………………………………………….137

International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications July 2015 Volume: 6 Issue: 3 Contents ISSN 1309-6249

15. ITOUYING: A SERIOUS GAME FOR LEARNING ORTHOGRAPHIC PROJECTION Ming-Hung CHU, Prof. Dr. Tay-Sheng JENG, Prof. Dr. Chien-Hsu CHEN - TAIWAN (ROC)………………..…………..148

16. INTERNATIONAL STUDENT SATISFACTION OF ANTALYA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS Engin ÖZTÜRK, Assoc. Prof. Dr. İbrahim Halil ÇANKAYA- TURKEY………………………………………………………………165

17. A CLASSIFICATION OF STUDENT SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES IN OPEN AND DISTANCE LEARNING Ela AKGÜN ÖZBEK – TURKEY……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..174

18. PERSPECTIVES OF FOREIGN STUDENTS TOWARDS DISTANCE EDUCATION Assist. Prof. Dr. Mustafa COŞAR- TURKEY…………………………………………………………………………………………………..186

19. THE ANALYSIS OF LEARNING MODALITY OF MUSIC TEACHER CANDIDATES Assist. Prof. Dr. Ezgi BABACAN- TURKEY…………………………………………………………………………………………………….194

20. IS LEARNING EFFECTIVE WITH SOCIAL NETWORKS? LET’S INVESTIGATE! PhDc. Nil GÖKSEL CANBEK- TURKEY, Prof. Dr. Jace HARGIS- USA………………………………………………….…………..206

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CHALLENGES AND BARRIERS IN IMPLEMENTING LIFELONG LEARNING IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Prof. Dr. Ali YAZICI Atilim University Ankara- TURKEY

Prof. Dr. Alipaşa AYAS Bilkent University Ankara- TURKEY

ABSTRACT

Knowledge took 1,750 years to double for the first time, counting from the start of the Christian era; and it is projected that by 2020 knowledge will double every 73 days. Humanity faces a new challenge in coping with this rapid change in knowledge and consequently, adopting himself/herself to this directly affected society. Lifelong Learning (LLL) seems to be the only tool to satisfactorily reply to this challenge. This article aims at discussing the main issues in LLL including Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), using the approach in the European Union countries. In addition, challenges in Turkey’s recently completed European Union (EU) project “Promoting LLL in Turkey” are discussed. Based on these cases a roadmap and a set of recommendations for LLL in developing countries are given.

Key Words: Life Long Learning, LLL, e-Learning, RPL, Distance Education, Models of LLL.

INTRODUCTION

LLL is defined as all learning activities undertaken throughout life with the aim of improving knowledge, skills and competences, within a personal, civic and social and/or employment-related perspective (MEGEP, 2006). Learning process can take three different forms: formal, informal and non-formal learning. Formal learning takes place, in most cases, in school settings where there is a curriculum and a sequence of planned teaching and learning activities are carried out with students at a certain age at primary and secondary stages. Non- formal learning is undertaken in a certain environment with a curriculum and planned activities but the age of participants may be quite different. There can be very young and even very old participants taking the same activity or course together to have a new skill. Informal learning occurs in cases where there is no pre-defined curriculum and activities on paper. It can happen during the daily life conditions. In other words, Informal learning occurs as a natural outcome of everyday work, community based activities and everyday life experiences. That is to say, we are constantly learning regardless of time and place.

The idea of LLL was introduced by UNESCO about 50 years ago. In 1996, the OECD Education Ministers agreed to develop strategies for “lifelong learning for all”. Policy-makers in many OECD countries are now and have been trying to develop strategies to use all the skills gained “from cradle to grave” (OECD, 2014).

LLL covers all modes of learning throughout life: formal, non-formal or informal. At first LLL as a policy concept belonged only to the most developed countries around the world. In the last two-three decades it has a widening acceptance and area that something has to be done in developing and less developed country contexts. For example, a middle income country like Turkey spent major efforts for transformation of society as well as the skills of individuals. Bangladesh is an example among less developed countries which spent considerable time and effort for LLL (Arthur, 2009). OECD, despite its name and charter about economic development, takes a keen practical and applied interest in LLL to establish among its members a wider social inclusion, social capital and equity dimension (OECD, 2007). It is often believed that lifelong learning if undertaken seriously it has direct economic impact to the development of country.

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This paper will address some of the key issues in lifelong learning. In the next section basic concepts in LLL is discussed and the need for LLL is emphasized followed by an overview of LLL in Europe. Then, the fundamental components of a LLL system are outlined. EU project on “Promoting Lifelong Learning in Turkey” and its implementation strategy is given. The main issues in Recognition of Prior Learning are discussed next. Challenges in the implementation of the project are summarized followed by a section giving a roadmap for designing LLL in developing countries. Some concluding remarks are made in the final section.

LLL CONCEPTS

Knowledge took 1,750 years to double for the first time, counting from the start of the Christian era; and it is projected that by 2020 knowledge will double every 73 days (Bernheim and Chaui, 2003). Humanity faces a new challenge in coping with this rapid change in knowledge and consequently, adopting himself/herself to this directly affected society. Knowledge, also known as accumulated, analyzed and digested data/information, needs to be organized, stored, managed and utilized efficiently and effectively for its proliferation and for the well-being of humanity.

LLL seems to be the only tool to answer to these challenges. LLL is defined as “all learning activities undertaken throughout life with the aim of improving knowledge, skills and competences, within a personal, civic and social and/or employment-related perspective (MEGEP, 2006)”. LLL is not only a matter of economic necessity and, access to it is also essential for inclusion [5]. Basic literacy and basic IT and communication skills are often no longer sufficient for a better career, and as a result citizens with only basic skills are at increasing risk of social exclusion. Strengthening LLL within the system of education and training can support the people in rural areas, those individuals without literacy skills, people without an education, children and adults with special educational needs, and those without work and so on to gain the skills and/or qualifications they require for a more productive and fulfilled lives.

LLL Education/Training is implemented in one of the three forms, namely, formal, non-formal and informal education. The formal education refers to the education in the schools leading to a diploma, the non-formal education refers to the education/training most of the time leading to a diploma and/or qualification recognized by the related establishments, and finally, the last one is the education/training inquired by the people for self-satisfaction, career change, and hobby and so on. In Table 1 below, this classification is elaborated.

Table 1: Forms of LLL Education Place Organized by Diploma/Certificate

Formal Schools Public/Private Sector Diploma Non-formal Schools, establishments, training Public/Private (national, Diploma/Certificate centers international) sector Informal Home, establishments, training Municipalities, private Possible centers sector

LLL SYSTEM COMPONENTS

In the developing countries LLL activities are conducted in an ad hoc manner in which LLL education and training programs are widespread and conducted in an unorganized fashion. Moreover, the majority of the citizens are unaware of such activities run by the municipalities, NGOs, universities and so on.

Consequently, for a successful implementation of LLL, a system needs to be established within a country which plans and coordinates set of activities of public and private organizations. The aim of the system must be to set up effective processes of planning and coordination to support individual learner to access the learning opportunities they need in their lives (Project for Promoting LLL in Turkey).

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Such a system should include the following interrelated components:  Policy and legislation  Strategies and action plans  Courses and course providers  Trainers  Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) and certification  Guidance and counseling  Research  Information and support Each of these components is equally important for the design and implementation of a LLL system.

LLL IN EUROPEAN UNION

The European Commission (EC) issued a Memorandum of Lifelong Learning in 2000 which provides a set of strategies for implementing lifelong learning in Europe. In 2001, a plan of action was published (European Commission, 2001) to help countries modernize their LLL systems.

The priorities for developing lifelong learning systems were identified by the EC (EC, 2002) as:  Providing access to lifelong learning opportunities for all, regardless of age, including specific actions aimed at the most disadvantaged persons, those not participating in education and training, as well as migrants, as a means of facilitating their social integration  Providing opportunities to acquire and/or update basic skills, including the new basic skills, such as IT skills, foreign languages, technological culture, entrepreneurship and social skills  The training, recruitment and updating of teachers and trainers for the development of lifelong learning  The effective validation and recognition of formal qualifications as well as non-formal and informal learning, across countries and educational sectors through increased transparency and better quality assurance  The high quality and broad accessibility of target group specific information, guidance and counselling concerning lifelong learning opportunities and their benefits  Encouraging the representation of relevant sectors, including the youth sector, in existing or future networks and structures, working in this area.

The 2001 plan of action was revised in 2009, and adopted the Strategic Framework for European Cooperation in Education and Training (EC, 2009). It sets four objectives for LLL in Europe:  Making lifelong learning and mobility a reality  Improving the quality and efficiency of education and training  Promoting equity, social cohesion and active citizenship  Enhancing creativity and innovation, including entrepreneurship, at all levels of education and training.

A set of seven (EC, 2012) benchmarks have also been developed and countries are monitored in terms of progress towards these. The aim is that these targets are to be reached by 2020: 1. At least 95% of children between 4 years old and the age for starting compulsory primary education should participate in early childhood education 2. The share of 15 year olds with insufficient reading, mathematics and science should be less than 15% 3. The share of early leavers from education and training should be less than 10% 4. The share of 30-34 year olds with tertiary educational attainment should be at least 40% 5. An average of at least 15% of adults (age group 25 to 64) should participate in lifelong learning 6. At least 20% of higher education graduates and 6% of 18-34 year olds with an initial VET qualification should have had a period of study or training abroad 7. The share of employed graduates (20-34 years old) having left education and training no more than three years before the reference year should be at least 82%

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As part of its commitment to LLL, the EU adopted the European Framework for Key Competences for Lifelong Learning. The framework defines eight key competences that citizens require for their personal fulfillment, social inclusion, active citizenship, and employability in the EU’s knowledge based society as follows (EU, 2006): 1. Communication in the mother tongue 2. Communication in foreign languages 3. Mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology 4. Digital competence 5. Learning to learn 6. Social and civic competences 7. Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship 8. Cultural awareness and expression

Within the context of the Europe 2020 Strategy and its commitment to strengthening systems for lifelong learning, the EU defined a renewed European agenda for adult learning (EU, 2011).

In Figure 1 below, percentage of population aged 25-64 participating in LLL is shown in the year 2013. From this figure, one can easily depict that about 50% of the EU 27 countries is above the EU 27 average of 10 percent and the rest is below the average participation rate. And, the high participation rates in the Scandinavian countries are noticed. For EU to be successful in LLL all of the member states should perform equally well in order to ease the mobility and RPL issues among themselves.

Figure 1: Percentage of population aged 25-64 participating in LLL (2013) (http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/en/ )

CHALLENGES IN THE TURKEY’S LLL PROJECT

Project for Promoting LLL in Turkey (Draft Policy Paper, 2012) made a huge impact to set a target of achieving adult learning participation rates of 8% (from 2.6% in 2012) by 2015. Achieving this goal will require the involvement of all stakeholders in the lifelong learning system including public and private providers, NGOs and foundations, enterprises, worker organizations and employer bodies.

Turkey and other developing countries faces a number of challenges that must be addressed if an effective LLL system is to be developed. These include the need for:  Greater public awareness of LLL  Improved coordination and governance of LLL 4 Copyright © International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications / www.ijonte.org

International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications July 2015 Volume: 6 Issue: 3 Article: 01 ISSN 1309-6249

 Improved data on lifelong learning and better monitoring and evaluation  Improved career guidance  A national qualifications framework to support LLL  Improved quality assurance of delivery of LLL  A system for recognition of prior learning (RPL)  Adequate and effective financing of lifelong learning  Improved linkages between education and work  Improved levels of school attainment to create solid foundations for lifelong learning

EU member states are encouraged to develop national LLL strategies in which they define priorities for action that will lead to improvements in the lifelong learning system and help progress towards meeting the EU benchmarks. In Turkey, the National Strategy for Lifelong Learning 2014-2018 was developed in 2013 and is currently being implemented (Ministry of Education, 2014). The Strategy includes actions in all parts of the education system to improve the performance of the system and address the challenges identified above. The strategy also includes several activities to strengthen the non-formal education and vocational training system and to improve its quality. The development of a LLL system is essential for Turkey’s economic and social development. Turkey is pursuing a course of development aligned with EU policy and set out in the National Strategy. For this purpose, as stated in the strategic plan, the priorities should be given and policies should be set out for the following issues:  Increasing LLL culture and awareness within the society  Increasing LLL opportunities and provision  Increasing access to LLL opportunities  LLL guidance and counselling  Monitoring and evaluation of LLL activities  RPL

RPL IMPLEMENTATION

RPL describes a process used by institutions offering education to public (e.g. adult learning centers, human resource professionals, employers, training institutions, colleges and universities) to evaluate skills and knowledge and competencies acquired by a person from any learning platform. In other words, RPL is process through which knowledge, skills and competencies can be recognized regardless of where they were acquired (Lenaghan, 2014). RPL is conducted under national vocational education and training systems since the late 1980s and continues to evolve as different VET systems evolve in Europe and around the world (Lafont and Pariat, 2012).

RPL allows people to demonstrate that they are capable of undertaking specific tasks or working in certain industries based on evidence of skills and knowledge gained throughout their life. RPL is a criterion-referenced assessment because skills and knowledge are assessed against a certain criteria. Each vocation or a specific skill for a job is described before and it is used as a standard or learning outcome to be achieved as a result of the learning or training activity for testing or assessment.

RPL is a new form of certification in Turkey as it is the case for most of the developing countries. Therefore promotion and awareness raising are two required actions to increase public awareness and understanding of RPL. A promotion campaign need to be implemented to explain what RPL is, how it works, where people can access RPL services, where they can get more information about RPL, and the opportunities that RPL may offer. This type of campaign will hopefully make the public become aware of the opportunities gained through an effective implementation of RPL (Draft Policy Paper, 2012).

There are many benefits to RPL. For learners, formal recognition of existing knowledge and skills may mean that learners do not have to spend more time going through training for things they already know and can do. Formal recognition for existing knowledge and skills can also improve adults’ opportunities in the labour

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market. Certificates gained through RPL may enable entry to further learning, and the RPL process itself can be valuable in identifying key gaps in knowledge and skill that need to be addressed.

To implement an RPL system Voc-Test Centres has to be established. The first step after establishment of Voc- Test Centres is the determination of competencies as part of learning outcomes described in qualifications, and the second is the establishment of systems to register RPL assessors and RPL advisers.

RPL also has benefits for the lifelong learning system as it can contribute to more efficient use of the resources. For example, employers would not have to train people who already have required knowledge and skills, and providers can adapt training programmes to respond to actual skills gaps.

A ROADMAP FOR A SUCCESSFUL LLL IMPLEMENTATION

A successful implementation of LLL will be required to overcome the challenges listed in Section 4 above. However, before this step a wider acceptance and awareness of LLL in public need to be established. As seen in Figure 1 there is wide discrepancies among the EU countries in terms of participating LLL activities between ages 24-64. The U.S. data, however, showed higher participation rate than EU countries in the past decades. The participation rate in the US is about 46 percent of adults who had enrolled in a course during the preceding twelve months, an increase from 32 percent in 1991(Bond 2015). That shows how the development level of a country is related participation rate to LLL activities.

It is obvious that there is no universal strategy in implementing LLL for every country. That is to say, there is a clear need for each country to develop their own way to deal with issues in LLL implementation. However, there are four common steps to be taken as suggested in the literature (Bengtsson, 2013):  Governments, social partners, civic society, and the education and research communities should establish a close cooperation  A common roadmap should be accepted by all relevant stakeholders  An adequate provision of Basic Skills training (BST) for adults especially for those with low qualifications should be provided  A set of indicators need to be developed to track the implementation of LLL

Based on above ideas a roadmap for an effective LLL implementation is necessary. Then the question to be raised is “what should a LLL implementation roadmap include for developing countries in general?” The following can be used as a basic model: 1. Develop a structure of LLL: To do this a close collaboration among the stake holders need to be established. In centralized educational systems this can be a unit at the capital city and sub-units can be in local areas. To develop a strategy to increase public awareness of LLL: To use mass media and social forums to introduce advantages of LLL for adults. 2. Develop a framework to be used for vocation competencies for each job or skill: To do this a unit should be established as “Vocational Competency Development Unit” 3. Develop a strategy for recognition of prior learning: In order to increase public participation a way should be developed for recognition. In this process test centers (Voc-test Centers) should be established as indicated above. 4. Develop an accreditation system to monitor the LLL activities: A quality management office should be established to collect data from all parts of the system and suggest alternatives for further development of LLL implementation. The above steps are not for a full establishment but rather it provides an idea for the basis of the LLL process in a country where there is a new attempt or just started actions on LLL.

CONCLUSIONS

LLL is a terminology used over the last five decades. It is now widely accepted by almost all countries, from developed to the least developed one. Since knowledge growth rate and its transformation into technology

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and its inevitable effects on the society are so high, LLL approach would be unavoidable for every country. At the same time, because of the globalization upsurge, no country can stay aside from this cycle. However, as indicated above, there is no straightforward recipe for the countries to adopt in developing and implementing LLL in an effective manner.

It is known that as public awareness increases about LLL activities and their benefit for finding or changing ones’ job from the existing to a better one; it can always positively affect better implementation of LLL in a developing country. The US and EU figures provide supportive evidences for this idea. That is the reason when a country starting to establish an LLL system, it should start rising public awareness first as Turkey did recently in the LLL project (Draft Policy, 2012).

LLL, if developed with the ideas stated in Section 6 above, its beneficiaries will be able move around the globe easily and possibly develop better career opportunities in the job market. There are good examples noticed among EU countries as they developed a framework (EU, 2011) for LLL and tools for mobility within EU borders. Developing countries including the Arab States should use the experiences that the developed countries have gained during the development of a unique system. As mentioned above Arabic states still have very little progress towards a sound LLL system. Following the successful implementations in the world, a developing country can develop its own LLL system based on the existing tools, and considering the cultural and regional constraints.

As a final word, we argue that the roadmap presented above could be used as pillars of a new LLL system for developing countries. The most important initial step is to establish a joint platform which includes representatives from the business market, trade unions and syndicates, municipalities, government representatives as well as educators and other key figures in the society. Such an approach will hopefully contribute to developing countries to establish and implement their own LLL system.

IJONTE’s Note: This article was presented at 6th International Conference on New Trends in Education - ICONTE, 24-26 April, 2015, Antalya-Turkey and was selected for publication for Volume 6 Number 3 of IJONTE 2015 by IJONTE Scientific Committee.

BIODATA AND CONTACT ADDRESSES OF AUTHORS

Prof. Dr. Ali YAZICI is a full-time Professor and the Chairman of the Software Engineering Department at Atilim University, Ankara, Turkey. He received BS (1972), and MS (1974) degrees in Mathematics from the Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara, Turkey. He has completed his PhD dissertation (1983) at the Computer Science Department, Waterloo University, Canada. His research interests include Parallel Computing, Cloud Computing, Big Data, and e-Topics. In the last 30 years he has been affiliated as a full-time academic staff with Middle East Technical University, TOBB University of Economics and Technology, and Atilim University (Turkey), Yarmouk University (Jordan), and Sultan Qaboos University (Oman). During his academic career, he acted as thesis supervisor of more than 30 MSc and PhD students. He is the author/co-author of more than 100 articles, books and research reports in the field of Computing and Informatics. Among many others, he is involved in “Promoting Turkey’s LLL” EU project between 2010-2012 as a consultant and trainer. He is a founding member of Turkish Mathematics Foundation (1990- ) and Turkish Informatics Foundation (1990).

Prof. Dr. Ali YAZICI Atilim University, Department of Software Engineering 06836 Incek, Ankara- TURKEY E Mail: [email protected]

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Prof. Dr. Alipaşa AYAS is a fulltime Professor in the Graduate School of Education at Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey. H received undergraduate degree from Karadeniz Technical University Faculty of Education in 1985. His graduate degrees are MS from Karadeniz Technical University, Master in Education (Curriculum and Instruction-science education) from University of New Brunswick, Canada and PhD in Education (Curriculum and Instruction-science education) from Southampton University, U.K. He has had administrative roles at KTU, which includes 6-year deanship in the Faculty of Education. He has involved in several research projects including National Education Development Project, Basic Education Support Project (Effectiveness of Public Education Centers), MEBGEB Project and LLL Development Project for Turkey. He was a member of Turkish National Teacher Development Committee for three years. He is head of Association for Accreditation of Education Programs in Turkey. Also, he was a member of curriculum development committee in chemistry for 2013 and material development process for chemistry at secondary level. He published over 100 articles, co-authored several books and supervised 22 PhD and 30 Master theses.

Prof. Dr. Alipaşa AYAS Bilkent University, Graduate School of Education Bilkent University, 06800 Bilkent, Ankara- TURKEY E. Mail: [email protected]

REFERENCES

Arthur, J. (2009). Interim Report, Recognition of Prior Learning: Mission 2. TTVET Reform Project, Bangladesh.

Bengtsson, J. (2013). National strategies for implementing lifelong learning (LLL) – the gap between policy and reality: An international perspective, Int Rev Educ. 59:343–352. DOI 10.1007/s11159-013-9362-4.

Bernheim, C. T. and Chaui, M. de Souza (2003). Challenges of the university in the knowledge society, five years after the World Conference on Higher Education, Unesco Forum Occasional Paper Series Paper No.4.

Bond, J. (2015). “Lifelong Learning - Evolution of the Lifelong Learning Movement, Implementation of Lifelong Learning, Ongoing Issues in Lifelong Learning, Conclusion”. http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2181/Lifelong-Learning.html Accessed: 6 March 2015.

Draft Policy Paper (2012), Project for Promoting Life Long Learning in Turkey, TR07H2.01-01/001, Ministry of Labor, Turkey.

EC (2009). Council Conclusions of 12 May 2009 on a strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training (ET 2020) 0J C 119, 28.5.2009 p2-10. Brussels.

EC (2012). Education and Training Monitor EC: Brussels.

European Commission (2001). Making a European Area of Lifelong Learning a Reality.

EU (2006) Key Competences for Lifelong Learning – A European Framework. Annex of the Recommendation of the European Parliament and the Council on key competences for lifelong learning published in the Official Journal of the European Union 30 December 2006.

EU (2011). Council Resolution on a renewed European agenda for adult learning. Official Journal of the European Union. 2011/C 372/01) 20 December 2011. http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/en/ Accessed: 8 March 2015.

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Lafont, P. and Pariat, M. (2012) Review of the RPL in member states in Europe http://www.adam- europe.eu/prj/9626/prd/4/1/Report-Review. Last access date: 5 March, 2015.

Lenaghan, M. (2014). Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL): does it provide a second chance for unemployed people? Paper presented in National Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) Conference, 23th – 26th February 2014. The South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA).

MEGEP (2006). Driving Force for the Success of Turkey. Lifelong Learning Policy Paper. Ankara. October 2006.

Ministry of Education (2014)., Directorate of LLL: http://hbogm.meb.gov.tr//meb_iys_dosyalar/2014_12/23105226_hbostratejibelgesi_2014_2018.pdf , Accessed: 7 March 2015.

OECD (2007). Qualifications Systems, Bridges to Lifelong learning.

OECD(2014). retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/edu/skills-beyond-school/recognitionofnon- formalandinformallearning-home.htm, Accessed: 4 March, 2015.

Project for Promoting LLL in Turkey, Project Report TR07H2.01-01/001.

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TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’ AWARENESS LEVEL OF THEIR ROLES IN DISTANCE EDUCATION

Canan DEVECI Atatürk University Erzurum- TURKEY

ABSTRACT

In recent years, a new education technique has been applied around the world which is called “Distance Education”. As the education is provided by means of diverse pedagogical instruments and methods, the roles of both teachers and students change as well. The purpose of this study is to reveal the teachers’ and the students’ opinions about the roles in Distance Education. We will attempt to investigate the awareness level of both sides in terms of teachers and students. The study will be conducted at Atatürk University which has been giving Distance Education for two years and which is very new in this field. A qualitative research design will be applied and 15 lecturers and 15 students from Atatürk University will be interviewed. Given the lack of relevant literature on Distance Education in Turkish context, this study is expected to contribute to the field and inspire further studies in academic settings.

Key Words: Distance education, teacher and student roles, awareness.

INTRODUCTION

The World is living in such an age that technology has never been so integrated in our lives before, which is called “the age of technology”. Students spend so much time on the net for many different purposes: surfing on the net, playing online games, following social media. The young generation especially high school and college students are the most users of this technology. As a result of this approved situation, many universities accept the need to integrate technology with the existing education program.

More than a hundred years ago, the term “Distance Education” was used as a type of education, in which the traditional way of education was gone beyond and new styles were implemented in (Bunker 1998). In previous research, many scholars defined Distance Education (DE) in different ways:  DE describes the process of education undertaken when teacher(s) and students are separated by physical distance, with teaching and learning frequently mediated by technology or assigned learning material (Butcher&Wilson-Strydom 2013; cited in Asore 2014).  A planned teaching or learning experience that uses a wide spectrum of technologies to reach learners at a distance and is assigned to encourage learner interaction and certification of learning (Greenberg 1998:36; cited in Srichanyachon 2014).  Educational methods that provide communication and interaction between those who plan and implement educational studies and learners in different venues through specially designed instructional units, various mediums and instructional materials from a particular center in the absence of inability to carry out in class activities due to limitations in traditional teaching methods (METU 2014, Wikipedia 2014; cited in Gülşen 2014).  A general term used to cover the broad range of teaching and learning events in which the student is separated (at a distance) from the instructor or other fellow learners (Hoyle, G 2007; cited in Al-Fahad 2010).  Interactive, educational process between two people, student and teacher, separated by the physical distance (Harry et al 1993: 32; cited in Isman 2004).

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The common point of these definitions is that the separation of learner and the instructor. This separation became a necessity for the faculties. Because in the last 15 or 20 years, DE as a method had a significant effect on education in many different areas (Boyle 1995). The question of “Why DE?” was answered under these reasons.  Technological advances may seem traditional systems as insufficient and the people try to find new ways for their needs. Furthermore, the increase in computer technology makes this result inevitable (Carillo 2008).  As the years pass, the target student population increase and change. For example, in the past the number of students was low and they were generally single and young; but today the number is very high and the students are married, they have jıbs and most of them can not come to school because of geographical reasons (O’Malley 1999).  The students especially who are physically disabled ones can learn and continue their education (Al-Fahad 2010).  With the idea and application of DE, an adult learner has the power to control time, place and pace of his/her education (Galusha, 1998).

Because of these above mentioned reasons and in order to answer the demands of the people, many universities apply distance education in their educational program (Solak 2014). It is also becoming a popular way with the reasons for saving time and money for both students and instructors (Kilion 1997; cited in Srichanyachon 2014).

Turkey, as a developing country, has also adopted DE in the education process. In the 10th Development Plan, it was emphasized that DE should be given great importance and be supported in order to meet the requirements (TBMM 2013; cited in Gülşen 2014).

In many countries including Turkey, DE is an incomplete system of education as Dzokira and Idrus (2003) stated a same situation in Malaysia, the system is not thorough when we compare it to some countries such as UK, Australia and Canada. When the system is new, changing educational concepts takes time.

When we search the history of DE in Turkey, we find out that DE is slightly a new way of education when compared to other countries. In the world, the first DE started with “Stena Lessons” in Boston newspaper in 1728. In Turkey, Open Learning Faculty was opened in 1981 and in the last 3 years, the number of universities giving DE increased. Therefore, today nearly %80 of the universities gives DE (Wikipedia 2014).

One of the established universities in Turkey, Atatürk University started DE in 2009 in order to meet the needs of increasing number of students. Some mutual lessons through the campus are given via DE one of which is Foreign Language I, II English.

The system of DE in foreign language lesson is conducted in this way: in the beginning of the academic year, the consultant instructor sends an e-mail to the students giving information about the course, exams, book and other necessary subjects. The lessons are conducted with prerecorded videos and prestructured materials prepared by language teachers. Students meet the consultant lecturers in the lesson hours which are predetermined in their weekly schedule. Teachers and students have office hour’s meetings once a week.

As DE exempts the students from being in a class set at a certain place and time, lesson videos are the primary materials. In addition to videos, printed materials such as books are also used and at the end of the period, the students take examinations (Al-Fahad, 2010).

This kind of education process may not be suitable for everyone. As Schmidt and Gallegas (2001) (cited in Srichanyachon 2014) stated that DE is not an appropriate way to teach people who are unable to study on their own and who are not self-motivated and self-controlled. Traditional education where there is a kind of teacher- student interaction is more suitable for these students for a better effective education.

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As we compare these two kinds of education: on one hand, some researchers say that there is almost no difference between traditional and distance education. For example; Clark (1983) and Russel (1999) (cited in Berge 2005) state that a well-designed online learning and traditional learning have slightly the same effect on students. But on the other hand, many researchers say traditional and distance education are slightly different. For example, Proctor (2002) (cited in Solak 2014) compared these two kinds in terms of classroom discussions, learning process, subject matter, emphases in the learning process, motivation, teacher’s role, location of learning and lesson structure; and showed that the situations under these headings are different in both types of education.

As DE is a different method from long-used traditional education, researchers agree that it also requires different roles for both teachers and students from traditional education (Aydın 2005). In order to explain the roles in general, we can say that the learners are responsible for their own learning and teachers are resources and facilitators in the practice (Dzakira et al, 2003). The main goal of the teacher is being a guide to the students. Motte (2013) emphasized that students should have an idea about when, where and how to conduct the teacher and generally the most appropriate way to communicate between teacher and the students is via e-mail. Therefore, it is necessary for the teachers to check and reply the e-mails. Isman (2004) suggested that students have to be self-controlled, motivated and autonomous. In other words, students must have the ability or the motivation to direct their way of learning and evaluate themselves.

The quality of a DE lesson is affected by several factors from both teachers’ and students’ sides. First of all, both teachers and students should be aware of what they are doing and what their roles are within the procedure. Because of the physical distance between teachers and students, students may be unaware of their responsibilities. On the other hand, teachers are the ones who must work very hard to keep the students involved in the lessons. Therefore, one can assume that the best part of the responsibility is left for the teachers (Srichanyachon 2014).

Secondly, instructor issues and learner motivation are other factors. Berge (2005) researched about the factors affecting the lesson quality and found that the most important factors according to students are instructor issues, time and support for studies and learner motivation. These factors again direct the way to the factor of awareness of the roles. Because when teachers are aware, they give sufficient advice and feedback to the students, they also control the students and support them to be motivated for the courses.

Thirdly, student characteristics are another important factor. Because, as we mentioned above, the main role of the student is to be an autonomous learner and control his/her own learning by means of following the syllabus, getting the lesson materials and studying them.

In the light of all above mentioned situations, we can say that there is a change in the education technique and changes do not come easily. In a developing country such as Turkey, it is necessary to see how they applied DE. Because, Turkish teachers and students are accustomed to traditional kind of education in which the teacher lectures and students take notes in a typical classroom environment. In the relevant literature, the awareness about the roles of both teachers and the students has not been well researched in Turkish context.

The purpose of this study is to see the teachers’ and the students’ awareness level of their roles in this new method. It is important to see the awareness level because their acceptance of DE directly affects the quality of the course.

As a result, this study attempts to answer these research questions: 1. What are the teachers’ and the students’ general perceptions about DE in ELT? 2. Do the students and the teachers know their roles in DE process? 3. Do they fulfil these roles?

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LITERATURE REVIEW

Plenty of research has been conducted to define the perceptions of both students and teachers about DE; however, there appears very rare research about their awareness of their roles. Gülşen (2014) suggested that getting the ideas of the students is important to develop the program and reduce the existing and potential problems. Furthermore, Siociwena (1989) suggested that teachers’ perceptions are important because the quality of a lesson is widely affected by their acceptance and attitudes about DE.

In the previous research in the relevant literature, the common results of the previous studies from the students’ side are listed below:

Solak (2014) conducted a research to get the ideas of students about DE in two Vocational Higher Schools and concluded that successful students found DE satisfying and they had positive attitudes towards DE.

Prennon, Kennedy and Pisarski (2005) (cited in Thapliyal 2014) conducted a research on 250 students about their perceptions about DE and found that autonomous and positively motivated learners were satisfied and successful in DE.

Fahad (2010) conducted a survey research on female students taking e-learning courses in Saudi Arabia and concluded that students’ attitudes are positive towards DE and they accept DE as a beneficial way of learning.

Song (2004) surveyed 76 graduate students to obtain their perceptions about DE and found that majority of the participant students agreed on the fact that motivation and management of the learners affect the success of their learning situation. This result emphasizes the importance of being aware of their roles. The participants determined the factor of designing the course as the most important factor affecting their success and this result signifies the roles of the teachers in DE.

O’Malley (1999) conducted a research on college students at a medium sized state university about the attitudes towards DE and concluded that the students see DE as an ineffective, unsuccessful way of learning.

The research from the teachers’ side, to my best knowledge, is insufficient. In the relevant literature, Siaciwena (1989) used a questionnaire at the University of Zambia to obtain lecturers’ perceptions about DE and found that most of the teachers see DE as an unenjoyable way of teaching. Furthermore, most of the teachers stated that the problems of the students do not seem to be solved and also they require assistance in DE.

Barron (2003) (cited in Motte 2013) stated that effective DE is challenging and if the teachers desire to be effective, they should work more than they do in traditional teaching because both ways of teaching are different. On the other hand, as Motte (2013) stated, some teachers perceive DE as an easy way of making money by sitting at home.

In the context of DE, within the above-mentioned common results of the studies, the awareness of both teachers and the students of their roles are mentioned very little. Therefore, the present study will contribute to the field by adding more information on general ideas of both teachers and students about DE and their awareness level of their roles in DE.

METHODOLOGY

Research Design In this study, we aimed to find out teachers’ and students’ attitude towards DE by seeing their awareness level of their roles. Therefore, we used a qualitative rather than a quantitative research method. The reason for using qualitative method was to understand the situation and the problem deeply, because; the aim of this study is not to generalize; it is only to see if both groups know and fulfill their roles and their general ideas on DE.

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Participants The participants in this study are 10 English lecturers who are actively involved in DE in the lesson of Foreign Language I and II; and 15 students taking this lesson at Atatürk University. The samplings from the population of both teachers and the students were Turkish and they were determined in a random way. Both male and female lecturers and students who are actively involved in DE and students were chosen. The lecturers were chosen according to their teaching experience from most to the least, and the students were chosen randomly from the class lists.

Instruments The study was conducted through two interviews applied to both the lecturers and the students to get a view on their awareness level of their roles and their attitudes towards DE. Both interviews consist of 10 open- ended questions. Students’ interviews were in Turkish but the teachers decided the language of the interview in order to feel comfortable.

Data Analysis In order to get a better understanding on the teachers’ and the students’ beliefs and attitudes, the interviews were transcribed. After that, important and specific phrases related to the research questions were taken from these transcripts. Then, these phrases were first coded and then categorized into themes.

RESULT

This study attempted to answer three questions:

1. What are the teachers’ and the students’ general perceptions about DE in ELT? Results of the study indicate that the answers on both teachers and students’ side are similar. The teachers say that teaching English through DE is ineffective and waste of time. English has always been troublesome for Turkish students in Turkey and for this reason the teachers claim that the students can not learn even through face-to-face education. They support this claim by saying that there is no classroom atmosphere and the students do not feel ready to learn. Also it requires technological competence which some of the students do not have. Therefore; the main idea that unites all the teachers in our research is that using DE in language teaching is ineffective.

The answers given by the students to this question are quite the same as the teachers. They all united around one single answer which is that they can not learn English via DE. They see DE as an ineffective way of teaching because it is different from what they have been used to so far.

2. Do the students and the teachers know their roles in DE process? The teachers agree on the fact that the students in DE process must be autonomous. They are the ones who should be able to study and learn by themselves. The reason why DE is ineffective is that the students can not accept this fact. The teachers see themselves as supervisors in this process. They say that most teachers are aware of their roles but when the students are not, the process fails.

The students say that they do not know what to do in DE process. Because of the fact that it is a new method applied on them, they have not fully understood the system even though the teachers inform them.

3. Do they fulfill these roles? The teachers and the students agree on the fact that awareness is required. Because when they know they fulfill their roles. The teachers mostly fulfill their roles as being a guide to the students. But most of our participants in this research say that in this process the one that does not do the duty is the student. Students are not aware of their responsibilities and what is going on in this DE process.

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DISCUSSION

This study focused on both the teachers’ and the learners’ perceptions about DE process in ELT field through the fact of awareness of the roles. What our participants thought in this study is both similar to and different from what has been found in previous research. Awareness was a very important factor in this study to focus on in order to differentiate this study from the previous ones. Because, in the previous research, to my best knowledge, there is very little information about awareness.

In our research, we found out that the students think DE as an ineffective way of teaching. However, in Fahad’s study which he conducted in Saudi Arabia in 2010, he found the opposite which is that the students have positive feelings towards DE. On the other hand, in O’Malley’s study which was conducted at a college in 1999, the result is the same as our result which is DE is an ineffective method.

In our research, the teachers also accept DE as an ineffective way of teaching. Similarly, in Siaciwena’s research which was conducted on teachers in 1989, the result is that the teachers see DE as an extra burden and waste of time.

There is an undeniable fact that DE is perceived as a useless method by both the teachers and the students. In order to overcome this situation, the faculties should inform the students about what facilities they have and remind them of their responsibilities in DE. Furthermore, before the students start taking this lesson, a meeting to inform them may be held.

CONCLUSION

The present study attempted to find out both the teachers’ and the students’ perceptions of DE program on the basis of their awareness of their roles. There is an undeniable fact that DE is perceived as a useless method by both the teachers and the students. In order to overcome this situation, the faculties should inform the students about what facilities they have and remind them of their responsibilities in DE. Furthermore, before the students start taking this lesson, a meeting to inform them may be held.

BIODATA AND CONTACT ADDRESS OF AUTHOR

Canan DEVECI is a full time EFL lecturer at the School of Foreign Languages at Erzurum Atatürk University in Turkey. She is also working towards her MA in the field of English Language Teaching (ELT). Her area of interest in research is English Language Teaching and Learning.

Canan DEVECİ Atatürk University School of Foreign Languages 25240 Erzurum- TURKEY E. Mail: [email protected]

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REFERENCES

Al-Fahad, N. (2010). The Learners’ Satisfaction Toward Online E-Learning Implemented in the College of Applied Studies and Community Service, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia: Can E-Learning Replace the Conventional System of Education?, Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education. , 15:3.

Altunay, D. (2014). Language Learning Strategies Used by Distance Learners of English: A study with a Group of Turkish Distance Learners of EFL. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education. , 15:3, 291-305.

Asare, K. (2014). Looking beyond the Residential Education and Distance Education Debate, What Matters in Education is… Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education. , 15:3, 143-154.

Aydın, C. H. (2005). Turkish Mentors’ Perception of Roles, Competencies and Resources for Online Teaching. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education. 6:3.

Boyle, R. (1995). Language Teaching at a Distance: From the First Generation Model to the Third System. 23:3, 283-294.

Bunker, E. L. (2009). Gaining perspective for the future of distance education from early leaders. American Journal of Distance Education. 12:2, 46-53.

Carillo, F. R. & Renold, C. (2008). Distance Education. Gerontology&Geriatrics Education. 20:4, 55-61.

Dzakira, H. (2003). Teacher-Learner Interactions in Distance Education: A Case of Two Malaysian Universities. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education. 4:3.

Furlonger, B. & Gencic, E. (2014). Comparing Satisfaction, Life-Stress, Coping and Academic Performance of Counselling Students in On-Campus and Distance Education Learning Environments. Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 24:1, 76-89.

Galusha, J. M. (1998). Barriers to Learning in Distance Education. Educational Resource Information Center.

Gülşen, C. (2014). Student Opinions on Management of Distance Education Applications. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education. , 15:3, 228-241.

History of Distance Education. (08.04.2015). www.wikipedia.org

Isman, A. (2004). Roles of the Students and Teachers in Distance Education. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education. 5:4.

Macintyre, R. & Mcdonald, J. (2011). Remote from What? Perspectives of Distance Learning Students in Remote Rural Areas of Scotland. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning. 12:4.

Motte, K. (2013). Strategies for Online Educators. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education. 14:2.

Muilenburg, L. Y.&Berge, Z. L. (2005). Student Barriers to Online Learning: A Factor Analytic Study, Distance Education, 26:1, 29-48.

O’Malley, J. (1999). Student Perceptions of Distance Learning, Online Learning and the Traditional Classroom. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration Contents, 2:4.

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Siaciwena, R. M. C. (1989). Staff Attitudes towards Distance Education at the University of Zambia. International Journal of E-Learning & Distance Education. 4:2, 47-62.

Solak, E. (2014). Face to Face or E-learning in Turkish EFL Context. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 15:3, 37-49.

Song, L. (2004). Improving online learning: Student perceptions of useful and challenging characteristics. Internet and Higher Education. 7, 59-70.

Srichanyachon, N. (2014). The Barriers and Needs of Online Learners. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education. , 15:3, 50-59.

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IMPLEMENTATION OF FOSTERING GIFTEDNESS IN SCIENCE TEACHER TRAINING

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Josef TRNA Masaryk University CZECH REPUBLIC

Assist. Prof. Dr. Eva TRNOVA Masaryk University CZECH REPUBLIC

ABSTRACT

Wide support of giftedness in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) is a relevant social necessity. Gifted students have special educational needs. Fostering gifted students involves identification and development of their giftedness. This educational fostering of gifted students also plays an important role in their personal development. Crucial areas for the fostering of gifted students are: education of teachers in identifying and development giftedness, creation of a support system to help teachers and families in the education of gifted students, and setting up high-quality school facilities for gifted students. The creation of suitable conditions for the development of students gifted in STEM is an important task for teachers. This objective involves the identification and the development of giftedness to the highest possible level. The study presents the research results of science teacher training in educational methods suitable for fostering gifted students. Design-based research was used as the main research method.

Key Words: Giftedness, science education, teacher training.

INTRODUCTION

A significant group of students with special educational needs is the group of gifted students in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Unfortunately, less attention is paid to gifted students than to disabled students (Rocard et al., 2007). Teachers should support this important group of students as well. For the support of gifted students teachers must be adequately educated. Therefore, the knowledge and skills necessary for fostering gifted students should be implemented into teacher education.

The fostering of gifted students involves many professional teacher competences, the most important of which is the identification and development of students’ giftedness. School and family (Tannenbaum, 2007) should create suitable conditions for the fostering of giftedness (Renzulli, 1986). This educational support of giftedness plays a crucial role in a student's personal development and it may significantly affect her/his entire life. Low support for gifted students may be associated with the small number of them. According to some experts (Mönks & Ypenburg, 2002) only about 2-3 % of students are exceptionally gifted - talented. The surprising fact is that in suitable conditions for the development of giftedness, the rate of students excelling in some areas might increase up to 20-25 % (Freeman, 2010). Therefore, it is necessary to develop appropriate teaching and learning methods for gifted students and implement them into teacher training.

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RATIONALE

People include all students gifted in STEM in one group. But students gifted in STEM, of course, may not be gifted in all STEM subjects. Usually there is giftedness in some of these subjects, which is combined with a general interest in science and mathematics as a “language” of Science, Technology and Engineering. Science is often considered the core of STEM education.

It is also necessary to analyse the relation between intelligence and giftedness. Psychologist Gardner (1999) in his multiple intelligence theory argues that giftedness in science relates to naturalist intelligence. “Naturalist intelligence enables human beings to recognize, categorize and draw upon certain features of the environment. It combines a description of core ability with a characterization of the role that many cultures value.” (Gardner, 1999, p. 48). Sternberg (2003) combines giftedness and intelligence in his theory of intelligence: (1) analytical intelligence (the ability to analyse a problem and understand its parts), (2) synthetic intelligence (the ability to understand a problem, intuition and creativity), and (3) practical intelligence (application of analytical or synthetic intelligence in practice). Sternberg (2007) has recently included his theory of triarchic intelligence in a renewed model of WICS (W-wisdom; I-intelligence, C-creativity; S-synthesized). The development of giftedness is an individualised, demanding activity because each gifted student has many personal specifics including the type of intelligence.

Systematic fostering of gifted students especially in STEM is an important part of the national and international educational strategies. Current results of research have opened three core areas crucial for the fostering of gifted students: 1. Education of teachers to identify and develop STEM giftedness 2. Creation of a supporting system to help teachers and parents in the upbringing and education of gifted students in STEM 3. Setting up high-quality school facilities for gifted students in STEM

Teacher education for fostering giftedness in STEM is the focus of this study.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND METHODS

We set a research objective to identify professional skills that the teacher needs for fostering students in STEM. The issue is to develop a model of a teacher training course to prepare teachers for the support of giftedness in school practice. The last issue is to verify this model in practice.

We used a design-based research method which can be described as a cycle: analysis of a practical problem, development of solutions, iterative testing of solutions, reflection and implementation (Reeves, 2006). 1. Analysis of practical problems: We identified the existing educational problems in the education of teachers for fostering students gifted in STEM. 2. Development of solutions with a theoretical framework: We have created a teacher training course to prepare teachers for the support of giftedness in their teaching. 3. Evaluation and testing of solutions in practice: We verified this model in practice (action research). 4. Documentation and reflection to produce “Design principles”: The final stage of our research was the documentation and the establishment of a set of design principles of development and implementation of teacher competency to foster students gifted in STEM.

Educated teachers were closely involved in all our design-based research.

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RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

Using observation of science instruction and interviews with teachers we have gained a set of teaching skills that a teacher needs for fostering gifted students. Observation of instruction was carried out and interviews with teachers were conducted in 2010-2013 on a sample of 11 Physics and Chemistry teachers at lower secondary schools in the Czech Republic. Identification of gifted students in classes (33 different classes; every teacher taught 3 classes) was done using expert pedagogical-psychological examination and supplemented by the experience of teachers. In each of the surveyed classes there were 1-3 students gifted in physics and/or chemistry.

We have come to the following list of relevant teachers' skills:  creation of or finding the appropriate educational methods and instruments for gifted students and implementation of these into education  implementation of effective educational methods for gifted students  combination of individual teaching of gifted students with teaching other students  inclusion of special activities for gifted students into mainstream schooling  motivation of gifted students  development of creativity of gifted students  cooperation in fostering gifted students with other teachers  cooperation in fostering gifted students with their families

Based on the identified professional skills needed for fostering gifted students, we have compiled a pilot training course for teachers, the aim of which was to prepare these teachers to work with gifted students in STEM. We have implemented this course with a pilot group of nine teachers in 2014. Based on our experience and feedback from teachers, we included this course in pre-service and in-service science teacher education in our university. Now we present a few examples of modules of our course.

Motivation of gifted students This module contains basic information about the importance of motivation for the development of gifted students.

(a) Extract of information package for teachers: One of the most important factors affecting the development of gifted students in science is intrinsic motivation in the form of interest. According to Renzulli (1986), Mönks and Ypenburg (2002) motivation plays a crucial role in the development of students’ giftedness. Renzulli (1986) established a three-ring model of giftedness including creativity, ability and motivation (called task commitment); it possible to mark these as determining factors for the development of giftedness. Mönks and Ypenburg (2002) modified Renzulli´s model and substituted the expression “task commitment” with the general term “motivation”. They argued that the development of giftedness depends largely on a supportive environment. In this context it is necessary to consider especially the family and the school environment. In these environments there are many problems and complicating factors. The support of family is very important as well as teachers who can develop giftedness (Trnova & Trna, 2012).

(b) Example of suitable elements for fostering gifted students: There are several methods and tools to motivate gifted students. As an example, a learning task based on a simple experiment suitable for the motivation of gifted students is presented.

Sugar rainbow (learning task based on a simple experiment): Density is a very important quantity in science and this experiment can help in understanding it correctly and in motivation for science. Gifted students solved the learning task: how to demonstrate and verify the behaviour of different densities of liquids. They use a set of coloured sugar solutions at various densities (concentrations) (Figure 1).

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Figure 1: Coloured sugar solutions at various densities (concentrations)

Students gradually pour individual solutions carefully into a glass cylinder, where a "sugar rainbow" forms (Figure 2).

Figure 2: “Sugar rainbow” of coloured sugar solutions

Solution and explanation: The individual layers of rainbow correspond to the different density of fluids (coloured sugar solutions). 21 Copyright © International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications / www.ijonte.org

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According to the findings of our action research (conducted in 2014) simple experiments have a strong and effective incentive for gifted students. The motivational effect of these simple experiments was greatly enhanced by the combination of satisfying students´ cognitive needs: experimentation, problem solving, measurement, observation, etc. These experiments also have emotional effect efficiency due to the beauty of the coloured solutions.

Development of creativity of gifted students This module contains basic information about the importance of creativity for the development of gifted students.

(a) Extract of information package for teachers: Creativity is included in all models of giftedness (Renzulli, 1986) etc. It is therefore evident that the development of creativity of gifted students is important for fostering their giftedness. According to experts (Sternberg, 1999; Amabile, 1996; Gryskiewicz, 1982) a creative teacher is necessary for the supporting of students' creativity. Gifted students’ creative abilities are most likely to be developed in an atmosphere in which the teacher’s creative abilities are also properly engaged (Jeffrey &Craft, 2004). Students must feel that they are expected to be creative (Barbot, Besançon, & Lubart 2011). Every student is creative. Research into creativity concentrates on defining and assessing the level (capacity) of creativity, which could be measured in different ways. Torrance tests (Torrance, 1974) or variants of them are used for measuring the level of creativity. It is obvious that how well a student solves a problem (level) is not the same as in what way it is done (style). In addition to the level of creativity it is necessary to take into account the style of creativity (Kirton, 1994), especially of gifted students.

(b) Example of suitable elements for fostering gifted students: There are several ways how to develop the creativity of gifted students. Simple experiments may contribute to the development of the creativity of gifted students. Students create alternative variants of the presented experiments and can invent new or alternative experiments. As an example, a learning task based on a simple experiment developed by a gifted student as an outcome of a learning task is presented:

Solid paper strip (learning task based on a simple experiment):Students place a strip of soft paper (e.g. for printing) over an empty glass. A coin put on this flat paper strip falls into the glass because the paper strip does not hold it. Gifted students solved the learning task: what should be done with the paper to stop the coin from falling into the glass.

Figure 3: Solidity of a paper strip

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Solution and explanation: If we pleat the same paper strip, the coin does not fall in (Figure 3). The pleated paper strip holds even a column of coins. A much greater deformational force is needed to deform pleated paper with a vertical carriage than flat paper.

Application of innovative teaching/learning methods for gifted students This module contains basic information about innovative teaching/learning methods for the development of gifted students. The development of gifted students needs specific educational methods and tools. Our research verified the importance of inquiry-based science education (IBSE) for the development of gifted students in science.

(a) Extract of information package for teachers: IBSE supports the process of science learning (Narode, 1987). The core principles of IBSE are active involvement of students in discovering natural laws, meaningful content, critical thinking, and promoting positive attitudes towards science (Kyle, 1985; Rakow, 1986). Banchi and Bell (2008) defined four levels of IBSE: confirmation, structured, guided, and open. These levels are different according to the degree of the teacher’s assistance (helping in the process, asking questions and formulation of expected results). Experiments can be applied in all four levels of IBSE. We found evidence of the great importance of experiments by a comparison of the specific educational needs of gifted students and core IBSE components (Trnova & Trna, 2012).

(b) Example of suitable elements for fostering gifted students: It is necessary to select and modify IBSE components for gifted students in science education according to their educational needs. We verified that simple experiments are among the IBSE components which closely correspond to the educational needs of gifted students. We have created specific simple experiments suitable for IBSE modules within the project PROFILES (2011). As an example, we present a learning task based on a simple experiment, which is suitable for IBSE gifted students.

Carbon in organic substances (learning task based on a simple experiment):Gifted students solved the learning task: to create a simple experiment to verify the presence of carbon in organic substances.

Figure 4: Carbon in paraffin

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Solution and explanation: Evidence for the presence of carbon in paraffin can be proved through the formation of soot when burning a candle (Figure 4).

CONCLUSION

Educators, scientists, business people, politicians etc. state that it is necessary to foster gifted students in STEM. This latent giftedness must be identified and then developed. Creation of a supportive school, the family and the society environment are some of the main factors in fostering giftedness. But the role of the teacher is absolutely essential. Therefore, it is necessary to implement specific educational methods for fostering STEM giftedness in teacher education. Development of these professional competences is acquired though the experience of the teacher. Therefore, it is not possible to finish acquiring these competences is not possible finished during pre-service teacher education. The development of creativity and teacher mastery of specific methods for gifted students must be a part of the continuous professional development (CPD) of all STEM teachers.

BIODATA AND CONTACT ADDRESSES OF AUTHORS Josef TRNA is an associate professor of physics/science education and the dean of the Faculty of Education, the Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic, EU. He holds PhD in physics education and MA in mathematics and physics education. In doctoral studies he focused on motivation in physics education. He is experienced in secondary school mathematics, physics and science teaching. His main research domains are: motivation of students in science education, IBSE, diagnostics of students´ skills in science education, simple school experiments, educational video programs, curricula designing, education of gifted students, design-based research, connectivism etc. He co-operates with EU science educators and researchers on many projects. He has participated in a range of international science education conferences.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Josef TRNA Masaryk University 603 00 Brno , Porici 7- CZECH REPUBLIC, EU E. Mail: [email protected]

Eva TRNOVA is a assistant professor of chemistry/science education at the Faculty of Education, the Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic, EU. She holds PhD in chemistry education and MA in chemistry and biology education. She is experienced in secondary school biology, chemistry and science teaching. Her research focuses on sustainable development education, IBSE, E-learning, development of students´ skills in science education, learning tasks in science education, education of gifted students, design-based research, connectivism etc. She has wide experience in in-service science teacher training and several European projects in science education. She has participated in a range of international science education conferences.

Assist. Prof. Dr. Eva TRNOVA Masaryk University 603 00 Brno, Porici 7- CZECH REPUBLIC, EU E. Mail: [email protected]

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REFERENCES

Amabile, T. M. (1996). Creativity in context. Boulder, CO: Westview.

Banchi, H., & Bell, R. (2008). The Many Levels of Inquiry. Science and Children, 2, 26-29.

Barbot, B., Besançon, M., & Lubart, T. (2011). Assessing creativity in the classroom. The Open Education Journal, 4, 58-66.

Freeman, J. (2010). Gifted Lives: What Happens when Gifted Children Grow Up. New York: Routledge Chapman and Hall.

Gardner, H. (1999). Intelligence Reframed. Multiple intelligences for the 21st century. New York: Basic Books.

Gryskiewicz, S. S. (1982). Creative leadership development and the Kirton adaption-innovation inventory. Paper presented at the Occupational Psychology Conference of the British Psychological Society, Brighton, England.

Jeffrey, B., & Craft, A. (2004). Teaching Creatively and Teaching for Creativity: distinctions and relationships. Educational Studies, 30(1), 77-87.

Kirton, M. J. (1994). Adaptors and innovators: Styles of creativity and problem- solving. London: Routledge.

Kyle, W. C. (1985). What research says: Science through discovery: Students love it. Science and Children, 2, 39– 41.

Mönks, F. J., & Ypenburg, I. H. (2002). Nadane dite. Praha: Grada Publishing.

Narode, R. (1987). Teaching Thinking Skills: Science. Washington: National Education Association.

PROFILES project (2011, May 10). Retrieved February 10, 2015, from http://www.profiles-project.eu/

Rakow, S. J. (1986). Teaching Science as Inquiry. Fastback 246, Bloomington, USA: Phi Delta Kappa Educ. Found.

Reeves, T. C. (2006). Design research from the technology perspective. In J. V. Akker, K. Gravemeijer, S. McKenney, & N. Nieveen (Eds.), Educational design research (pp. 86-109), London: Routledge.

Renzulli, J. S. (1986). The three-ring conception of giftedness: a developmental model for creative productivity. In R. J. Sternberg, & J. E. Davison (Eds.), Conception of giftedness (pp. 53-92). Cambridge: Cambridge univ. press.

Rocard, M., Cesrmley, P., Jorde, D., Lenzen, D., Walberg-Herniksson, H., & Hemmo, V. (2007). Science education NOW: A Renewed Pedagogy for the Future of Europe. Brussels: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. Retrieved February 15, 2015, from http://ec.europa.eu/research/science society/document_library/pdf_06/report-rocard-on-science-education_en.pdf.

Sternberg, R. J. (1999). Handbook of creativity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Sternberg, R. J. (2003). Giftedness According to the Theory of Successful Intelligence. In N. Colangelo, & G. Davis (Eds.). Handbook of Gifted Education (pp. 88-99). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Sternberg, R. J. (2007). Wisdom, Intelligence, and Creativity Synthesized. New York: Cambridge University Press.

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Tannenbaum, A. J. (2007). Gifted children: Psychological and educational perspectives. New York: MacMillan.

Torrance, E. P. (1974). The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking-Norms-Technical Manual Research Edition- Verbal Tests, Forms A and B- Figural Tests, Forms A and B. Princeton: Personnel Press.

Trnova, E., & Trna, J. (2012). Development of Science and Technology Gifted Students through Inquiry-Based Science Education. In Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Education (pp. 838-844). Samos, Greece: Research and Training Institute of East Aegean.

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DESIGNING PCM INSTRUCTION BY USING ASSURE INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN MODEL

Res. Assist. Bünyamin BAVLI Yıldız Teknik University Faculty of Education Istanbul-TURKEY

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yavuz ERİŞEN Yıldız Teknik University Faculty of Education Istanbul-TURKEY

ABSTRACT

It is important to know Project Cycle Management (PCM) at the stage of preparing proposals and taking part in different roles (as a partner, a participant, a coordinator, expert, etc.) in individual and institutional projects of European Union, The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey, Development Agency and other locally and internationally funded projects. In this study, Project Cycle Management (PCM) Instruction was designed for instructors and PhD candidates by using Assure Instructional Design model. In the context of the design, first, analysis of the learners, general characteristics, entry qualifications and learning styles are presented. Then, in line with the objectives of the design principles as it’s recommended by the Heinich and his colleagues, objectives of the instruction and educational attainments were stated by using ABCD's of instructional objectives. During the selection of method, media and materials to be used in PCM, learners’ characteristics were taken in to account. Later on, information about reviewing the selected media and materials, the use of the learning environment, preparation and participation of learners were presented. Finally, assessment and evaluation plan was presented in order to determine the level of access to objectives of the instruction.

Key Words: Instructional Design, Assure Instructional Design Model, Project Cycle Management (PCM).

INTRODUCTION

Helsinki Summit held in December 1999 and recognized the right to be a candidate country to Turkey. Particularly since October 2005, the opening of negotiations with the European Union (EU) integration process with the European Union, in the context of Turkish public, it is in a positive way compared to the past Kaya, 2011). Turkey started legislating in many areas such as fundamental rights, women, children, agriculture, husbandry, fisheries, food safety, consumers, and transportation according to European Union norms. In other words, began to adapt to the European Union and at the same time started to benefit from EU funds.

There are several EU grants which are locally (Center of European Union Education and Youth Programs) and Executive agency (European Commission Education, Audiovisual and Culture) coordinated grants except from the governmental and ministerial level EU grants. These projects differ in the context of budget, process, content, partners, time and executive types. But, identifying need based proposals, justification, identifying appropriate partners and associates are important variables for the acceptance of the project proposal and a qualified project process. Within this scope, during the academic life, it is important for the instructors and candidate instructors to know PCM to carry out various kinds of projects.

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In short, a project is reaching the goal in a certain time with a shoestring budget (European Commission, 2004). But just knowing the definition of the project is not sufficient to prepare a project proposal and carry out the Project. For a qualified project process, one needs to know how to manage the Project process. To do that, it is necessary to know Project cycle management (PCM). PCM is an approach to carry out a project in a qualified and remarkable manner from the idea and termination stage of the Project (Tekindag, 2005). But here, termination of a project does not mean the termination of the actions, but the Project itself included in the dissemination. A qualified PCM instruction is based on a qualified instructional design model. Instructional design aims to unravel instructional complications by analyzing learners and realizing learning experiences according to the analysis (Moore, Bates & Grundling, 2002). Another definition of the instructional design is made by Branch as following an action of planning objectives, defining teaching strategies, deciding on media and material and finally evaluation (Branch, 2009).

There are different kinds of instructional design models in the literature such as Assure, ADDIE, Kemp’s, Dick and Carey, instructional design model. One of these models is, Assure instructional design model. In this study, Assure instructional design model was utilized to design a PCM instruction. Before the designing the PCM, Assure instructional design model was delineated briefly.

ASSURE INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN MODEL

Assure instructional design model is, one of the various design models, used for Instructional Design. Assure model is preferred in media and technology integrated instructions. In addition to being organized, it is a strategy and idea to assist instructor on designing and evaluation of the instruction. (Asad, Hassan & Sherwani, 2014).

As stated in the definition of the model, it is important to use technology and media in this instructional design model. The model is the acronym of six components which are analyze learners, state objectives, select methods, media, materials, utilize media & material, require learner participation, evaluate and revise.

Analyze Learners It is prominent to learn about the learners feature at the beginning as the instruction is designed according to the learners’ features. In the process of Assure instructional design, first step of the design is examining the learners. At this stage, learners are examined in the context of general characteristics, specific entry competences and learning styles (Heinich, Molenda, Russell & Smaldino, 2002).

State Objectives After defining the learners and their features, not in detail but generally and especially in the context of entry requirements, “stating clear and specific objectives designed by instructor or taken from the supporting course materials is important for both establishing learner expectations and setting the criteria for what media and technology will be suitable for the particular course” (Aziz, 2003). Objectives should be stated according to the A, B, C, Ds of objectives (Heinich, Molenda, Russell & Smaldino, 2002). Following, A, B, C, Ds of objectives were delineated:

Audience: For whom the objective is for? Who are the learners? What are their general characteristics?

Behavior: Capability or behavior to be displayed. What kind of behavior is expected to be performed at the end of the instruction?

Conditions: Circumstances under which the behavior will be observed. Under which circumstances behaviors are expected to perform by learners?

Degree: Degree of the mastered new skill. What should be the level of the learned skill? What is the framework of the new skill?

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Select Methods media, materials At this stage, instructor defines methods, media, and materials to be used during the course instruction. Furthermore, at the stage of selecting methods, media and materials for an instruction, it is important to choose the methods, media and materials according to the needs of learners. In addition to being objective, recent and efficient, they should also be compatible with objectives, teaching plan, curriculum. (Asad, Hassan & Sherwani, 2014).

These steps are significant as there is a strong relation between the choosing methods, media, and materials according to the needs of learners. What is more, if the methods, media, and materials do not match with the curriculum, objective of an instruction, and learner’s needs, it may be difficult to get the objectives of an instruction.

Utilize media and material For this stage, the instructor makes a plan on how to use technology, media and material to accomplish instructional strategies. For instance, it may be previewing the technology, media and materials; preparing the technology, media and materials; preparing the environment and learners; and providing the learning experience (Bayne, 2014, p.3).

Require learner participation In teaching-learning process, it is known that, participation of learners to the course and activities support learning in a positive way. That is why; instructors try to include the learners to learning process and give them feedback on their behaviors. Various approaches also accentuate significance of giving feedback (Heinich, Molenda, Russell & Smaldino, 2002, p.73):  For the Behaviorists, giving feedback is important as it reinforces the appropriate behaviors,  For the Cognitivist, giving feedback is important as it enriches the learners’ mental schemata,  For the Constructivist, giving feedback is important as meaning is enhanced with each personal experience,  For the Social psychologists, giving feedback is important as it provides both corrective information and emotional support.

Evaluate and Revise At the evaluation and revision stage, the instructor tries to define whether the students reached the goals that were defined at the beginning of the instruction. To realize that, the instructor may use various kinds of measurement instrument but that does not mean that during the process of instruction, instructor does not need to do anything else.

In this study, “Project Cycle Management” instruction was designed with the Assure instructional design model. The aim of this design is to increase project proposal preparation and management knowledge skills of instructors and PhD candidates who are lecturing and studying Yildiz Teknik University (Which is a state university located in İstanbul), Faculty of Education, Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Educational Sciences and thus increase their role as a beneficiary in projects such as the European Union, TUBITAK (Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey), Development Agency and so on.

LEARNER ANALYSIS

In this section, the general characteristics, entry competences and learning styles of PhD candidates and instructors of educational programs in Yıldız Teknik University, Faculty of Education, and Department of Educational Sciences have been discussed in detail below. Required information was gathered through interviews, monitoring and group discussions the researcher during the PhD courses of Curriculum and Instruction at the same university in 2013 Spring term.

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Learners’ general characteristics PCM training learners consist of instructors and PhD candidates in Yildiz Teknik University Faculty of Education, Department of Curriculum and Instruction. As PhD candidates are also willing and candidate instructors, they are also included in the PCM instruction together with the instructors. At the following, general characteristics of the learners were presented on table 1.

Table 1: Learners’ General Characteristics Learners Number Academic title Gender Age Department 1 Prof. Male :11 25-55 5 Ass. Prof. Instructors 6 Assistant Prof. Curriculum and Female: 6 5 Res. Ass. instruction

PhD candidates Male :5 8 PhDs 27-45 Female:3

As it is clear on table 1, there are 17 instructors and 8 PhD candidates who are from both genders (female- male) and in different age ranges. The ages of learners ranges from 27 to 55. Furthermore, all the learners lecture or study at the same department, Curriculum and instruction and University.

Instructors and PhD candidates are informed about the European Union, TUBITAK, Development Agency projects. Instructors were institutionally partners of TUBITAK and the European Union projects and individually participated as project members. Also, one of the candidates received education from abroad for 1 year within the scope of Jean Monnet project

Entry Competences The entry competences of instructors and PhD candidates with respect to PCM training were presented below:  Foreign language for EU projects (at least B1 degree in English Writing skills)  Computer knowledge (Word and Excel from MS Programs)  Internet use (online data search, data storing, carrying and sharing)  Have participated in any program under the EU Project (participant, executer, partner, researcher),  Preparing, executing and reporting a TUBITAK project under various programs,  Having knowledge about scientific research methods,  Having conducted a scientific research (writing an article, thesis, thesis supervisor),  Having knowledge on assessment and evaluation,  Have participated in EU Project briefing seminar.

Moreover, during the unstructured interview process carried out by the researcher, who is also a PhD candidate and research assistant at the same university, faculty and department, with the lecturers and PhD candidates, it was observed that the learning group was willing to conduct European Union, TUBITAK and Development Agency projects. This motivation destines the learning group to participate in the PCM instruction which would be held by the researcher who is an expert on projects especially EU projects. The PCM instruction designed with Assure instructional design model will be held in the context of TUBITAK Science and Society Innovative Training Practices grant in the near future with the subject group.

Learning Styles PhD candidates and instructors were observed to have analysis, synthesis, assessment, and group work and discussion skills according to their level of education, age and cognitive developments. But in any case, learning styles scale adapted to Turkish by Gullu (2015) will be used in order to determine individual learning styles of the participants. Teaching will be carried out according to the test results (taking into account learning styles of the learners). In case of differences in learning styles of learners, differential teaching methods will be used for 30 Copyright © International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications / www.ijonte.org

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PCM instruction. Differential teaching can be defined as instructors’ diversifying teaching contexts, processes, products and learning environments according to learner characteristics in order to promote best learning (Tomlinson, 2000).

Audio visual aids will be used in order to enable a permanent learning and to appeal to individuals with different learning styles. Various teaching methods, audio visual materials will be used throughout the teaching process by considering the feature of the teaching subject and learning styles of the students.

STATING THE OBJECTIVES

At this stage, in the context of the PCM instruction, first of all, target audience was presented. Later on, 5 objectives and behaviors to be performed under the objectives were presented. Finally, behavior requirements and standards of PCM were presented. These objectives were stated in the context of A, B, C, Ds of objectives. A (Audience: participants of the learning program), B (Behavior: should be measurable and observable), C (Conditions: under what conditions can the acquired skill be defined), D (Degree: the degree of the acquired skill: time limit, accuracy rate etc.) format was considered (Ocak, 2011:.89).

Target Audience Target audience of the PCM instruction is instructors and PhD candidates lecturing and studying in Department of Curriculum and Instruction.

Behaviors During the PCM instruction, it is expected from instructors and PhD candidates to reach following objectives and perform the behaviors.

Objective 1: Understand the features of the project Becoming aware of the basic terms of the project before preparing a project proposal and launching the project will contribute to the preparation and execution stages.

Behaviors 1. Explains the concept of project, 2. Explains the basic features required for the project, 3. States the principles that are crucial while preparing the project proposal,

Objective 2: To be able to explain Project Cycle Management Project cycle management contributes project design quality, support project implementation process, ensure benefits. In other words, it is minimizing hindrances and maximizing the efficiency of project process (Bilgi, 2013).

Behaviors 1. Explain the concept of project cycle, 2. Explain the stages of project cycle, 3. Explain the benefits of project cycle, 4. Explain the principles of project cycle management.

Objective 3: Being able to prepare a logical framework table Logical framework is an approach used in PCM for structuring the project aims and management. Logical framework matrix is a frequently used tool to resume and monitor the data related to the project. Planning the activities and analyzing the project status are the basis of the logical framework matrix (Bilgi, 2013).

Behaviors 1. Explains the historical process of the logical framework approach, 2. Lists the benefits of the logical framework approach,

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3. Explains the stages of the logical framework approach, 4. Prepares a logical framework table.

Objective 4: Being able to define the grant resources. When the beneficiary is familiar with grant resources, this helps being informed about how to prepare the project, the requirements for the project proposal, deadline of the project, total amount of grant, necessity for co-financing and other requirements. Thus, it is important that beneficiaries are familiar with the grant resources and their requirements during the proposal stage. There are 8 different national and international non-refundable grants resources in Turkey. These are (MEB, 2011): 1. Ministry of Education Grant Scheme, 2. IPA Grant Programs, 3. Head of the EU Education and Youth Program Center (National Agency), 4. Development Programs, 5. TUBITAK, 6. Development Agencies, 7. Non-Governmental Organizations, 8. European Commission.

Behaviors 1. Explains the types of grant resources, 2. Lists the differences between grant resources, 3. Lists the features of grant resources, 4. Explains the functions of grant resources.

Objective 5: Being able to fill the grant program application form. The project application form is the area in which the information gathered from the PCM training is practiced. The individual who participates in the PCM training should be able to state a project proposal. In other words, an individual who applies for a project is expected to be able to express; reason for the project, method, action plan, time management etc. in written form. Expressing in a clear, intelligible and direct language is crucial for the acceptance of the project proposal when using written language as the communication tool.

Behaviors 1. Is familiar with the forms of different grant resources, 2. Explains that application requirements of grant resources, 3. Lists the items required while applying for grant resources, 4. Explains the features of the main section of the grant application form, 5. Prepares the documents required for grant resources application, 6. Fills in the grant application form carefully according to the call for proposal and item titles.

Requirements of Behaviors  Read the call for project,  Exploit the literature related to the project application content,  Gather information related to the project application content from experts (at least 3),  Write the project with a coordinator, partner and participants,  Consult experts and project experts about the project proposal after writing the project,  If the application is in English, consult an expert (at least) 1 for language check,  Fill in the project application form section with word processing software.

Behavior Standards Together with various assessment and selection criteria of grant resources, there needs to be shared features in order for the proposals to be granted. For instance, as there are different kinds of grant sources, preparing the proposal according to the project application guide is extremely significant. In addition to that, project proposal should be compatible with the project assessment and selection criteria. On the other hand, just 32 Copyright © International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications / www.ijonte.org

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obeying some rules on the grants but also the careful language usage has also importance. In this context, project proposal should be prepared according to spelling and grammar rules of the application language. This is important as there is one communication channel which writing and one way. Furthermore, there should be relationship with the objectives, activities and the budget, unnecessary activities should not be included and should not be requested inconsequential budget. This may cause the proposal not be accepted by the grant authority. Another notable case to be taken into account during the proposal preparation process is choosing economic ways in transportation, communication and access tools etc. Determining the partners and participants of the project in accordance with the project content and activities is highly important too.

SELECTING THE INSTRUMENTS AND REQUIRED MATERIALS

Characteristics of the learning group are equally important as the context in determining the methods, instruments and materials that are to be used in the teaching process. Thus, in order for PCM training, instructors and students to reach targeted goals and behaviors, teaching methods and techniques, instruments and materials were selected according to their characteristics. Following elements were also taken into account:  Objectives,  Context structure,  Duration and cost,  Number of students and classroom size,  Level of student readiness.

The methods and techniques that are to be used in PCM training are given below:

1- Teaching through presentation Presentation is used in the case the learners pre-learning are in adequate. In this method, it is the instructor who explains the concepts clearly and apprehensible (Sahan, Uyangor and Isitan, 2011). The terms and explanations in the PCM training will be given by instructor (s) in an order as follows:

a- Preparing the student for learning by using comparative and explanatory advance organizers Learners will be acknowledged about the objectives and become familiar with the project experiences through advance organizers (gaining attention, examples, terms, schemes, prior information) before the teaching stage begins. b- Explaining the subject with the deductive method Different and same features of each subject will be explained from general to specific throughout the PCM training. c- Ending the teaching stage Learnt information will be repeated at the end of each class of the PCM training under the guidance of the instructors.

2- Cooperative Learning “Cooperative learning is the joint work between groups in order to maximize their learning levels” (Cubukcu, 2011). Although there are many cooperative learning techniques, small group teaching and group research techniques will be used while filling in the application form for PCM training (especially during the proposal preparation stage). Maximizing the learning levels of the learning group in accordance with the aim of the cooperative learning method by allowing them to benefit from each other during the implementation stage is crucial.

- Small group teaching Students determine their subjects do research and discuss with other group members in this learning technique and student opinions are taken into account during the assessment stage.

- Group research

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This technique allows the group to actively play a role in the process. This role begins with determining the research subject and continues to the end of the process. At the final stage of the PCM training, group members determine the project proposal under the supervisory of the instructor, titles of the subject in the application form are distributed to each member and the presentation is carried out by the group in front of the class.

3-Project-Based Learning Project based learning is an approach of learning depending on designing, imagination, planning and fictionalizing (Erdem, 2002). Because PCM structure is compatible with the project based learning approach, it will be used so that students can prepare a project proposal by exploring a subject in detail either individually or with the group. Thus, PCM training will be designed according to the 6 principles of the project based learning approach (MoEM, 2006): a- Beginning the lesson with a question: Beginning the subject with a true problem in life, b- Planning: Do planning according to the project content and standards, c- Program: Make a time program for the project, d- Monitoring: Observing the roles of group members according to the learners and their projects, providing counseling and guidance service for learners throughout the process e- Review: Exploring the learning outputs throughout the process and giving feedback to students, f- Assessment: Enabling students to make an assessment with the group, giving them the opportunity for question and discussion.

4-Question-Answer Method In previous explanations project cycle management was defined as a process for developing and completing the project idea by considering quality, productiveness and efficiency (Tekindag, 2005). Questions and answers are regarded as crucial factors in promoting quality, productiveness and efficiency especially at the analysis and synthesis stages. This method is important in PCM training with regards to creating a project idea, determining the activities, setting up a cost table, creating alternative plans for undesired outcomes, creating a logical framework table. Thus, the instructor can execute learning throughout the PCM training with questions and answers based on the analysis and synthesis stages. Learner motivation, investigation, participation, discussion, interpretation etc. are aimed at during the teaching stage.

5-Discussion Method The discussion method is used in PCM training to decide whether the idea -which the group came up together- should be turned into a project or not, or whether it is appropriate or not. Although there are many techniques in this method, PCM training uses the counter panel technique. The instructor sets two groups in the classroom in order to discuss in detail each group’s project idea.

6-Brainstorming technique Brainstorming is revealing each individual’s opinion without any limitations and comments. PCM training uses this technique to determine individual and group proposals and discuss their appropriateness.

The techniques and methods listed were preferred by considering the characteristics of instructors, PhD candidates and PCM training. The instructor can use different methods and techniques in accordance with learner characteristics.

Selecting Media Audio visual presentations will be made in order to address to different sense organs throughout the lessons. Computers and projections will be used during the teaching-learning activities. In order to help students get ready for the class and revise, the “Project Writing Guide” developed by the Ministry of Education will be handed out to each participant and the instructor will expect related sections to be read before each class. In addition, empty application forms will be given to each participant and an activity will be carried out at the end of each class. Flipchart visual presentations will be used when necessary to support and exemplify the subject. Also, media features developed by Levy and Dickie (1973) will be used:

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1- Visual presentation: Project presentation assisted with computers and projections will include both written and visual presentations. 2- Size: Text length, font size etc. will be taken into consideration. 3- Color: Color decisions for the presentation and written materials (logical framework matrix, project application form) will be made carefully; color should not distract the students. 4- Motion: The motion feature will be resorted to in order to present motor skills and learning stages. 5- Language: The language of the presentation, written form of the project and attachments should be clear and understandable. Only written information will be considered during the project assessment stage, face to face explanations will be impossible and therefore expression will be as crucial as the project content. 6- Sound and picture match: It is crucial for the sounds and pictures of the presentation to be compatible with each other. 7- Arrangement: In order to prevent any misunderstandings and facilitate learning, expert opinions will be resorted to and corrections will be made when necessary.

Materials Available materials will be used throughout the PCM training by taking into account objectives and learner characteristics.

1- Logical Framework Matrix The logical framework matrix is a document which should be filled in according to the project and the project application form, when related sections of the project application form is filled then the related section of the matrix should be filled in too.

2- Pilot Project The pilot project will be handed to the instructors and PhD candidates prior to the training. Relevant sections will be read in the pilot project after each section of the project is explained. It will also be an example and a guideline when filling in the empty application form.

3- Project Application Form The project application form will be used in order to practice the given information and decrease the problems participants face during their writing experience. Participants will also be assessed with the information they write on the application form.

4- Budget Plan Budget is an essential part of a project and is referred to as “activity equals cost” in the project jargon. Budget plan will be used in order to support participant knowledge on how to do ratings, on cost of depreciation, cost amounts of countries and rates etc.

5- Computer and Projection Machine Computer and projection will be used in order to support written information and share information related to videos, presentation, document, project application form, pilot project and activities etc. Computer and projection will be used to facilitate learning, ensure a permanent learning, make time and cost savings, efficiently exploit the attention period, share learner presentations and discuss them.

6- Flip Chart board and markers During the PCM instruction, flip chart material will be used in order to support the expressions (exemplifying) and to provide individual explanations and examples. In addition, flip charts will be used while sharing summaries, memos, notes, lesson content, and important information.

7- Project Preparation Guide Project preparation guides are booklets that explain in detail all the stages of the project. Participants resort to this booklet when writing the project, when revising the subject before and after the lesson, when satisfying

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their lack of knowledge and to remember the subjects discussed in the class. Participants can also resort to the guide when filling in the project application form at the end of the project training.

8- Printer Printers will be used when distributing the written materials throughout the PCM training, when printing the pilot projects, when printing the relevant sections for the activities that are carried out after classes.

USING THE SELECTED MEDIA AND MATERIALS

1. Reviewing the materials The instructor makes sure that the computer and projection is working before beginning the lesson. They also check whether PowerPoint presentations and videos are working properly before each lesson. They check whether each participant has a project preparation guide, pilot project copy, project application form, logical framework matrix and a budget plan. Finally, they check whether the flip chart and marker is ready for use.

2. Preparing the materials The instructor prepares the presentation before each lesson and also brings the full and empty copies of the project application form. The logical framework matrix and budget plan will be kept ready during the instruction especially in the practicing phase. Also, learner presentations are sent to students and the instructor to be checked whether their contents are suitable. Presentations are purified from touchy contents. In addition, the materials which were checked and prepared by the instructor are organized according to presentation orders. Computer and projection is opened if the lesson is going to begin with the instructors presentation, but if the lesson is going to begin with learners’ project proposal example sections (verbal) then the computer and projection are kept off so as not to distract the students, only written materials are handed to the audiences.

3. Preparing the environment Classrooms of Yildiz Teknik University School of Education will be used for PCM training. The instructor checks the classroom nattiness, temperature, light, whether there are enough seats and desks etc. before each course. The instructor also checks whether the presentation can be read by each student adequately. In the case of visual and hearing problem, learners with seeing or hearing problems will be seated near the projection, computer and flip chart. The methods and techniques that are resorted to during the lesson should be able to increase communication, participation and interpretation levels. Precautions are taken against possible misfortunes (related to the audio system, printer, projection screen, materials that don’t work etc.). The instructor also checks each material and instrument before each course. In fact some resources state that the instructor should make some trials before the teaching stage against any possible misfortunes.

4. Preparing the students It is well known that there is a close relationship between the readiness levels of learners (motivation) and learning. In order to prepare the students for the lesson, the instructor will explain the goals of the subject before each lesson and also explain what kind benefits these goals will provide while preparing the project proposal. Furthermore, instructor uses clear and comprehensible language and gives the learners opportunity to get at the rules and sources. To attract the notice of learners and motivate them, instructor execute activities such as such as giving general information about the course, underlining requirement and benefits of the subject a head of each course (Heinich, Molenda, Russell & Smaldino, 2002).

5. Ensuring a learning experience After the preparations and controls were completed, the instructor can start the teaching stage. With the help of the projection, the instructor will begin by explaining the goal of the lesson and refer to the general points of each subject. After the instructor is certain that the computer functions properly, transcripts are legible and the lecturer is heard by each student. Also, the materials (pencil, paper, logical framework matrix, budget plan, project application form etc.) should be made ready for use. In addition, the instructor takes following crucial

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items into account which are crucial for an effective presentation will be considered (Heinich, Molenda, Russell & Smaldino, 2002, p. 70):

Preparation Planning: Before the class starts, the instructor informs the learners about the aim, importance and key concepts of the course. Trial: Before the class starts, the instructor checks for the order of the course presentation and prepares for the possible questions. Set Up: Before the class starts, the instructor prepares the computer, projection device, presentation (PowerPoint), flipchart etc. and makes sure that they are working.

Presentation Anxiety control: During the presentation, the instructor manages his breath and normalizes the level of anxiety. Presentation: During the presentation, the instructor stands upright, does not turn his back to the learners, does not stand still and moves around during lecturing.

Sound: The instructor should not just read the presentation s/he prepared; he should ground the presentation on the key concepts. S/he should adjust the speed, tone, emphasis and level of the voice properly and highlight the important points.

Eye contact: The instructor should make eye contact with the students and maintain their attention levels.

Gesture: The instructor should stay away from affectation and be natural and should not put his hands in his pockets.

Using visual aids: The instructor should support the verbal information with visual aids and enrich the learning environment.

LEARNER PARTICIPATION

Learner participation is crucial in creating permanent behavior change. This situation is mentioned in different learning theories as well. Achieving learner participation is not only about the learners; there are some responsibilities the instructor should take, too. Thus, the instructor should give feedbacks to the students’ behaviors during class. Besides at the end of the course the instructor will have a writing activity of a project proposal about the course subject in order to ensure participation and practice. In this way it will be determined to what extent the learners have learned the course subject and the mistakes they have made in writing. Also, when project proposal writing is over, the learners will present the proposals with the projection device and will have the opportunity to see their mistakes with the help of feedbacks and criticisms of the listeners. This will also make the listeners to participate in the class attentively and with a critical approach.

ASSESSMENT AND UPDATE

Assessment is to determine to what extent the learners have reached the aims of the course. The assessment of the learners’ achievements in terms of PCM training is to determine to what extent the students have reached the aims set at the beginning within the frame of ASSURE program design model. Therefore, the assessment will be made according to the participation, practice and project writing.

Class Participation For the learners to be prepared for the class, participate in the class, ask questions, and express their criticisms, comments and views verbally are very important for learning and correcting mistakes. Besides, in cooperative learning the participation and motivation of the group members are also important. The instructor will assess the learners according to their participation in learning activities in class.

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Practice Practice and assessment of each subject will made before each class on the project proposal forms that students fill in. Learners will complete section writings and share these with the class. Therefore learners will be able observe how much they understood from the subject and also they will have the chance to make corrections. The audience will avoid such mistakes.

Writing the project (Final assessment) Students are expected to come up with a project proposal at the end of the PCM training. So, final version of the project proposal form that the students fill at the end of each class will be assessed by the instructor according to the proposal call criteria. Moreover, final version of the project proposal will be presented to the other participants in the class and they will be asked to assess it in terms of consistency, relevance, meeting the requests of the section, language, fluency and spelling. Since the ultimate goal of the PCM training is preparing a project proposal, during the assessment the main and effective points will be given according to the project proposal.

BIODATA AND CONTACT ADDRESSES OF AUTHORS

Bünyamin BAVLI started teaching English as a Foreign Language in Frankfurt, Germany as an Assistant English Language Teacher about one year in 2006-2007. After turning back to Turkey, he taught English as a Foreign Language at different state schools in Turkey between 2007-2014. He started to work as a research assistant at Faculty of Education, Yıldız Teknik University where he has been also having PhD at the department of Curriculum and Instruction. He received his Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction department at Fırat University in 2011. His research interests Curriculum Evaluation, Instructional Design, Curriculum Development, and Teacher Education. Bünyamin BAVLI Yıldız Teknik University Faculty of Education Istanbul-Turkey E. Mail: [email protected]

Yavuz ERİŞEN, has been working as a Assoc. Prof. Dr. at Faculty of Education, Department of Educational Sciences, Yildiz Technical University. His research interests are teacher training, educational quality, quality standards in education, lifelong learning.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yavuz ERIŞEN Yildiz Technical University İstanbul- TURKEY E. mail: [email protected]

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SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS’ OPINIONS OF THEIR ‘MULTIPLE INTELLEGENCE AREAS’ LEVELS

Assist. Prof. Dr. Celal GÜLŞEN Fatih University Faculty of Education Büyükçekmece/İstanbul- TURKEY

PhDc. Mehmet DEMİR Pamukkale University Institute of the Educational Sciences Denizli- TURKEY

ABSTRACT

This study was conducted to determine the views of administrators, who work in the schools affiliated to the Ministry of Education, on their intelligence areas based on the multiple intelligence theory. The research population consists of the principals and assistant principals who work in the public schools (primary and secondary) in Nevşehir province between 2012 and 2013. Since the whole population was reached, there was no need to a sample to represent it. In this study, “the Multiple Intelligence Assessment Survey”, which was developed by Gülşen (2012) on five-point Likert scale with ‘0,965’ Cronbach’s Alpha value, was adopted to determine the administrators’ ‘multiple intelligence areas’. According to the findings, there seemed no differentiation in the administrators’ intelligence area in terms of gender variable. As a result of the research, it has been seen that the school administrators see their ‘verbal/linguistic intelligence’ as the most developed with a 55,4% participation rate and they think they have other intelligence areas at different rates. Considering these results, it is suggested for the Ministry of Education to determine the policies encompassing the activities that may help the school administrators be better equipped about multiple intelligence types.

Key Words: Multiple Intelligence, School, Education, Educational Administration, School Administrators.

INTRODUCTION

The fact that what intelligence is and how it should be defined has attracted many educators for a long time and each discipline dealing with ‘intelligence’ defines it accordingly. Binet, who developed Psychometric approach, suggests that the intelligence manifests itself in complex high-level processes such as understanding, judgment and reasoning, while Piaget, who brings a developmental-based approach to intelligence, defines intelligence as the mind’s power of change and renewal (Bümen, 2005; Selçuk et al., 2004). Ceci (1990) developed “bio-ecologic theory” and suggested that the intelligence concept also includes biologic, environmental, metacognitive and motivational variables (Demir, 2014; Elibol, 2000; Selçuk et al., 2004). Sternberg (1988) who developed triarchic intelligence theory defines intelligence as the individual’s mentally self-executing capacity in his work “Triarchic Mind” (Demir, 2014; Eskisözlük, 2015; Selçuk et al., 2004).

Gardner who proposed multiple intelligence theory defines intelligence as the individual’s capacity to create products that are of value in one or more cultures, the skill to produce effective and efficient solutions to real life problems and the ability to discover new or complex structured problems that need to be resolved (Checkley, 1997; Gardner, 2004). With his intelligence definition, Gardner named individuals’ different abilities, potentials or skills as “intelligence areas” providing a broader view on intelligence (Gardner, 2004; Saban, 2005).

The innovations proposed by Gardner on intelligence definition and its process of development have resulted in the invalidation of other views discussing intelligence as one way. (Atik, 2003). According to Gardner, IQ

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tests and other intelligence tests only measure verbal and logical-mathematical skills. The individuals, however, have eight different intelligence areas (Checkley, 1997).

Gardner defines intelligence areas as verbal-linguistic, logical-mathematical, visual-spatial, bodily-kinaesthetic, musical-rhythmic, intrapersonal-introspective, and social-interpersonal intelligences in his epochal book “Frames of Mind” in 1983 (Gardner, 2004; Karatekin, 2006). Gardner has added the eighth area as naturalistic intelligence in 1995 (Gülşen et al., 2014a; Yavuz, 2005). Gardner describes multiple intelligence areas to be used in the management of teaching and learning process as the following (Demir, 2014; Gardner, 1999; Gardner, 2004; Gülşen et al., 2014a; Karatekin, 2006):

Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence: Linguistic intelligence is the ability to use both spoken and written words effectively. For example, those verbally storytelling, making presentations and politicians as well as poets, playwrights, editors, journalists displaying linguistic intelligence are categorized in this group.

Logical/Mathematical Intelligence: This area has to do with the abilities such as logical thinking, using numbers efficiently, suggesting cognitive solutions to problems, distinguishing the relations between concepts, sorting, generalizing, formulating (mathematically), counting and hypothesis testing.

Visual/Spatial Intelligence: This is the ability to visualize the shape and image of a three-dimensional object, to perceive the world accurately and to reflect one’s imagination after the perception/understanding. Spatial intelligence includes the behaviours such as visual thinking, expressing the shape/space features of objects with shapes and graphics, drawing, painting and shaping.

Bodily/Kinaesthetic Intelligence: This ability is the control of one’s bodily motions in expressing opinions and feelings and in solving problems. The individuals who have high bodily-kinaesthetic intelligence display a facility with sporting movements and rhythmic games.

Musical/Rhythmic Intelligence: This area has to do with the ability to use music as a tool in transferring feelings, sensing the music and performing it. The people who have high musical/rhythmic intelligence are musicians, conductors and composers.

Intrapersonal/Introspective/Individual Intelligence: This ability is one’s understanding of the self, strengths or weaknesses, mood, desire and intentions; planning and routing one’s life in this regard. The individuals having high intrapersonal intelligence know how to deal with their feelings, solve their individual problems, and determine their own objectives; being disciplined and self confidence are also the characteristics of this area.

Social/Interpersonal Intelligence: This ability has to do with interacting with other people, understanding others’ mood, feelings and intentions, and interpreting their behaviours.

Naturalistic Intelligence: This is the eighth intelligence area suggested by Gardner in 1995. The people having this intelligence are interested in natural resources and a healthy environment.

It is possible to say that there is always an interaction between intelligence areas. They work together in a harmonious way. For example, in order to cook, the recipe is read first (verbal intelligence); if necessary the recipe is divided in half (mathematical intelligence); and a menu is prepared to satisfy all family members (social intelligence) and to appease the appetite (internal/intrapersonal intelligence). Similarly, when a child plays with ball, s/he uses bodily intelligence to run and catch and hit the ball; visual intelligence to ensure the compliance with the field and to predict the direction of ball; linguistic and social intelligences to argue successfully about a dispute in the game (Armstrong, 2000).

The basis of multiple intelligences is based on the suggestion that the majority of people have creativity in a specific field and each individual has a predominant skill in a field. According to Gardner, one displays more improvement in one or two intelligence compared to other intelligence areas. This is because there are

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individual differences and they have different way of thinking (Demirel, 2003). If the educational administrators take these differences into careful consideration, they will serve most efficiently for all individuals.

Since the administrators and the teachers have a constant professional and hierarchical communication and interaction, they experience some problems depending on the individual differences. The intelligence areas and learning styles of the administrators are key to overcoming these problems. If the administrators can identify different intelligence components, they may have more opportunities to overcome the potential problems. Having seen the administrators’ learning styles together with their intelligence areas the importance of multiple intelligences increases in guiding teachers (Gülşen, 2014a).

Creating a positive organizational climate at school is the responsibility of administrators. Managing the educational resources in accordance with the organization’s objectives, coordinating them to achieve the goals of the curricula are of the most fundamental duties of administrators; however, achieving the goals depends on the effective communication between administrators and teachers (Gülşen, 2014b).

Administration and perceptions of leadership are important as well as the effect of the administrators’ having different intelligence areas on their behaviour patterns to carry out administrative functions and to find solutions to the problems. The administrators’ perceptions of leadership also make positive or negative contributions in achieving the organizational goals. Taken into consideration that the administrators are those who guide their subordinates to help them reach their goals in a direct, healthy and safe way, it is possible to say that the administrators’ foremost duty is to integrate organizational goals and the group’s objectives (Ergezer, 1995; Coleman, 1999).

It can be said that there is a linear relationship between the administrators’ ability to create a shared vision with the people s/he works and to impress them and their knowledge about multiple intelligences. Therefore, learning the school administrators’ opinions about multiple intelligences was regarded important and such a research was seen necessary.

METHOD

Model, Population and Sample of the Research General screening model was used in the conduct of this research. The population of the research, which was conducted to determine the views of administrators –working in the schools affiliated to the Ministry of Education– on their intelligence areas, consists of the principals and assistant principals who work in the public schools (primary and secondary) in Nevşehir province between 2012 and 2013 (Nevsehirmem, 2012). Since the whole population was reached, there was no need to a sample to represent it. The return rate of the questionnaires was 80.72%. The study group consisted of 21 women (9,5%) and 201 men (90,5%).

Data Collection Instrument First of all, the related literature was reviewed to achieve the goals of the study. “The Multiple Intelligence Assessment Survey”, which was developed by Gülşen (2012) on five-point Likert scale with ‘0,965’ Cronbach’s Alpha (α) value, was adopted to determine the administrators’ opinions on ‘multiple intelligence areas’. The administrators’ opinions on ‘multiple intelligence areas’ were determined thanks to this survey consisting of 10 statements for each of the eight intelligence areas (80 statements in total). The Hotelling’s T-square test results for “Multiple Intelligence Areas Assessment Survey” were measured fairly high (5793,435). According to the results of ANOVA test and Tukey’s additivity test (KT: 21771,949), the significance level of the survey is p<0,05 and this means the survey has “the additive property”; overall, it has been shown that the survey is valid, reliable and applicable.

The survey was conducted in accordance with five-point Likert scale. Weights and weight limits related to the participation degrees on the statements are as the follows: “Absolutely inappropriate for me: 1.00–1.80”, “Very little appropriate for me: 1.81–2.60”, “Slightly appropriate for me: 2.61–3.40”, “Highly appropriate for me: 3.41-4.20”, “Absolutely appropriate for me: 4.21–5.00”. The development levels of intelligence areas were

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determined as the follows: “Undeveloped” for 10-17 points; “Slightly Developed” for 18-25 points; “Moderately Developed” for 26-33 points; “Developed” for 34-41 points; and “Very Developed” for 42-50 points.

FINDINGS AND COMMENTS

This section includes the statistical analysis tables of the data obtained from “Multiple Intelligence Assessment Survey”. The survey data were analyzed and evaluated through computer software packages. Following are the tables that were created with the help of the data and the evaluations based on these findings.

Table 1: Statistics of Multiple Intelligence Areas Assessment Survey (Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence) Statements related to Intelligence Areas Level of Intelligence f % 1. Writings are more attractive than pictures for me. Undeveloped 0 0,0 2. I have a good memory for names, places and dates. 3. I like to read books. 4. I can easily express my oral or written opinions by pronouncing words Slightly developed 4 1,8 accurately 5. I like riddles and word games and I perform successfully. Moderately Developed 32 14,4 6. I can easily remember what I read or heard and I learn better by listening. 7. I have a good vocabulary for my age. I can easily express problems and solutions verbally. Developed 63 28,4 8. I enjoy writing and I use words accurately when writing Very Developed 123 55,4 9. I like to use the new words I learned and I try to use them. 10. I impress my interlocutors with my speech at verbal debates. Total 222 100

Table 1 shows the frequency information about the administrators’ levels of verbal/linguistic intelligence. It is seen that the administrators have quite high verbal/linguistic intelligence levels. Of the participants, it seems that 28,4% is “Developed” and 55,4% is “Very developed” for their verbal intelligence. Interestingly, the rate of “Undeveloped” and “Slightly developed” is 1,8%.

Table 2: Statistics of Multiple Intelligence Areas Assessment Survey (Logical/Mathematical Intelligence) Statements related to Intelligence Areas Level of Intelligence f % 1. I make meaningful classifications while learning and I can distinguish similarities or differences between ideas. Undeveloped 4 1,8 2. I like math games and I calculate arithmetic problems in my head. 3. I can quickly develop strategies for the solution of problems by finding different alternatives Slightly Developed 0 0,0 4. I enjoy chess and other mind games. 5. I enjoy jigsaw puzzles and mental gymnastics and I can easily solve logical problems. 6. I like computer games. Moderately Developed 29 13,1 7. I like experiments and doing new experiments; I can easily notice the contradictions. Developed 99 44,6 8. I can think more discretely compared to my friends and I ask exploratory questions 9. I ask questions about how a vehicle/machine works and I can Very Developed 90 40,5 easily understand its operating system. 10. I enjoy establishing cause-and-effect relationships and I can easily Total 222 100 find main and side ideas of events.

Table 2 shows the frequency information about the administrators’ levels of logical/mathematical intelligence. It is also seen that the administrators have quite high logical/mathematical intelligence levels. They seem to have “Developed” (28,4%) and “Very developed” (55,4%) logical/mathematical intelligence. It is also interesting that the rate of “Undeveloped” and “Slightly developed” is 1,8%. 44 Copyright © International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications / www.ijonte.org

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Table 3: Statistics of Multiple Intelligence Areas Assessment Survey (Visual/Spatial Intelligence)

Statements related to Intelligence Areas Level of Intelligence f %

1. I am very sensitive to colours and I can easily find a combination between colours. Undeveloped 4 1,8 2. I remember any information easier by schematizing since I comprehend easier the materials such as plans, sketch and map. Slightly Developed 4 1,8 3. I dream more compared to my friends and I give importance to the details in my dreams 4. I enjoy painting, I find images more meaningful than texts and I much prefer to use images to express myself Moderately Developed 28 12,6 5. I like the games like puzzles, Lego and I can easily find the necessary parts in these games. Developed 94 42,3 6. I easily remember where I went before. 7. I like to solve puzzles. 8. I remember my dreams in a clear and detailed way and I easily Very Developed 92 41,4 portray the objects when I close my eyes. 9. I like illustrated books more. 10. I doodle when studying and I draw or take notes on my books, Total 222 100 notebooks and other materials.

Table 3 shows the frequency information about the administrators’ levels of visual/spatial intelligence. It is seen that the administrators also have quite high visual intelligence levels. They seem to have “Developed” (42,3%) and “Very developed” (41,4%) visual/spatial intelligence. It is seen that the rate of “Undeveloped” and “Slightly developed” is 3,6%. This result is similar to the results of logical/mathematical intelligence area.

Table 4: Statistics of Multiple Intelligence Areas Assessment Survey (Bodily /Kinaesthetic Intelligence)

Statements related to Intelligence Areas Level of Intelligence f %

1. I feel mentally relaxed when I do sport and so I enjoy sports including running and jumping. Undeveloped 2 0,9 2. I fidget and I can’t stand still for long 3. I express my thoughts comfortably with mimics/behaviours. Slightly Developed 3 1,4 4. I enjoy learning by moving and performing rather than reading or thinking. 5. I like to examine the things I wonder by taking in my hand. Moderately Developed 68 30,6 6. I like to spend my spare time outdoors. 7. I enjoy playing physical games with my friends. Developed 63 28,4 8. My hand skills are advanced and I can fix when a vehicle breaks down. Very Developed 86 38,7 9. I can comfortably use my body moves and body language while expressing my problems or any word. 10. I like to touch people and objects. I learn better when I touch, Total 222 100 interact and examine.

Table 4 shows the frequency information about the administrators’ levels of bodily/kinaesthetic intelligence. It is seen that the administrators have yet still high bodily/kinaesthetic intelligence levels, though not as the previous three intelligence areas. It is observed that the density is concentrated on “Moderately developed”. The participants seem to have 38,7% of “Developed”, 28,4% of “Developed” and 30,6% of “Very developed” visual/spatial intelligence.

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Table 5: Statistics of Multiple Intelligence Areas Assessment Survey (Musical/Rhythmic Intelligence) Statements related to Intelligence Areas Level of Intelligence f % 1. I can easily remember the melodies of songs and I can complete the tune when I hear a small part of it. Undeveloped 33 14,9 2. I sing beautifully and I create simple compositions. 3. I play a musical instrument or I would love to play it. Slightly Developed 64 28,8 4. I love the music lessons and I can understand rhythmic problems in a musical composition. 5. I talk or move in a rhythmic way. Moderately Developed 52 23,4 6. I mutter without realizing it. I also create a rhythm when I try to remember anything. 7. I keep the beat with my hands or feet when studying or focusing on Developed 20 9,0 a topic. 8. Surrounding sounds draw my attention a lot and I can easily imitate Very Developed 53 23,9 them. 9. I enjoy listening to music when I study or I’m tired. Total 222 100 10. I like to deal with music and I love to share the songs I learned.

Table 5 shows the frequency information about the administrators’ levels of musical/rhythmic intelligence. It is possible to say that the administrators’ musical intelligence is slightly developed compared to the previous intelligence areas. The participation rate (level of intelligence) is the highest with 28,8% “Slightly developed” and it is lowest with 9,0% “Developed”.

Tablo 6: Statistics of Multiple Intelligence Areas Assessment Survey (Social/Interpersonal Intelligence)

Statements related to Intelligence Areas Level of Intelligence f %

1. I like playing with my friends and I like to get involved in different organizations held as a group. Undeveloped 0 0,0 2. I am seen as a natural leader and I take the leading role by myself in the groups 3. I help the people around me about their problems and I give advice Slightly Developed 5 2,3 to my friends who have problems. 4. My friends value my thoughts and I can easily guide the people around me. Moderately Developed 25 11,3 5. I am the indispensible person of the organizations since I have a harmonious personality in group studies. 6. I enjoy attempting to meet new people and telling them something. Developed 94 42,3 7. I establish close relationships with the people I get in touch and I often call them. Very Developed 98 44,1 8. I like to help my friends about their problems. 9. The people around me want to build friendship with me. 10. I salute people and I ask after them. Total 222 100

Table 6 shows the frequency information about the administrators’ levels of social/interpersonal intelligence. It is seen that the administrators have quite high social intelligence levels. They seem to have 44,1% “Very developed”, 42,3% “Developed” and 11,3% “Moderately developed” social intelligence. It is seen that the rate of “Undeveloped” and “Slightly developed” is 2,3%.

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Table 7: Statistics of Multiple Intelligence Areas Assessment Survey (Internal/Introspective Intelligence)

Statements related to Intelligence Areas Level of Intelligence f %

1. I can reveal the reasons and results of my behaviours without being affected by the people around me and I like thinking and acting Undeveloped 0 0,0 independently. 2. I set short and long term goals for my life since I know my Sligthly Developed 10 4,5 strengths and weaknesses. 3. I like spending time alone and so I like working alone more. 4. I mostly like to be alone and I keep a journal to express my Moderately Developed 62 27,9 feelings. 5. I like to share my works with my friends. 6. I can easily express my feelings and thoughts by seeing myself objectively since I am aware of what I am doing. Developed 44 19,8 7. I mostly don’t ask for advice to anyone and I analyze my ideas and events by myself. Very Developed 106 47,7 8. I sometimes ask the question “Why?” to myself since I have high self-esteem. 9. I am extensively interested in a field and I have a hobby. Total 222 100 10. I like to solve problems on my own and produce something without asking for help.

Table 7 shows the frequency information about the administrators’ levels of internal/introspective intelligence. The highest participation rate among the administrators is 47,7% on “Very Developed”. They also seem to have “Developed” (19,8%) and “Moderately developed” (27,9%) internal intelligence. It is seen that the rate of “Undeveloped” and “Slightly developed” is 4,5%.

Table 8: Statistics of Multiple Intelligence Areas Assessment Survey (Naturalistic/Natural Intelligence) Statements related to Intelligence Areas Level of Intelligence f % 1. I follow the behaviours of animals closely and gather information about their lives since I am very curious about the animals.. Undeveloped 3 1,4 2. I follow closely the causes and effects of the incidents in nature and I try to raise awareness about the nature. 3. I keep (or would love to keep) a pet; I can easily recognize and Slightly Developed 21 9,5 categorize animals. 4. I love to play with soil and plants in garden; I can easily identify different types of plants. Moderately Developed 42 18,9 5. I like to examine and cultivate different types of plants. 6. I am sensitive to the changes occurring around me and I would fight against the environmental pollution. 7. I like watching documentaries about plants or animals. Developed 65 29,3 8. I like sightseeing tours and examinations about nature and I am interested in seasons and climatic events. 9. I am interested in different fruits and vegetables. Very Developed 91 41,0 10. I am interested in natural events and I do my best to protect the wildlife. Total 222 100

Table 8 shows the frequency information about the administrators’ levels of nature/naturalistic intelligence. The highest participation rate among the administrators is 41,0% on “Very Developed”. They also seem to have “Developed” (29,3%) and “Moderately developed” (18,9%) naturalistic intelligence. It is seen that the rate of “Undeveloped” and “Slightly developed” is 10,9%.

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Table 9: T-Test Table Related to Gender Variable in Multiple Intelligence Areas Levene’s Test for T -test Equality of Variances Sig. (2- F Sig. t df tailed) Verbal/Linguistic Default equal variances ,145 ,704 1,445 220 ,150 Intelligence Default unequal variances 1,450 24,411 ,160 Logical / Mathematical Default equal variances ,021 ,884 ,772 220 ,441 Intelligence Default unequal variances ,839 25,417 ,409 Visual/Spatial Default equal variances 2,070 ,152 1,451 220 ,148 Intelligence Default unequal variances 1,839 28,136 ,076 Bodily/Kinaesthetic Default equal variances ,153 ,696 ,577 220 ,565 Intelligence Default unequal variances ,611 25,076 ,547 Musical/Rhythmic Default equal variances 2,121 ,147 -,104 220 ,917 Intelligence Default unequal variances -,124 26,806 ,902 Social/Interpersonal Default equal variances ,047 ,828 1,295 220 ,197 Intelligence Default unequal variances 1,253 24,011 ,222 Internal/Introspective Default equal variances 1,693 ,195 -,031 220 ,975 Intelligence Default unequal variances -,033 25,157 ,974 Nature/Naturalistic Default equal variances ,062 ,803 -1,246 220 ,214 Intelligence Default unequal variances -1,337 25,244 ,193

Having examined the answers given by the administrators on multiple intelligence areas assessment survey, it is seen in that there is no statistically significant difference (P>0,05) between male and female teachers (Table 9). In other words, the gender difference among the participants has no effect on intelligence areas.

RESULTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The following results have been reached upon the findings of this study: 1. It is seen that gender difference has no significant effect on any of the intelligence areas. 2. More than a half of the administrators have specified that they have “very developed” verbal/linguistic intelligence. 3. The second highest “very developed” intelligence area is “internal intelligence” (47,7%) following verbal/linguistic intelligence. 4. It is seen that the lowest “very developed” intelligence area among the administrators is “musical/rhythmic intelligence” (23,9%). The second lowest intelligence area is “bodily/kinaesthetic intelligence” (38,7%). 5. Having regarded the administrators’ intelligence areas as the sum of “developed” and “very developed” levels, it is seen that “logical/mathematical intelligence” (85,1%) is the highest; “verbal/linguistic intelligence” follows it with 83,8% participation rate. 6. Having regarded the administrators’ intelligence areas as the sum of “developed” and “very developed” levels, it is seen that “musical/rhythmic intelligence” is the lowest (32,9%); “bodily/kinaesthetic intelligence” follows it with 67,1% participation rate.

The following suggestions are proposed based on the survey results: 1. In determining the policies about administrator assignments, it is suggested for the Ministry of Education to determine the policies encompassing the activities that may help the school administrators be more sensitive and better equipped about multiple intelligence types. 2. Developing appropriate methodologies in accordance with multiple intelligence areas for educational activities, the curriculum should be improved to make it possible gaining appropriate outcomes about these intelligence areas in educational environments.

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3. Given that there is a positive relationship between management models and intelligence areas of the administrators, it is suggested that there should be legal regulations for the administrators to complete postgraduate educations (encompassing multiple intelligence trainings) in the field of educational administration and inspection. 4. Arrangements should be made to ensure the contents of the lessons include the outcomes related to multiple intelligence areas.

BIODATA AND CONTACT ADDRESSES OF AUTHORS

Celal GÜLŞEN, graduated from Hatay High School in 1984 and worked in various schools as a school principle and teacher. He graduated from Educational Management, Supervision, Planning and Economics in University of Hacettepe in 1993 with honors degree. After graduation he worked as a elementary supervisor in Ministry of National Education. While working as a supervisor, he completed his master degree in Educational Management, Supervision, Planning and Economics in 2000 and his PhD degree in the same department in 2005 in the Gazi University. He worked as an associate professor in Commerce and Tourism Faculty between 2007-2010 and in Faculty of Fine Arts Design and Architecture between 2010-2012. While he was working as an associate professor, he also worked as an associate principle in Social Science Institute, head of the Educational Science department and the principle of the Continuous Education at Nevşehir University. He started at Fatih University in 2012, as a head of department of Educational Management, Supervision, Planning and Economics. He wrote national and international article about Educational Administration and also six books and chapters in books in theory and practice in classroom management, Turkish Education System and School Management, Professional Teacher, Male Education in equal gender, preparing to principle exams for education foundation, and there is also a book which is preparing to publish about educational supervision.

Assist. Prof.Dr. Celal GÜLŞEN Fatih University, Faculty of Education Department of Educational Sciences 34500-Istanbul- TURKEY E. Mail: [email protected]

Mehmet DEMIR, was born in Islahiye, Gaziantep. Completed his primary, secondary and high school education in Iskenderun Hatay. In 2001, he graduated from Balıkesir University, Necatibey Education Faculty, Mathematics Department. In 2014, he received his master degree in Fatih University, the Institute of Social Sciences. He studied in the division of Education Administration, Supervision, Planning and Economics. In the same year, he started to doctorate degree in Denizli Pamukkale University; the department of Education Administration, Supervision, Planning and Economics. He presented an oral presentation about “Controlling the Impact of Leadership Training Inspectorate” in June, 2011. This presentation was held in Mersin, 3rd International Education Supervision Assembly. In October 2014, he made a presentation about “Primary and Secondary School Principals’ Multiple Intelligence and Leadership Styles” held by Trakya University 9th International Balkan Education and Science Congress.

Mehmet DEMİR Pamukkale University, Institute of the Educational Sciences Denizli- TURKEY E. Mail: [email protected]

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Demirel, Ö. (2003). Planlamadan değerlendirmeye öğretme sanatı. (5. Baskı). Ankara: PegemA Yayıncılık.

Ergezer, B. (1995). Liderlik ve özellikleri. Ankara: Ocak Yayınları.

Eksisozluk. (2015). Triarsik-zekâ kuramı. 10.03.2015 tarihinde https://eksisozluk.com/triarsik-zekâ-kurami- 766757?nr=true&rf= triar %C5%9Fik%20zekâ%20kuram%C4%B1 adresinden alınmıştır.

Gardner, H. (2004). Zihin çerçeveleri çoklu zekâ kuramı, (Çev: Ebru Kılıç). İstanbul: Alfa Yayınları.

Gardner, H. (1999). Intelligences reframed: multiple ıntelligences for the 21. century.New York: Basic Books,

Gülşen, C. (2014a). Sınıfta motivasyon sürecinin yönetimi. Kuram ve uygulamada sınıf yönetimi. (Ed. Celal Gülşen). Ankara: Anı Yayıncılık.

Gülşen, C. (2014b). The readiness levels of secondary school administrators to the ınnovation management: ortaöğretim okul yöneticilerinin yenilik (Inovasyon) yönetimine hazır bulunuşluk düzeyleri. International on New Trends in Education and Their Implications (IJONTE), 5(2), 77-86.

Gülşen, C. (2012). “Eğitimde Çoklu Zekâ Değerlendirme”. Yayımlanmamış Nevşehir milli eğitim müdürlüğü çoklu zekâ değerlendirme anketi geliştirme projesi. Nevşehir Üniversitesi. Nevşehir.

Karatekin, K. (2006). İlköğretim dördüncü sınıf sosyal bilgiler dersinde yön ve yön bulma yöntemleri konusunun çoklu zekâ kuramına göre öğretilmesinin öğrenci başarısına etkisi. Yayımlanmamış yüksek lisans tezi, Gazi Üniversitesi, Ankara.

Nevsehirmem (Nevşehir Milli Eğitim Müdürlüğü). (2012). 2010-2011 yılı istatistikleri. 02.03.2012 tarihinde http://nevsehir. meb.gov.tr adresinden alınmıştır

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RATIONAL LEARNING IN THE CONTEXT OF SCHOOL (NON) SUCCESS

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bisera JEVTIĆ University of Niš Faculty of Philosophy SERBIA

Assist. Prof. Dr. Vesna LJ. MINIĆ University of Kosovska Mitrovica Faculty of Teacher Education Leposavić SERBIA

Assist. Prof. Dr. Marija JOVANOVIĆ University of Niš Faculty of Philosophy SERBIA

ABSTRACT

Success and failure in school are two sides of a single educational process. Depending on the criteria by which to assess the quantity and quality of educational results, we can speak about school success, but also about school non-success (failure). In this paper, the authors present the interdependence between how students and teachers evaluate the level of representation and use of techniques and methods of effective learning in relation to the correlates of school (non)success. The authors associated the views on the techniques of effective learning with the intensity of motives that lead to school non-success. The intention is that the interdependence between the valuation techniques of rational learning and school failure is examined by calculating correlations and differences among the variables that represent these two. Data obtained in this study are consistent with theoretical facts, but also with the assumption that there is a statistically significant correlation between current practices of teachers which influence the stimulation towards efficient learning (visualization, correlation and design, perceiving ideas, openness of the senses, etc.) and the efficiency of their implementation with regards to the students' failure at school. Factorization of measuring variables indicates that the awareness of teachers concerning teaching techniques in the rational learning process should be reinforced, which is a good referral for a new research. Obtained results have helped us in solving general problems in school (non)success among adolescents and we believe that it will contribute to overcoming the current situation and to the improvements in our education system.

Key Words: School (non)success, efficient learning, cognitive deficit, self-confidence, investigative identity.

INTRODUCTION

Living in the modern age, where every individual has a variety of different information to choose from, somewhat weakens the educational function of the school and reduces the interest of students to learn, because they are overloaded with irrelevant information. “When faced with an abundance of content, students who are ignorant of effective learning begin to study focusing on memorising facts, that is, they immediately begin to memorise everything. That is almost a sure path that leads to hating studying because of the hassle and boredom of the struggle with the bulk of unnecessary information.

Instead of this approach, it is possible to study by differentiating important from unimportant, and only to remember key information or the structure of the material, and not merely the entire content. This means that children should study by using books and other sources, but they should at the same time work on the practical

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examples.” (Suzić, 2005: 498). School failure is a complex and multifaceted concept, as it relates to the educational performance within individual subjects, but at the same time it relates to the students' behaviour, attitude, beliefs and value system formed. Success and failure in school are two sides of a single educational process. Depending on the criteria by which to assess the quantity and quality of educational results, one can speak about school success, but at the same time we can talk about school failure as well. “The success in teaching is considered to be the level where the following is achieved: the realization of material, formal and educational tasks set by teaching, specified in the curriculum, i.e. the degree to which students permanently adopt curriculum-prescribed knowledge, skills and habits, develop their mental and physical abilities and form moral understanding, aspirations and actions.“ (Markovac, 1973:.9). It can be derived from this definition that success in teaching should be seen as the degree of development of the aforementioned characteristics of students. Teaching should meet the above mentioned criteria from the point of view of society, schools and individuals. Soviet pedagogy treats the school success in a similar manner. Success in school depends on the curriculum characteristics, scope, depth, consciousness, knowledge sustainability, and habits created. Success is expressed with grades. With this definition of school success, its content is narrowed, because it does not recognize other aspects of students’ personality. School as an institution of social standards in the field of education offers and allows the students to master specific skills, to develop their intellectual abilities, critical spirit, as well as positive socially acceptable properties; all the students are offered this on equal terms. “It is often emphasized that the society provides and allows for formal education to take place under equal conditions for all, but that does not necessarily mean that it is always the case, because if it was, we would not even need to speak about the category of "unsuccessful student" (Malinić, 2010: 181). Failure is often treated as an individual problem of a student. However, it must be borne in mind that failure is not an issue related only to students, but it also depends on the characteristics of all those with whom the student interacts, where he is only one of the participants. School failure not only can, but must be seen as a result of the attitude between the school system and the students, between the teachers and students, and among students themselves. This means that it is not only the students who are responsible for their own failure. Students do not educate themselves, which means that education, interaction and responsibility must be shared. The work of school pedagogues on improving student achievements is closely linked with the organization of school work practice. “For a systematic work on this extremely delicate problem, it is also important if and how the professional development department in the school is developed and organized; within it, the status, role and function of school pedagogues should be defined. The genesis of pedagogical departments is indicative of the development of the approach of school pedagogues towards the problem of student achievement in schools” ( Zloković, 1998: 19).

The key change that needs to happen in the educational process therefore consists of re-directing the activities of teachers from preparing the content which they would present during the lessons, to creating teaching situations that will make students active constructors of their own knowledge. Specifically, teachers’ task is not to teach the student and feed them the contents of the curriculum. Their main task is to transform the curriculum into creative and productive activities for students in the classroom, and instead of merely teaching, they need to design learning situations, to create the opportunities for learning and to lead the students through the learning activity in school. Learning is a process of mutual activities, some kind of cooperation between the students and teachers on the content being taught. From the aspect of students, this process involves learning, while from the aspect of teachers, it involves education, which in this case is seen as organising and guiding students learning activities, i.e. presenting learning and studying to students, and motivating students to study (Suzić, 2005).

European framework of key competences says that one of the key ones is “Learning to learn”. This competence involves “the disposition and ability to organize and regulate the learning process, both individual and in groups. It includes the ability to manage one's time, to solve problems, to acquire, process, evaluate and assimilate new knowledge and to apply newly acquired knowledge and skills in different situations – at home, at work, while studying and advancing. All in all, “learning to learn” significantly contributes to an individual’s career management (Baranović et al., 2006).

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Researches which cover the topic of learning process have attracted the attention of foreign researchers for decades now. These researchers seek in them the principles and rules for the effective application of learning methods in practice. Mirkov and Opacic present the results of previous research carried out by Entwistle and Wilson (Entwistle&Wilson, 1977 according to: Mirkov, Opačić, 1997). in the UK, USA, Australia and New Zealand. Their research was primarily focused on predicting school success. The variables that proved to be a prerequisite for success in learning are school success, teacher assessment, age and gender differences, academic motivation, learning methods, the intellectual climate in the environment, etc. According to the obtained empirical data, there was a weak positive correlation with the success in academic ability, intrinsic motivation, organized methods of learning and academic values.

The authors have emphasised that there is always the possibility of retroaction, which complicates interpretation of the correlations obtained, i.e. the methods of learning, intrinsic motivation and other anticipated variables can be determined by the success in school, and not vice versa, which was the subject of their research.

Ames and Archer (Ames & Archer, 1988) in their study came to a conclusion that students' perception of success and presentation of learning objectives show different relationships with learning strategies, for example by choosing a challenging task, as well as by the beliefs about the causes of success and failure.

Although one might expect that the perception of your own abilities is at the basis of motivation to use learning strategies, actually, the results of this study showed that even highlighting the target can overcome the contribution of perceived abilities aimed towards achieving the ability to study in the manner expected. Thus, emphasizing the learning objectives which the students set for themselves has a significant impact on their motivation to use learning strategies in mastering learning material. Due to the failure, the student loses confidence and the motivation to continue the education process.

In this study it was found that it is not only one factor that can cause failure. Emotional disorder as a cause of school failure grows and is manifested as depression, anxiety and fear of exams. Depression is hardly noticed by the school staff and it is therefore necessary to involve health workers to assist students who do not achieve success in school.

As stated by the authors of this study, all schools should follow the new system of "independent schools" that provide support to children in need, and parents should be more encouraged to be more involved in the school life of their children. This study will, according to the authors, help policy makers to be turned more towards the prevention of failure, and not towards making a distinction between "good" and "bad" students. All this can facilitate the identification of risk factors and causes of school failure among children. When studying the problem of school failure, we should mention the studies that have dealt with the causal relationships and mechanisms between behavioural problems and failures in childhood and adolescence (Hainshaw, 1992). These studies state that the links between school failure and difficulties in adapting one’s behaviour were noticed a long time ago. Firstly, in terms of prevalence, personal and social suffering and resistance to most intervention strategies, behaviour problems and school failure constitute the majority of problems in childhood. Secondly, each domain predicts later failure to adapt, thus externalizing problem so that it often leads to antisocial behaviour and the use of opiates, while a major failure in reading not only remains, but creates a very bad condition for other fields of progress. Thirdly, the explanation of the basic mechanisms can lead the theorists to make a connection between behaviour and cognition, with regards to normal and atypical development, which is an important principle in the field of developmental psychopathology. Fourthly, the association has a direct impact on politics, as evidenced by the recent attempts to modify US law with an aim to put attention deficit disorders into a special category that deserves special education services.

How do the students relate to the content they are learning and to the context in which they learn? "Winne and Marks determined through their research that students generally arbitrarily focus their efforts on the curriculum, but they rarely have the opportunity to decide for themselves how they will be involved in classroom activities. This would mean that students receive little or no instruction on how to study, but the

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teacher points out what to study and what will be evaluated as a desirable outcome from the content studied "(Winne and Marx, 1982 according to: Suzić, 2005: 499 ).

Research practice has shown that children do not have formed learning styles, but they do develop their own strategic orientations that adapt and change depending on the situations in which they learn. This means that schools should work on developing strategies and learning styles, and that students should be introduced with the methods of learning, and learning mnemonics.

One of the main tasks of modern teaching is to strengthen students' intrinsic motivation, which will encourage students to study continuously, even when there is no external motivation and reward. This means that external incentives should be directed towards improving students' potential, i.e. to developing intrinsic motivation to learn, progress and to act creatively (Lungulov, 2010).

In modern education there has been significant progress in terms of expanding targets, so that they go beyond simply learning. In recent years, it has often been pointed out that in the overall learning process learn how to learn is of particular importance (Mirkov, Opacic, 1997). Everyone motivated enough can be prepared to succeed in learning; it is only necessary to develop and appreciate the proper habits that will help you achieve that goal. By developing and using good habits in studying, the results can be observed after a few days. It should be noted that, as with the development of other habits, there will be futile, stagnating and declining periods. The intentions of modern society are reflected in the fact that students are trained to learn continuously, and in order to do so, it is necessary to enable each individual to apply self-study or active learning. Scientific facts are accumulating rapidly in the field of science and certain individuals will acquire them if they are enabled to learn and study easily, fast, efficiently and continuously. One of the prerequisites for this qualification is to emphasise the activities that are the part of the process of teaching the students, to strengthen students’ competencies for active learning and self-study, that is, for continuous education (Omerovic, Džaferagić-Franca, 2012).

In order to save time and energy and use them for deeper consideration of new ideas with which the student is faced in learning, it is necessary that the strategies and learning rules are well trained, so that they become automated and well-organized, which also includes training to use them properly in a given situation.

In the active approach, the teacher’s role is to apply new methods, active methods, to diagnose, build new interpersonal relationships, build emotional climate in the classroom, encourage goal-driven learning and other tasks, such as student self-evaluation, individualization, etc. Methods used in interactive teaching are different and, in fact, they complement classical teaching methods, such as algorithmic methods and cooperative learning methods. Algorithmic models include methods that are based on algorithms: analytical and synthetic method, a generic method, analogy methods, models method and problem of black box method.

Cooperative learning methods include student team learning methods, mosaic-learning method and its modifications, group project method, cooperative networks and other peer interactive methods (Omerovic, Džaferagić-Franca, 2012).

How can the learning material be memorised most easily? Mnemonics are mental processes which aim to improve memory. Thought processes make the content being studied more meaningful and better linked, and during the learning process signs that allow better memory are provided. The basic principles which underlie the mnemonics are association (connection), imagination (imagining) and location (place).

The use of mnemonics and their creation bring to the classroom an element of game which is one of the basic human needs that the education system largely neglects (Arar, Milotić, 2001).

Contemporary theory and practice are looking for a set of mnemonics methods that have one or more characteristics. Mental images are actually thoughts or ideas that a person creates on the basis of external sensory excitation. Thus conceived images or ideas will come to the central memory more easily if the mind-set

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is succinct, and if the images are strong and clear. But the process of building strong mental pictures is not so simple. This focusing skill should be practised.

Projection is a technique that creates mental structures or diagrams between the concepts or ideas to remember. The logic of this kind of memory is that all objects contain a lot of ideas so this type of memory has wide application possibilities. The teacher should allow students to use their imagination to create their own projections and to use them to enhance memory. This technique combines the student's previous experience with new knowledge, specifies the abstract perception and directs students to isolate the most important elements of the learning material that will be projected to a specific object.

Associative technique is in many ways opposite to symbolization and simplification, as in the creation of associations it is desirable to invent as many unusual and absurd relationships between things and ideas. Unlike random associations that our minds constantly create, this is a deliberate creation of connections that should be used for efficient memory or for remembering certain facts or ideas.

However, this absurdity cannot be devoid of any logic; in fact, it is desirable that absurdity has its own logic.

In order to be involved in combating school failure, one must be well-acquainted with the ways of identifying students who fail, but also, it should be borne in mind that there are different types of unsuccessful students.

Malinić distinguishes four types of unsuccessful students: 1. The first type are unsuccessful rebels - students who know that parents place great importance to the school and education, but they also know that their parents cannot force them to study. 2. The second type are the students who are characterized by a lack of confidence in their own abilities to be able to reach high standards. These students are afraid of success, because they believe that if you are successful once, you must always be successful. For them this is frustrating experience and they see this success as a result of fortunate circumstances, and not of their own commitment and effort. 3. The third type are unsuccessful students whose skills do not fit into the framework of the conventional teaching process. In most schools, teachers' approach is such that they act the same towards most students. Classes are prepared based on the construct "average student" and the preferred learning styles are not taken into account. 4. The fourth type includes the students who are looking for security and trust, but they are afraid of intimacy and therefore avoid any interaction. Those may be students who were successful at high school, but in a transitional period, for example, when switching to another schooling level they may feel uncertainty, express fear of independence that is reflected in their future success in school (Malinić, 2007: 86-98).

School failure can be manifested in different ways. It is important to be familiar with each of them, in order to take preventative measures or measures to combat failure in time. It is never possible to identify all the causes that have led to failure, but those that are identified can be the basis to identify other causes that cause students to be unsuccessful. Experiencing success or failure not only contains a subjective reaction to academic achievement, but also the feedback on how others (society, family, school, peers) evaluate student’s achievement. Personal traits of students also play an important role in their success. When we talk about personal traits of students which are essential for success in school, we are primarily referring to the intellectual qualities, affective personality traits and self-concept, as well as the control locus. Perceptions of success or failure in school directly affect the changes of structural components of self-awareness: self- assessment of school-related skills, self-assessment of personality values, and self-assessment of the responsibility for success or failure in school.

The way students respond to feedback on their success or failure, directly affects the development and changes of self-assessment skills with regards to school. In addition, the student's perception of reactions of parents and teachers influence the self-assessment of students' personality. Experiencing school failure causes in students loss of confidence in their own abilities, loss of self-esteem, reduction in motivation for learning and

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participation in educational activities. Burden of failure causes general uncertainty and fear. It should be kept in mind that failure in school, as mentioned, does not only affect an individual objectively; there is also a subjective side to it, since it is always accompanied by emotional experience. Repeated failure may discourage, reduce the initiative and thus hinder the advancement of the individual. Students with low self-esteem have lower school achievement, and lower school achievement leads to a decrease in self-esteem. One of the possible solutions to this correlation is that school achievement and self-esteem can be treated as a result of intelligence. More intelligent students may have rich school achievements due to the fact they are intelligent, and can have high self-esteem because they are smart, while the low achievement and low self-esteem can be a consequence of low intelligence.

So, the lack of confidence in your own abilities is only one of the predictors of school failure. Unsuccessful students are less persistent in meeting the goals and finding adequate strategies. In this case, the teacher is important because it is proven that the teacher has an important role in building students’ confidence that they can succeed in school.

When the teacher shows the student that he/she believes in him and that good results are expected, the students themselves start to believe in themselves. The process of communication between the teacher and the student is much easier in an atmosphere of mutual understanding, respect, trust and positive emotions. (Jevtic, 2012).

Students see their success or failure depending on the control locus. Successful students have a tendency to attribute their success to hard work, while occasional failure is seen as a lack of effort. On the other hand, unsuccessful students describe their failure as a result of circumstances beyond their control.

METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK

This study is exploratory, and our intention was to check the impact of rational learning through mutual interaction and connection of school (un)success among students and teachers.

Research objectives Cognitive: The study wanted to determine the attitudes of teachers and students on encouraging the efficient- rational learning.

Pragmatic: Searching for the structure of preferences, we wanted to diagnose the current state of the variables that determine the actual practices of teachers that influence the encouragement of effective learning, as well as the relation between these procedures and (un)achievement of students.

General hypothesis The assumption is that there is a statistically significant correlation between the actual actions taken by teachers which encourage the efficient learning (visualization, connection and projection, perception of ideas, etc.) and the efficiency of their use in school (un)success of students.

Sample The sample includes 105 high school teachers and 195 high school students in Rasina area. The sample is not balanced by gender, nor does it represent the entire population of teachers and students, but it is significant for its size, so that certain generalization is possible but it will be within the examinees that make up the sample.

Methods used during the research The nature of the research affected the definition of variables, both dependent and independent. In accordance with the studied problem and used research methods, appropriate statistical procedures were applied. These will enable the display of the obtained data and their analysis. The methods of data processing and analysis which were used are: descriptive statistics, factor analysis as a form of multivariate data

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processing method-categorical principal component analysis, comparative analysis of mean values (ANOVA), Instruments reliability (Cronbach Alpha).

METHODS

Three methods were used during this research: 1. Evaluation scale PEUTM-N – encouraging effective learning with the use of techniques and methods (for teachers); Adequacy of the data was checked using the Kaiser-Meyer Olzon (KMO) test and the value obtained of 0.75 indicates that the data are adequate for the use of this technique.

2. Evaluation scale PEUTM-U - encouraging effective learning with the use of techniques and methods (for students); Adequacy of the data was checked using the Kaiser-Meyer Olzon (KMO) test and the value obtained of 0.77 indicates that the data are adequate for the use of this technique.

3. The questionnaire designed for the research purposes: SUA - School (Un)Achievement.

THE FINDINGS AND INTERPRETATION OF RESEARCH RESULTS

School non-achievement of students is certainly conditioned, and as such determined by a number of correlates. In addition to establishing this relationship, we have also tried to establish a relationship between the techniques and methods of effective learning, and other factors that may have an impact on the school (un)success of students. Based on the obtained data, the low degree of correlation confirms the use of inadequate, mainly traditional techniques and methods that are aimed primarily at developing and then encouraging school (un)success, not recognizing the need to work on encouraging self-esteem, cognitive ability of students; there is also the inertness towards new knowledge and professional development. The fact that in some cases the obtained correlations were of a negative direction supports this hypothesis. Those methods used by teachers which should develop students' school success in most cases do not provide the expected result, and in a lesser degree, those methods are counterproductive. These data reveals the schedule of the obtained factors that apply to the students: lack of self-confidence, cognitive deficits, antisocial behaviour, anxiety, personal traits.

It turned out that among the factors obtained by factor analysis, the best distributed factor is named as “a lack of confidence” (SD = 7.024), which is composed of those items that describe situations which require the seriousness and urgency of response towards persons who are in need of efficient learning, and the need for immediate application of knowledge acquired in school. Antisocial behaviour (SD = 3.61) and anxiety (SD = 3.64) were factors distributed in almost the same degree, and these point to the professional incompetence of teachers.

We can conclude from the results that the school (un)success is not only a consequence of (not) working and activities in school, but it also depends on other agents of socialization. The examined aspects of school (un)achievement, which are confidence, cognition, social relationships, anxiety, research identity, personal traits are the aspects of school (un)successfulness whose formation is affected by family, peer groups, close personal and wider social environment. Skilfulness of teachers can be a good predictor of positive school achievement and adaptation in the group.

The obtained results of our study confirm that teachers should encourage the techniques and methods of effective learning, but one must not disregard the fact that the obtained correlations are not so dominant. This speaks in favour of the lack of work and commitment to rational learning by teachers in the field of academic achievement and multifactorial causality of school (un)achievement. Studying school (un)successfulness within which techniques of effective learning and similar terms that contribute to the overall achievement of the study were included, actually indicate that competence can be seen as a form of social behaviour in the process of socialization, as an attribute of personality and as a part of human nature. Numerous factors have a say in the process of socialization, so it is not exclusively the agents of socialization such as schools and teachers that

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should be considered. If we analyse the results we obtained in our study within which there were various forms of effective learning and the opportunities for school (un)success, we can conclude that the data are consistent with the two domains that will be mentioned below:

The first domain that shows the characteristics of behaviour pattern called internalized behaviour manifested by reclusion, depression, anxiety – externalized problems are more stable than internalized, and (except in the case of severe inhibition or depression) they can predict more serious problems as well as resistance to most interventions which is also in line with the results of our study, because predominantly, there is no connection between the measured subscale of school (un)achievement among students with the subscales that determine teachers' efforts to use the techniques and methods of effective learning.

For this reason, the percentage of the obtained correlations in our study is so small, which speaks of the necessity of professional training for teachers in order to develop and encourage specific techniques of effective learning. Teachers partially implement adequate procedures for the development and promotion of school success (perception of ideas, visualization, correlation and projection). This supports the fact that high schools are still not enough oriented towards education, and even less to the educational dimension, and that, despite the increasing intensity of disruptive behaviour patterns and the increasing use of traditional techniques of learning in high schools, the solution to change work methods that will allow for different approach is still not being searched for. This different approach could be based on the involvement of teachers to provide help and support to their students in building social skills, in learning communication skills and assertive response, in strengthening confidence, in reduction of cognitive deficits, in developing research identity and strengthening personal traits and all this in order to create a highly educated, socially, emotionally, cognitively competent individual who will know how to respond to the demands of the present.

Comparing the results of correlations among individual schools with the correlation results obtained in the total sample, we can conclude that there is no general correlation between the teachers’ tendency to encourage school success in students, and the reported techniques and methods of rational learning of students themselves. This proves that there are some individuals among teachers who try and some distinctive methods to encourage school success among the students themselves in the sense that teachers do not apply similar criteria, but these criteria vary from one teacher to another.

We expected to obtain the correlations which would be statistically significant, assuming that the professional competence of teachers when working with students in the field of encouraging school success is similarly designed using didactic and methodological methods such as group work, cooperative learning, learning based on the model, verbal prescription, providing positive examples for pro-social activities, etc., but it actually turned out that this trend has no basis in practice, but it rather comes down to the individual efforts of teachers to develop academic achievement in their students.

It was established that in some schools there is no correlation on any aspect of teacher-student relation which tells us that not only are the attempts and efforts individualized, but actually some teachers do not even try to implement these methods.

Teachers can use their skills, behaviour and methods to greatly contribute to establishing a favourable social climate in the classroom, and to the school achievement of their students. In order to obtain such results, it is necessary for teachers to be aware of the importance to achieve positive interaction in the classroom, and of the existence of good interpersonal relationships, as well as of their own role in creating encouraging atmosphere for their students learning and studying to improve. In order to contribute to the achievement of students, it is essential that teachers show interest in students and their needs, to show interest for the implementation of effective techniques and methods of learning, but they should also encourage students to be personally responsible for this to happen.

We can use different scales to determine the forms of school (un)achievement and degree of its presence in students.

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The information we have received can be compared with methods, procedures, educational styles and all other activities which teachers use to try to encourage school (un)success in order to realize how big the impact teachers have on school (un)achievement. The investigation of this problem in some next research will allow the field of rational learning in the context of the school (un)achievement to receive a greater significance.

CONCLUSION

The problem of children who fail in school is not only confined to school. Lack of confidence, linguistic problems and difficulties in interpersonal relationships are a frequent occurrence. Some components within a domain can be affected by other domains. For example, repeating the course and low grades may be closely related to behaviour as well as to the failure itself. Our research focuses primarily on the assessment of teachers and whether they encourage school (un)success. The fundamental debate focuses on whether the inattention and inefficient learning, which we can see as the types of externalised problems, are actually a cognitive deficit. Due to the above mentioned, the problems of assessment play a key role in explaining the overlap between rational learning and school (un)successfulness. Researchers must use developmentally sensitive measures in order to make conclusions concerning causal advantages, including the assessment of the previous variables. Therefore, that is why the factors that are related to methodology are highlighted here.

School (un)success is a complex and multifaceted concept, as it relates both to the educational performance within individual subjects (courses), and the students' behaviour, attitudes, beliefs and value system formed. Failure in school has often been explored from the perspective of teachers and parents, and little attention has been given to the students themselves and their views on the causes of failure. Many teachers blame the students themselves and often their parents for failure; on the other hand, parents blame the teachers and the school system; yet, (un)successful students remain on the margin and have no right to say their opinion. Students find it important to be accepted by their peers, to seek help from each other when they are not as good enough at something as the others, and most of them tend to have similar or the same grades as their peers, which encourages them to be more successful. Students lose interest to study because teachers always teach in the same way. Students think that teachers do not motivate them enough to be better. Personal characteristics that adolescents possess, they do not see as a definite cause of their failure at school. Namely, they claim that the cause for bad academic success is that the school makes them study content they are not interested in, and they consider they would be more successful if they studied using different techniques, methods, and using them in a more efficient and effective manner. On the other hand, adolescents lose their motivation to study when they experience multiple failures in a row and begin to doubt their abilities when they get a bad grade.

School learning is intentional learning through well-organized and rationally presented lessons. It is a planned educational activity managed by qualified people according to established curricula and using the latest teaching strategies. It is carried out on two levels: teaching and learning, which together form a unique process. The aim is to master cognitive content (knowledge, skills, habits, abilities) and content related to learning attitudes, social reaction and balanced emotional reactions. With regards to the requirements that students are faced with in traditional lessons present in most schools, it is necessary to examine to what extent the students know about and apply the techniques of rational learning.

The study was carried out in order to determine whether there is a need for efficient and effective training of students for learning, which involves mastering the rules of rational learning, learning to learn, and memory enhancement techniques. We would also like to emphasise the importance of teachers giving instructions, which will facilitate students learning and allow them to be better acquainted with all the learning techniques.

The results of this study point to the need to undertake certain measures in order to raise the awareness of students and prepare them to use rational and applicable learning skills that are useful, and advise them not to purely memorise curricula content.

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Since our survey has shown that students have very poor knowledge of the ways of applying techniques of effective learning, teachers knowledge of the same techniques should also be inspected, as well as their encouragement of students to apply these techniques with an aim to advance in school.

The results obtained have helped us to better understand general problems related to school (un)achievement among adolescents, and we believe that these results will contribute to overcoming the existing situation and to the improvement of our education system.

The study is the result of research within the project: “Tradition, modernisation and national identity in Serbia and Balkans in the process of European integration (179074) carried out at the University of Nis – at the Faculty of Philosophy, Centre for Social Research and funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia and the project "Kosovo and Metohija between national identity and European integration" (III 47023), funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of Republic of Serbia Serbia and the project „Sustainability of identity of Serbs and ethnic minorities in the border municipalities of East and Southeast Serbia“ (ОI 179013), carried out at the University of Nis - Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of Republic of Serbia.

BIODATA AND CONTACT ADDRESSES OF AUTHORS

Bisera JEVTIĆ, associate professor at University of Niš, Serbia, Faculty of Philosophy, Department of pedagogy. Professional career - Teacher of the lower grades, Supervisior and Counselor at the Ministry of Education, Serbia, Professor of Vocational studies, for the Common pedagogy, Family pedagogy, Work with talented children, Associate Professor for the branches: Elements of pedagogy, Theory of moral education, Pedagogy instructive work, Social pedagogy. International cooperation - University of Zagreb, Faculty of Philosophy (Croatia) 2011: Participant in realization of project “Intercultural curriculum and education in languages of national minorities “; University of Banja Luka, Faculty of Philosophy (Serb Republic) 2010: Participant in realization of project “Violence between groups of the same age”; EQUI-ED TEMPUS participant in realization of project SM 516851-2011- equal acces for all-Strengthening the social Dimension for a strong European Higher Education Area (2011- 2014).

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bisera JEVTIC University of Niš Faculty of Philosophy SERBIA E. Mail: [email protected]

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Vesna MINIC, assistant professor at the University of Pristina - Kosovska Mitrovica, Leposavic, Serbia. She graduated in the field of school pedagogy, subject: The role of school teachers in the innovation of teaching at the University of Pristina, Blace, Serbia.Masters degree was conducted in the field of education science (general pedagogy) on Modern tendencies in the development of general education in our society at the University of Pristina - Kosovska Mitrovica, Kosovska Mitrovica, Serbia.Ph.D. thesis included the paper on Pedagogical and theoretical foundations of elementary education in Serbia in the second half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st in the field of science education (general pedagogy) at the University of Pristina - Kosovska Mitrovica, Kosovska Mitrovica, Serbia.Her interests are focused on the exploration of pre-school and elementary school education. She is the author of a scientific monograph Osnovno obrazovanje u Srbiji u drugoj polovini ХХ veka (Primary education in Serbia in the second half of the 20th century)(2012): Teachers of primary schoola in Kosovo I Metohia abaut general education (2014). She is the participant of the project " Kosovo and Metohija between national identity and European integration" (III 47023), funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of Republic of Serbia. She is also the author of numerous works of national and international importance.

Assist. Prof. Dr. Vesna LJ. MINIC University of Kosovska Mitrovica Faculty of Teacher Education Leposavic SERBIA E. Mail: [email protected]

Marija JOVANOVIC, assistant professor at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Nis, Serbia. She graduated in 2001 in the field of modern pedagogical courses on Historical roots and contemporary importance of the working school, the University of Pristina, Blace, Serbia. Master's thesis was done on didactics on Educational communication as a factor in the effectiveness of teaching and presented in 2008 at the University of Pristina, Kosovska Mitrovica, Serbia.She acquired the title Doctor of pedagogical sciences in 2012 at the University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Philosophy, Novi Sad, Serbia, on a doctoral thesis entitled Characteristics of descriptive grading and quality of educational communication in primary school teaching.Main interests are related to research in the field of didactics, docimologics and pedagogical communication.She is the author of numerous works of national and international importance. The researcher on the project“ Sustainability of identity of Serbs and ethnic minorities in the border municipalities of East and Southeast Serbia“ (ОI 179013). He is the organiser of the corpus of great national significance “Teacher in the border region “(2014)

Assist. Prof. Dr. Marija M. JOVANOVIC University of Niš Faculty of Philosophy SERBIA

E. Mail: [email protected]

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International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications July 2015 Volume: 6 Issue: 3 Article: 07 ISSN 1309-6249

A STUDY ON ENGLISH PREPARATORY PROGRAM STUDENTS’ USE AND ACCEPTANCE OF MOBILE PHONES

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat HISMANOGLU Usak University TURKEY

Assist. Prof. Dr. Yuksel ERSAN Usak University TURKEY

Ress. Assist. Rasit COLAK Usak University TURKEY

ABSTRACT

This study aims to investigate how 125 students enrolled in an English Preparatory Program at a state university use and view mobile phones for different language learning purposes. To achieve this aim, the researchers utilized a questionnaire made up of three parts, namely, the demographic section, mobile phone usage and practice related section, and a section on the acceptance of mobile phones for language learning. They also interviewed with 10 students to obtain further information on their responses and transcribed students’ responses to the questions as they heard from students’ utterances. Results revealed that most of the students used mobile phones for voice communication and sending/receiving SMS messages. Furthermore, results showed that students generally accepted the use of mobile phones for language learning despite having some concerns about the quality that mobile phones can bring to learning English as a foreign language within/beyond the classroom context.

Key Words: Language learning, mobile learning, mobile language learning, educational technology, English preparatory program.

INTRODUCTION

In recent years, many researchers and EFL teachers have integrated the technology into their L2 learning and teaching contexts in that mobile devices are becoming strikingly ubiquitous (Park, 2011). Mobile learning is any service or facility that supplies a learner with general electronic information and educational content that aids in acquisition of knowledge regardless of location and time (Lehner & Nosekabel, 2002). Mobile devices such as mobile phones, smart phones, palmtops, personal digital assistants (PDA), and tablet PCs are typically utilized in mobile learning (Kukulska-Hulme & Traxler, 2005).

Mobile assisted language learning (MALL) is another variety of m-learning that is applied exclusively for L2 learning. In the early 2000s, there was some vagueness with respect to the acceptance of mobile devices due to L2 teachers’ having insufficient knowledge of the best way to utilize them in a variety of learning environments (Kukulska-Hulme & Shield, 2008). However, since the 2000s, the use of mobile devices has gained popularity in the field of L2 learning and more research studies have been done to widen EFL teachers’ knowledge of mobile language learning (Kukulska-Hulme, 2009; Kukulska-Hulme & Bull, 2009). As Dudeney & Hockly (2012) indicate, the leading English language teaching (ELT) publishers producing standalone or coursebook-related applications have enhanced the development of MALL globally over the last decade.

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Mobile learning provides many advantages for EFL learners: flexibility, low cost, small size and user-friendliness (Huang, Huang, Huang & Lin, 2012). It also establishes a learning context where students can access notifications, weekly activities, feedbacks, assignments and grading reports (Kristoffersen & Ljungberg, 1998). However, mobile learning is not without some disadvantages for EFL learners: small screen size, limited presentation of graphics, limited battery lives (Albers & Kim, 2001; Şad & Göktaş, 2013).

In our time, mobile phones emerge as a powerful L2 learning device as many people have mobile phones equipped with services such as Wireless Internet (Wi-Fi), multimedia message (MMS), Bluetooth, General Packet Radio System (GPRS) and Global Systems for Mobile (GSM). It is via these highly technological services that EFL learners can have direct access to the information that they need with ease. A plethora of mobile phone applications (e.g. British Council apps, Duolingo, Two min English, Game to learn English powowbox, Real English) are available on the Internet for EFL learners.

In the related literature, research into preparatory program EFL learners’ use and acceptance of mobile phones is partial and scarce (Saran, Seferoglu & Cagiltay, 2008; Saran, Seferoglu & Cagiltay, 2009; Saran, Seferoglu & Cagiltay, 2012). Hence, the purpose of the present study is to contribute to the related literature by investigating preparatory program EFL learners’ use and acceptance of mobile phones.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Mobile assisted language learning (MALL) has remarkably altered how EFL students communicate and access information. The impact of such a powerful L2 learning environment has permeated all fields of English language learning in today’s ELT world. Since mobile L2 learning technologies have the power to change traditional practices within/beyond EFL classroom contexts, they have attracted the attention of researchers, practitionnaires, ELT curriculum developers, educational technologists and computer programmers. Researchers have investigated the potentials and effectiveness of utilizing MALL in a variety of fields of L2 learning such as listening (Edirisingha, Rizzi, Nie & Rothwell, 2007), speaking (Rueckert, Kiser, & Cho, 2012), reading (Huang & Lin, 2011) , writing (Morita, 2003), vocabulary (Chen & Chung, 2008), pronunciation (Ducate & Lomicka, 2009; Saran et al., 2009), and grammar (Baleghizadeh & Oladrostam, 2010; Begum, 2011; Rueckert et al., 2012).

Over the last decade, researchers have also attempted to investigate L2 learning by utilizing various mobile technologies such as mobile phones (e.g. Levy & Kennedy, 2005), Apple iPhones (e.g. de Jong, Specht & Koper, 2010) and pocket PCs (e.g. Wong & Looi, 2010). However, what is evident is that the possibility of L2 teachers’ deploying technology powerfully and successfully is closely linked with their attitudes towards the technology (Luan, Fung, Nawawi and Hong, 2010). To put it differently, it can be stressed that the degree of technology implementation is, undoubtedly, based on L2 teachers’ positive attitudes toward the technology (Huang & Liaw). In this vein, today’s research studies focus on learners’/teachers’ attitudes towards technology, their intention to use it, and the various actual uses of mobile technology embedded in their L2 learning/teaching experiences (Chang & Hsu, 2011; Cheng, Hwang, Wu, Shadiev & Xie, 2010 etc.). Most of these research studies reveal that learners/teachers have a positive attitude towards the use of mobile technologies for L2 learning and teaching (Viberg & Grönlund, 2012).

A majority of L2 researchers have examined the strengths of using a) short message service (SMS) (e.g. Lu, 2008; Motallebzadeh & Ganjali, 2011), b) microblogging (mobile blogging) (e.g. Borau, Ullrich, Feng & Shen, 2009; Shao, 2010), c) ambient intelligence systems (e.g. Leonidis et al, 2012) and augmented Reality (AR) (e.g. Specht, Ternier & Greller, 2011; Liu, Tan & Chu, 2010) and d) global positioning system (GPS) (e.g. Ogata et al., 2008) in L2 learning. Most of these researchers reported that mobile technology users outperformed more than non-mobile technology users with regard to L2 learning.

Despite the focus on investigating a) the use of MALL in learning L2 skills and components, b) the use of mobile technologies such as mobile phones, Apple iPhones and pocket PCS, c) L2 learners’ and teachers’ attitudes and perceptions about the technology and d) the strengths of using SMS, mobileblogging, ambient intelligence

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systems and AR and GPS, there is insufficient research into individuals’ EFL learners’ language learning strategies and learning styles when utilizing mobile devices for their language learning. Such research can have a remarkable impact on curriculum developers who aim to design L2 learning activities including mobile techologies (Viberg & Grönlund, 2012).

METHODOLOGY

Sample Characteristics The study was conducted with the participation of 125 EFL students in English preparatory education at a state university in Turkey. The subjects were randomly selected. The age of the students ranged from 18 to 23, with a mean of 20. Sixty-four were males and sixty-one were females. One hundred and thirteen students had access to the Internet, whereas twelve students did not have access to the Internet. While one hundred and thirteen students had 3G type of mobile service, twelve students had 2/2.5 G type of mobile service. Regarding handset brands, fifty-one students had Samsung, thirteen students had Nokia, eight students had Sony and fifty-three students had other handset brands. With respect to talk time per day, fifty-six students had talk time more than 20 minutes, twenty-three students had talk time 6-10 minutes, twenty-one students had talk time 11-15 minutes, fourteen students had talk time 16-20 minutes per day and eleven students had talk time less than 5 minutes. Regarding the number of SMS received and sent per day, while ninety-three students received more than 20 SMS, eleven students received less than 5 SMS, nine students received 6-10 SMS, seven students received 11-15 SMS and five students received 16-20 SMS, eighty-seven students sent more than 20 SMS, fifteen students sent less than 5 SMS, ten students sent 11-15 SMS, eight students sent 16-20 SMS and five students sent 6-10 SMS. Each participant was assigned a number during the data analysis procedure due to ethical considerations and they were reminded that this research would not be utilized for any assessment purposes and that personal details would be kept confidential. The demographic properties of the participants are presented in Table 1.

Table 1: Demographic Properties of the Participants ______Frequency Percentage (%) Age 18-20 105 84 21-23 20 16 24-24+ Gender Male 64 51 Female 61 49 Internet Yes 113 90 Access No 12 10 Mobile 2/2.5 G 12 10 Service 3G 113 90 4G Handset Nokia 13 11 brands Samsung 51 41 Sony 8 6 Others 53 42 Talk time Less than 5 minutes 11 9 per day 6-10 minutes 23 18 11-15 minutes 21 17 16-20 minutes 14 11 More than 20 minutes 56 45

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Number of Less than 5 SMS 11 9 SMS received 6-10 SMS 9 7 per day 11-15SMS 7 6 16-20 SMS 5 4 More than 20SMS 93 74

Number of Less than 5 SMS 15 12 SMS sent 6-10 SMS 5 4 per day 11-15 SMS 10 8 16-20 SMS 8 6 More than 20 SMS 87 70 ______Total 125 100 ______

Instrument and Data Collection A questionnaire was designed by the researchers to gather data about English preparatory program students’ use and acceptance of mobile phones for different language learning purposes. The questionnaire was made up of three parts. The first part asked about personal information such as age, gender and access to the Internet. The second part of the questionnaire contained twenty-three items with respect to English preparatory program students’ use of mobile phones in learning English as a foreign language based on a 5-point Likert scale (from 1= never to 5= always). The final part of the questionnaire included eleven items regarding English preparatory program students’ acceptance of mobile phones in learning English as a foreign language based on a 5-point Likert scale (from 1= strongly disagree to 5= strongly agree).

The development of the instrument was guided by five colleagues working in the same higher education context. This panel of experts, two native experts and three non-native EFL teachers, evaluated the instrument for content and face validity and contended that the questionnaire was appropriate and comprehensive for the context of the study. To check the reliability, the instrument was analyzed through the Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient α = 0.92, which showed a high level of reliability.

The questionnaires were administered to the English preparatory program students at a state university located in a rural area in Turkey (N=125) during March 2015. The return rate from these English preparatory school students was 100 % (N=125). After analyzing the collected data, 10 of these English preparatory school students were contacted again to have an interview. The purpose of the interview was to reveal students’ specific ideas on using and accepting mobile phones in learning English as a foreign language. Interview questions contained five items. These questions were posed to ten students and students’ responses to the questions were transcribed by the researchers when being heard from students’ utterances. The questions posed by the researchers in the interview were as follows:

1.Do you think that mobile phones should be used as language learning tools at English preparatory programs? 2. Do you think that mobile phones should be integrated into English preparatory programs? 3. How should mobile phones be utilized in learning English as a foreign language? 4. Do you think that using mobile phones is beneficial for learning English as a foreign language? What are the benefits of using mobile phones for learning English as a foreign language? 5. Are there any weaknesses of using mobile phones for learning English as a foreign language?

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RESULTS

Students’ Scores on Questionnaire Table 2: Distribution of Mean Scores on English Preparatory Program Students’ Use of Mobile Phones for Learning English as a Foreign Language ______Items M SD 1. I listen to English songs on my mobile phone. 3.75 1.09 2. I watch English movies/soap operas on my mobile. 2.86 1.41 3. I watch English news on my mobile phone. 1.84 1.08 4. I talk with my classmates in English on my mobile phone. 1.88 0.97 5. I talk with my English teacher in English on my mobile phone. 1.84 1.12 6. I talk with my international friends at our university in English 1.84 1.12 on my mobile phone. 7. I read basic level English reading passages on the Internet on my mobile phone. 2.91 1.19 8. I read basic level English stories on the Internet on my mobile phone. 2.64 1.15 9. I read basic level English SMS sent by my classmates to me on my mobile phone. 3.08 1.42 10. I read basic level English SMS sent by my English teacher to me 3.20 1.47 on my mobile phone. 11. I read basic level English SMS sent by my international friends at our university 2.66 1.45 to me on my mobile phone. 12. I send my classmates basic level English SMS on my mobile phone. 2.53 1.32 13. I send my English teacher basic level English SMS on my mobile phone. 2.28 1.27 14. I send my international friends at our university basic level English SMS 2.04 1.29 on my mobile phone. 15. It is due to the Internet function of my mobile phone that I learn the structural 3.47 1.36 properties of basic grammatical structures in English. 16. It is due to the Internet function of my mobile phone that I learn the meanings 3.64 1.33 of basic grammatical structures in English. 17. It is due to the Internet function of my mobile phone that I learn the uses of basic 3.60 1.30 grammatical structures in English. 18. It is due to the Internet function of my mobile phone that I have access 3.68 1.32 to the examples with respect to the basic grammatical structures in English. 19. It is due to the Internet function of my mobile phone that I learn the meanings 4.78 0.59 of unknown English words from the electronic dictionaries on the Internet. 20. It is due to the Internet function of my mobile phone that I learn the meanings 4.49 0.99 of unknown English idioms from the electronic dictionaries on the Internet. 21. It is due to the Internet function of my mobile phone that I learn the present, 4.42 0.90 past and past participle forms of English irregular verbs from the electronic dictionaries on the Internet. 22. I listen to how native speakers pronounce English words from pronunciation 4.07 1.07 sites on the Internet due to the Internet function of my mobile phone and I try to pronounce these English words just like native speakers do. 23. I listen to how my English teacher pronounces English words, videotape 2.64 1.55 his/her pronounciation of these English words and try to pronounce these English words just like my English teacher does.

Overall score 3.04 1.20

As seen in table 2, the results of the questionnaire indicated that although English preparatory program students always/generally learned (a) the meanings of unknown English words(item 19, M= 4.78; SD= 0.59), (b) the meanings of unknown English idioms (item 20, M= 4.49; SD= 0.99), (c) the present, past and past participle 67 Copyright © International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications / www.ijonte.org

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forms of English irregular verbs (item 21, M= 4.42; SD= 0.90) from the electronic dictionaries on the Internet, (d) how native speakers pronounced English words from pronunciation sites on the Internet due to the Internet function of their mobile phone, most of these English preparatory program students rarely (a)watched English news (item 3, M= 1.84; SD= 1.08), (b) talked with their classmates in English on their mobile phones (item 4, M= 1.88; SD= 0.97), (c)talked with their English teacher in English on their mobile phones (item 5, M= 1.84; SD= 1.12), (d)talked with their international friends at their university in English on their mobile phone (item 6, M= 1.84; SD= 1.12), (e) sent their English teacher basic level English SMS on their mobile phones (item 13, M= 2.28; SD= 1.27) and (f)sent their international friends at their university basic level English SMS on their mobile phones (item 14, M= 2.04; SD= 1.29). Overall, English preparatory program students utilized mobile phones very fairly when learning English as a foreign language by scoring lower than 4 on nineteen items on the five point scale.

Table 3: Distribution of Mean Scores on English Preparatory Program Students’Acceptance of Mobile Phones for Learning English as a Foreign Language ______Items M SD 24. Mobile phones increase the quality of English education and instruction. 4.24 0.89 25. I am interested in using mobile phones as English language learning tools. 4.04 0.93 26. Mobile phones help students to develop their listening skills when learning 4.04 1.03 English as a foreign language. 27. Mobile phones help students to develop their speaking skills when learning 4.08 0.94 English as a foreign language. 28. Mobile phones help students to develop their reading skills when learning 4.10 0.87 English as a foreign language. 29. Mobile phones help students to develop their writing skills when learning 3.96 0.99 English as a foreign language. 30. Mobile phones help students to develop their grammatical skills when 3.97 1.00 learning English as a foreign language. 31. Mobile phones help students to develop their vocabulary skills when 4.39 0.80 learning English as a foreign language. 32. Mobile phones help students to develop their pronunciation skills when 4.10 0.94 learning English as a foreign language. 33. Mobile phones are useful devices for learning English as a foreign language 4.22 0.97 in the classroom. 34. Mobile phones are useful devices for learning English as a foreign language 3.95 1.15 beyond the classroom ______Overall score 4.09 0.95

As seen in table 3, English preparatory program students agreed that (a) mobile phones increased the quality of English education and instruction (item 24, M= 4.24; SD= 0.89), (b) they were interested in using mobile phones as English language learning tools (item 25; M= 4.04; SD= 0.93), (c) mobile phones could be used to help students to develop their listening skills when learning English as a foreign language (item 26; M= 4.04; SD= 1.03), (d)mobile phones could be used to help students to develop their speaking skills when learning English as a foreign language (item 27; M= 4.08; SD= 0.94),(d) mobile phones could be used to help students to develop their reading skills when learning English as a foreign language (item 28; M= 4.10; SD= 0.87), (e)mobile phones could be used to help students to develop their writing skills when learning English as a foreign language (item 29; M= 3.96; SD= 0.99), (f)mobile phones could be used to help students to develop their grammatical skills when learning English as a foreign language (item 30; M= 3.97; SD= 1.00), (g)mobile phones could be used to help students to develop their vocabulary skills when learning English as a foreign language (item 31; M= 4.39; SD= 0.80), (h) mobile phones could be used to help students to develop their pronunciation skills when learning English as a foreign language (item 32; M= 4.10; SD= 0.94), (i) mobile phones could be

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useful devices for learning English as a foreign language in the classroom (item 33, M= 4.22; SD= 0.97), (j) mobile phones could be useful devices for learning English beyond the classroom (item 34, M= 3.95; SD= 1.15).

Interviews Using mobile phones as language learning tools at English preparatory programs?

In response to the first question regarding whether mobile phones should be used as language learning tools at English preparatory programs or not, while nine participants (90 %) expressed the view that mobile phones should be used as language learning tools at English preparatory programs, one participant (10 %) expressed that mobile phones should not be used as language learning tools at English preparatory programs.

Integrating mobile phones into English preparatory programs?

The students were asked whether mobile phones should be integrated into English preparatory programs or not, nine participants (90 %) responded positively, whereas one participant responded negatively (10 %).

How to use mobile phones in learning English as a foreign language?

In response to the third question related to how to use mobile phones in learning English as a foreign language, the participants emphasized the significance of (a) creating a social group (e.g. whats up group) for each group to send written/spoken SMS to the students, (b) watching downloaded video clips of English songs, (c) reading downloaded English stories, (d) watching BBC or VOA news, (e) watching English movies and soap operas to develop L2 speaking skills, (d) using mobile phones to learn new English words from electronic dictionaries, (f) doing writing assignments on mobile phones, (g) presenting topics on mobile phones. The following quotations illustrate the participants views on how to use mobile phones in learning English as a foreign language:

‘’In my view, mobile phones should be used in teaching listening, writing, and reading to students. For instance, every EFL teacher should create a social group (e.g. whats up group) for each group to send written/spoken SMS to the students.’’ (Participant 46)

‘’We can use mobile phones only for dictionary purposes within the classroom. However, beyond the classroom context, we can use mobile phones for a variety of purposes. We can either watch the downloaded video clips of English songs or read downloaded English stories.’’ (Participant 21)

‘’We should watch BBC or VOA news on mobile phones.’’ (Participant 107)

‘’We can use mobile phones to learn new English words from electronic dictionaries. On mobile phones, we can watch English movies and soap operas to develop our L2 speaking skills’’ (Participant 98)

‘’On mobile phones, students can have access to the English presentations of the topics covered in their coursebooks. They can do vocabulary studies. They can do their writing assignments.’’ (Participant 27)

Benefits of using mobile phones for learning English as a foreign language In response to the fourth question related to whether using mobile phones is beneficial for learning English as a foreign language or not, all of the ten participants agreed that using mobile phones is beneficial for learning English as a foreign language. From the interviews with the participating English preparatory program students, some of the benefits of using mobile phones for learning as a foreign language are:

‘’When we use what we have learned in our lesson by making translation from English into Turkish or vice versa on our mobile phones, we can better understand our mistakes and we can be more successful in correcting our mistakes.’’ (Participant 15)

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‘’We use our time more economically because mobile phones are more practical by their nature. We can forget to bring our dictionaries with us but we never forget to bring our mobile phones with us. Mobile phones are very important in all the aspects.’’ (Participant 70)

‘’It is by the help of the mobile phones that we learn the meanings of unknown words, sentences and idioms. We also learn the pronunciation of unknown words.’’ (Participant 25)

‘’Mobile phones help me to learn how to pronounce English words. They are beneficial for my watching short English videos and my reading English short stories.’’ (Participant 21)

Any weaknesses of using mobile phones for learning English as a foreign language?

The participants were asked whether there were any weaknesses of using mobile phones for learning English as a foreign language. They indicated basically two weaknesses which were (a) giving rise to mental laziness and (b) morphological, syntactic, and semantic deviations in electronic translations. The quotations below illustrate the views expressed by the participants:

‘’The only weakness of using mobile phones for learning English as a foreign language is that students do not try to think but they cope with the challanges that they face by the help of their mobile phones without thinking.’’ (Participant 23)

‘’Sometimes, we do not notice that electronic translations made from English into Turkish or vice versa are wrong. We accept morphological, syntac, and semantic deviations in electronic translations as grammatical. This situation can give rise to problems if we do not learn the correct translations.’’ (Participant 16)

CONCLUSION

The results of the study showed that English preparatory program students did not utilize mobile phones very frequently when learning English as a foreign language despite accepting that mobile phones should be used as language learning tools at English preparatory programs and that they should be integrated into English preparatory programs. Relevant to English preparatory program students’ use of mobile phones, this research unearthed that mobile phones can be used for a variety of purposes ranging from creating social groups (e.g. whats up group) so as to send written/spoken SMS to the students to watching English movies and soap operas to develop L2 speaking skills.

With respect to benefits of using mobile phones, this research revealed that mobile phones were beneficial for using time more economically, learning the meanings and pronunciation of unknown words, sentences and idioms, watching short English videos and reading English short stories. Related to weaknesses of using mobile phones in learning English as a foreign language, two striking weaknesses were found, which were (a) giving rise to mental laziness and (b) exhibiting morphological, syntactic, and semantic deviations in electronic translations.

Related to English preparatory program students’ acceptance of mobile phones, this research also revealed (a) that mobile phones increased the quality of English education and instruction, (c) that mobile phones helped students to develop their listening, speaking, reading, writing, grammatical, lexical, and pronunciation skills and (d) that mobile phones were useful devices for learning English as a foreign language within/beyond the classroom. Based on the results of the present study, it can be stressed that English preparatory program students should be stimulated to use mobile phones within/beyond classroom context with respect to learning English as a foreign language to develop their linguistic, pragmatic and intercultural communicative competence. In this vein, all English preparatory program EFL teachers should attribute prominence to doing mobile phone related activities effectively within the classroom and they should recommend their students to integrate mobile phones into their learning as a foreign language beyond the classroom. Finally, As Kukulska-

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Hulme (2009) state, mobile technology can be perceived as a threat in that it takes learning out of the classroom, often beyond the reach of the teacher. However, at this juncture, the challenge is to create designs which clearly describe what is best learned in the classroom, what should be learned beyond the classroom, and the ways in which ties between these contexts will be made.

BIODATA AND CONTACT ADDRESSES OF AUTHORS

Murat HISMANOGLU is the head of the English Language and Literature Department at Usak University, Faculty of Arts and Science, Usak, Turkey. He teaches general English and technical English to B.A students in different faculties of Usak University. He is interested in educational phonetics, web-based language instruction and mobile language instruction

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat HISMANOGLU Usak University 1 Eylul Campus Usak- TURKEY E.Mail: [email protected]

Yuksel ERSAN is the head of the Western Languages and Literatures Department at Usak University, Faculty of Arts and Science, Usak, Turkey. He teaches general German and technical German to B.A students in different faculties of Usak University. He is interested in German Language and Literature, German-Turkish, Turkish-German translation German-Turkish, Turkish-German comparative literature, foreign language instruction and mobile language instruction.

Assist. Prof. Dr. Yuksel ERSAN Usak University 1 Eylul Campus Usak- TURKEY E. Mail: [email protected]

Rasit COLAK is a research assistant at the Western Languages and Literatures Department of Faculty of Arts and Science, Usak University, Usak, Turkey. He is currently writing his Ph.D. on English Poetry. He is interested in English Language and Literature, foreign language instruction and mobile language instruction.

Rasit COLAK Usak University 1 Eylul Campus Usak- TURKEY E. Mail: [email protected]

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APPENDIX. A Questionnaire on English Preparatory Program Students’ Use and Acceptance of Mobile Phones as a Language Learning Tool This questionnaire has been designed to gather data on how students enrolled in English Preparatory Program use and accept mobile phones in learning English as a foreign language. In the first part of the questionnaire, students are asked to complete demographic data. In the second part of the questionnaire, twenty-three items on students’ use of mobile phones in learning English as a foreign language are included. In the last part of the questionnaire, eleven items on students’ acceptance of mobile phones in learning English as a foreign language are incorporated.

I.Demographics A. Age : O 18-20 O 21-23 O 24-24+ B. Gender: O Male O Female C. Internet access O Yes O No D. Mobile service: O 2/2.5 G O 3G O 4G E. Handset brands: O Nokia OSamsung OSony O Others F. Talk time on mobile phone per day O Less than 5 minutes O 6-10 minutes O 11-15 minutes O 16-20 minutes O More than 20 minutes G. Number of SMS received per day O Less than 5 SMS O 6-10 SMS O 11-15 SMS O16-20 SMS O More than 20 SMS H. Number of SMS sent per day O Less than 5 SMS O 6-10 SMS O 11-15 SMS O 16-20 SMS O More than 20 SMS II. English Preparatory Program Students’ Use of Mobile Phones in Learning English as a Foreign Language (1= Never, 2= Rarely, 3= Sometimes, 4=Generally, 5= Always) A.Listening 1 2 3 4 5 1.I listen to English songs on my mobile phone. 2. I watch English movies/soap operas on my mobile. 3. I watch English news on my mobile phones. B. Speaking 4.I talk with my classmates in English on my mobile phone. 5. I talk with my English teacher in English on my mobile phone. 6. I talk with my international friends at our university in English on my mobile phone. C. Reading 7. I read basic level English reading passages on the Internet on my mobile phone. 8. I read basic level English stories on the Internet on my mobile phone. 9. I read basic level English SMS sent by my classmates to me on my mobile phone. 10. I read basic level English SMS sent by my English teacher to me on my mobile phone. D. Writing 11. I read basic level English SMS sent by my international friends at our university to me on my mobile phone. 12.I send my classmates basic level English SMS on my mobile phone. 13. I send my English teacher basic level English SMS on my mobile phone. 14. I send my international friends at our university basic level English SMS on my mobile 75 phone.Copyright © International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications / www.ijonte.org E. Grammar 15. It is due to the Internet function of my mobile phone that I learn the structural properties of basic grammatical structures in English. 16. It is due to the Internet function of my mobile phone that I learn the meanings of basic

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14. I send my international friends at our university basic level English SMS on my mobile phone. E. Grammar 15. It is due to the Internet function of my mobile phone that I learn the structural properties of basic grammatical structures in English. 16. It is due to the Internet function of my mobile phone that I learn the meanings of basic grammatical structures in English. 17. It is due to the Internet function of my mobile phone that I learn the uses of basic grammatical structures in English. 18. It is due to the Internet function of my mobile phone that I have access to the examples with respect to the basic grammatical structures in English. F. Vocabulary 19. It is due to the Internet function of my mobile phone that I learn the meanings of English words from the electronic dictionaries on the Internet. 20. It is due to the Internet function of my mobile phone that I learn the meanings of English idioms from the electronic dictionaries on the Internet. 21. It is due to the Internet function of my mobile phone that I learn the present, past and past participle forms of English irregular verbs from the electronic dictionaries on the Internet. G. Pronunciation 22. I listen to how native speakers pronounce English words from pronunciation sites on the Internet due to the Internet facility of my mobile phone and I try to pronounce these English words just like native speakers do. 23. I listen to how my English teacher pronounces English words, videotape his/her pronounciation of these English words and try to pronounce these English words just like my English teacher does. III. English Preparatory Program Students’ Acceptance of Mobile Phones in Learning English as Foreign Language (1= Totally disagree, 2= Disagree, 3= Undecided, 4= Agree, 5= Totally agree) 24.Mobile phones increase the quality of English education and instruction. 1 2 3 4 5 25. I am interested in using mobile phones as English language learning tools. 26. Mobile phones help students to develop their listening skills when learning English as a foreign language. 27. Mobile phones help students to develop their speaking skills when learning English as a foreign language. 28. Mobile phones help students to develop their reading skills when learning English as a foreign language. 29. Mobile phones help students to develop their writing skills when learning English as a foreign language. 30. Mobile phones help students to develop their grammatical skills when learning English as a foreign language. 31. Mobile phones help students to develop their vocabulary skills when learning English as a foreign language. 32. Mobile phones help students to develop their pronunciation skills when learning English as a foreign language. 33. Mobile phones are useful devices for learning English as a foreign language in the classroom. 34. Mobile phones are useful devices for learning English as a foreign language outside the classroom. Thank you very much for your collaboration. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat Hismanoglu Assist. Prof. Dr. Yuksel Ersan Ress. Assist. Rasit Colak

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THE EFFECT OF MUSIC EDUCATION ON THE EMPATHY OF MEDICAL STUDENTS

Assist. Prof. Dr. Yüksel PİRGON Suleyman Demirel University Fine Arts Faculty, Department of Music Isparta- TURKEY

ABSTRACT

In this study, a primary comparison was made of the levels of empathy of music and medical students and then the levels of empathy of the medical students were studied with regard to whether or not they had received any music education and the type of the music they preferred to listen to. The study included a total of 127 students comprising 49 music and 78 medical students. The data acquired from the Empathic Tendency Scale developed by Dokmen was analyzed using the t test for paired comparison and One-Way Analysis of Variance for groups of three or more. The results of the study demonstrated that medical students with music education have higher levels of empathic tendency and students who listen to classical music tend to be more “agreeable” than those who listen to other types of music.

Key Words: Music student, medical student, music education, music, empathy.

INTRODUCTION

The ability to communicate is considered to be one of the most basic components of human relations. Good communication skills are significant in establishing good quality relationships with other people and thus with society. Empathy is a functional aspect in human relationships, which has a key role in developing close relationships betweenn people (Ozbek, 2004).

Empathy is the spark of human concern for others and the glue that makes social life possible(Hoffman, 2000). Empathy is the process of experiencing emotions that match another person's emotions and discerning what another person is thinking or feeling (Dokmen, 1988). Several methods have been developed by Mageeand Davidson (2002), Mills (1996) and Waldon (2001), as well as music therapy implementations, which have contributed to individual development in infants, adolescents and adults, have boosted self-confidence, reduced behavioral problems and mental disordersand helped individuals deal with communication challenges. In a study by Wu (2002), the effect of music therapy was investigated on the self-sufficiency, stress and anxiety of university students and a reduction was observed in anxiety, depression and stress levels and even 2 months later these changes were seen to have continued.

Music is often seen to unite us, and also to promote self-awareness and self-esteem, mutual tolerance, a sense of spirituality, intercultural understanding, the ability to cooperate, and to have a healing effect, to name but a few. Above all, there is a recurrent conjecture that music can enable people, somehow, to “get inside” each other’s minds, feel each other’s suffering and recognize each other’s shared humanity-that is, in common understanding, to have empathy for each other (Urbain, 2008). In studies by Hietholahti-Ansten M and Kalliopuska M, the level of empathy skills and self-esteem of the young who were involved in music were found to be higher than those with no music involvement. All these findings are evidence of the psychological

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dimensions of music. Music education impacts personality development as well as developing the skills of focusing attention and observation. It also helps people sense and interpret life, improve their creativity, thinking systems and communication skills. The role of art, thereby music, in internalizing the feeling of empathy and assimilating it as a behavior pattern cannot be disclaimed. Music, along with all its other functions and effects, offers a specific potential to enable, catalyze and strengthen empathic response, ability and relationships, and that it is this potential capacity which lies at the core of music’s function within peacebuilding (Urbain, 2008).

Empathic communication contributes to a positive and healthy pace of relations in people’s professional careers (Yaylaci, 2006). This can also apply to medicine. A doctor who can empathize with patients might better understand their problems in more detail and come up with better solutions (Erbaydar et al 2003; Dereboy et al. 2005).

In the report entitled “The Doctors of Tomorrow 2013” published by the United Kingdom General Medical Council, it was indicated that communication skills lessons in medical schools are an indispensable part of the curriculum and accordingly 12 learning objectives have been defined. Four of those are related to positive attitudes towards communication skills learning. In addition, developing empathy as the basis of efficient doctor-patient relationship is one of the aims of the objectives offered by the Associations of American Medical Schools (AAMC Medical School Objective Project, Report I 1998) (Dereboy et al. 2005). Humanism in medicine can be defined as those aspects of patient care that include meeting a patient’s needs with compassion and empathy (Newell and Hanes, 2003). Medical education has been shown to have a negative effect on the moods of medical students because of long education period, the needs for heavy financial support, difficult working conditions, high expectations, and the high risk and responsibility of the profession (Karaoglu and Seker, 2012). Various researchers have criticized medical academicians for educating doctors without any understanding of the human condition and with a lack of empathy (Starr, 1982; Ludmerer, 1999). Today, communication skills lessons have been included in the curriculum of many medical schools in the USA and other countries (Makoul, 2003).

Recent studies have shown that doctors are able to make 60-80% of medical diagnoses as a result of an efficient patient-doctor interview and adding the physical examination to that result, the rate increases from 60-80% to 90% (Hampton et al. 1975). The most significant factor in ensuring a proper and efficient doctor- patient interview is communication, which therefore demands empathy. Medicine as a profession, by its nature, requires a close patient-doctor relationship. This relationship includes not only medical aspects but also a series of medico-social factors, which is why medical education should equip the candidate not only with the skills to solve medical problems, but also the skills to approach the medico social aspects of diseases. Resident doctors encounter health problems and accompanying social problems during their clinical training period (Smith, 2001).

In the last 10 years, important steps have been taken to provide medical students with communication skills, as one of the basic components of empathy, and communication skills courses have been added to the curriculum of many medical schools (Senol et al. 2011). However, when the course contents were examined, no course related to music was found. There have been studies in literature with the findings that music can impact the empathic tendencies of medical students. It has been said that, “There is a real danger of losing the humanity in the practice of medicine if subjects conventionally taught within the faculties of arts and humanities are ignored. I believe that the teaching of arts and humanities, in addition to ensuring that doctors practise in an ethical and humane way, will enhance their understanding of science and improve their communication skills, thus making them into better doctors.” (Baum, 2002, p.3). The role of music in the development of human emotion suggests that music may be useful in teaching emotionally-based subjects such as humanities and ethics (Schellenberg, 2001). The objective of this study was to examine the impact of music education on the empathic tendencies of medical students.

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METHODOLOGY

In this study, it was investigated whether or not there was a relationship between having received music education and the empathic tendencies of medical students, as empathy is one of the most important factors in doctor-patient communication. To understand this relationship:

1. To determine the effect of music education on the level of empathic tendency in a general sense, the difference was investigated between the empathic tendencies of music students and medical students. 2. To determine the effect of receiving music education on the level of empathic tendency of the medical students, the difference was investigated between those who did and did not receive music education. 3. To determine the effect of the type of music listened to on the level of empathic tendency of the medical students, the difference was investigated between levels of empathic tendency according to music type.

Research group and study process The study included a total of 137 university students, of whom 78were studying at Suleyman Demirel University Medical School and 59 were studying in the Music Department of the Faculty of Fine Arts at that time. The music students were 23 females and 36 males; 14 were 1st year students, 15 were 2ndyear, 15 were 3rdyear and 15 were 4th year.

Table 1: Characteristics of the music students Music Students Male 36 (61.01%) Female 23 (38.99%) 1st year 14 (23.74 %) 2st year 15 (25.42 %) 3st year 15 (25.42 %) 4st year 15 (25.42 %)

Table 2: Characteristics of the medical students Medical Students Male 32 (% 41.1) Female 46 (% 58.9) 6st year 78 (% 100) Students with music education 26 (33.3%) Students without music education 52 (66.7%) Music Preference Pop music 22 (28.2%)

Traditional music 14 (17.9%) Rock music 22 (28.2%)

Classical music 20 (25.7%)

The medical students were 46 females and 32 males, all of whom were selected from the final 6th year to be as close to professional working life conditions.

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First of all, to examine the impact of music education in increasing the empathic tendencies of the medical students, an evaluation was made of whether there was any difference in the empathic tendency levels of both music and medical students

The next stage was to examine the group of medical students with regard to the variables of type of music listened to or whether or not they had received any music education. The medical students were divided into two groups as those who had received musical education and those who had not. This grouping was applied by questioning the medical students as to whether at any time previously they had received music education for at least 1 year continuously. A comparison was made between these 2 groups of the scores taken from the empathic tendency scale.

Secondly, the medical students were divided into four groups according to their musical preferences. They were asked to choose one of the categories of pop, traditional, rock and classical as their preferred type of music. The scores taken from the empathic tendency scale were compared between these subgroups.

Data collection tools The Empathic Tendency Scale was developed by Dokmen (1988) in order to measure the emotional component of empathy and the potential of individuals to empathize in their lives. Some parts of the Empathic Tendency Scale reflect the egocentric attributes of communication. If a person gives an empathic response at the ‘I’ stage, that person is egocentric as rather than tending towards the thoughts and feelings of the person explaining the problem, they express their own thoughts and feelings related to the problem. Therefore, some items of the scale were corrected to reflect egocentric personal characteristics (Dokmen, 1988).

The Empathic Tendency Scale is composed of 20 statements with responses on a 5-point Likert-type scale. Negative sentences and structures constitute 8 items of the Empathic Tendency Scale to balance the tendencies of subjects to choose “yes” option. In the scoring, high scores given to negative items indicate a high empathic tendency. The total score can range from minimum 20 to maximum 100, with a higher score indicating high empathic tendency and a lower score indicating that empathic tendency is low.

The scale comprises 3 factors. According to the factor analysis of the scale, the factor loading of the first factor Empathic Tendency (1,4,5,9,14,16,18,19,20) was 31-62, the second factor, Egocentric Tendency (3,6,8,11,13,14,15)was 34-64 and the third factor, Sympathetic Tendency (2,7, 10, 17) was 33-75. Empathic Tendency (9 items) explained 15.69% of variance (Eigen value, 3.13), Egocentric Tendency (7 items) explained 11.94% of variance (Eigen value, 2.38) and Sympathetic Tendency (4 items) explained 9.88% of variance (Eigen value, 1.97), and 37.41% of total variance.

Correlations were determined between the Empathic Tendency Scale and the Empathic Tendency (r.82, p>0.01), between the Empathic Tendency Scale and the Egocentric Scale (r:-.69, p<0.01), between the Empathic Tendency Scale and the Sympathetic Tendency (r:.56, p<0.01), between the Empathic Tendency and the Egocentric Tendency (r:-.36, p<0.01), between the Empathic Tendency and the Sympathetic Tendency (r:.23, p<0.01)an between the Egocentric Tendency and the sympathetic Tendency (r:-.14, p<0.001) (Kapıkıran, 2007). In the reliability studies of the scale, item-total correlations were significant at the level of the first factor (r:.43.9-.61.7, p<0.001), second factor(r:.41.5-.63.1,p<0.001) and third factor (r:54.0-.75.8, p<0.001). Alpha values of the Empathic Tendency, Egocentric Tendency, Sympathetic Tendency and Total Scale were 73.15, 0.62, 0.47 and 0.71 respectively.

Statistical analysis One-sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to test for normality of the distribution of the data obtained from the research and it was observed that the data had normal distribution. As the N number was >30 and as a result of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov, in the mean points of the medical and music students (0.084, p >0.05), only the mean points according to the variable of whether or not the medical students had received any music education(0.545,p>0.05) were the data parametric.

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Table 3: Result of One-sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov test n x z p 137(Medical and music students) 73,43 1.25 > 0.05 78(Medical students) 68.05 .799 > 0.05

Therefore, parametric tests were conducted. The Independent t-test was used to compare the empathic tendency levels of the medical students and music students. To investigate whether or not music education had an effect on empathy levels, the mean points obtained from the Empathy Tendency Scale of the medical students who had and had not received music education were compared with the Independent samples t-test.

Figure 1: Empathic Tendency Levels of Music Students and Medical Students

Group differences in music preferences and reported adherence were examined using One-Way Analysis of Variance with post hoc Tukey's honestly significant difference (for more than two groups).The data of the research were analyzed using SPSS 20 packet program.

RESULTS

In the first stage of the study, the Empathic Tendency Scale scores of music students and medical students were compared. As a result of this comparison, a statistically significant difference was determined in favor of music students in (p<0.01).

Table 4: Empathic tendency levels of medical and music students and empathic tendencies of medical students according to the variable of whether or not they had received any music education n Empathic Tendency Levels t p Medical students 78 68.05 ± 9.12 9,8 <0.001 Music students 59 80.53 ± 4.86

Medical students with music education 26 74.03 ± 6.58 5,6 <0.001 Medical students without music education 52 64.55 ± 8.18

Data are given as means ± SD.

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From the comparison of the empathic tendencies of medical students according to the variable of whether or not they had received any music education a statistically significant difference was determined in favor of those who had received music education ( p<0.01).

Figure 2: Empathic Tendency Levels of Medical Students in Terms of Music education

From the comparison of the empathic tendencies of medical students according to the variable of what kind of music they listened to, a statistically significant difference was determined in favor of those who listened to classical music ( p<0.01) (Table 3),(Figure 2b).

Figure 3: Empathic Tendency Levels of Medical Students in Terms of Music preference

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Table 5: Empathic tendency levels of medical students in terms of music preference Variables n Empathic Tendency Levels Tukey HSD

Pop music 22 66.4 ± 9.3* Classical-Pop

Traditional music 14 66.7 ± 2.7‡ Classical-Traditional

Rock music 22 64.1 ± 9.1‡ Classical-Rock

Classical music 20 75.4 ± 7.9 -

Statistical differences among the groups were p<0.001 (ANOVA) * Classical music preference vs. pop music preference ,p: 0.002 † Classical music preference vs. traditional music preference, p:0.015 ‡ Classical music preference vs. rock music preference, p<0.001

DISCUSSION

In various studies, it has been identified that becoming actively engaged in music and receiving music education affect the empathic skills of individuals and has positive effects on self-esteem and regard for their occupation. Through music, individuals can express their feelings in different forms (Froehlich and L'Roy, 1985; Hietholahti-Ansten and Kalliopuska, 1990; Kadushin, 1969; Kalliopuska and Ruokonen, 1986; Kalliopuska, 1991). The studies of Hietholahti-Ansten M and Kalliopuska M have shown that the empathy levels of children who have been playing the piano or the violin for six years are considerably higher than those who are not involved in music. In a study by Kapıkıran, moral and empathic characteristic scores of the music students were compared with others receiving education in various occupation groups and it was determined that the average score of the music students was higher (Kapikiran, 2007), with the conclusion that, “art education or aesthetic education can affect the moral character and a esthetism evokes positive emotions in an individual”. In the current study, the empathic tendency levels of music students and medical students were compared using the Independent t-test and a statistically significant difference was determined at the level of p<0.001 in favour of the music students.

There have been very few studies in literature on the use of music to increase empathy levels. In previous studies which have analyzed the empathic tendency levels of medical students in respect of different variables, the results have shown that the empathy levels and communication skills of the medical students were negatively affected (Dereboy et al. 2005; Hojat et al. 2004; Hojat et al. 2009). Continuous care for patients results in a state of inner conflict between helping oneself or others. It is known that when trying to protect themselves, the level of empathy of medical students decreases, and exhaustion and job dissatisfaction develop (Shapiro, 2008; Newton et al. 2008). In contrast, there are also studies which have claimed that occupational factors have no effect on empathy skills (Di Lillo et al. 2009).

In studies by Newell GC and Hanes DC, for a period of 8 weeks, students listened to musical pieces which were related to themes such as medicine ethics, understanding present conditions from the viewpoint of the patient, accepting cultural and sociological differences as they are, making efforts to understand patients and avoiding gender discrimination. In interviews conducted after the study, there were 2 remarkable conclusions; 70% of doctors stated that music helped them understand the viewpoints of patients with regard to doctors and illnesses, and 58% of doctors stated that music helped them become more humanitarian (Newell and Hanes, 2003). In the current study, the comparison of the empathic tendencies of students who had and had not received musical education showed that those who had received musical education had higher levels of musical tendency. In this study, music has unique features that we believe make it an excellent tool for training students and residents in medical humanism. Does music embody these characteristics of medical humanism (i.e., caring, empathy, human dignity, compassion, and the fostering of relationships?) The answer is a resounding ‘‘yes.’’ Finally, in contrast to other arts, music teaches us how to listen. Music is the perfect medium

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to learn to listen, not only to a patient’s words but also to what is ‘‘behind theirwords’’ by noticing cadence, volume, inflection, and tone.

CONCLUSION

In the current study, to determine whether or not music education had any effect on empathic tendency levels, music students and medical students were compared and the conclusion was reached that the empathic tendency levels of the music students were higher than those of the medical students.

A significant conclusion was that receiving music education had a positive impact on the empathic tendency levels of medical students. It was possible to reach this conclusion by comparison of the empathic tendency levels of the medical student who had and had not received any music education. It was determined that the empathic tendency levels of medical students who preferred listening to classical music were higher than those who listened to other types of music, thereby demonstrating that there may be a relationship between listening to high quality music and “agreement” which is a component of a sense of empathy.

This conclusion, based on the high levels of empathic tendency of medical students who had received music education compared to those who had not, is an extremely important result. This can be explained by the fact that the majority of those who preferred listening to classical music were in the group who had received music education. The results from both the comparison between music and medical students and within the medical students, determined higher levels of empathic tendencies in those who had received music education.

BIODATA AND CONTACT ADDRESS OF AUTHOR

Yüksel PİRGON currently employed as an assistant professor at Süleyman Demirel University, Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Music. She received Phd degree in Institute of Education Sciences at Selçuk Universty. She is interested in music education and new approach to piano education.

Assist. Prof. Dr. Yüksel PİRGON Süleyman Demirel University Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Music Isparta- TURKEY Tel: 0246.2113559 Fax: 0246.2113551 E. Mail: [email protected]

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Di Lillo M, Cicchetti A, Scalzo A, Taroni F, Hojat M. (2009). The Jefferson scale of physician empathy: Preliminary psychometrics and group comparisons in Italian physicians. Academic Medicine, 84: 1198-1202.

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Dokmen, U. (1988). A new measurement model of the empathy and developing empathy by using psychodrama.Journal of Education Faculty of Ankara University, 21: 155-190.

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International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications July 2015 Volume: 6 Issue: 3 Article: 09 ISSN 1309-6249

RELATIONS BETWEEN CERTAIN TYPES OF MOTIVATION AND SELF-ORIENTATION

Kristina RANĐELOVIĆ University of Niš Faculty of Philosophy SERBIA

Dr. Dušan TODOROVIĆ University of Niš Faculty of Philosophy SERBIA

The main goal of this research is to examine relations between certain types of motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic) and self-orientation which is defined by the assumptions of the Self-determination theory (integrated self, ego-invested self, impersonal self). The sample includes 399 students from different faculties in Serbia (42.4% male and 57.6% female), aged between 18 and 36 (AS = 21.14; SD = 2.42). Aspiration index was used to evaluate motivation and an Ego functioning questionnaire was used to evaluate self-orientation. Three hierarchical regression analysis were conducted in order to answer the questions of the research. In every analysis predictors are the same (intrinsic and extrinsic motivation), while the criteria are different (integrated self, ego-invested self and impersonal self). Based on the obtained findings, models from the second step were adopted and they include both types of motivation. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation represent significant predictors of the integrated self and they explain 22.9% of the variance of the mentioned criterion. Intrinsic motivation is a better predictor of integrated self than extrinsic motivation. The results are similar when ego- invested self is concerned, however, extrinsic motivation proved to be a better predictor. Finally, in predicting impersonal self both types of motivation proved to be significant predictors. In this model as well as in the first one intrinsic motivation is a better predictor than extrinsic motivation. The results are in accordance with the basic assumptions of the Self-determination theory.

Key Words: Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, self-orientation, Self-determination theory.

INTRODUCTION

Relying on the Self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2002) Hodgins and Knee (Hodgins & Knee, 2002) introduce the idea about people as proactive beings capable of psychological growth and development. According to them, people have an inherent core of the self, which consists of the basic motivational apparatus and cognitive developmental dispositions.

Social environment can encourage or hinder the natural ability of the self to realize its potentials. The circumstance facilitates or prevents the actualization of the self through incitement or through preventing the satisfaction of one or all three basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence and relating to others). The optimal social context will ensure the conditions for the development of self, i.e. openness to experience and an autonomous regulation of behaviour. The quality of ego functioning then becomes conditioned by the success of the ego-system in integrating external and internal experiences into the existing structure and adapting them to the advent of new information (Majstorovic, Legault & Green-Demers, 2008).

Motivation, which is basically a self-structure, is very significant for the way a person deals with existing experiences and especially new ones (Hodgins & Knee, 2002). Self-orientation is a term used to denote prevalent orientations of the system in regulating the state of motivation. When self-orientation and the integration level of the self are considered there are three types of ego-system: integrated self, ego-invested self and impersonal self (Hodgins & Knee, 2002). Different development scenarios lead to the development of

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the three types of self that differ in the degree of integration of cognitive and affective structures with overall values and needs of the self.

The integrated self is characterised by a harmonious ego-system which has received full social support to satisfy entirely all three psychological needs. According to Hodgins and Knee such individuals know the value of their own personality and they attribute significance to their authentic internal impulses. They develop their own unconditional value. They have intrinsic motivation in most of their actions. Their perception of reality compared to other types of ego functioning is more objective and precise. They easily make social contacts and they are spontaneous in their reactions. This type of ego-system is open to changes and novelties with the will to explore external and internal reality.

Ego-invested self develops when an individual experiences lack of support to realize autonomy in childhood. Internalized social pressures and limitations will probably lead to the development of the feeling of one's own value based on the built (false) self-image. As a result, such individuals act under the influence of external goals such as money, power and popularity. Their behaviour is rigid, they experience reality selectively, they are eager for environment's approval and acknowledgements for their achievements. They actualize imposed qualities not authentic ones. This kind of success does not contribute to the emergence of self-respect.

Impersonal self represents the lowest level of the integration of self and it is formed in the conditions that prevent the satisfaction of all three basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence and relatedness) (Deci & Ryan, 1985). People with this type of self lack not only autonomous regulation of behaviour but they also lack intentionality (Deci & Ryan, 1991; according to Hodgins & Knee, 2002). They are characterised by amotivation or a total lack of motivation. They do not have the ability to develop a self that will protect them to a certain degree from a "threatening" reality. Individuals with this type of impersonal ego could be easily aroused, overwhelmed with information, negative thoughts and feelings. Such people have a tendency to withdraw when faced with new experiences, routinely repeating their activities.

The degree in which a person will realize his or her potentials and maximum happiness depends mostly on how much he or she follows the intrinsic goals (Ryan & Deci, 2002). According to the Self-determination theory (Kasser & Ryan, 1996), life goals can be divided into two groups: intrinsic and extrinsic. Kasser and Ryan (Kasser & Ryan, 1996, p. 280) define intrinsic goals as "the expression of desires that are in agreement with natural human aspirations towards actualization and growth". It follows that intrinsic goals are associated with self- determined behaviour and people follow them naturally because they satisfy psychological needs. The realization of intrinsic goals satisfies basic psychological needs therefore people who value these goals more are more content with their life (Kasser & Ryan, 1996). Intrinsic goals include personal growth, relations with others, contributions to the community and health. Personal growth refers to personality development that is autonomy, self-acceptance and self-image. Relations with others imply a goal towards establishing good interpersonal relationships while the goal of contribution to the community refers to activities aimed at the improvement of the society. Health refers to the desire towards good physical health and shape. Opposite to these goals, which stem from inherent tendencies towards growth and directly satisfy psychological needs, extrinsic goals are directed towards achieving external rewards and acknowledgements. There are three extrinsic goals, and they are: wealth, fame and image. Wealth refers to the pursuit of acquiring more material assets and money; fame represents the desire to be a celebrity and to be admired by others, while image represents the desire towards an attractive physical appearance. Extrinsic goals are instrumental goals because they are a substitute for deeper needs. They can serve as an auxiliary service to satisfying psychological needs, however if they become more important than intrinsic goals and unbalanced in relation to them, it can result in decreased well-being. Therefore, extrinsic goals do not enable the satisfaction of psychological needs and they sometimes even aggravate it. An excessive pursuit of extrinsic goals may represent an obstacle towards satisfying psychological needs because people are directed towards goals that are not directly associated with inherent needs (Ryan & Deci, 2002). People who place greater value on extrinsic goals become more attached and dependent on external things (e.g. Fashion, status symbols etc.), circumstances and the social community in which they live. In that case, the realization of extrinsic goals does not increase well-being. According to the

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Self-determination theory, the question of importance is to what extent people are able to satisfy their psychological needs while they follow and realize their goals (Deci & Ryan, 2000).

Therefore, the theory assumes that individuals with dominant intrinsic motivation have an integrated self. On the other hand, individuals with an ego-invested self are primarily extrinsically motivated, while individuals with impersonal self lack motivation. Accordingly, the main problem in this study is to examine the relations between life goals or types of motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic) and certain types of self. In other words, can the knowledge of types of motivation predict the structure of self the person has.

METHOD

Sample The sample includes undergraduate students from different faculties and different cities from Serbia. An appropriate sample was used of 399 examinees, aged from 18 to 36 (AS=21,14;SD=2,42). 42.4% of the sample were male examinees and 57.8% were female.

Instruments Aspirations Index (Aspirations Index - AI; Kasser & Ryan, 1996) is intended for the evaluation of seven different life goals that are divided into two categories: intrinsic and extrinsic goals. The questionnaire includes 35 items grouped in seven subscales (personal growth, relations with others, contribution to community and health - intrinsic goals; wealth, fame and image - extrinsic goals). The examinees are required to evaluate on a seven- point Likert type scale (1-completely false; 7-completely true) the importance of each goal for them, to what extent have they realized it and the probability of realizing it in the future. The examples of the items are: "Life goal: Develop and learn new things" (personal growth), "Life goal: Have good friends I can count on" (relations with others), "Life goal: Work to improve society" (contribution to community), "Life goal: Keep myself healthy" (health), "Life goal: Become very wealthy" (wealth), "Life goal: That many people know my name" (fame) and "Life goal: Look attractive to others" (image). A total score of both types of life goals - intrinsic and extrinsic motivation was used for the needs of this study.

The Ego Functioning Questionnaire (The Ego Functioning Questionnaire – EFQ; Majstorović, Legault, & Green- Demers, 2004) measures three types of self: integrated self, ego-invested self and impersonal self. It includes 30 items. It is a Likert type seven-point scale of evaluation (1 - completely false; 7 - completely true). The examples of the items are: "I am most fond of the activities that fulfill me completely and enable my personal growth" (integrated self), "Rewards and acknowledgements by others are very important to me" (ego-invested self), "I often feel estranged from others" (impersonal self).

Statistical analysis of data Hierarchical regression analysis was used to examine relations between types of motivation and self. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation were included in the model as predictor variables. Intrinsic motivation was inserted in the first step and extrinsic motivation was inserted in the second. Types of self (integrated self, ego-invested self and impersonal self) were criterion variables.

FINDINGS

Descriptive indicators and intercorrelations of the variables Based on the values in Table 1 the greatest individual differences among examinees are on the following variables: extrinsic motivation, ego-invested self and impersonal self. Even though the values of Kolmogorov- Smirnov test indicate a deviation of values from normal distribution on the scales that evaluate Intrinsic motivation, Integrated self and Impersonal self, skewness and kurtosis on those scales do not exceed the values (+ - > 1) that would point to a deviation from a normal distribution of results. Therefore, one of the conditions for the application of parametric analysis has been realized. The reliability is high for the scales of Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation, low for the scales of Integrated self and Ego-invested self, and moderate for the scale of Impersonal self. In other words, the evaluations of values on the above-mentioned variables are reliable.

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Table 1: Descriptive indicators of the basic variables of the research (N=399) Variables Range AS SD Sk Ku K-S α Intrinsic motivation 2.68-6.80 5.47 .62 -.644 .965 .068** .94 Extrinsic motivation 1.20-6.42 4.05 1.07 -.394 -.150 .039 .96 Integrated self 2.45-6.73 4.92 .80 -.356 -,007 .060** .72 Ego-invested self 1.00-6.67 4.23 1.06 -.168 -.367 .045 .78 Impersonal self 1.00-6.10 2.79 1.11 .702 .006 .085** .86 **p < .01; K-S – the values of Kolmogorov-Smirnov test

Correlation analysis indicates that there are significant moderate correlations between Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation, Intrinsic motivation and Integrated self (Impersonal self), also between Extrinsic motivation and Ego-invested self, which is also the highest correlation between the basic variables of the research. On the other hand, connections of low intensity were obtained between Intrinsic motivation and Ego-invested self, Integrated self and the other two types of self, and between Ego-invested self and Impersonal self.

Table 2: Intercorrelations of variables of the research

self invested - Intrinsic Extrinsic Variables motivation motivation Ego mpersonal self Integrated self I Intrinsic motivation – Extrinsic motivation .43** – Integrated self .47** .10 – Ego-invested self .13* .60** .11* – Impersonal self -.27** .02 -.13* .24** –

Relations between types of motivation and self Three separate hierarchical analyses were conducted for the purpose of testing the relations between types of motivation and self. The same predictors were used in every analysis as well as the same order of inserting the predictors (Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation). Criterion variables only differed (Integrated self, Ego-invested self and Impersonal self). In this way, two regression models were obtain in every analysis. The following is a review of the findings.

Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations as predictor variables of Integrated self The results (Table 3.) indicate that Intrinsic motivation as an individual predictor (step I) is significant in predicting the values of Integrated self as well as correlating positively with it. Apart from that, this model explains 21.8% of the criterion variance. When Extrinsic motivation is added the model is still significant and it explains a total of 22.9% of the variance of Integrated self. Therefore, the change is small but significant. Intrinsic motivation has proved to be a better predictor in comparison to Extrinsic motivation, which correlates negatively with Integrated self.

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Table 3: Hierarchical regression analysis - prediction of Integrated self based on different types of motivation 2 Model R R2 Change to R β p sr2 Step I .467** .218** / Intrinsic motivation .467** .000 .22 Step II .479** .229** .011* Intrinsic motivation .517** .000 .22 Extrinsic motivation -.117* .016 -.01 Note: sr2 - semipartial correlations; **p< .01; *p< .05.

Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations as predictor variables of Ego-invested self The findings of the second hierarchical analysis (Table 4.) lead to a conclusion that the model with Intrinsic motivation is significant for predicting Ego-invested self, as well as the model comprised of both types of motivation. Unlike previous results, Extrinsic motivation is more relevant for Ego-invested self, it correlates positively with it while Intrinsic motivation correlates negatively. The first model explains 1.6% of the criterion variance and the second model explains 38.1%. This change is statistically significant and considerably higher in comparison to the first analysis. Extrinsic motivation is a remarkably better predictor of the mentioned type of self compared to Intrinsic motivation.

Table 4: Hierarchical regression analysis - prediction of Ego-invested self based on different types of motivation 2 Model R R2 Change to R β p sr2 Step I .126* .016* / Intrinsic motivation .126* .012 .02 Step II .618** .381** .366** Intrinsic motivation -.158** .000 -.02 Extrinsic motivation .668** .000 .37 Note: sr2 - semipartial correlations; **p< .01; *p< .05.

Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations as predictor variables of Impersonal self Finally, the third analysis (Table 5.) indicates the significance of both models, with Intrinsic motivation being a better predictor of Impersonal self than Extrinsic motivation. Apart from that, the first model explains 7.1% of the variance of Impersonal self and the second model explains 9.4%. The change is small but significant. Intrinsic motivation consistently correlates negatively with the mentioned type of self, while Extrinsic motivation correlates positively.

Table 5: Hierarchical regression analysis - prediction of Impersonal self based on different types of motivation 2 Model R R2 Change to R β p sr2 Step I .266** .071** / Intrinsic motivation -.266** .000 .07 Step II .306** .094** .023** Intrinsic motivation -.337** .000 .09 Extrinsic motivation .166** .002 .02 Note: sr2 - semipartial correlations; **p< .01; *p< .05.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

The goal of the research was to check one of the assumptions of the SDT, the assumption that refers to the idea of a motivational structure of the ego system. The expectation was that people who are primarily intrinsically motivated would have Integrated self, the ones who are extrinsically motivated will have Ego- invested self and that Impersonal self will show a different pattern of behaviour depending on the type of motivation (negative with Intrinsic motivation and positive with Extrinsic motivation). 91 Copyright © International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications / www.ijonte.org

International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications July 2015 Volume: 6 Issue: 3 Article: 09 ISSN 1309-6249

Firstly, the results agree to a high degree with the claims which are the indicators of Intrinsic motivation and Integrated self, Extrinsic motivation and Ego-invested self and finally Impersonal self. This finding is encouraging because primarily, it is a reflection of a normal and healthy functioning of the student population in Serbia. Despite numerous political, social and economic difficulties, accompanied with collapsing values, optimal development of young people in this region is more or less preserved. Therefore, positive processes of human development are more dominant and they are reflected in the tendency to actualize potential, acquire knowledge, search for challenges and research the environment. These individuals seek to integrate new experiences and organize them meaningfully into a harmonious, authentic and cohesive system of self. The natural affinity towards interrelation with other people accompanies the above-mentioned tendency. Namely, a healthy human development implies two aspects of the tendency towards integration. The first aspect is called autonomy (tendency towards internal organization and self-regulation), and the second is called homonymy (tendency towards connection, integration and acceptance by other individuals and groups from the social environment) (Angyal, 1963; according to Deci & Ryan, 2002). It follows that intrinsic goals of the students are associated with self-determined behaviour and they follow them naturally because they satisfy psychological needs.

Extrinsic goals are in the second place, i.e. extrinsic motivation and Ego-invested self. Only when an individual cannot satisfy his needs he reaches for goals that have no direct connection to them (Ryan & Deci, 2002). The social context is not always supportive and it is a source of many frustrations. Consequently, people may ignore their own needs, which has a negative effect on their welfare. Researches have shown that people with strong extrinsic aspirations have more difficulties in satisfying the needs for autonomy, competence and relations with others and they can become dependent of circumstance, time and society in which they live (Kasser, Ryan, Couchman & Sheldon, 2004). Unsatisfied psychological needs lead to passivity, apathy and alienated functioning (Deci & Vansteenkiste, 2004). If the situations in which the individual cannot satisfy his needs are repeated, he will strive to find some kind of replacement for those needs, in other words, he will set goals that do not satisfy psychological needs but they allow some kind of compensation.

Therefore, apart from the optimal pattern of functioning of the students in Serbia there are also other, less preferable, even maladaptive patterns. It is only a matter of circumstances and intensity in which these behaviours are expressed and controlled. Hodgins and Knee (Hodgins & Knee, 2002) speak of different combinations of the types of self that can be found in one person. In other words, individual differences among people are partly reflected in various quantitative and qualitative methods of ego functioning.

To summarize, the finding concerning the dominant integrated regulation of behaviour, contrary to externally imposed and impersonal one, is very significant because it indicates that the students in Serbia may be considered as mature and healthy personalities who are prevalently intrinsically motivated. This is in accordance with the findings of one of the preceding researches on the sample of teachers in Serbia, it also indicates an optimal positive human development of teachers (Ranđelović, Stojiljković i Milojević, 2013).

Apart from that, the results show that Intrinsic motivation is consistently better and positive correlation of Integrated self, as opposed to Extrinsic motivation where the direction of the connection is negative. Extrinsic motivation stands out as the best predictor of Ego-invested self and compared to Intrinsic motivation it stands in a positive relation with the mentioned type of self. In other words, people with the tendency for a healthy method of functioning have prevalently intrinsically oriented actions and life goals. Individuals whose behaviour is primarily regulated by external demands have a lower level of optimal functioning - Ego-invested self. These findings are in accordance with the basic assumption of the SDT (Hodgins & Knee, 2002).

The results concerning the Impersonal self coincide with the initial expectation. The finding is interpretable in the context of the SDT and a non-clinical sample, which was used in this research. Therefore, Intrinsic motivation is consistently a better and negative predictor of Impersonal self, while the Extrinsic motivation is a positive predictor. This is not surprising, since these constructs are in an opposite relation and a complete lack of autonomous regulation of behaviour is characteristic for the lowest level of integration of the self. Extrinsic

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motivation is conceptually and behaviourally closer to Impersonal self than Intrinsic motivation. This way SDT has received more empirical support.

The results of this study indicate that the examination of the types of motivation as correlations for ego functioning is justified and it can be used in practice. Namely, the findings concerning prevalently mature and healthy functioning of young people may represent additional motivation for improving the living conditions in Serbia. Apart from that, the development of a society rests on the maturing generations which is why it is necessary to direct different resources (moral, financial and so on) towards the growth of not only students but also children from the first days of their lives, so that they could in return have a positive influence on the social context in which we live. One must bear in mind that this is a possible image of one of the aspects of psychological functioning of a part of Serbia's population that has managed to cope with various misfortunes. There are other groups of people (e.g. socially disadvantaged, ill etc.), their development occurs under unfavourable social circumstance. Therefore, in order to provide a better insight in motivation and ego functioning of the people in Serbia, a research of this type needs to be expanded to other samples, and in accordance with the results of those studies, it is possible to work on the development of a strategy to improve the quality of living.

Finally, the way of acquiring measures of motivation and types of self (self-evaluation) requires caution in interpretation because the examinees may have given socially desirable responses. This poses an interesting research question concerning the difference between the desired and real, and the conflict between those two aspects of self. Including different measures of evaluation (e.g. combining Q and L data) would certainly improve future researches. Apart from that, this study is of a correlative type so the guidelines for future researches would go in the direction of experimental design that would include some of the relevant social situations and behaviours in those situations. In this way, apart from individual factors, situational factors would also be examined, and that would certainly contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of psychological functioning of people.

Note: The study was created as part of the project Indicators and models for coordination of family and business roles number 179002, which was financed by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological development of the Republic of Serbia.

BIODATA AND CONTACT ADDRESSES OF AUTHORS

Kristina M. RANDJELOVIC is teaching assistant at Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Niš, Serbia. She is employee of this institution from 2008. to present. Her research interest is psychology of personality and psychology of individual differences. She is a member of the Organizing and Scientific Committee of the conference Days of Applied Psychology, which is held at the Faculty of Philosophy in Nis. She participates in the project of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development.

Kristina M. RANDJELOVIC 18000 City of Niš Ćirila i Metodija 2- SERBIA E. Mail: [email protected]

International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications July 2015 Volume: 6 Issue: 3 Article: 09 ISSN 1309-6249

Dušan L. TODOROVIĆ is teaching assistant at Department of psychology, Faculty of psychology, University of Niš, Serbia. He is employee of this institution from 2011. to present. His field of scientific interest is organizational psychology, psychology of work and management of human resources. He received his PhD (2015), with honors in Organizational psychology and HRM from University of Belgrade, Serbia. Dr Todorović is coordinator for socio-psychological empirical research in Psychological Counseling Service for students within Students Cultural Center in City of Niš.

Dr. Dušan L. TODOROVIĆ 18000 City of Niš Višegradska 1- SERBIA E. Mail: [email protected]

REFERENCES

Deci, E. L. & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York: Plenum.

Deci, E. L. & Ryan, R. M. (2000): The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: human needs and the self- determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268.

Deci, E. L. & Ryan, R. M. (2002). Handbook of Self-Determination Research. Rochester: The University of Rochester Press.

Deci, E. L. & Vansteenkiste, M. (2004). Self-determination theory and basic need satisfaction: Underesending human development in positive psychology. Ricetche di Psichologia, 1(27), 23-40.

Hodgins, S. H., & Knee, R. C. (2002). The integrating self and conscious experience. In E. L. Deci & R. M. Ryan (Eds.) Handbook of Self-Determination Research (pp. 87-100). Rochester, The University of Rochester Press.

Kasser, T., & Ryan, R. M. (1996). Further examining the American dream: Differential correlates of intrinsic and extrinsic goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 280-287.

Kasser, T., Ryan, R.M., Couchman, C. E., & Sheldon, K.M. (2004). Materialistic values: Their causes and consequences. U T. Kasser and A.D. Kanner (Eds.), Psychology and consumer culture: The struggle for a good life in a materialistic world (pp. 11-28). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Majstorović, N., Legault, L. & Green-Demers, I. (2008). Measuring selfhood according to self-determination theory: construction and validation of the Ego Functioning Questionnaire (EFQ). Psihologija, 41(2), 213-235.

Ranđelović, K., Stojiljković, S. i Milojević, M. (2013 Personal factors of burnout syndrome in teachers in the framework of self-determination theory. Zbornik Instituta za pedagoška istraživanja, 45(2), 260-281.

Ryan, R. M. & Deci, E. L. (2002). "Overview of self-determination theory: An organismic-dialectical perspective". U: E. Deci, R. M. Ryan (ur.) Handbook of Self-Determination Research (pp. 3-33). Rochester: The University of Rochester Press.

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LEARNING ASSESSMENT IN A SELF LEARNING MATERIAL

Prof. Dr. Mohammad Habibur RAHMAN Bangladesh Open University School of Social Sciences Humanities and Languages BANGLADESH

ABSTRACT

Assessment in education must, first and foremost serve the purpose of effective learning. Assessment has an important role in a self-l learning activity using self-learning material. It is a dynamic component of distance learning. Due to spatial and temporal separation between teachers and learners, assessment provides perhaps the only indication of the student progress in the learning process. Questions or tasks are continuously evaluated to determine whether the learners can challenge old assumptions and create new meaning perspectives. Learning assessment provide with the information about learner achievement after finishing the learning process. Assessment question in a self-learning material can be used as a tool to activate learner to study. This step is important in a learning process not only for conventional instruction, but also for distance learning. Without learning assessment we will not know the result of a learning process easily. So, it is important to use the right kind of assessment for the learning. This paper discusses the purposes and the role of learning assessment in a self- learning material.

Key Words: Assessment, self- learning, material, question, assignment.

LEARNING ASSESSMENT IN A SELF LEARNING MATERIAL

Assessment is a generic term for a set of processes that measure the outcomes of students learning in terms of knowledge acquired, understanding, developed and skill gained. Assessment serves many purposes. It enables students to obtain feedback on their learning and helps them improve their performance (Boud, & Falchikov (2007). Whenever we learn we question ourselves. How am I doing? Is this enough? How can I tell? Should I go further? In the act of questioning is the act of judging ourselves and making decision about the next step. This is self assessment (Baud, 2005). Self- assessment is about students developing their learning skills. Self assessment has great potential when it seen from the point of view of contributing to students learning and when it is used to engage students more deeply in the subject areas being studied. As Yorke, (2003) notes: the act of assessing has an effect on the assessor as well as the student. Assessors learn about the extent to which they [students] have developed expertise and can tailor their teaching accordingly. The past ten years has seen a counter- movement to the emphasis on what Peter knight, (2006) has termed “high-stakes assessment”. Assessment for learning has begun to take a place on the agenda within institutions although it still takes a secondary place in public policy debates and in the media (Boud, & Falchikov 2007).

Assessment in distance learning is of paramount importance since the question of credibility and quality of open and distance learning system. Learning assessment is an attempt to gain knowledge of the learner’s competencies. In particular, what competencies have they acquired as a result of learning process. Learning activities is designed to facilitate learner to learn various kinds of knowledge and skills related to the objectives developed earlier. As the result of these activities, the learner will gain their capabilities related to the objectives. There are five domains of competencies to be gained as the result of the learning activities. The domains are intellectual skills, cognitive, information, psychomotor and affective.

International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications July 2015 Volume: 6 Issue: 3 Article: 10 ISSN 1309-6249

METHODOLOGY

The proposed paper mainly is descriptive-analytical in nature. Relevant books, articles and newspapers are used in this paper. Data and information are collected from the concern sources as per need to strengthen my research. Interpretative approach has been followed in this research.

Learning For effective learning of any kind to take place, learners-whoever they may be-must develop capability of monitoring what they do and modifying their learning strategies appropriately. Such self-monitoring is what educational psychologists include as part of their term metacognition which now a central plank in cognitive theories of learning (Biggs and Moore, 1993). It is important all learners to develop the ability to be realistic judges of their own performance and to effectively monitor learning can be effectively undertaken when the learner monitors what is known, what remains to known and what is needed to bridge the gap between the two (Boud, 2005). Melton, (1996) questions the effectiveness of the behaviorist approach to assessment in classifying students according to whether they have achieved or have not achieved specified objectives.

However, distance learning in the contemporary period has been associated with high product innovation and process variability where course curriculum and delivery mode can rapidly adjusted to meet the changing needs of distance learners (Campion,1990; Raggart, 1993; Rumble, 1995). Assessment has two kinds of influence on the distance learner-it can empower him in many aspects of distance learning such as individual learning pace and the selection of course modules or it can severely restrict him to following the narrowly defined assessment criteria laid down by distance education institutions. The assessment mechanism or methods are crucial as these may have a greater influence on students’ growth than the impact of supervising teachers or teaching materials (Boud, 1988).

The Purposes of Assessment There are two main purposes for learning assessment: 1. To aid learners in their subsequent learning. 2. To report on what they have learned. The first use of assessment is known as formative assessment since it is meant to form the learner’s learning. The second is summative because it sums up what each has achieved.

Formative Assessment Formative assessment is at the heart of effective teaching and that self assessment is an essential component of formative assessment. Studies over many years have shown that formative assessment is an aspect of teacher’s class room work and that attention to improving its practice can enhance the learner’s achievement (Gardner, 2012).Learning assessment could be used to investigate learning difficulties faced by the learner. Based on the result of assessment, we could decide of any treatment to be used to help the learner. The treatment could be improving some topics, or the whole of the topics of the subject being learned. This kind of assessment is known as formative assessment. Formative assessment is meant to make sure each learner achieve every specific objective of learning. Usually, instructor carries out formative assessment informally during the learning activity. A central argument is that, in higher education, formative assessment and feedback should be used to empower students as self-regulated learners. The construct of self-regulation refers to the degree to which students can regulate aspects of their thinking, motivation and behavior during learning (Pintrich & Zusho, 2002).

But, for self-learning activity, formative assessment is an integrated part of learning material. It can be activities- - such as in-text questions (ITO) and self assessment questions (SAQ) or assignment on each unit of the material in order to monitor and develop learners own learning. Sometimes it may involve getting feedback from their colleagues-peer assessment. Self-and peer-assessment are powerful means for challenging the student’s unconscious assumptions, beliefs and attitudes (Walter and Carey, 1996).

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Formative assessment is such an assessment that is performed during the implementation of learning activity. The objective of such assessment is to recognize whether a learner can continue his/her activity into the next unit. Learners of a self-learning activity to assess the level of achievement by him/her can use formative assessment. If the result is adequate, the learner can move into the next subject matter.

The major stress of this formative assessment is to form the level of mastery on the material learnt. That is why within a self-learning material, the completion of formative assessment is put on the learners. The learning material developer solely provides questions and the answer key. The learners then answer the questions by him/her and compare answer key.

A tutor that will check the answer afterward also can oversee the formative assessment. Tutor may give any comments to the result. Based on the tutor’s assessment, then continue his/her activity whether to re-read the subject mater the learner had learnt or to move into the next subject mater.

Hence, a teacher or an instructor to determine what kind of action needed to assist a student in a learning process could use the result of formative assessment. For student or teacher, the result of formative assessment can be used to measure his/her strengths or weakness. So the learner can determine what kind of effort should be done.

Summative Assessment Summative assessment is such a final assessment by which a student or a trainee is determined to be succeed or fail to accomplish his/her learning activity. This assessment is performed in the end of certain period of time of the course or training. For a self-learning activity, summative assessment can be performed in the end of a module or series of module. The material assessed in the summative assessment is more widespread than that in the formative one. The material includes the whole subject matter learnt for a unit of time. The objective of summative assessment is to report the whole things recognized or achieved by a learner after the learner follows a learning program. This assessment determines the success or failure of a learner in accomplishing any course or training program (Rowntree, 1997).

The classic case of the summative assessment is semester final exam in written or practical form. Nevertheless, the mid semester tests or certain tasks can be classified as summative assessment if their result is considered in the final outcomes. Continuous assessment is sometimes used for summative purposes since it is recognized that students are more likely to treat it seriously if it contributes towards the ultimate assessment of their achievements.

The Role of Assessment in Self-learning Material Self-learning materials or modules are designed for students or trainees to study individually with less assistance from other people. A student or a trainee is expected to comprehend the learning content by reading the module as well as by conventional face-to-face tutorial. What could you do to active that objective? Try to discuss it, and then compare what you have discussed to the description below.

A high quality self-learning material or module should contain sufficient activities to stimulate student to study constantly. The integrated activities within the module should be able to create a certain situation similar to classroom learning activity. One of the stimulation’s is question or practice form. Question and activity within module can be constructed in order to put back the dialogue between teacher or instructor and student or trainees occur in learning activity (Grange, Briggs and Wager, 1992). With the given question or task, student is encouraged to read the description or explanation within a module, so the learner can answer the question or solve the problem proposed. They are encouraged to read since they realize that without reading the description or explanation they will not be able to answer the question or the assignment.

The other role of the learning assessment is as a measuring tool to recognize whether a student or a trainee has understood the material the learner has learnt individually or by assistance of teacher or instructor. Through a self-test, a student or a trainee can measure his/her learning progress. Whenever the learner

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masters the material, the learner can go on with another topic. On the contrary the learner should repeat learning the material if the learner failed to master it.

A teacher or an instructor can use end of module test or end of unit test to measure the student’s or trainee’s learning progress. This test result can be a measuring tool to determine whether a student or a trainee comprehends the module. According to the result a teacher or an instructor can decide whether a student or a trainee may step in to the next module or unit.

Assessment Question in Self-learning Material The questions within a module act as a substitution of a teacher is an instructor’s question in the classroom. The second function is to measure/assess the learning progress after reading the module. For both reasons, there are several types of question or assignment that can be put in a module. At least there are five type of learning assessment tools could be included in a self-learning material. The assessment tools are intext question, self -assessment question, assignment, end of module test, and end of unit test (Jenkins, 1987). Each question has its own purpose. Some of them are just to encourage learner to study actively. While the other are as tools to measure learner’s achievement in learning.

In text Question In open and distance learning materials in-text questions have encouraged students to think about and check their learning. The first type of in text question is applied to attract the learner to pay attention to a certain problem rather than to assess the learning progress. This type of question needs no written answer from a student. This question just reminds them to stop reading for a while to think or discuss with his/her friend(s) if they learn in a group.

Such question can assist to conclude certain ideas by his/her own. These questions can link the subject matter to his/her experience. It also can be used to encourage the learner to make a discussion with his/her friend. How important this type of question is supposed to be? Pretend it is important, why is it not designed so that the student should answer that in written way? This type of question is somewhat important. It can assist to attract the learner’s attention and enhance the comprehension the learner has acquired without disturbed by certain requirement. However, they will be impatient if they are frequently asked to stop reading and to write. That is why this type of question needs to written answer.

Self-assessment question Self-assessment question is such a task that requires written answer from a learner. As the learner completes the task, he/she is asking to check his/her answer with the answer key provided in the module. A distance learner rarely meets his/her teacher. That is way the task should be given within the module in which the learner can check the answer by his/her own. Accordingly, the learner knows his/her learning progress. Transformation of assessment approach from assessment by teacher to self-assessment by learner is one of the characteristics of open and distance learning.

Self-assessment could be developed in various form of test question such as easy question, fill in the blank, multiple choices, true-false and matching. What is the function of this self-assessment test for the distance learner?

Self-assessment test could strengthen learning process performed by the learner. Using this kind of test they can see their learning progress regularly. Clearly these activities should avoid focusing on self-marking alone which does not involve students in establishing assessment criteria (Boud & Falchikov, 1989). Self-assessment test with essay question has an important function in self -learning material. The first function is to encourage learner to think independently in developing idea. Another function is to help learner to associate what they learned with their own experience. Self-assessment can lead to significant enhancements in learning and achievement. For example, McDonald and Boud, (2003) have shown that training in self-assessment can improve students’ performance in final examinations.Since self-assessment is a critical tool in working towards increased reflective ness (Jarvinen & Kohonen, 1995).

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Assignment Another assessment tool in self-learning material is assignment. Assignment is more substantial rather than a self-assessment question. Assignment is an application of what the learners learnt from the module into their own situation. Assignment could be presented in many ways such as mini project, observation report, and description of learner’s experience regarding the materials they learnt. This type assignment tool will present a unique lesson for each learner.

Unlike self-assignment test, assignment generally requires some feedback from the instructor. Based on this feedback, a learner understands their weakness in comprehending the material from a module. The most important function of an assignment is to provide the learners with feedback about their product that they could not measure themselves. For a practical reason, usually the assignment has a time limitation. This limitation will help the learners to manage their own pace in learning the self-learning material.

Assignments within a self-learning material will help learners in their learning process. Assignment will help the learner to focus their attention to the main idea and the most important competency included in the self- learning material. It will help them finishing the assignment.

End of Module Test End of module test is a test to be given to the learners after finishing learns is a self-learning material or module. End of module test will assess learner accomplishment of learning a module. If they succeed than they can continue to learn the nest module. In contrary, if they failed they should repeat learning the module until they achieve the objectives. The learners could not assess end of module test. There will be no answer key for this test. Instructor will measure the test and will give the grade to the learners work. The grade of this test will be used to decide whether the learner passes or fails. For the learners, feedback of the end of module test could be used to improve their mastery of the material they just learned.

End of Unit Test The end of unit test is a test given to learners after they finish studying a set of module. This end of unit test is a summative test for particular lesson comprises several modules. If we compare it with the face-to-face tutorial, the end of unit test is similar to the test given to learners after a course is accomplished. As like as a end of module test, the end of unit test is not assessed by the learner but assessed by the instructor. The report of this test result is an assessment to the success or failure of a learner in accomplishing a particular lesson or course. Referring to the purpose of the test, the first three types of assessment question described above are classified as formative assessments. The feedback from answer key or from comments of instructor intends to encourage learners rather than to make final assessment of their learning outcomes. The following two types of test- -end of module and end of unit- - are summative ones since they assess learner’s learning outcomes after accomplishing a module of a set of module (Rowntree, 1995).

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Of all ideas associated with assessment, self assessment provides the fundamental link with learning. Self assessment is concerned with learners valuing their own learning and achievements on the basis of evidence from themselves and from others. It occurs within a particular context, with respect to particular domains of knowledge and with particular goals in mind. The necessity of emphasizing learning assessment is perhaps best reflected in the constant thirst for innovations and radical advances, which is the essence of competitiveness in post modern society today. As such distance education providers must explore and provide an assessment mechanism to promote distance learning. Along with this comes the need to evaluate the way distance learning material is written and presented and perhaps the way courses are conducted. In distance education context, the assessment model should accommodate the possibility of little communication and different pace of learning and yet be flexible enough to allow distance learners and teachers to make appropriate decisions such as assessment criteria and the number of assessments to be taken throughout the course. Distance education institution must ensure a transparent and valid assessment mechanism to continue to enjoy public

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acceptability since distance education itself owes its credibility, after all, to arguments that face to face contract between teachers and students is not essential and learning can take place in a non-contiguous mode. Learning assessment thus becomes a necessity in gauging an effective mechanism for promoting self-learning material.

BIODATA AND CONTACT ADDRESS OF AUTHOR

Dr. Mohammad Habibur RAHMAN is a Professor of Political Science and a Course coordinator of Civic Education at the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Languages, Bangladesh Open University. He obtained his Ph.D. from Visva-Bharati University, Santineketan, India. He is the author of a book and has to his credit a good number of publications in national and international Journals. He has won a number of fellowships/ Scholarship and grant including the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) grant, AAOU fellowship and DAAD Scholarship. He has held visiting research fellowships at the South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg Germany and the University of Sains Malaysia.

Prof. Dr. Mohammad Habibur RAHMAN Bangladesh Open University School of Social Sciences Humanities and Languages Gazipur – 1705- BANGLADESH E. Mail: [email protected]

REFERENCES

Boud, D. & Falchikov, N. (2007) Rethinking Assessment in Higher Education: Learning for Longer time, eds. Routledge Flamer, 270 Madison Ave, New York 1006, p.16.

Boud, D. (2005) Enhancing Learning through Self- Assessment, Digital Printing, Routledge Flamer 270 Madison Ave, New York 1006, p. 1.

Boud, D. (1988) Developing Student Autonomy in Learning, London, Kogan page.

Boud, D. (2000.) Sustainable assessment: Rethinking assessment for the learning society, Studies in Continuing Education, 22(2): 151–167.

Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshal, B. and Wiliam, D. (2003) Assessment for learning: putting it into practice, Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Boud, D.& Falchikov, N (1989) Quantitative studies of student self-Assessment In higher education: a critical analysis of findings, pp.529-549.

Biggs, J.B. and Moore J.P The process of Learning (1993) Publisher, Prentice Hall, p.14.

Campion, M.(1990) Post-Fordism and Research in Distance Education, In Evans, T. ed. Research In Distance Education 1, Deakin University, Australia.

Dick, Walter & Carey, Lou, (1996) The Systematic Design of Instruction, New York, Harper and Colllings.

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(Gardner, J.2012) Assessment and Learning SAGE publication, (2nd ed.), ed. 1Olivers Yard,55 City Road London,. P. 11.

Gagne, R.M., & Briggs, L.J., & Wager, W.W., (1992) Principles of Instructional Design, New York, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

Jenkins, Janet, (1987) Course Development: a Manual for Editors of Distance-Teaching Materials, Cambridge, International Extension College.

Jarvinen, A. Kohonen,V.(1995) Promoting Professional Development in Higher Education Through Portfolio, Assessment & Evaluation pp. 25-36.

McDonald, B. and Boud, D. (2003) The impact of self-assessment on achievement: the effects of self-assessment training on performance in external examinations. Assessment in Education, 10(2): 209–220.

Melton, R. (1996) learning Outcomes For Higher Education: Some Key Issues, British Journal Of Educational Studies, 44(4) pp.409-425.

Knight, P.(2006) The Local Practices of Assessment, In Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, ed. p.435-440.

Pintrich, P. R. and Zusho A. (2002) “Student motivation and selfregulated learning in the college classroom”, In Higher Education: handbook of theory and research, eds. Smart, J. C. and Tierney, W.G. (vol. XV II), New York: Agathon Press.

Raggart, P.(1993)Post -Fordism And Distance Education- A Flexible Strategy For Change, Open Learning 8(1)pp.21-31.

Rumble, G. (1995) Labour Market Theories And Distance Education: Post- Fordism- The Way Forward?, Open Learning, 10(3)pp.25-42.

Rowntree, Derek, (1995) Teaching Through Self-Instruction, London, Kogan Page.

Rowntree, Derek, (1997) Making Materials-Based Learning Work, London, Kogan Page.

Yorke, M. (2003) Formative assessment in higher education: moves towards theory and the enhancement of pedagogic practice, Higher Education, 45(4): p.482.

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CONTEXT AWARE UBIQUITOUS LEARNING MILIEUS IN DISTANCE LEARNING

Res. Assist. Hakan KILINC Anadolu University, Open Education Faculty Department of Distance Education Eskisehir- TURKEY

Prof. Dr. T. Volkan YUZER Anadolu University, Open Education Faculty Department of Distance Education Eskisehir- TURKEY

ABSTRACT

Problems such as temporal and spatial limitations imposed by traditional learning environments can be overcome by distance learning environments. Thanks to e-learning environments, in particular, learners can access learning resources anywhere and anytime they like without being subjected to the limitations of time and space. Orientations in e-learning environments can also change in parallel to the developments in information and communication technologies. As a result of the technological advancements, which have been being accelerated since the first quarter of the 20th century, detection technologies such as radio frequencies have also begun to be used in learning environments. Thanks to detection technologies, it is possible to detect locations of learners in the spatial dimension and provide them with the necessary learning contents simultaneously. It is seen that context-aware ubiquitous learning (u-learning), which engages detection technologies, encompasses mobile learning (m-learning) and e-learning environments. This study, which is based on context-aware ubiquitous learning environments, aims to examine and explain the contributions of context-aware ubiquitous learning environments to distance education systems and learners. In accordance with this aim, qualitative interviews were made with specialists of the relevant fields to get their opinions regarding how context-aware ubiquitous learning environments could be used, and some suggestions regarding the use of context-aware ubiquitous learning environments in learning processes were made based on the themes that emerged as a result of these interviews.

Key Words: Context-aware Ubiquitous Learning, Ubiquitous Learning Technology, Internet-based Learning Environments.

INTRODUCTION

In traditional learning environments, learners are often limited to formal (intramural) learning activities. This orientation causes learners to remain passive in the learning processes and to lose some motivation for learning (Wang and Wu, 2011). Insufficient motivation towards the learning process on the part of learners, in turn, can be seen as a factor which could adversely affect their academic achievements. In traditional learning methods, educators often have to guide tens of learners (Hwang and Chang, 2011; Lin, Hsieh and Chuang, 2009; Wu, Hwang, Su and Huang, 2012). Specialists of this domain emphasize that educational problems can arise in such an educational environment. One of those problems is the lack of individual learning and of getting sufficient feedback because educators face tens of learners in traditional learning environments and some learners can have difficulty keeping pace with the learning process (Shih, Chuang and Hwang, 2010). Another problem is a lack of tools which could engage learners in the learning process more effectively and efficiently in traditional learning environments (Hwang and Chang, 2011).

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Thanks to information and communication technologies, which advance further each passing day, it has become possible to gradually overcome such problems as temporal and spatial limitations caused by traditional learning environments (Wang and Wu, 2011; Tsai, Tsai and Hwang, 2011; Vladoiu and Constantinescu, 2011; Hwang, Shi and Chu, 2011). Rapidly progressing technological developments have led to a review of learning environments. As a result of the fast advancements in information technologies, different learning approaches have been developed such as e-learning, mobile learning and blended learning, by which global-scale education can be provided (Brew, 2008; Harrison, Kostic, Toton and Zurek, 2010; Nichols and Levy, 2009). Newly conceived learning environments adopt the paradigm of “lifelong education”. Thanks to the distance learning and e-learning environments, which have emerged as a result of the developing information in communication technologies and which embrace the lifelong learning paradigm, it is ensured that learners are more motivated towards learning processes and participate individually in the learning process (Rashid, 2012). Studies show the importance of creating a learning environment which is integrated with technology in order to actualize the goals of education (Yang and Wu, 2012). It can be said, therefore, that e-learning environments are essential for an effective learning process. Consequently, the temporal and spatial limitations imposed by traditional learning environments are eliminated thanks to e-learning environments. By e-learning environments and through an Internet access, learners can reach learning contents anywhere and anytime they like.

As a result of the advancements in wireless communication technologies and mobile technologies, the concept of mobility has been included in e-learning environments. Thus the attention on e-learning environments has shifted towards mobile learning environments (Hwang, Tsai and Yang, 2008; Wu, Hwang and Tsai, 2013; Wang, and Wu, 2011; Lin, 2013). The studies which have been being carried out in the field of e-learning since the beginning of 2000s have begun to concentrate on mobile learning and wireless communication due to such technologies (Wu, Hwang and Tsai, 2013). As a result of the increasing interest in wireless communication technologies, the rate of utilization from wireless applications in our daily life has also begun to increase. Various devices functioning in wireless environments and various software enabling those devices have been developed and their connection to the Internet environment has been made (Hwang, Tsai and Yang, 2008). So, by their mobile devices such as cellular phones and laptop PCs, learners are able to access learning environments more flexibly, more rapidly and more efficiently anytime and anywhere they like (Lin, 2013). Portability of mobile devices and their communication abilities enable them to be used as more flexible and more effective learning tools. Moreover, mobile devices influence the interaction among learners, access to resources and the transfer of the accessed resources in a significantly positive way (Chen, Chang and Wang, 2008).

E-learning environments which have generally oriented towards mobile learning environments as a result of the developments in wireless communication technologies and mobile technologies have gained a new orientation towards context-aware ubiquitous learning environments which enable learners to learn in the right place and in the right time as detection technologies such as radiofrequency have begun to be used in education (Hwang, Tsai and Yang, 2008; Hwang, Shi and Chu, 2011, Shih, Chu, Hwang and Kinshuk, 2011). By context-aware ubiquitous learning environments, it is possible to identify where learners are located and thus to simultaneously transfer the relevant information from the primary source to where the learners are. In this way, context-aware ubiquitous learning environments equipped with such a technology enable an individualized learning process. Thanks to such learning environments, learners are able, with the mobile devices they possess, to access learning contents anytime and anywhere without any limitation all time or space, in an individualized way. They can continue their learning processes in learning environments which are flexibly designed in all respects.

Within the scope of this study, distance education specialists were interviewed to get their opinions regarding context-aware ubiquitous learning environments, then the themes emerging as a result of these interviews were examined and the benefits offered by such environments were taken into consideration. Besides, again based on these interviews, it was explained how context-aware ubiquitous learning environments could be utilized in a more efficient way, and some suggestions were made in this regard.

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Ubiquitous Learning Environments and Ubiquitous Learning Technologies (U-Computing) Ubiquitous learning environments are formed when ubiquitous learning systems, wireless communication, mobile devices and context-aware technologies, which can be used in educational environments, come together (Hwang, Tsai and Yang, 2008). Ubiquitous learning is similar to mobile learning systems which enable learners to access learning contents anytime and anywhere. What distinguishes ubiquitous learning from mobile learning is that it identifies the identities of learners and their locations and provide them with immediate feedback and guidance. It is, therefore, possible to obtain more information in ubiquitous learning environments compared with other e-learning environments. From the time Mark Weiser, who is one of the founders of ubiquitous learning environments, suggested ubiquitous learning for the first time as a “calm technology”, ubiquitous learning method has been attracting gradually more attention (Dey, 2011; Weiser, 1991). Ubiquitous learning environments, which enable learners to access their learning resources in the right place and time being capable of providing them with immediate feedbacks and guide them, are also defined as a learning environment which is based on ubiquitous learning technologies. The most important role of ubiquitous learning technologies within the frame of ubiquitous learning environment is the fact that it enables learners to access these learning environments aware and anytime (Yahya, Ahmad and Jalil, 2010).

Context-Aware Ubiquitous Learning Environments Context-aware learning environments have become one of the key elements in ubiquitous learning environments thanks to those technologies which enable context-awareness (Kang, Suh and Yoo, 2008). Through the detection technologies like radio frequencies utilized in context-aware learning environments, users can be located and it is ensured that the resources in learning environments are adapted to the environments where users are located. In this way, users can be provided with fast and uninterrupted content supplication services and guidance (Bolchini, Schreiber and Tanca, 2007; Kwon, Choi and Kim, 2007; Yang, Cheng and Dia, 2008; Zhu, Mutka and Ni, 2005; Shih, Chu, Hwang and Kinshuk, 2011). As a result of the opportunities offered by this service, an integration between the actual life and the virtual life becomes possible and this is a significant point in e-learning environments (Hwang, Shi and Chu, 2011). Where the real life and the virtual life could be integrated together, learners can deal with their learning problems in the real life with the help of the virtual life anytime and anywhere, and this can be considered to be a development which can increase the efficiency of the learning process.

Internet-based Learning Environments and Context-Aware Ubiquitous Learning Environments A context-aware ubiquitous learning environment is a learning paradigm which provides learning contents in the right place and time and which, by doing so, moves ahead of Internet-based learning that requires computer technology, provides learners with uninterrupted information and, at the same time, enables them to access learning contents anywhere and anytime (Yang, Okamoto and Tseng, 2008; Casey, and Mifsud, 2005; Shih, Chuang and Hwang, 2010). Drawing on the detection technology, context-aware ubiquitous learning environments can access information on the current space and time of learners, and this characteristic distinguishes this type e-learning environments from others. Components of a context-aware ubiquitous learning environment, which is a learning environment composed of several elements, can be listed as below (Hwang, Tsai and Yang, 2008). 1. Detection technology: It is used to detect the location of learners. 2. Server: It is a structure which saves contents and which provides learners with active or passive support in their learning processes. 3. Mobile Learning Devices: Each learner has to possess relevant mobile learning devices in order to be able to receive the support coming from the server and to access information over the Internet. 4. Wireless Network: Wireless networks are necessary to enable communication among mobile learning devices, detectors and the server.

Features of Context-Aware Ubiquitous Learning Environments

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In a study they carried out, Yang, Okamoto and Tseng (2008) referred to eight features of context-aware ubiquitous learning environments. 1. Mobility: Learners are able to continue their learning processes while moving from one position to position. 2. Location Awareness: Locations of learners are detected by the system. 3. Interoperability: Different standards such as learning resources, learning services and learning platforms can be set to work together. 4. Seamlessness: The services offered to learners are maintained uninterruptedly as long as learners have the required device and connection. 5. Situation Awareness: It is identified which information, and where and when, is to be provided to learners. 6. Social Awareness: The existing information about the social relationships of learners is linked with what they do and what they know 7. Adaptability: Learning materials and services can be adapted to the preferences and current needs of learners. 8. Pervasiveness: Learning contents and services are accessed openly. Thus a pervasive learning environment is provided.

In summary, context-aware ubiquitous learning environments are formed as a result of utilizing mobile devices, wireless communication and sensor technologies in learning environments (Hwang, Tsai and Yang, 2008). The term “ubiquitous” does not only mean to access information anywhere and anytime but it also means to access information in the right time and place (Allison, Cerri, Ritrovato, Gaeta and Gaeta, 2005). Ubiquitous learning environments can be used in various educational environments. Touristic trips and museum trips, however, are where the ubiquitous learning environment is primarily used. For instance, a person visiting a museum can receive information about an object through a pre-supplied earphone when they wonder and draw closer to that object (Bomsdorf, 2005).

Although there are not sufficient studies in the literature on context-aware ubiquitous learning environments (Chen, Chang and Wang, 2008), existing studies suggest that context-aware ubiquitous learning environments increase learner motivation and thus improve the efficiency of the learning process (Shih, Chu, Hwang and Kinshuk, 2011; Wu, Hwang and Tsai, 2013). It can be shown as one of the important factors in the learning process for keeping the motivation of learners high in learning environments. When learners use mobile devices to engage in the learning process, they might feel a strong interest to the learning process however, they might also get disappointed along the learning process if no proper assistance or guidance is provided subsequently and thus lose their motivations (Hwang, Shi and Chu, 2011). Drawing on detection technologies such as radio frequency, a context-aware ubiquitous learning environment is capable of collecting information about the situation of learners and provide them with the necessary guidance in a context aware way (Chen and Huang, 2012). It can be concluded, therefore, that context-aware ubiquitous learning environments have a positive contribution to the learner motivation. An increased motivation of learners towards the learning process can be considered as an element which can increase their economic achievements.

In addition to all these features that they possess, context-aware ubiquitous learning environments can also gain learners the analysis and assessment skills listed in Bloom’s Taxonomy in its learning purposes section (Wu, Hwang and Tsai, 2013). Equipped with such skills, learners can be expected to reach academic achievement in the learning process.

In a study, De Casey (2005) offers the following formula: “ubiquitous learning = e-learning + mobile learning”. Therefore, ubiquitous learning environments form as a result of a union between e-learning and mobile learning.

Table 1 shows four learning environments according to Ogata and Yano (2004). As seen in the table, the desktop computer aided educational system provides less mobility and it is more embedded. Therefore, these learning systems are immobile. It is seen when desktop computer aided education is compared with mobile learning that mobile learning is ahead in terms of mobility and that learners are able to work more collaboratively when they are not limited to a certain space. In diffuse Internet environments, too, learners can

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obtain information from their own learning environments through the communication between embedded devices and the learning environment, but this situation localizes the usability of diffuse learning environments and makes it limited. Such limitations can be eliminated by ubiquitous learning environments where devices with higher mobility are included in the learning environments. Even if they are in motion, learners are able to access ubiquitous learning environments. This characteristic of ubiquitous learning environments are embraced by learners. And this increases the usability of ubiquitous learning environments. As is seen, mobility versus immobility of the devices used in educational environments is an important factor (Kang, Suh and Yoo, 2008).

Table 1: Classification of Learning Environments. (Ogata ve Yano, 2004)

METHOD

As this study dealt with how context-aware ubiquitous learning environments could be utilized in distance learning environments, it was designed as a qualitative case study. Based on the idea that science is not a process of producing objective knowledge and the scientific process grounds on the relativity of the world, qualitative studies are approaches which inductively focus on describing events and facts within their natural environments, and understanding and reflecting the perspectives of the participants (Çokluk, Yılmaz and Oğuz, 2011). Unlike quantitative research which is based on statistical data analysis, qualitative research seeks to answer the question what kind of meanings people ascribe to events, that is, how they describe events (Dey, 1993).

In this context, face-to-face interviews were made with four distance education specialists, who were selected by purposeful sampling in the study process, to get their opinions about context-aware ubiquitous learning environments.

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Participants of the Study Usability of context-aware ubiquitous learning environments in distance educational environments was researched in this study. Therefore, distance education specialists are asked their opinions regarding context- aware ubiquitous learning environments. Participants interviewed are listed in Table 2.

Table 2. Participants of the Study Distance Education Specialists Experience in the Field (Nickname)

Gonca 30 Year Nejla 13 Year Gülizar 5 Year Murat 7 Year

The following questions are asked to the distance education specialists (participants) in the interviews. 1. What is the importance of context-aware ubiquitous learning? 2. Where can context-aware ubiquitous learning environments be used? 3. Why are context-aware ubiquitous learning environments used? 4. How can context-aware ubiquitous learning environments be used in a national (local) level?

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

What Is the Importance of Context Aware Ubiquitous Learning? Integration of steadily increasing technologies in learning environments enables learning processes to be applied more efficiently and effectively. Information obtained from specialists also confirmed this. Learning process has become a learner oriented process thanks to context-aware ubiquitous learning environments with their technological integration feature. Therefore, the skill of individual learning which learners should possess can improve through context-aware ubiquitous learning environments. This environment, which provide learners with the opportunity to learn simultaneously from the primary resource anytime and anywhere, brings along flexibility, as well. At this point, the statement made by the person named Gonca also emphasizes how flexible such environments are: “Ubiquitous learning is to provide the learner with the opportunities of learning, that is, it is a process of putting information at the disposal of the learner.” Another aspect of flexibility can be considered to be putting context of the disposal of learners. Thanks to these systems, learners are able to access the context from anywhere. The suggestion of the person named Nejla also shows how important it is to make the context accessible learners: “We tried to prepare learners to life by providing them with education in classrooms which were completely away from the context and this was actually a very erroneous method because most learners have failed to adapt to real life after they were graduated.” Besides, context-aware ubiquitous learning environments, which help learners gain the skills of the 21st century, can be used as a lifelong learning tool, as well, as they eliminate the temporal and spatial limitations. It can be concluded in this context that the inclusion of ubiquitous learning environments in learning environments is significant for an efficient and effective learning.

Where Can Context Aware Ubiquitous Learning Environments Be Used? Those environments which incorporate technology and are designed for education can be used anywhere where the education process continues, because those learning environments which are blended with technology eliminates limitations such as time and space and provide flexible learning environment. Thanks to the ubiquitous learning systems, which put information at their disposal of learners, learning occurs simultaneously from the first resource and therefore learners can learn more permanent. This is exemplified by Nejla’s statement that, “Assume that you encounter a sculpture that you don’t know about in a museum trip with learners, and that you scan the sculpture with a special application and receive information about it. Now 107 Copyright © International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications / www.ijonte.org

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this can lead to a more permanent learning because you access the information instantly and you experience it on site.” Such systems have reached a level where they can be used within the scope of lifelong learning as also explained Gülizar: “Ubiquitous learning environments can be used in all educational levels, I mean from primary to postgraduate education.”

Why Are Context Aware Ubiquitous Learning Environments Used? By their flexibility and benefits, context-aware ubiquitous learning environments enable learners to access the most proper information anytime from the primary resource as explained by Gonca: “Of course, from the democratic point of view, this means offering the most updated and most accurate information from the primary source to the individualized learning environments of learners.” This constitutes an important factor in the learning process. Nejla’s statement also suggests that context-aware ubiquitous learning environments enable providing learners with the most reliable information simultaneously and from primary resource: “There might be posters hanged on many locations of a campus, and those learners who want to learn the details might scan QR codes on them to instantly reach such details.” It can be said based on Murat’s argument, “These systems help learning, and this is the most important reason because they make learning easier”, that context- aware ubiquitous learning environments should be integrated in learning environments. After all, environments which offer more effective, permanent and efficient learning should be utilized in the learning processes.

How Can Context Aware Ubiquitous Learning Environments Be Used in a National (Local) Level? Based on Gülizar and Murat’s statement that “Ubiquitous learning environments can be used at each level from primary to postgraduate education”, it is concluded that such systems can be utilized in the lifelong learning process. In this context, the existing education institutions in the nation level can use these learning environments blended with technology at each level of their educations. Efforts should be taken to close the gaps in this field as suggested by the common view of the interviewed specialists: “Context-aware ubiquitous learning environments is new in our country and the necessary steps have not yet been taken, and there is a great gap to close in this field.” From this point of view, joint efforts to be taken by academicians along with the institutions assuming an active role in the national level in terms of educational process will both close the gap in this field and also make a very positive contribution to the education process.

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS

The study findings show that distance education specialists have positive opinions about context-aware ubiquitous learning environments. The fact that ubiquitous learning environments, which draw on detection technologies such as radio frequencies, enable learners to access learning contents from the primary resource anytime and anywhere means that these environments are flexible, democratic and reliable. In order to fulfill the goals of education, a learning environment integrated with technology is an effective element (Yang and Wu, 2012). In this context, it can be said that the learning environments which incorporate technology assume a significant part in rendering the learning process effective and efficient. Ubiquitous learning environments, which also eliminate such restrictions as time and space involved in traditional learning environments, provide learners with lifelong learning opportunity.

Ubiquitous learning environments, which simultaneously provide learners with learning contents in the lifelong learning process, ensure that learners are individually included in the learning process. It can be said, in this way, that ubiquitous learning environments contribute to the improvement of the 21st century skills such as relational technology and individual learning. Consequently, context-aware ubiquitous learning environments, which are well designed by also taking the principles of educational design into consideration, offer lifelong learning by removing temporal and spatial limitations. Additionally, as a result of the utilization of technology in learning environments, violations of learners will increase in efficiency of the learning process will raise. In this context, those applications which are designed by considering the principles of educational design, in particular, can enable learning processes to get more efficient and effective. If educational institutions can provide their learners with such sensitive contents by taking their audiences in consideration and acting in

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accordance with their own missions and missions, commitments of learners to their institutions can increase. This will probably take academic achievements to higher levels.

BIODATA AND CONTACT ADDRESSES OF AUTHORS

Hakan KILINC is currently working as a research asistant at the Distance Education Department of Anadolu University. He graduated from Computer Education And İnstructional Technology Department of Anadolu University. His professional interests include educational technology, distance education technology and personalized learning environments.

Res. Assist. Hakan KILINÇ Anadolu University, Yunus Emre Campus Eskişehir- TURKEY E. Mail: [email protected]

T. Volkan YUZER is professor in Distance Education at College of Open Education, Anadolu University. He undertook graduate studies at Anadolu University, Turkey. His research interests are new communication technologies, synchronous, asynchronous and interactive communications and transformative learning milieus in distance and online education. He has over seventeen years’ experience in exploring additional distance learning media and providing communication and technological support for distance learning programs as well as develop online learning courses. Dr. Yuzer has participated in projects related to distance learning, online synchronous learning, and virtual classroom. Dr. Yuzer is the Head of Distance Education Department of College of Open Education, Anadolu University. He has been teaching courses in distance learning, communication and information technologies.

Prof. Dr. T.Volkan YÜZER Anadolu University, Yunus Emre Campus Eskişehir- TURKEY E. Mail: [email protected]

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DISTANCE EDUCATION UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS' EXPERIENCES OF PROJECT WORK SUPERVISION IN NAMIBIA

Dr. Nchindo Richardson MBUKUSA University of Namibia Centre for External NAMIBIA

ABSTRACT

Meeting with supervisors is part of the practices for any first time graduate research student. However, was the meeting effectively conducted? Did the meeting really help the student to progress in their research and did the supervisor give proper guidance and advice to the aspiring research student during the meeting? Despite several international studies that have been conducted on MA and PhD supervision, little qualitative investigation has been conducted on students doing undergraduate project work in an attempt to understand how the supervisory relationship is experienced. In response, 75 students from rural and urban schools doing Specialised Diploma in Educational Management and Leadership (SDEML) at the Centre for External Studies, University of Namibia (CES-UNAM) were interviewed using focus group interviews. The study results centred on the theme of project supervision as an academic support service with themes such as ineffective supervision feedback from supervisors, supervision feedback too little too late from supervisors, inadequate vacation school guidance on supervision and lack of commitment from supervisors. Supervisors must help their students understand that they need to manage their interactions with supervisors and fellow students doing the same programme. Students empowered with the knowledge of helping them manage their experiences as distance education students could lead to added confidence and decision-making ability, thus reducing the burden on supervisors. Students’ and supervisors’ combined awareness and acceptance of students as managers of the interactive supervision process could develop into an added dimension of self-regulated learning, which has been identified as an important element in graduate education (Styles and Radloff, 2001).

Key Words: Supervision, undergraduate students, focus group interviews, supervisory relationships, feedback.

INTRODUCTION

We wasted time doing action research that was far away from the process of research during our Basic Education Teachers Diploma at Colleges of Education (Jay, SEDML student).

The “failure” of not getting through a research proposal at any level can be devastating. Lovitts (2001, p. 6) describes the experiences of her respondents in a similar study for PhD students as “gut-wrenching,” “horrible,” and “disappointing”. She goes on to cite a small number of students that have resorted to suicide as a result of not being able to complete their studies on time.

Grant & Graham, (1999); Lovitts, (2001); Terrell, et. al., (2009) amongst others, have documented concerns about the level of non- or late-completion of graduate studies where research is involved. Armstrong (2004) reports that the UK has between 40% and 50% of students that fail to successfully complete research papers in the social sciences. The National Center for Education Statistics (2000) and Smallwood, 2004) report that in North America, failure and completion rates are very similar to those reported in the UK, with as many as 50% of students entering graduate programs dropping out before finishing.

In conventional institutions of higher learning, a variety of reasons for the increase in attrition rates have been advanced. The factors include leaving the university early, too much enthusiasm but too little focus, being too hard to please, too casual in your approach, too compulsive, too much of a procrastinator, having too much independence or too much isolation and having too little appreciation of the scholarly tradition (Madsen, 1992.5-11). 112 Copyright © International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications / www.ijonte.org

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In Great Britain, Students fail to complete the dissertation for a number of reasons: money runs short; ennui sets in; illness, marital discord, and other personal problems make concentration difficult; the dissertation topic proves elusive or unmanageable; enthusiasm wanes (Reis, Viewed on 2 July 2010 from http://ctl.stanford.edu/Tomprof/postings/145.html).

Lovitts (2001) argues that the background characteristics that students bring with them to the graduate experience are not what matters, but rather what happens after they arrive that affects the overall outcome of their experience. She continues to confirm that students’

...background characteristics, their external commitments and responsibilities, their socialization as undergraduates, and the clarity of their understanding of the system of graduate education in general and their own program in particular, as well as their adaptive capacities, interact with the structures they confront in their programs to determine their persistence outcomes. (p. 41)

In her review of the literature from Australia, New Zealand and Britain, Moses (1984) identified three categories of student discontent: personality factors which include interpersonal differences in language, work style and also personality clash; professional factors which include a supervisor who is ignorant, misinformed or who has few or different research interests; and organizational factors which include the supervisor having too many students or too many competing responsibilities, and inadequate departmental provisions (Grant & Graham, 1999). Lovitts (2001) broadened the factors influencing postgraduate degree completion to include individual resources such as intelligence, motivation, learning styles and personality, the microenvironment factors such as location, department, peers and other faculty, and advisor) and the macroenvironment factors such as culture of graduate education and culture of the discipline.

Terrell et al., (2009) and Mbukusa, (2009) point to the importance of students’ sense of connectedness in the context of the overall graduate experience. Their findings illustrate that low feelings of student-to-student and student-to-faculty connectedness in the learning environment may be predictive of postgraduate studies attrition. Eggleston & Delamont, (1983); Seagram, Gould, & Pyke (1998); Acker (1999); Dinham & Scott (1999); Grant & Graham (1999); Knowles (1999) and Neumann (2003) claim that the heart of a successful supervision process is the quality of the relationship between student and supervisor.

Poor interpersonal relationships and lack of rapport between student and supervisor are the reasons most often cited for problems encountered in the postgraduate studies supervisory process (McAleese & Welsh, 1983 and Hill, et. al., 1994). Armstrong (2004.600) singles out relationships with supervisors as being related to the satisfaction and productivity that students find in their supervision and successful completion. Blumberg (1978) further suggested that trust, warmth and honest collaboration are key elements in successful supervision. Heppner & Handley (1981) indicated that satisfaction with supervision correlated higher with the students’ perceptions of the supervisory relationships than with perceived expertise.

The evidence pointing to the importance of the interpersonal aspects of postgraduate supervision is undeniable. Despite the number of studies that have been conducted, an important gap still remains in relation to our understanding of the nature of these interpersonal relationships and supervisory styles, particularly among SEDML students who are challenged by distance and lack of effective supervision. Moses (1984), amongst others has limited his research to identifying the elements of successful supervisory relationships while Gatfield (2005); Gurr (2001); Styles and Radloff (2001) have developed theoretical models in relation to different aspects of the process. McClure (2005) employed a qualitative approach to study the experiences of newly enrolled students from China. Recently, Krauss, et. al., (2009) used prior studies on PhD supervision to guide the process of conceptualizing the interpersonal relations between supervisors and their PhD.

Although a number of factors have been identified relating to the phenomenon of attrition among postgraduate students, most researchers on the subject agree that completing postgraduate especially the PhD

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is a process that depends on a close, working relationship between students and supervisors (Grant & Graham (1999); Styles & Radloff (2001); Grevholm, et. al. (2005) Lovitts (2001); Zainal Abiddin (2007).

In light of the above studies done on supervision, this study focused on undergraduate levels of learning where much supervision is needed to form a foundation for the senior levels. It queries how the supervisory relationship is experienced by the students including personality/personal characteristics, work style, academic support students’ expectations.

The main research question guiding the study was “how do distance education undergraduate students experience project work supervision at the Centre for External Studies, University of Namibia?”

METHODS

The findings reported in this paper are based on a study conducted at Rundu, Oshakati and Katima Mulilo distance education campuses, Centre for External Studies, University of Namibia. There were about 250 in 2013 who were enrolled for project work in Specialised Diploma in Educational Management and Leadership. Project Work course aims at helping students to plan and write an academic research project. The structure of the research proposal and final report is expected to be in line with research papers that may be produced at senior postgraduate studies though a little shorter in content than MA and PhD studies.

The supervisors of research projects are based at the main campus in Windhoek and rarely move to campuses around the country to help students one on one. Under CES-UNAM, there are only two supervisors that are based outside the main campus. As a supervisor in the Department of Student Support Services at CES-UNAM and a supervisor of research studies, particularly the SEDML programme, I was coerced by the direct experiences of the students on the programme. As a recent graduate of PhD programme myself (i.e. 2009) through distance education, with a good supervisor, I felt bad when students shared their bad experiences with their supervisors and was thus struck by that and took interest in it for further investigation, specifically around the challenges students were having in working with their supervisors. I could see from the way their research proposals were crafted that something interesting would come from talking to them. CES-UNAM supervisors are too far removed from their students. They only meet once a year to guide them through research writing. Being closer to students, I was more determined to learn what was happening and why.

In my discussions with students in both formal and informal settings, I became increasingly intrigued by the variety of experiences they were having. In addition, I had conducted a workshop for research as a process with colleagues from the nearest former college of education. I learnt here that there were struggles in helping college students understand the process of research. Students who graduated from these colleges would go on to join CES-UNAM and find research as being far different from what was done at colleges of education.

Although the study could have included “both sides of the story” by formally studying the experiences of both students and supervisors, I chose to begin with the stories of the students, in an attempt to understand their experiences in a more structured manner using a contextual and descriptive approach. I chose to use a generic, descriptive method not based on any formal qualitative research tradition in order to “discover and understand…the perspectives and worldviews of the people involved” (Merriam, 1998:11). I found out that although much research has been conducted on PhD supervision, certain gaps remained related to understanding the qualitative nature of these interpersonal relationships and supervisory styles (Armstrong, 2004), particularly at CES-UNAM.

Target group and sample A total number of students involved in the study was 250. 75 students were used as a sample. They participated voluntarily and therefore were placed in groups for interviews. Those who did not want to participate were left out.

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A combination or mixed purposeful sampling procedure was chosen for the study. This combines various sampling strategies to achieve the desired sample. It helps in triangulation, allows for flexibility, and meets multiple interests and needs. The mixed approach also fitted the purpose of the study, the resources available, the question being asked and the constraints being faced. All respondents were selected using a criterion- based approach. All students that were part of the study had done their research proposals before they could attempt the data collection and analysis stages. Their experiences were the same. They were all adult students. They had a one day vacation school orientation experience on how to write research proposals. About 75% of the total population had not received their research proposals after two months of submission for guidance.

The study combined extreme and deviant case sampling procedure notable failures and possible dropouts were eminent in the programme. The second procedure was homogeneous sampling that facilitates group interviewing. Like instead of having the maximum number of undergraduate programmes as in maximum variation procedures, the focus was on students doing the same programme (Patton, 1990:169-186; Creswell, 2003; McMillan & Schumacher, 2006; De Vos, 2009).

Data collection 75 students were interviewed using focus groups. They were placed in groups of 5 discussions (Toner, 2009) in a big community hall before class contacts began. Each group had its own pseudo name on their summary script. Three open questions on the topic were distributed to groups with group leaders and scribes. Prior to each focus group and follow-up face-to-face interviews students were informed of their right to privacy. The data would collected would remain anonymous and confidential. The results would be used for research purposes only.

In-depth interviews with students who volunteered to be interviewed after the contact sessions were added to focus groups to provide an opportunity for sharing information or insights that students may have not been willing to share in a group settings. This was noted as the researcher moved from group to group. Field notes that addressed both the content and the process of the sessions were kept for later analysis. Adding in-depth interviews to the study helps in triangulating the focus group data with individual interviews in an attempt to account for possible threats to validity from relying on focus groups alone. It helps dismiss the doubts that Morgan (2002) had on focus groups.

‘Memoing’ (Miles & Huberman, 1984:69) is another important data source in qualitative research that I used in this study. It is part of the researcher’s field notes recording what the researcher hears, sees, experiences and thinks in the course of collecting and reflecting on the process. Researchers are easily absorbed in the data- collection process and may fail to reflect on what is happening. It helped me in staying current with insights, hunches, and perceived relationships that presented as the work developed (Toner, 2009).

Lofland and Lofland (1999:5) emphasise that field notes “should be written no later than the morning after”. Besides discipline, field notes also involve “luck, feelings, timing, whimsy and art” (Bailey, 1996:xiii). The method followed in this study is based on a model or scheme developed by Leonard Schatzman and Anselm Strauss supplemented by Robert Burgess.

Four types of field notes were made:  Observational notes (ON) — 'what happened notes' deemed important enough to the researcher to make. Bailey (1996) emphasises the use of all the senses in making observations.  Theoretical notes (TN) — 'attempts to derive meaning' as the researcher thinks or reflects on experiences.  Methodological notes (MN) — 'reminders, instructions or critique' to oneself on the process.  Analytical memos (AM) — end-of-a-field-day summary or progress reviews Memo writing added value to the study especially during data analysis.

An interview guide (Kvale, 1996) consisted of three open-ended questions (see Appendix) designed to help students describe the nature of their relationship with their supervisors. Each group was given 30 minutes to

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respond to the three questions. I moved around groups to help clarify areas that they thought were unclear to them.

Data analysis During data collection, I read the transcripts carefully, trying to “immerse” myself in the data (D’Cruz, 2002). Although observation was not a formal method used in this study, I found that integrating it in the process of data collection helped to better understand the issues at play. Interacting with and supervising students, discussing relevant issues with colleagues and being involved in allowed me to feel highly immersed in the research setting. In this manner, methodological rigor was enhanced through what could be considered as prolonged engagement (Lincoln & Guba, 2000). Such immersion helped me to identify themes, categories and patterns emerging from the data (Marshall & Rossman, 1999 and Miles & Huberman, 1994).

The three main research questions were used as the focus for forming the categories. The responses from the interviews were coded, and used to analyze and generate themes as well as conclusions. All of the open codes were first examined to find whether individual codes could be combined into higher conceptual categories. Once these categories were developed, they were examined for their properties and dimensions (Rausch & Hamilton, 2006). Through the process of constant comparison (Glaser & Strauss, 1967), the categories were then analyzed to investigate their relationships to each other across the student interviews. After repeated reflection and inspection of the codes used and categories it became clear that the concept of ”consistent supervision” was sufficiently broad to become an overarching theme encompassing the preponderance of the statements voiced by the students. “Consistent supervision” identifies what emerged as the dominant experience for students in this study (McClure, 2005).

Trustworthiness As the study was conducted during contact sessions, issues of bias had to be explicitly dealt with and disclosed to ensure trustworthiness of the results (Flick, 2007). Bias was initially addressed through my position as a young supervisor engaged in an attempt to better understand the experiences of students for the enhancement of my own practice as a supervisor. Biased results would certainly not benefit me in this regard, as I needed as clear a picture as possible of what the students were experiencing in order to be able to maximize my supervising role, as well as to provide inputs to fellow supervisors and university decision-makers. Therefore, bias was checked against my strong desire to “objectively study the subjective states of our subjects” (Bogden & Biklen, 2003, p. 33), for I felt strongly that the data could significantly contribute to my own supervisory practices and those of my colleagues. With this in mind, I maintained a high level of sensitivity through the use of detailed field notes and by using the answer scripts on which students wrote their responses, which allowed me to check my data and findings for possible bias (Bogden & Biklen).

The choice of respondents was critical in guarding against bias, to ensure that respondents would not “hold back” due to the fact that I was a supervisor from the same university. Thus, I carefully had to make them to be aware of this to help them share openly.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Grant and Graham (1999) describe the supervisory relationship as a “pedagogical power relation” where both supervisor and student are both capable of acting to change the relationship dynamic. They assert that the supervisory relationship is one that allows for the empowerment of students. The current study findings assert that but with a different angle where supervision feedback takes the centre stage as students such as in the example of Jay have found it hard to work with supervisors.

The results from the respondents focused on almost different areas of difficult. Respondents presented the responses from three main research questions, “how did you experience academic support (supervision of project work) during yours studies”, “how often should supervisors help you with your project?” and “Is there anything that you want to suggest to supervisors about your research/project work studies? Several repeating statements were summarised from their responses. These included:

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 No continued and close supervision  no enough time to write the project,  no clear information from supervisors,  no better libraries,  no further guidance for drafting the proposal,  feedback from supervisors is delayed,  corrections from supervisors are not meaningful,  the academic support is inadequate,  vacation school comes a little late when we have already made mistakes,  correction is slow and drafts take more than two months to return to students,  there is no supervisor in the regions,  vacation school lessons are too short,  the resources in the library is too limited,  supervisors during vacation school do not seem to care about students

Four main themes resulted from the analysis relating to the supervision of SDEML students. These were ineffective supervision feedback from supervisors, supervision feedback too little too late from supervisors, inadequate vacation school guidance on supervision and lack of commitment from supervisors.

Ineffective supervision feedback from supervisors The focus groups and in-depth study revealed that supervisors did not give meaningful feedback to students. When probed on the issues surrounding ineffective feedback from supervisors, Group 1 respondent who willingly wanted to say more separate from others had this to say: My experience with supervisors is not good to mention. Some write whatever suits them. My draft proposal had almost nothing in the text or in the margins. But I only saw comments that suggested that I have done well on the front cover. What is ‘done well’? Maybe open comments could guide me improve for a better final report (Jay).

When the respondent was asked to elaborate more on exactly what he wanted to see in the margins of his assignment he had this to say: Good comments that look at our ability to express ourselves in content and language use will help greatly. What does a supervisor lose in making me know that my language is weak or my analysis of the content given is also weak? Nothing. He or she simply shows that I am part of his or her student body including those that he is teaching fulltime (Jay).

The student continued saying ‘we want feedback from supervisors that tells us what to do next not comments that that do not show us where need to grow in research skills and knowledge”.

One group mentioned that: It is difficult to read the comments in the margin of the proposal. Some supervisors seem to have difficulties with writing. They do not know how to write words that help students. What do you do with words like ‘good’, ‘not clear’ or ‘what is this?’ These words do not help. As students we learn nothing from such interaction with our supervisors. They forget that they are not with us. They are far away from us ((Group 3).

It is difficult for students who were far away from their supervisors especially when the separation is exacerbated by the absence of telephones or any medium of communication to be satisfied all the time.

When respondents were asked through in-depth interviews on what supervisors needed to do for the students in order to help them complete faster, other respondents insisted that supervisors should: Find time to discuss content with them, grade the assignments with intent to guide, provide feedback on progress, motivate students in the marking, praise students where they have done well, and supervise projects closely.

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I came to understand that the presence of supervisors who pay attention to students’ work and who help students feel that they are supported is highly important in project work writing. It is therefore a responsibility of supervisors to pay attention to the work of students be it in the form of feedback or direct telephone calls made to the students (Jackson, 2001 and Thompson, 2003).

Supervision feedback too little too late from supervisors Through the probes, the timing of feedback came out as an issue that was raised in the discussions. Feedback arrived late to students and in some cases did not arrive at all. Supervising through distance education is different from face-to-face teaching and learning. Distance education supervision should provide as many additional resources and opportunities as possible to facilitate learning. It is not enough that students are only supervised once during the vacation school which is almost only two hours in a year. The present situation where students receive almost one hour of supervision is not good for research studies. Guidance through research studies should not be perceived by supervisors and students as disconnected from learning. Students should see supervision feedback as part of assessment that builds future learning. Good feedback taps on the students’ potential for development and helps establish a stronger dialogue between the supervisors and students.

Quite often, students have received their drafts of research proposals with fewer than five words in the margins of a possible 20 paged document. Some of the instructions that surface on the cover page are quite unclear. Unclear instructions reveal the weak organisational skills of supervisors during supervision. Learning alone in isolation can be frustrating for distance education students in remote rural areas. The instructions therefore need to be clear. The organisational skills of supervisors to facilitate meaningful learning need to be revisited as well. Instructions should clearly delineate the task and/or explain the expectations of the supervisor. Instructions should indicate the degree of freedom given to students in structuring the task. “Time on task” is a critical factor to student achievement. Tasks should be structured to make distance education content easy and desirable. Proper use of feedback with clear instructions in assignments forms good dialogue in distance education (Moore & Kearsley, 1996:201 in Mbukusa, 2009).

Feedback is essentially a major part of the learning cycle (Weaver, 2006 in Mbukusa, 2009). As part of the interaction theory, it helps build a student-teacher relationship well if properly written and administered. It was clear that all five groups in the study expressed that they were dissatisfied with the helpfulness of supervisors’ feedback (Hounsell et al., 2008 in Mbukusa, 2009). Students need meaningful and constructive written assessment feedback (Higgins et al., 2001 in Mbukusa, 2009). They need feedback to guide them through their learning all the time (Duffield and Spencer, 2002 in Mbukusa, 2009). Feedback in research writing should be effective in guiding learning by focusing on the growth of the student rather than on grading. In this way, feedback encourages student learning (Sadler, 1983 in Mbukusa, 2009). Feedback will not encourage learning if misunderstandings exist in the comments written by supervisors and students are not able to make sense of feedback (Gibbs and Simpson, 2004 in Mbukusa, 2009).

Supervisors who do not listen to the student voice may be following a traditional model of providing written assessment feedback that could be described as a transmission process and considered to be about justifying the mark awarded (Nicol and MacFarlane-Dick, 2006; Weaver, 2006 in Mbukusa, 2009). This kind of feedback only exacerbates the misunderstandings between student and supervisor. Students may not understand the intentions of the supervisors and the students may fail to interpret what the supervisors intended them to understand. Eventually students may not use the feedback at all in their preparations for future assignments and examinations (Lea and Street, 2000 in Mbukusa, 2009).

There are numerous skills for distance education students that could be inculcated into feedback. For example, amongst many, students need to be encouraged to critique their own work. A lot of assignments that have failed to attract good marks could have been poorly written as a result of students who failed to edit or critique their work before sending it for marking.

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The students’ experience of timing of feedback showed that there is no fixed time by supervisors when they would send feedback to students. Some mentioned a few weeks, some mentioned months and some have never received feedback at all. The ones that never received feedback could fall into the group of lost assignments. This clearly indicated that supervisors did not have a system in place when feedback is due to students. Most universities have a stipulated time for feedback to be returned to students (Mannion and Eadie, 2005 in Mbukusa, 2009). This has been done so as to facilitate learning in the next parts of their studies and the preparation of the next work. The timing of feedback is significantly important to student learning as highlighted by Gibbs and Simpson (2004) in Mbukusa (2009. It is difficult for students when they do not receive feedback as they may find it difficult to move on to new content. They may regard even the next feedback as irrelevant in their studies.

The primary rationale for having supervisors is to provide students with individualised instruction in their courses. In many situations of remote rural areas the supervisor is the only person a distance education student ever has contact with. Having supervisors in a distance education system greatly improves student completion rates and achievement, although such outcomes depend on the nature of the course, the supervisor, and the student.

The future of CES-UNAM in the absence of the electronic age lies in proper and effective feedback. The comments made by respondents clearly demonstrated that feedback from CES-UNAM supervisors have not been helpful to students especially to students in remote rural areas where no one would easily help them while in isolation (Hara & Kling, 2001 in Mbukusa, 2009). Feedback should guide students properly and be made part of students’ learning cycle. Feedback has been defined by Jacobs (1974) as ‘verbal and non verbal responses from others to a unit of behaviour provided as close in time to the behaviour and capable of being perceived and utilised by the individual initiating the behaviour’. In other words, feedback in assignments should enable change to take place in an individual and this change is brought about in the individual if the feedback information is understood and used. Improperly done feedback will not help students in distance education change from wrong answers to meaningful answers. Poorly structured and handwritten comments which move back and forth from general to specific issues with less legibility can affect students’ response to feedback. The barrier of submission of student homework coupled with the supervisor providing timely feedback to the student at the right time should always be avoided.

As much as feedback makes meaning in students’ lives, they will always positively learn and will get connected with the stuff that they learn and should promote reflection (Terrell et al., 2009). Embedded in feedback is the ability for students to reflect on what they have learnt. Students should interact with feedback received from their supervisors so that they know what they should do with it. Supervisors should enable distance education students through feedback so that students will understand and interact with feedback as ‘it cannot simply be assumed that when students are ‘given feedback’ they will know what to do with it’ (Sadler 1998, p. 2 in Mbukusa, 2009).

The level of detail and usability of feedback comments should help students to progress. When the physical separation between students and supervisors is so wide in the regions under study, and creates more transactional distance, (a space for interaction between the supervisor and the students) misunderstandings are likely to fill the gaps (Moore, 1986, p. 1). Students may not attempt their project work with greater confidence. Anxiety, confusion and frustration could cause attrition (Mood, 2004 in Mbukusa, 2009). Therefore improved written communication to distance education students is essentially important to help supervisors and students achieve a better reciprocal understanding and maintain the quality of guidance and learning. If we accept the view that the effectiveness of feedback is intrinsically connected to its communicative power, pedagogical practice should aim to implement a model that facilitates good communication between students and their supervisors, (Higgins et. al., 2001). It is therefore essential to identify the factors that intervene in the feedback exchange and to what extent they affect the potential to promote learning.

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Students need to get used to the comments supervisors make from time to time. The mnemonics, short forms and style of commenting help students get acquainted with the supervisor’s language. Hughes (2005); Walker (2006) and Sadler (1998) in Mbukusa (2009) argue that feedback should be expressed in a language that is already known and understood by students as students need this feedback for future use.

As revealed by the interviews, the idea of feed forward and less description about the content of the work should be strengthened in distance education. Students do not want to see ‘what’ was wrong but want to see the ‘how’ so that they are enabled to respond differently next time. The ‘why’ and ‘what’ asserted by Jack and Jam in this study are neither encouraging nor particularly constructive in the eyes of the distance education students. Feedback should actually feed forward as it is needed to prepare students for future skills, content and language development. The FAST Project (2005) in Mbukusa (2009) showed that ‘feedback, in order to influence learning, should not only be framed in retrospective terms but should also provide advice for future learning and allow students to build on existing knowledge’. It is highly essential that this becomes CES- UNAM’s practice for students in remote rural areas.

Unless the meanings of the contents are unpacked and qualified they will always create misunderstandings, and unmet expectations. An important task of the feedback tools for the supervisor is to help identify the source of difficulties and the misconceptions students have about a topic. As a result of feedback on students’ work, those doing very poorly can be identified quite early.

Specifically, the isolation from other students can decrease the likelihood of networking with other students, can affect identification with the campus from which the student will graduate, can limit access to campus resources, and can lower the identification with student culture, all of which can affect the student’s motivation and accomplishment within the distance learning process (Donnan, 1993).

Inadequate vacation school guidance on supervision One respondent complained that vacation classes are only held once in a week long period. This could be two to three hours of “boredom and unguided videoconferencing where lecturers talk general things (sic)”. Supervisors need to attend to face to face supervision so that students find a bridge before they would face their supervisor during the vacation school. Meeting the needs of students is essential in distance education (Steyn, 2001).

The inadequacy or lack of closer supervision during vacation schools affects students in many ways. It is about the whole person development. Students need to be shaped by the content that they learn as such learning is needed for their jobs. Putting up a good project proposal has benefits for a student. Such skills could spill into the actual writing of reports for their jobs and the communities around them.

Students who fail to do well in their studies feel the pressure of embarrassment from the public. Some students want to apply what they have learnt in their courses at school to real life. It is frustrating and depressing when they find that they have learnt nothing meaningful from their studies. Eventually they feel alienated from the learned groups of their societies. They themselves dissociate with groups that have succeeded with their studies.

Lack of commitment from supervisors Supervisors need to make it clear to the students at the beginning of supervision that they will always be honest with their opinion and judgments. Because their role is to be that of a devil’s advocate, that is, not to let anything get through which is below standard or which would be called into question by moderators of the final reports. Some of their comments about the students’ work may be felt initially as a personal blow or a humiliation or a devaluation of their work. The supervisors need to periodically emphasise that their critical comments are ‘professional’ and related to the students’ work and that they are not ‘personal’ comments. The supervisor’s role is to help the students become more critical of their own work, their own logic and their own writing.

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Rosy (one respondent) complained that “our supervisors lack commitment with our work and us as students. How could supervisors tell us to go and do shopping when we have come to Windhoek for studies? Some dodge at any time they want leaving us alone and with nothing learnt from the day’s work”. I have learnt from my supervision time that research writing is difficult. Students need a closer way of supervision to help students do well with their studies. It is not only about writing a good research paper, it about obtaining the necessary skills in writing, conducting literature review from books or from the electronic libraries. It is about showing the students all the skills that they need in ensuring that they continue to conduct research. SDEML students are managers-to-be of schools. There are numerous problems that they face each day in their management of human and physical resources. They need research skills and knowledge to daily understand what is happening and how to handle it for improvements’ sake.

Commitment of supervisors in research writing defines relationships between supervisors and students (Moses, 1984);Gatfield (2005); Gurr (2001) and Styles and Radloff (2001. The relationship could result in good student researchers or weak student researchers as the quality of relationships between student and supervisor determines success rates (Eggleston & Delamont, 1983; Seagram, Gould, & Pyke, 1998; Acker, 1999; Dinham & Scott, 1999; Grant & Graham, 1999; Knowles, 1999 and Neumann, 2003)

Poor interpersonal relationships and lack of rapport between student and supervisor are the reasons most often cited for problems encountered in the postgraduate studies supervisory process (McAleese & Welsh, 1983 and Hill, et. al., 1994 and Armstrong (2004.600). the absence of trust, warmth and honest collaboration could jeopardise the success of supervision (Blumberg,1978). Heppner & Handley (1981) indicated that satisfaction with supervision correlated higher with the students’ perceptions of the supervisory relationships than with perceived expertise.

Completing a postgraduate research programme is a process that depends on a close, working relationship between students and supervisors (Grant & Graham (1999); Styles & Radloff (2001); Grevholm, et. al. (2005) Lovitts (2001); Zainal Abiddin (2007). There is a need therefore that supervisors at CES-UNAM rethink on how to help distance education students. These students have many ordeals in their life that make their learning very difficult. Some of the students find it difficult to use English as a medium of instruction and learning as they had a different medium during their own learning time, i.e. Grades 1-12 in the olden days.

BIODATA AND CONTACT ADDRESS OF AUTHOR

Dr. Nchindo R. MBUKUSA is a trained English teacher for secondary schools and a professionally trained teacher trainer for English language teachers. He further studied open and distance education at masters and PhD levels. His main interest is in research studies around English teachers and open and distance learning. Additionally, he has done studies in managing higher education institutions and African leadership in information and communication technologies. He teaches modules at a university in the above disciplines including project management studies. He is reachable at the Centre for External, University of Namibia.

Dr. Nchindo R. MBUKUSA University of Namibia Centre for External NAMIBIA E. Mail: [email protected] [email protected]

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COMPETITIVENESS AND MOTIVATION FOR EDUCATION AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Prof. Dr. Darja KOBAL GRUM University of Ljubljana Department of Psychology Askerceva 2 1000 Ljubljana - SLOVENIA

Assist. Prof. Dr. Bojan GRUM European Faculty of Law Delpinova 12 5000 Nova Gorica- SLOVENIA

ABSTRACT

The main research goal was to investigate the relationship between motivation for education and competitive attitude. 409 university students filled in a battery of questionnaires, including the Academic Motivation Scale (Vallerand et al., 1992), General Need Satisfaction Scale (Gagne, 2003), Competition Motivation Questionnaire (Franken & Brown, 1995), Hypercompetitive Attitude Scale (Ryckman et al., 1990) and Personal Development Competitive Attitude Scale (Ryckman et al., 1996). Comparing males and females, the results show significant differences in motivation for education and competitive attitude. We also found some significant differences with regard to students' study fields in motivation for education and hypercompetitive attitude. The findings of our research can be useful in improving the study process by stimulating intrinsic motivation and competition in the spirit of personal development.

Key Words: Motivation for education, competitive attitude, hyper-competitiveness, university students.

INTRODUCTION

Motivation in Adolescence Motivation stimulates and directs the behavior of an individual towards appointed goals (Pintrich & Schunk, 1996). Numerous researches (Mansfield, 2012) point out that motivation is extremely important in adolescence. In early adolescence, school apprehension and academic achievement are significant factors in planning the individual’s further education, which also outlines individual’s later professional career. Results of various studies show that three important factors of academic achievement are reduced after entering adolescence: school standpoints, motivation and self-concept in the area of one’s capabilities (Epstein & McPartland, 1976; Harter, 1981; Marsh, 1989). Blyth, Simmons, and Carlton-Ford (1983) studied motivation in transition from elementary school to high school. They found that students who remained in the same schools kept their positive self-concept and high levels of motivation. However, students who crossed from public elementary schools to private high schools had significantly lower achievement motivation and self-concept. Authors believe that decreased motivation and self-concept are a consequence of changes in environment rather than developmental changes. But according to other theoretical and empirical data it seems that both an individual and his environment play a significant role in decreasing motivation and self-concept.

Several authors (Anderman & Maehr, 1994; Bakadorova & Raufelder, 2014) believe there are three possible reasons for motivation decline in adolescence: (i) developmental changes, (ii) changes in self-concept that act as motivators and (iii) transitions between internal and external motivation. These factors are intertwined with changes in adolescent’s environment and have a common cognitive basis. Authors believe that reasons for motivation decline in adolescence can be better determined if we investigate motivation in the context of cognitive development. Developmental changes in cognitive processes enable different understanding of

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concepts like ability, competence and intelligence. Authors found that during transition from childhood to adolescence children begin to comprehend these concepts as something given and permanent. With such inadequate understanding of ability and intelligence they also become less motivated for learning, because with eventual failure despite studying they also risk a decrease in self-esteem and respect from others. This means that self-esteem and self-concept act as motivators for adolescent’s behavior and vice versa: adequate motivation for learning enables the development of positive and stable self-concept.

It is important to consider various types of academic motivation, which are usually described as internal and external motivation (Lee, McInerney, Liem, & Ortiga, 2010). Internal or intrinsic motivation in related to desire to learn. McMenniman (1989, p. 216) calls it ‘desire to learn for the desire itself.’ Berlyne (as quoted in McMenniman, 1989) thought that internal motivation is connected to innate curiosity with reference to unknown. More recent studies show that innate curiosity and consequently internal motivation decrease with growing up (Harter, 1981). McMenniman (1989) emphasizes that internal motivation stimulates conceptual learning and leads to creative thinking, whereas with external or extrinsic motivation an individual learns on the account of external causes like grades, parental pressure etc. McMeniman (1989) believes that external motivation is characteristic of many school classes.

Academic Motivation Academic motivation is usually described by internal or intrinsic and external or extrinsic factors (Deci & Ryan, 1985). Race (1998) believes that internal or intrinsic motivation is connected to desire for education. The intensity of that desire depends on several factors: a) Interest in particular study themes b) Wish to succeed in various study fields c) Individual’s wish to show others and himself that he/she is capable succeeding d) Respect to teachers and their work e) Satisfaction with learning materials f) Incentives from teachers or professors g) Incentives and support from significant others during education process

External motivation is defined by the need to learn. An individual learns because of various external causes when: a) One is not interested in a particular study theme b) Particular themes are hard to learn but lead to more interesting and important themes c) One has to prove successful in a certain field before he/she finds out whether he/she is actually interested in that field and if he/she wishes to learn more about it d) One experiences pressure from others and has no or very low desire to learn e) One has to learn to receive good grades

When the desire and the need to learn are equally strong and intertwined, academic motivation increases. But when external demands are stronger than the desire to learn, an individual can experience external incentives as pressure, which in the long term causes a decrease in academic motivation (Nicholls, Loveless, Thomas, Loetscher, & Churches, 2015).

Hidi (2000) states that motivation (including academic motivation) is based on two types of interests: situational and individual. Situational interest develops when an individual’s attention is drawn to a particular occurrence in the environment, which triggers a positive or negative reaction. In the initial phase of the situational interest, an individual’s attention is aroused and growing. This is called a triggering interest (Hidi, 2000) and is usually short-lived. If the attention is focused on a particular event or person for a longer period of time, the duration of the triggering interest is extended, that way forming a maintained interest. A situational interest can also evolve into an individual interest, if it occurs in a time when an individual extends his knowledge and develops positive feelings and his own values system (Hidi, 2000; Krapp, 1998). Hidi and Harackiewicz (2000) emphasize that an individual is only able to develop an intrinsically motivated behavior if he/she is capable of preserving the initial situational interest. Individual interests have proved to be an

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important determinant of academic motivation and learning (Ainley, 1994; Krapp, 1998; Renninger, 2000; Schiefele & Krapp, 1996).

Recent views of academic motivation stress the meaning of goal motivation as a predictor of academic achievement (Bipp & van Dam, 2014). Goals are cognitive representations of an individual’s aspirations in various situations when he or she strives for success (Yeung & Yeung, 2001). McInerney, Yeung, and McInerney (2000) state that differences in understanding goals can cause dramatic consequences for achieving success in education. McInerney et al. (1997) found that goal motivation has a multidimensional structure. The basis of goal motivation is an individual’s belief that he/she is capable of achieving success in education by his/her own efforts, where learning acts as an intrinsic motivational factor (defined by desire to learn and interest in learning). Individual’s relationship towards knowledge and making an effort on achieving his/her goals, along with the self-perception of his/her own capabilities for academic work (education and learning) are also very important. Successful planning and achieving goals is connected to individual’s personal characteristics and his values system. This evaluation is constantly under the influence of social feedback from the environment, which is a factor of extrinsic motivation. An individual with the ego orientation towards external criteria assesses his/her achievements on the basis of feedbacks from the environment and other group members. Proving successful to the group is very important for these individuals, therefore his/her evaluations of his/her own achievements depend on external criteria – reactions and incentives from the environment and significant others. On the other hand, individuals with task orientation rely mainly on their own knowledge and capabilities when it comes to learning and problem solving. Consequently they are less dependent on social feedback and more autonomous.

Competition Competition is a psychical entity that can be understood in different ways: as someone’s value, their characteristic or their motive. Franken and Brown (1995) found that in competitive behavior, the strongest motives are the following: a) Desire and effort to win and eliminate others b) Testing one’s own abilities – physical (e.g. running marathons), creative or cognitive c) Doing something the best possible way and therefore improve d) Satisfaction due to well performed task e) Choosing difficult and pretentious tasks

The desire to test one’s own abilities in a competitive situation does not always derive from the desire to win. Competition is constructed from two dimensions: (i) playing, behaving, competing against others and (ii) striving to perform a particular task better than others. The first dimension is defined by interpersonal competitiveness, demonstrated by the desire to defeat others. The second dimension is characterized by aspiring to the set goals, not only by performing better than others but performing in a best possible way (Griffin-Pierson, 1990). Franken and Brown (1995) believe that the second dimension is crucial for understanding competitive behaviour, because it represents the individual’s striving to achieve criteria of excellence and is connected to goal and achievement motivation and an individual’s advancement. Ryckman et al. (1996) also believe there are two types of competitive behaviour: hypercompetitive attitude and personal development competitive attitude. Hypercompetitive attitude is characterized by (i) aspirations for achieving one’s goals no matter the cost, (ii) tendency to compete, win and avoid failure, (iii) caring only for one’s self, (iv) appreciation of success, (v) hedonism, power, stimulation, egocentrism, superiority and (vi) competing in situations of un-competitive nature. Personal development competitive attitude, on the other hand, means that winning is not of key importance. An individual uses experience from competitive situations for personal growth. He is focused on discovering himself and his potentials and has a constant critical relationship towards his own development. His goals are set with the intention of progress, thus performing in the best possible way.

Competitive attitude is also important for individual’s self-concept. Individuals who are competitive in the relationship towards themselves (striving to achieve their potentials) usually have positive and well developed self-concepts. However, individuals who test their abilities until exhaustion usually have low and fragile self-

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concepts. Individuals who desire to win are similar to the latter – in the background there is often an extremely low self-esteem, which increases for a short time when an individual defeats someone else.

Objective The aim of the research was to investigate the relationship between motivation for education, competitive attitude and different areas of self-concept.

METHOD

Participants Participants were 409 graduate and postgraduate students of various study fields (agricultural engineering, biochemistry, biotechnology, civil engineering, communal engineering, criminal justice and security, economics, educational sciences, geodetic engineering, library and information sciences, mechanical engineering, medicine, physics, psychology, real estate law and management, Slovene language and literature, sociology, tourism studies) from eleven faculties in Slovenia. 122 participants (30%) were male and 287 (70%) were female. Participants’ age range was from 18 to 55 years, with an average of 21.15 years (SD = 4.6). Their average academic achievement was 8.325 (SD = 1.01).

Instruments To perform our research, we used the following psychological questionnaires and scales: a) The Academic Motivation Scale (Vallerand et al., 1992) The scale consists of 28 items and measures seven aspects of academic motivation: (i) intrinsic motivation – to know, (ii) intrinsic motivation – toward accomplishment, (iii) intrinsic motivation – to experience stimulation, (iv) extrinsic motivation – identified, (v) extrinsic motivation – introjected, (vi) extrinsic motivation – external regulation and (vii) amotivation. Participants are asked to read each statement and rate on a 7-point scale how characteristic these statements are of them (1 – not at all, 7 – completely). The subscales’ reliabilities are from 0.70 to 0.86 (Cokley et al., 2001), in our research from 0.77 to 0.87. b) General Need Satisfaction Scale (Gagne, 2003) The GNSS measures the level of satisfaction of three basic psychological needs in life. It is a 21-item measure consisting of three subscales: autonomy, competence and relatedness. Participants are asked to read each statement and rate on a 7-point scale how characteristic these statements are of them (1 – not at all, 7 – completely). Gagne (2003) reports the following reliability coefficients: 0.69 for autonomy, 0.86 for relatedness and 0.71 for competence. In our research, reliability for autonomy was 0.69, 0.79 for relatedness and 0.61 for competence. c) Hypercompetitive Attitude Scale (Ryckman et al., 1990) The scale consists of 26 items. Participants are asked to read each statement and rate on a 5-point scale how often they behave according to various statements (1 – never, 5 – always). Ryckman et al. (1990) report reliability of 0.91. In our research, internal reliability was 0.77. d) Personal Development Competitive Attitude Scale (Ryckman et al., 1996) The scale consists of 15 items. Participants are asked to read each statement and rate on a 5-point scale how often they behave according to various statements (1 – never, 5 – always). Ryckman et al. (1996) report reliability of 0.90. In our research, internal reliability was 0.87. Ryckman et al. (1997) also confirmed the orthogonal relationship between personal development competitive attitude and hypercompetitive attitude, as measured by the aforementioned Hypercompetitive Attitude Scale (Ryckman et al., 1990). e) Competition Motivation Questionnaire (Franken & Brown, 1995) The scale consists of 19 items and measures five aspects of competition motivation: (i) satisfaction that comes from improving one’s performance (IP), (ii) desire to win (WIN), (iii) motivation to put forth effort in competitive situations (MPFE), (iv) satisfaction that comes from performing well (PW) and (v) preference for difficult tasks (DIFF). Participants are asked to read each statement and rate on a 5-point scale how often they behave according to various statements (1 – never, 5 – always). The subscales’ reliabilities are from 0.68 to 0.83 (Franken & Brown, 1995), in our research from 0.53 to 0.75.

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Participants were asked to fill out a battery of abovementioned scales and questionnaires along with several additional questions about their age, gender, study field and academic achievement.

Procedure Participants filled out the questionnaires in printed or electronic form. To collect data from participants who used the printed form, we first presented them with basic information about the research goals and proceeded with instructions for each part of the questionnaire. Participants then filled in the questionnaires, which lasted approximately 20 minutes. To collect data from participants who used the electronic version, we sent the link to survey page to various student associations, representatives and mailing lists. Students who decided to participate filled in the questionnaires individually via internet. The data were then analysed with SPSS for Windows programme.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Gender Differences Table 1: Average achievements of male and female students with results of the ANOVA for both samples. Scale gender N M SD df F p Eta2 Academic motivation IM – to know male 121 18.88 5.12 1 17.124 0.000** 0.068 female 121 21.36 4.39 IM – toward accomplishment male 122 15.15 5.33 1 13.370 0.000** 0.054 female 121 17.40 4.66 IM – to experience stimulation male 121 14.49 5.41 1 8.087 0.005** 0.034 female 122 16.07 5.14 EM – identified male 121 19.49 4.46 1 20.117 0.000** 0.079 female 122 22.10 4.49 EM – introjected male 122 15.83 5.48 1 8.910 0.003** 0.037 female 122 17.75 5.47 EM – external regulation male 122 19.77 5.16 1 2.822 0.094 0.012 female 121 21.42 9.96 Amotivation male 122 8.39 4.62 1 14.681 0.000** 0.059 female 122 6.37 3.51 General psychological needs Autonomy male 122 34.15 5.52 1 3.300 0.071 0.014 female 122 35.58 5.71 Competence male 122 29.22 5.21 1 1.454 0.229 0.006 female 122 29.94 4.94 Relatedness male 122 41.86 6.84 1 13.738 0.000** 0.056 female 122 45.25 6.85 Hypercompetitive attitude male 121 65.86 12.97 1 2.865 0.092 0.012 female 122 63.05 11.27 Personal development male 122 50.24 9.40 1 0.042 0.839 0.000 competitive attitude female 122 50.06 10.29 Competition motivation WIN male 121 13.97 3.92 1 5.987 0.015* 0.025 female 122 12.64 3.81 IP male 122 15.09 2.96 1 29.595 0.000** 0.113 female 122 16.79 2.23 MPFE male 122 9.34 2.59 1 0.026 0.872 0.000 female 122 9.24 2.49

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PW male 121 15.12 2.53 1 27.457 0.000** 0.105 female 122 16.58 1.95 DIFF male 122 9.28 2.15 female 122 9.22 2.40 1 0.004 0.948 0.000 female 122 10.73 2.93 female 122 26.07 7.45 Note. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01. IM = intrinsic motivation, EM = extrinsic motivation, IP = satisfaction that comes from improving one’s performance, WIN = desire to win, MPFE = motivation to put forth effort in competitive situations, PW = satisfaction that comes from performing well, DIFF = preference for difficult tasks. To analyze data with regard to gender we equalized the number of male and female students.

Table 1 shows statistically significant differences between males and females in all the areas of intrinsic motivation (motivation to know, toward accomplishment and to experience stimulation) and in two areas of extrinsic motivation (identified and introjected motivation), where females have significantly higher scores than males. Differences were also found in amotivation, where males have significantly higher scores than females.

These results show that females are more intrinsically motivated for studying than males. Murphy and Roopchand (2003) got similar results with a sample of English college students where females had higher intrinsic motivation scores, especially in the group of mature students (aged 21 or more). Our results also show that females’ chosen study fields or professions are more congruent with their interests and wishes. On the other hand, females depend more on external criteria (in choosing their study fields, evaluating their academic achievements etc.), but they also identify with them or have introjected them in the process of development and growing-up. Males’ higher scores in the area of amotivation show that their education goals are poorly defined. Among males, there are more students who do not actually know why they study and what the reasons for choosing a certain study field or profession were. Males’ amotivation could also be a consequence of maladaptive motivational tendencies. Chaplain (2000) found that significantly more males believe that a person needs to be clever to do well in school. Such students believe that success requires ability (being clever) but are unsure of their own abilities, which could result in poorly defined education goals, lack of motivation and low self-worth.

We also found some gender-related differences in the satisfaction of general psychological needs. The need for connectedness is significantly better satisfied with females as opposed to males, which means that females have a greater feeling of connectedness with significant others. We believe that differences in this area derive from general differences in interpersonal relations. Studies show that in adolescence males and females form different friendships and enter interpersonal relationships in a different way (Rowsell, , Ciarrochi, Heaven, & Deane, 2014). During transition from adolescence to adulthood and later in adulthood itself there are also various changes in social roles, which, along with career development and starting family life, shape interpersonal relations and consequently feelings of connectedness with significant others (Martin, Blozis, Boeninger, Masarik, & Conger, 2014). Differences between males and females were also observed in the area of competition motivation. Males express significantly higher levels of desire to win, whereas females experience more satisfaction when improving their performance and performing well. Males therefore strive more after defeating others and thus proving themselves, whereas females are more oriented towards their own advancement and personal growth.

Study Field Differences To investigate differences among participants with regard to their study field we divided them into two groups: (a) social sciences and arts (N = 312) and (b) natural and technical sciences (N = 93; with four participants we had no information about study field). In the first group were students of criminal justice and security, economics, educational sciences, library and information sciences, real estate law and management, psychology, Slovene language and literature, sociology, and tourism studies. In the second group were students of agricultural engineering, biochemistry, biotechnology, civil engineering, communal engineering, geodetic engineering, mechanical engineering, medicine, and physics. 130 Copyright © International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications / www.ijonte.org

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Table 2: Average achievements of students from various study fields with results of the ANOVA for both samples. Scale field N M SD df F p Eta2 Academic motivation IM – to know SA 89 21.93 4.09 1 44.079 0.000** 0.198 NT 92 17.62 4.63 IM – toward accomplishment SA 89 17.06 5.00 1 13.004 0.000** 0.068 NT 92 14.45 4.74 IM – to experience stimulation SA 89 16.26 5.10 1 11.322 0.001** 0.059 NT 92 13.75 4.93 EM – identified SA 89 22.56 3.65 1 29.793 0.000** 0.143 NT 92 19.28 4.37 EM – introjected SA 89 17.61 5.24 1 2.829 0.094 0.016 NT 92 16.28 5.34 EM – external regulation SA 89 21.19 4.74 1 2.684 0.103 0.015 NT 92 20.07 4.51 Amotivation SA 89 6.36 3.30 1 20.658 0.000** 0.103 NT 92 9.01 4.44 General psychological needs Autonomy SA 89 36.74 5.87 1 21.037 0.000** 0.105 NT 92 32.99 5.12 Competence SA 89 30.80 4.95 1 16.444 0.000** 0.084 NT 92 27.86 4.80 Relatedness SA 89 45.89 6.38 1 16.666 0.000** 0.085 NT 92 41.77 7.15 Hypercompetitive attitude SA 89 60.84 12.61 1 17.357 0.000** 0.088 NT 92 68.24 11.25 Personal development competitive SA 89 50.29 11.03 1 0.213 0.645 0.001 attitude NT 92 49.60 9.16 Competition motivation WIN SA 89 12.71 3.44 1 5.095 0.025* 0.028 NT 92 13.95 3.91 IP SA 89 16.62 2.19 1 24.035 0.000** 0.118 NT 92 14.66 3.06 MPFE SA 89 9.13 2.65 1 0.005 0.942 0.000 NT 92 9.16 2.53 PW SA 89 16.36 2.54 1 19.211 0.000** 0.097 NT 92 14.77 2.33 DIFF SA 89 9.36 2.32 NT 92 9.08 2.17 1 0.719 0.398 0.004 NT 92 25.80 5.98 Note. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01. SA = social sciences and arts, NT = natural and technical sciences, IM = intrinsic motivation, EM = extrinsic motivation, IP = satisfaction that comes from improving one’s performance, WIN = desire to win, MPFE = motivation to put forth effort in competitive situations, PW = satisfaction that comes from performing well, DIFF = preference for difficult tasks. To analyze data with regard to study field we equalized the number of students in both groups.

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Table 2 shows that students from both groups differ significantly in education motivation, especially in the level of intrinsic motivation. Students of social sciences and arts are significantly more intrinsically motivated than students of natural and technical sciences. We also found significant differences in the area of extrinsic motivation, where students of social sciences and arts expressed higher levels of identified regulation. With amotivation the results were opposite: students of natural and technical sciences expressed significantly higher levels of amotivation than students of social sciences and arts.

These results show that students of social sciences and arts have a greater (internal) wish for education than students of natural and technical sciences. Among the former there are more students who are genuinely interested in their study field and gain satisfaction from it. But among the latter, there are more students whose educational goals are poorly defined, who are unsure about the reasons for choosing a specific field and who cannot see themselves in the chosen profession.

Results also show that all three general psychological needs are better satisfied with students of social sciences and arts which means that they have a better sense of control over their own actions, feel more successful at work and are more connected to other people. Study field can contribute to connectedness in a certain extent, because social sciences and arts are more directed to team work or work with people, while activities in natural and technical sciences are often individual (work in laboratories etc.).

Within competitive behavior we found that students of natural and technical sciences express significantly higher levels of hypercompetitive attitude. Their competition motivation in a greater extent derives from desire to win, whereas students of social sciences and arts strive more after improving their performance and performing various tasks well.

We believe that among students of natural and technical sciences there are more individuals who have chosen their field on the basis of external criteria rather than internal factors. Common belief is that it is easier to find employment in natural or technical science because the number of graduates per year is lower than in social sciences and arts, which also lowers the competition in the work market. Another important factor is that in Slovene universities social science and arts programmes usually have more severe enrolment limitations due to greater public interest. These two factors are often crucial when choosing study fields and can result in a choice of profession that an individual does not find interesting and is not congruent with his or her wishes. Consequently the motivation for education is also different: instead of being driven by intrinsic motives (interest in study themes, satisfaction coming from academic achievements), an individual acts according to extrinsic motives (pressure from authorities, expectations related to future employment etc.). In this case the demands are greater than desire to learn, which in the long term leads to decreased motivation for education (Race, 1998). This also explains the results within amotivation, where students of natural and technical sciences have significantly higher results than students of social sciences and arts. Amotivation refers to lack of goals or motives. An individual does not know why he studies or why he chose a certain field, which shows that he cannot identify himself with the chosen field and cannot see himself in this profession. Involuntary or less voluntary choice of study field could also be related to satisfaction of general psychological needs. If a choice is dictated by external criteria, we can expect lower sense of autonomy and weaker belief in one’s abilities as opposed to situations where students choose fields they are interested in and which give them pleasure. Dissatisfaction of general psychological needs also shows in higher levels of negative affect, lower intrinsic motivation and lower efficiency of an individual (Deci & Ryan, 2000). Intrinsic motivation for a certain activity is higher when an individual freely chooses the activity, when he or she performs it well and when he or she feels connected to significant others while performing it.

CONCLUSIONS

The aim of the research was to investigate the relationship between motivation for education and competitive attitude. Results show some significant differences according to students’ gender and study field. According to these results we can say that intrinsic motivation plays the key role within academic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is also connected with positive experience and students’ academic achievements. In terms of

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competitive behaviour, intrinsic motivation is linked more with personal development competitive attitude, whereas extrinsic motivation is connected more with hypercompetitive attitude. On average, students are the most motivated to improve their overall performance and performing certain tasks well, whereas desire to win is not such a strong motive.

The findings of our research can be useful as guidelines in shaping the study process, which should be oriented towards stimulating intrinsic motivation and personal development competitive attitude. This kind of learning process enables higher academic achievements and students’ content, and thus optimal start of students’ career path.

BIODATA AND CONTACT ADDRESSES OF AUTHORS

Darja KOBAL GRUM is professor of general psychology and Head of Department of Psychology at the University in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Between July 2009 and March 2011 she was a visiting professor at the University of Tsukuba, Institute of Disability Sciences, Japan, in 2007 she worked at the Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Psychology and Education, Budapest and in 2001 at Department of Psychology at the University La Laguna, Tenerife Island.The main area of her scientific and research work is general psychology with emphasis on the self-concept, education and psychology of blindness. She has authored/edited thirteen books/edited and authored, co-authored, or presented over two hundred book chapters, articles, and conference presentations.

Prof. Dr. Darja KOBAL GRUM Department of Psychology University in Ljubljana 1000 Ljubljana- SLOVENIA E. Mail: [email protected]

Bojan GRUM is assistant professor at the European Faculty of Law in Nova Gorica, Slovenia in the field od real estate valuation and Director and chief executive at the Institute of real estate management in Ljubljana. In 2011 he was a visiting lecturer at the European School of Law and Governance in Kosovo for the course Real Estate Valuation. The main area of his scientific and research work is real estate valuations and real estate management. Recently, he has been engaged in research of urban and real estate education of people with special needs. He has authored/edited three books/edited and authored, co- authored, or presented over seventy book chapters, articles, and conference presentations.

Assist. Prof. Dr. Bojan GRUM European Faculty of Law Delpinova 18B, 5000 Nova Gorica SLOVENIA E. Mail: [email protected]

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DISTANCE LANGUAGE LEARNING: STUDENTS’ VIEWS OF CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS

PhDc. Rahmat BUDIMAN School of Education University of Dundee Dundee DD1 4HN Scotland- UNITED KINGDOM

ABSTRACT

This paper reports the findings from the first stage qualitative data analysis of a longitudinal study investigating factors that affect students’ achievement in a distance learning English writing course. Data were collected from mandatory self-report questions embedded in questionnaires that were distributed by post and an online survey. The participants included 164 students studying in the English Department of an open university in Indonesia1. The participants were asked to identify the challenges they encountered during their learning on the first of four writing courses. They were also asked to identify possible solutions to the challenges. Their responses were analysed using NVivo version 10 and the responses were then coded and grouped into themes. An emerging area related to student expectation was identified. To reduce biases of the researcher, two randomly selected samples of the responses were reviewed through a double-blind review. The findings show that the challenges fell into three categories: academic, technical, and personal issues. Similarly, solutions consisted of the same three issues. Meanwhile, student expectations focused on academic and technical issues.

Key Words: Distance learning, challenges, solutions, expectations.

INTRODUCTION

This paper reports the findings from the first stage qualitative data analysis of a longitudinal study investigating factors that affected students’ achievement on a distance learning course in English writing. Self-report questions asked the participants to identify the challenges they faced during the Writing 1 course in semester 2, 2012, and the solutions to those challenges. The main aim was to gain a more detailed understanding of the challenges that distance language learning students face and the solutions they use to overcome them. The analysis shows that the challenges faced by distance learning students are complex, particularly for those who are new to distance learning and English language learning and in full time employment. Some findings correspond with those of previous studies, such as Galusha (1997) and Croft, Dalton, and Grant (2010). Interestingly, the analysis identified an emerging area related to student expectations to improve the learning process.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Unlike conventional university students, distance learning students are physically separated from the lecturers and other students (Holmberg, 1989). The teaching and learning process is carried out by means of media and technology (Keegan, 1980). Moreover, the rapid development of technology has made a significant

1 To maintain compliance with ethics principles, the name of the university was written anonymously 137 Copyright © International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications / www.ijonte.org

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contribution to the development of distance learning and has contributed to the characteristics of distance learning (Taylor, 1999).

Despite the development of technology, Galusha (1997) identifies the following six major problems facing distance learning students: cost and motivators, interactivity with lecturers, student support, feeling isolated, lack of experience and lack of training. This implies that distance learning students are expected to have skills and abilities to cope with these problems. The problems are often coupled with family and work responsibilities for those who have family and are in employment. As most distance learning students are adults and in employment (The Commonwealth of Learning, 2010), study time often interferes with family commitments and personal and employment responsibilities. A study by Pierrakeas, Xenos, Panagiotakopoulos, and Vergidis (2004) found that family and personal matters, study and employment responsibilities, lack of support and lack of prerequisite knowledge were challenges that students faced, which in turn led them to withdraw from the programme of study. A more recent study by Rakes, Dunn, and Rakes (2013) found that distractions caused by family and employment responsibilities prevents students from studying.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

The large scale longitudinal study of this research employed quantitative and qualitative methods. This article reports on the first stage qualitative analysis. Self-report questions were distributed through postal and online surveys. The participants included students studying in the English Department of an open university in Indonesia. A non-probability sampling procedure (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2007) was taken, based on specific criteria. Students who registered for the Writing 1 course in semester 2, 2012 were included in the sample and their progress was followed up to Writing 4, the highest level of writing course.

Instrumentation A survey was selected as the participants resided not only in Indonesia, but also in other countries such as, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Greece and Ukraine. The questions were formulated in Indonesian and participation in the survey was optional. To check content validity and face validity as suggested by Robson (2011), two Indonesians who were experts in distance learning were involved in reviewing the questions. For the purpose of reporting, the self-report questions were translated into English by the researcher. Following the guidelines of Sperber (2004), the English version of the self-report questions went through a back translation process into Indonesian by a translator to maintain the meaning of the original version. The self- report questions were piloted to check readability from similar participants to those in the survey (Williams, 2003). Thirty students who had taken the Writing 1 examination in the previous semester were randomly selected and invited to participate in the pilot study. Twenty-two of them completed the questionnaires that were distributed through the Bristol Online Survey (BOS).

Participants The participants were all Indonesian distance learning students studying in the English Department of an open university in Indonesia. For the purpose of a longitudinal study design, students who took the Writing English 1 examination in Semester 2, 2012 were considered as a cohort. It should be noted that registration is open and ongoing all year round; thus this study focused only on following the progress of the students in the cohort. Repeated research design with the same participants within the cohort aimed to gather information related to the factors that affected achievement and dropout in writing courses. The privacy and confidentiality used in the data collection remained protected at all times. Participants’ names and all information about them, as well as their responses were protected, remained confidential and were not accessible by other people, parties, or the institution where they study. To distinguish responses given by different participants, the participants were coded using unique numbers. Thus, the participants’ names did not appear on the report and all information referring to names, places or institutions were written anonymously. At last, the written and electronic data were deposited securely and were kept confidential.

Four hundred and five students took the Writing 1 examination in Semester 2, 2012 at various examination centres both in Indonesia and overseas. One hundred and sixty four students participated in the survey by

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completing either postal or online surveys (return rate was 40%). The participants consisted of 50 male students (30%) and 114 female students (70%). The following table illustrates the participants’ demographic information.

Table 1: Participants’ Demographic Information Frequency Percentage Age group Under 23 years 53 32 23-30 years 61 37 31-38 years 34 21 Over 38 16 10 Marital status Married 52 32 Not married 112 68 Prior education High school/equivalent 136 83 Diploma 3 11 7 Undergraduate/S1 12 7 Graduate/S2 5 3 Employment status Employed 139 85 Not employed 25 15 Type of employment Full time 110 79 Part time 29 21 Job relevant to programme of studies

Less than 50% 69 50 More than 50% 70 50 Number of working hours a week Less than 40 hours 33 24 40 hours 31 22 More than 40 hours 75 54

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Data Collection And Analysis Eighty-two copies of the questionnaire, together with the research cover letter were sent by post to those participants who did not have access to the internet with stamped return envelopes provided. Meanwhile, survey invitation letters were sent by post to 323 participants who had access to the internet. The invitation letter explained that the researcher had sent them an email to participate in the survey and asked them to check their email. This procedure was taken based on the lesson learnt from the pilot study. The link to complete the online survey was provided in the email. The return rate of the postal survey was 18%, while the return rate of the online survey was 46%. The postal and online survey results were then combined. A total of 164 participants completed the questionnaires (return rate was 40%). Since completing the self-report section was compulsory, 164 responses were submitted. Each response was analysed carefully several times to identify the key information. The information was then coded and clustered using NVivo v.10. To reduce researcher bias, two randomly selected samples of the responses were reviewed through a double-blind review as suggested by Miles and Huberman (1994). The results were then compared and any differences were discussed with the second reviewer.

FINDINGS

This section presents the result of the analysis which focused on the most difficult challenges students faced during their learning on the Writing 1 course, and their suggestions for overcoming the problems. The challenges fell into three categories: academic issues; technical issues; and personal issues. Similarly, the solutions were grouped into the same three categories. However, after scrutinizing all the answers carefully, an emerging issue was raised by some participants, which highlighted the expectations of students to improve the learning process. The expectations focused on: academic issues and technical issues. Accordingly, there were three main features to analyse: the challenges; the solutions and the expectations.

Challenges Academic issues There were eight themes related to academic issues: lack of feedback, applying theoretical lessons, understanding different writing styles, forecasting the examination materials, making translations, poor vocabulary, understanding grammar, writing compositions based on specific instructions and writing styles.

Understanding the grammar was the most serious challenge as it received greater attention from the participants (40 participants). Regarding the three issues, one student commented:

“For me, making composition is the most difficult (task)… sometimes I am confused how to make correct sentences.” (Student-female)

Meanwhile, thirty-two participants felt that limited knowledge of vocabulary was a major challenge they experienced on the English Writing 1 course.

“The most difficult situation is when I write a composition, I fail to find the most suitable words (to express my ideas). I have to find other expressions or phrases which have similar meanings to the words that I want to use.” (Student-female)

The other major problem was the lack of feedback. Twenty-four participants noted that lack of feedback, particularly from the lecturer of the Writing 1 course and the Writing 1 online tutor was a barrier to developing their writing skills. The respondents who participated in the online tutorial wanted to receive formative feedback on their assignments and exercises that not only showed them the weaknesses and strengths of their work, but also provided advice, guidance and support for improvement of their writing skills. As one participant commented:

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“(The challenge is) the lack of feedback when doing the writing exercises. If there is a feedback, I will be able to find the strengths and the weaknesses of the compositions that I made. The feedback is expected to give improvement or correct the mistakes (that I made).” (Student-female)

Technical issues Seven themes were identified from the analysis: absence of communication with the lecturer and online tutor; absence of a face-to-face tutorial; difficulty in purchasing course materials; limited opportunities to practise speaking and listening skills; limited time in the examination; being unfamiliar with modern technology; and poor quality of course materials. Comments related to each theme were almost equally distributed. However, absence of communication with the lecturer and online tutor received more attention from the participants. The following is an example of a comment related to this issue:

“I cannot ask the lecturer directly and I cannot have a discussion with other students who register the same courses.” (Student-female)

Personal issues The themes related to the personal challenges that students faced covered the following: becoming an autonomous student; isolation; discipline; limited time to study; pace of learning; lack of motivation; lack of enthusiasm and interest in writing. Among the issues, limited time to study and feelings of isolation received greater attention from the participants.

Twenty five participants reported that they did not have enough time to study due to their employment responsibilities.

“The most difficult or challenging situation is that I spend most my time to work. Therefore, I do not have time to learn the English writing 1 course.” (Student-male)

Another twenty three participants reported the major challenge as feelings of isolation from other students, lecturer and online tutor. As one participant commented:

“I do not know where to ask for help. Sometimes, I browse the internet to find the answers for my problems or I use Google Translate to check my composition, but it is confusing because grammatically the sentences are not correct.” (Student-female)

Solutions Academic issues The solutions for coping with academic challenges are: regularly adding new vocabulary; learning the grammar more seriously; learning from other people’s compositions; making translations; making drafts of compositions; doing more writing practices; speaking English more frequently; improving listening skills; relearning unclear topics, reading English texts; and watching English programmes. The four themes mentioned most frequently by the participants were: reading English texts; regularly adding new vocabulary; learning the grammar more seriously; and doing more writing practice.

Eighteen participants stated that reading English texts, such as newspapers, novels, and books helped them to improve their writing skills. For example, one participant said:

“I also often read English literatures to help me improve my English writing skills, because I believe that those who are able to write are those who read much.” (Student-female)

Seven participants were aware that they needed to enrich their vocabulary in order to write well. As one participant said:

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“I read English books or newspaper to enrich my vocabulary words. In addition, I can also learn grammatical structures of the texts I read.” (Student-female)

Seven participants reported that to improve their writing skills, they needed to learn the grammar more seriously. The participants mentioned that they studied the English grammar from the course material as well as other sources.

“I need to learn more the English grammar, so that I can write compositions that follow the structures correctly.” (Student-female) Meanwhile, six participants suggested that doing more practice to write would help them to improve their writing skills. One participant commented:

“I continuously practice writing compositions. I think there is an improvement.” (Student-female)

Technical issues There were eleven themes related to technical issues. However, the following four themes received greater attention from the participants: contacting other people; finding other learning sources; forming a study group; accessing the internet.

Twenty-two participants mentioned that they contacted other people to overcome the challenges they met during the Writing 1 course. The people they contacted were peers, lecturers, acquaintance and employers.

“To cope with the difficulties while learning, I share the problems I have with other students who take the same courses with me.” (Student-female)

Nine participants looked for other learning sources, either printed or online, to help them to find the answers to the problems they had. As one participant said:

“I learn from different sources. I buy books if they are available in my place and I also access the internet.” (Student-female)

Seven participants suggested that forming a study group helped them to find the most suitable answers to the challenges they found.

“I try to discuss a topic I do not understand in a study group. This helps me and I can help other students. Having friends who always remind me to complete the assignments, for example, means that I have friends who care of me. I do not want to waste this chance.” (Student-male)

Meanwhile, six participants commented that accessing the internet was an effective solution for coping with the challenges. One participant commented:

“I log on to learning websites available on the Internet.” (Student-female)

Personal issues Themes related to finding solutions to manage personal issues included: giving full commitment; making a learning schedule; reminding themselves of the importance of their study; and creating the most suitable learning strategies. The theme that received most attention was building and maintaining self-motivation. As one participant said:

“I have to motivate myself and evaluate the learning strategies that I use.” (Student-male)

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Expectations The expectations of students were revealed in the analysis. Participants expected to receive support, particularly from the institution, for a more effective learning experience. The expectations of students fell into two broad categories: academic issues and technical issues.

Academic issues Seven themes related to academic issues were identified: feedback from the lecturer/online tutor; face-to-face tutorial sessions; more assignments on the course material; more examples on the course material; more grammar explanations on the course materials; more online tutorial sessions; and supplementary vocabulary words on the course materials. Two themes received greater attention from the participants: feedback from the lecturer or online tutor and face-to-face tutorial sessions. Talking about these issues, ten participants mentioned that they expected to receive feedback from the lecturer or online tutor on the assignments they submitted. Furthermore, some participants suggested that the feedback should be in the form of individual formative feedback, so that they were able to learn from it. As one participant said:

“I hope that the lecturers give feedback on the assignments that I do in the form of showing the mistakes and making correcting, so that I will learn the strengths and weaknesses of my compositions. I am sure this will improve my writing skills.” (Student-female)

Meanwhile, six participants expected to have face-to-face tutorial sessions as an alternative method for learning. Talking about this issue, one participant said:

“I think it will be better if there is an offline meeting with a lecturer, but the schedule should be adjusted to suit the availability of the working students.” (Student-male)

Technical issues The following four themes emerged from the analysis of the technical issues: forming a student association; multimedia learning packages; access to the university website; and direct communication with the lecturer. The latter received the most attention. Thirteen participants expressed that they expected to have direct communication with the lecturer. The expectations of students related to having direct contact with the lecturer can in fact be categorised both as an academic and a technical issue. From the academic perspective, students expected to have more opportunities to discuss the subjects they learnt with the lecturer. From the technical perspectives, providing a synchronous communication with a large number of students is difficult to make.

“I hope that I can communicate directly with the lecturer, so that I can discuss any problems I face while learning the Writing 1 course. This will help me understand the topics I learn better.” (Student-female)

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Based on the findings, the challenges are particularly complex. However, understanding the grammar, limited knowledge of vocabulary, lack of feedback, limited time to study, and feelings of isolation received greater attention as major challenges. Difficulties in understanding the grammar and limited knowledge of vocabulary might arise from the fact that English in Indonesia is a foreign language (Lauder, 2010). Issues related to limited knowledge of vocabulary was also relevant to the study conducted by Nurweni and Read (1999).

Lack of feedback from the lecturer and the online tutor was another theme that received greater attention from the participants. The participants expected to have timely and formative feedback to improve their writing skills. Hyland (2001) argues that in distance learning feedback connected the students and the lecturers. Meanwhile, Ali and Ahmad (2011) found that the provision of feedback is also related to student satisfaction in

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distance learning. The findings of the current study show that the absence of feedback had serious consequences and had an impact on students’ motivation to study. This was in agreement with Hyland (2001) who shows that feedback from lecturers promotes student motivation and improves student achievement. Further, Hurd (2007) concludes that absence of feedback coupled with isolation from lecturers and other students has an impact on anxiety among distance learning students.

Another challenge for respondents was the limited time they had to study. Working students found that employment responsibilities prevented them from studying. As shown in Table 1, 85 per cent of the participants were in full time employment and 76 per cent of them had long working hours per week. Meanwhile, students who were married and had children saw that family responsibilities often prevented them from studying. In a distance learning context, student achievement is linked to the students’ ability to manage their time for their study, family and employment (Kember, 1989). Pierrakeas et al. (2004) conclude that family and employment responsibilities are associated with student progression. Limited time to study is a serious challenge faced by distance learning students. Simpson (2006) claims that distance learning students who study for less than 15 hours a week are more likely to drop out.

The participants of this study also expressed feelings of isolation. They felt separated from the institution (lecturer and online tutor) and peers. This finding supports previous research conducted by Croft et al. (2010) indicating that feelings of isolation are considered a challenge. In addition, Nash (2005) found that feeling isolated was a common phenomenon in a distance learning context. Furthermore, Venter (2003) found that feelings of isolation, particularly from the teachers, led students to feel anxious. Feeling isolated experienced by distance learning student is seen as an indication of lack of support and services from the university (Galusha, 1997).

The majority of the students in this study were able to identify solutions for the challenges they faced. The findings indicate that the students had self-determination skills to overcome the problems. Some of the solutions to overcome the challenges articulated by the participants were in agreement with the suggestions made by Croft et al. (2010) in this respect; these include joining an online community. The analysis of the solutions the students suggested shows that motivation was a potential factor in stimulating other elements, such as doing more practice and looking for other learning sources. Previous studies, such as conducted by Wang, Peng, Huang, Hou, and Wang (2008) and Radovan (2011) found that motivation was associated with achievement. Thus, motivation deserved further investigations as it contributed to learning persistence (Galusha, 1997; Matsumoto & Obana, 2001).

The basic principle of the expectations articulated by the participants was an expectation to have better communication with the lecturer or online tutor. Expectation to receive feedback from the lecturer or online tutor was very important in the distance learning context as it is a means of communication between the students and lecturer (Hyland, 2001). However, providing feedback for a great number of students in a distance learning context is a time consuming process (Duffy & Kirkley, 2004).

CONCLUSION

Self-report embedded in the questionnaire aimed to identify the challenges the participants faced during the learning process as well as the way they overcame the problems. The following conclusions can be drawn from the current study. The participants were able to identify the problems they faced during the learning process and they were able to identify solutions to address the problems. The challenges and the solutions were categorized into academic, technical and personal issues. The most notable academic issues related to: understanding the grammar, poor vocabulary, and lack of feedback. Meanwhile, the leading technical issues were: the quality of course material and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) literacy. In addition, the main problems relating to personal issues were: limited time available to study and feelings of isolation.

The participants were able to identify solutions to the problems they faced. These included reading English texts, expanding their vocabulary by making lists of new words and learning grammar. The most common

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solutions offered regarding technical issues were making a contact with other people, finding other learning sources and access to the Internet. Emerging issues appeared during the analysis of the participants’ answers to the self-report. The participants suggested that they expected to have more direct interaction with the lecturer or online tutor. The empirical findings in this study have provided a more detailed understanding of the challenges faced by distance language learning students and the initiatives they took to cope with the challenges as well as their expectations for a better learning process. Finally, the analysis produced beneficial results as a consideration of some major points that can be used to provide better learning support.

Acknowledgement: I would like to express my very great appreciation to Dr Alison Hudson for her valuable and constructive suggestions for this article.

IJONTE’s Note: This article was presented at 1st International Congress on Distance Education and Educational Technology ICDET- 2015 21-23 May, 2015, Istanbul-Turkey and was selected for publication for Volume 6 Number 3 of IJONTE 2015 by IJONTE Scientific Committee.

BIODATA AND CONTACT ADDRESS OF AUTHOR

Rahmat BUDIMAN is a lecturer at Universitas Terbuka (the Indonesia Open University). His main responsibilities are designing and developing course materials and examination materials, providing academic counselling, designing, developing and conducting tutorials (face-to-face and online tutorials) and conducting research in the area of distance learning. In 2011 he was appointed to take a PhD programme at the University of Dundee, UK under the sponsorship of the World Bank. His research interest is distance education; distance language learning; and distance learning student support.

Rahmat BUDIMAN Jl. Cabe Raya Pondok Cabe Tangerang Selatan, 15418-Indonesia E.Mail: [email protected]

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ITOUYING: A SERIOUS GAME FOR LEARNING ORTHOGRAPHIC PROJECTION

Ming-Hung CHU Institute of Creative Industries design National Cheng Kung University TAIWAN(ROC)

Prof. Dr. Tay-Sheng JENG Department of Architecture National Cheng Kung University TAIWAN(ROC)

Prof. Dr. Chien-Hsu CHEN Department of Industrial Design National Cheng Kung University TAIWAN(ROC)

ABSTRACT

Today's student learning style is much different than before. Many researches have shown that games are a powerful tool in many educational domains, but there is no specific research discuss how to use games to strengthen orthographic projection learning. Therefore, the goal of this paper is to investigate what makes orthographic projection learning difficult in vocational education settings, and then design a game to combat these issue. The ITouYing game is composed of seven sub-units, including 1) Orthographic projection concept, 2) Orthographic projection knowledge quiz, 3) Plane type judge, 4) Stain in plane, 5) Proper view selection, 6) Three view match, and 7) Proper 3-D model selection. Results for ITouYing's effectiveness for learning were examined. They indicated that students like to use the ITouYing game, because it can enhance the student's natural' orthographic projection abilities and also is able to improve student visualization skills between 3-D model and multi-view.

Key Words: Vocational education, Orthographic projection, Serious game, Multi-view, 3-D model.

INTRODUCTION

Nowadays, most of students in industrial vocational senior high school are considered Digital Natives(Prensky, 2001), their learning style or learning culture is quite different from their parents and teachers, who are Digital Immigrants(Prensky, 2001). Orthographic projection is a core element of technical/engineering graphics, but there are no obvious techniques in learning orthographic projection in industrial vocational senior high school settings. Many previous studies have shown that serious game is a powerful and effective tool in many educational setting, but there is no specific research discuss how using serious game to strengthen orthographic projection learning. This research is to investigate what makes orthographic projection learning difficult in industrial vocational education settings, and then design a serious game, called ITouYing, to help student to master orthographic projection learning.

The systematic five-step ADDIE model(Gagne et al., 2005) is applied to design the ITouYing game. There are the steps of analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation (illustrated in Fig. 1), which provide a theoretical framework to discuss solid instructional design techniques for serious game design. In the first step, an engineering graphics learning status and user requirement survey is conducted to investigate the user requirements, needs, and the attitude towards adopting a serious game for learning orthographic projection. The survey results are helpful to the ITouYing game concept design. For step 2, there are nine units was developed in this serious game. After that, in the step 3 an ITouYing game concept usability survey was

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conducted. The survey results are used to modify, refine the ITouYing game, and enhance functionality and aesthetic level to meet the digital native students' learning preferences. Steps 4 and 5 content not cover in this paper.

Fig. 1: Systematic five-step ADDIE model

Learning Style Between Digital Native and Digital Immigrant The most of students in industrial vocational senior high school are Digital Natives (DN)(Prensky, 2001), and part of the games generation (Prensky, 2003), net generation (Tapscott, 1998), iGeneration(Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2009; Rosen, 2010). Most of them carry smart phones and use it to access internet. They finish many activities through smart phone, such as, chat with friends and classmates in Facebook, watch videos on YouTube, play games with friends, share photos with friends in Facebook, Google +, or Flickr, communicate with friends using instant messaging, and so on. The digital natives' learning style is quite different from their digital immigrant parents and teachers. There are ten main cognitive style changes in the Games Generation have observed by Prensky (2007), 1. Twitch speed vs. conventional speed 2. Parallel processing vs. linear processing 3. Graphics first vs. text first 4. Random access vs. step-by-step 5. Connected vs. standalone 6. Active vs. passive 7. Play vs. work 8. Payoff vs. patience 9. Fantasy vs. reality 10. Technology-as-friend vs. technology-as-foe. As the cognitive style changes in the digital native student, the education environment, the learning material deliver channel, and the teaching method and style should change to accommodate the digital native learning style and preferences.

Orthographic Projection Engineering graphics or Technical graphics is a fundamental and significant course in many engineering and design relative departments at industrial vocational senior high schools, such as mechanical engineering, mechanical drafting, architectural engineering, civil engineering, foundry engineering, Graphic Arts & Communication, refrigeration & air-conditioning, heavy machinery, Mold and Die Engineering, and so on.

Technical/Engineering Graphics is a universal language and a graphic communication skill using in engineering design, industrial design, interior design, medical equipment design, and patents(Bertoline 1995, Giesecke 1985; Wallach 1981; Lin 2004; Wu 2005). Engineers and designers use technical/engineering graphics to 149 Copyright © International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications / www.ijonte.org

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communicate their design ideas to each other and deliver their design to others. A manufacturing engineer according to the technical graphics makes the machine elements and the assembly engineer assembles them to make up a machine or device. It is critical for student to master technical/engineering graphics that benefit their relative course learning and ensure their in-job success in the future.

Orthographic projection is the core element in technical/engineering graphics. Other subjects are based on the orthographic projection, such as isometric view, multi views, Section view, Oblique drawing, Auxiliary views, Intersection & developments, Dimension & tolerance, Working drawing, Pipe drawing, etc. Therefore, if a student wants to master the technical/engineering graphics course, he/she must master orthographic projection.

Computer-Assisted Instruction in Engineering Graphics As the computer has become the assistive learning tool in the classroom and out of class, there are many researchers developing Computer-Assisted Instruction(CAI) systems for teaching descriptive geometry and engineering graphics. Sueoka et al.(2001) used VRML and JAVA3D to create instruction materials(illustrated in Fig. 2) for training student spatial skills. Their virtual interactive, dynamic 3-D computer-assisted instruction (CAI) platform enhances the freshman's visualization skills in descriptive geometry and graphic science education. Hsu (2006) also developed a computer-assisted instruction system(illustrated in Fig. 3) as supporting material for his course in “Engineering Graphics” at the Mechanical Department of the Northern Taiwan Institute of Science and Technology and Computer.

Fig. 2: CAI for understanding the process of orthogonal projection Fig. 3: Computer-assisted instruction forEngineering Graphics.

Rafi et al. (2006) designed an interactive engineering drawing trainer (EDwgT, illustrated in Fig. 4) to investigate the effectiveness of computer-mediated engineering drawing instruction for improving spatial visualization and mental rotation. Their research results indicated that factors such as spatial experience, gender, learning styles, appropriate utilization of instructional method for a particular group can maximize their training efficacy, and their EDwgT trainer system improved student spatial visualization. Cohen & Hegarty (2008) at the University of California, Santa Barbara, used interactive animation and virtual geometric solids(illustrated in Fig. 5) for spatial visualization training. Their research results point out spatial visualization skills can be improved through training and provide evidence for the usefulness of interactive computer visualizations in their training. Their participants were able to infer the shapes of untrained figures by noting similarities among the spatial features of criterion figures and remembering the shapes of their cross sections. Lin, (2004) also designed a descriptive geometry teaching CAI system to assist in teaching. His research indicated that the CAI system can improve student learning effectiveness.

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Fig. 4: Interactive engineering drawing trainer Fig. 5: Interactive animation and virtual (EDwgT) geometric solids

Serious Game for Learning Engineering Graphics Computer games form a part of children's culture (Fromme, 2003), and gaming is relative to their living and learning. According to Zyda (2005), a serious game is defined as ”a mental contest, played with a computer in accordance with specific rules, that uses entertainment to further government or corporate training, education, health, public policy, and strategic communication objectives”. Kinzie & Joseph's (2008) research show that children love to play games and are highly motivated to engage with them. There are many previous researches that show serious game is an effective and powerful educational tool(Michael & Chen, 2006; Kinzie & Joseph, 2008) in many education domains, such as military training(Lim, 2013; Yildirim, 2010), marketing(Devitt et al., 2014), management (Mayer 2006), health care(Ribaupierre et al., 2014; Lynch-Sauer et al., 2011), foreign language learning (Johnson, 2010; Ludwig, Fu, Bardovi-Harlig, & Stringer, 2009), computer programming (Xu, 2009), computer graphics(Mustaro et al., 2009), job-specific skills, politics(Dahya, 2009; Bogost, 2010), etc.

Crown (1999, 2001) had developed a number of web-based games using simple JavaScript code to teach visualization skills needed for a course in engineering graphics. His research findings show that the web-based games significantly reinforce course topics, and student learning outcomes and attitudes about the course improved. Fig. 6 is a screenshot of his game-like test.

Fig. 6: Screenshot of Crown's game-like test

Engineering/Orthographic Projection Learning Status and User Requirement Survey According to Maxl & Tarkus (2009), gathering user requirements from the target group is a crucial part in the game development process, this study conducts a user requirements survey for students in the department of mechanical engineering and mechanical drafting at the National Tainan Industrial Vocational Senior High School. Table 1 is the questionnaire about learning engineering/orthographic projection and user requirements.

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There were a total of 224 participants who finished the survey, 194(86.6%) participants are male students, and 30(13.4%) participants are female students. The detailed survey result are shown in Fig. 7. There are about 22% (6.3% strongly agree and 16.1% agree) of the participants who can master both the isometric view and multi views simultaneously, and about 23% (2.7% strongly disagree and 20.5% disagree) participants report they can't. The survey concludes that some student's knowledge and skill of engineering/orthographic projection is under developed. About 50% (24.1% strongly agree and 25.4% agree) participants report they prefer to using serious game for learning orthographic projection. There is high potential to design an innovative serious game for helping students to learn orthographic projection.

Table 1: Orthographic projection learning status and user requirement survey questionnaire Item Question Abbreviate 1 Learning orthographic projection is fun LOPHF 2 I have mastered the knowledge of orthographic projection MKOOP 3 Keep up with teacher’s progress KUWTP 4 Drawing multi-views on time DMOT 5 Need help for drawing multi views NHFDM 6 Missing lines in drawing multi views MLIDM 7 Drawing multi-views easier DMME 8 After I finish multi-views, I can't comprehend the real shape AFMBCCRS 9 More comprehend real shape by drawing isometric view MCRSBDIV 10 Drawing isometric view is easier DIVME 11 I have mastered multi-views and isometric view MMAIV 12 I have mastered multi-views but can't master isometric view MMBCMIV 13 I have mastered isometric view but can't master multi-views MIVBCMM 14 I often teach other student to draw multi-views and isometric view OTOSDMIW 15 I perceive accomplishment while finish learning multi-views and isometric view PAWFLMIV 16 I prefer serious game for learning orthographic projection PSGFLOP

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Designing the ITouYing Game for Learning Orthographic Projection Based on the literature review and the user requirement survey results, the author designed the ITouYing game for learning orthographic projection. There are nine subunits, including 1) Orthographic projection concept, 2) Orthographic projection knowledge quiz, 3) Plane type judge, 4) Stain in plane, 5) Frontal view selection, 6) Right side view selection, 7) Top view selection, 8) Three view match, and 9) Proper 3-D model selection.

Unit 1 is the orthographic projection concept learning game. It uses animation and video clips to introduce the basic concepts of orthographic projection. They cover the main six issues, including 1)Type of plane, 2)Type of projection, 3)Orthographic projection, 4)First angle projection, 5)Third angle projection and 6)Multi-views and isometric view. Fig. 8 illustrates the user interface in orthographic projection concept unit.

Fig. 8: User interface in orthographic projection concept

Unit 2 is the orthographic projection knowledge quiz game with time bonus. It is an in-game assessment unit to assess whether the student/user had mastered the basic orthographic projection knowledge. If the student/user correctly answers the question under the time limit, the student/user will gain additional time bonus points. The quiz game unit also provides a score leader board and speed leader board. This game function can motivate the student/user to keep their attention in a competitive learning environment. Fig. 9 illustrates the user interface in the orthographic projection knowledge quiz game.

Fig. 9: User interface in Orthographic projection knowledge quiz game

Unit 3 is plane type judge game, this sub-game given an isometric view that in each visible plane was marked a different symbol, player should press the correct button for each plane column in the answering area to answer. The user interface of plane type judge game is shown in Fig. 10. 153 Copyright © International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications / www.ijonte.org

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Unit 4 is Stain in Plane game, this sub-game gives an isometric view that in each visible plane is marked with a different color, player should stain the same color at each corresponding plane in the multi-views. The user interface of plane type judge game is shown in Fig. 11.

Fig. 10: User interface of plane type judge game

Fig. 11: User interface in stain in plane game

Units 5, 6, and 7, are proper view selection games, where the participant should select a correct view from the six candidate views according to the assigned projection direction about a given isometric view. This subunit game is to examine whether the participant has acquired the visualization skill from an isometric view (or 3D model) to transform into a multi view. The user interface of units 5, 6, and 7 are shown in Figs. 12, 13, and 14.

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Fig. 12: User interface of Unit 5 -- Front view selection game

Fig. 13: User interface of Unit 6 -- Top view selection game

Fig. 14: User interface of Unit 7 -- Right side view selection game

The unit 8 of ITouYing game is three view match game. This unit gives an isometric view and assigned the frontal projection direction, and the user must drag the correct view(front view, top view, right side view) according to the given information and drop it into the corresponding position. The user interface of three view match game is shown in Fig. 15.

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. Fig. 15: User interface of unit 8 -- three view match game

The last unit of the ITouYing game is proper 3-D model selection game. This subunit game provides multi- views, and the user should select a corresponding correct 3-D model (or isometric view) from the 3-D model inventory according to the given multi-views. The user interface for the proper 3-D model selection game is shown in Fig. 16.

Fig. 16: User interface of unit 8 -- three view match game

There are about two hundred 3-D models in the ITouYing game inventory. Table 2 lists a sample of the 3-D models in the game inventory. Each 3-D model in the model inventory will be randomly assigned to each unit for different difficulties of ITouYing according to the complexity in face number and face type combination.

Table 2: Sample of the 3-D models in the game inventory

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METHOD

Participant Demographic Information After the nine subunits of the ITouYing game concept had been designed, the ITouYing game concept survey is conducted. This survey collected participant data from three industrial vocational senior high schools in Tainan city. The participants are 7-9 grade students who major in mechanical engineering or mechanical drafting departments. Of the 161 total participants, 135(83.9%) participants were male students, and 26(16.1%) participants were female students. The participant detailed demographic information is listed in Table 3.

Table 3: Participant demographics of the ITouYing game concept survey

Questionnaire in ITouYing Game Concept Survey For the ITouYing game concept survey, there were 13 questionnaires used to investigate the usability and user interface of the ITouYing game concept. These included whether the ITouYing game motivated participants to learn orthographic projection, enhance learning effectiveness, promote visualization skill, ease of use, challenge to play, image beautiful, smoothly usage, fascinating play, creative design, reasonable rules, high achievements, great effort to master, glad to introduce to a friend. The questionnaires and it abbreviations are listed in Table 4.

Table 4: The ITouYing game concept close-end survey questionnaire and its abbreviations

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Data collection and Analysis In order to collect participant opinions and attitudes about the ITouYing game concept, the 5 point Likert scale is adopted in the close-end survey questionnaire. There are 4 open-end questions administrated to the participants to collect their opinion about the advantages and disadvantages of the ITouYing game concept, the most satisfied unit and the most helpful unit of the ITouYing game concept. After that, the close-end survey data is input to an Excel worksheet. The data is grouped into some categories according to the gender, department, school location, daily internet access time, daily gaming time. The t-test is used to check whether the gender, school location, department, daily internet access time, or daily gaming time are significant factors that influence their attitudes toward the ITouYing game.

FINDINGS

The ITouYing game concept survey result is listed in Table 5 and Figs. 17 and Fig. 18 show the agree vs. disagree in the ITouYing survey results. From the survey results, this study concludes that the ITouYing game can promote participant visualization skills between isometric view and multi views(agree 80.1%, strongly agree 36%, agree 44.1%). The ITouYing game can enhance participant learning effectiveness in learning orthographic projection(agree 76.4%, strongly agree 34.2%, agree 42.2%). The IToYing game is easy to use(agree 74.5%, strongly agree 28%, agree 46.61%). The rules of the ITouYing game are reasonable(agree 72.7%, strongly agree 33.5%, agree 39.1%).

Table 5: ITouYing game concept survey results

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Fig. 17: ITouYing game concept survey results

Fig. 18: The agree vs. disagree in the ITouYing survey

After data analysis, this study finds that there are significant gender differences in 7 items(illustrated in Table 6) among the ITouYing game concept survey. Female students perceive the ITouYing game can motivate them to learning orthographic projection, the ITouYing game enhance the learning effectiveness, the ITouYing game can promote the visualization skill between 3-D model(or isometric view) and multi-views, the ITouYing game is easy to use, the use of ITouYing is smooth, playing ITouYing game is fascinating, and the rules in ITouYing game are reasonable, as compared to male students. Moreover, this study finds that school location, department, daily internet access time, daily gaming time are not significant factors influencing participant attitudes toward the ITouYing game.

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Table 6: Significant gender differences in ITouYing game concept survey

The Most Satisfied Unit and the Most Helpful Unit According the open-end questionnaire data analysis, the most satisfied unit is unit 4, the participants perceive that stain in plane unit is most satisfied in learning orthographic projection. The second most satisfied unit is unit 9, where selection of proper 3D model(or isometric view) is tested according to the given multi-views. Furthermore, the participants perceive that the three view match unit(unit 8) is most helpful in learning orthographic projection and units 1 and 8 are helpful in learning orthographic projection.

Fig. 19: The most helpful unit and the most satisfied unit

CONCLUSION

From the ITouYing survey results, there are some advantages of the ITouYing Game, including: 1) ITouYing enhances student visualization skills between isometric view(or 3D model) and multi-views. 2) ITouYing improves effectiveness in learning orthographic projection. 3) ITouYing is easy to use. 4) The rules(game mechanic) of ITouYing are reasonable. 5) The design of ITouYing is creative. 6) Playing ITouYing is challenging. 7) ITouYing motivates students to learn orthographic projection. In contrast, there are some disadvantages of 160 Copyright © International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications / www.ijonte.org

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the ITouYing Game, including: 1) The images of ITouYing are less beautiful, it can't catch the students eye 2) Playing ITouYing is less fascinating, there is no story in it. 3) Playing ITouYing is not high achievement. 4) Playing ITouYing is not smooth. 5) Participants don’t strongly recommend ITouYing to their friends and classmates.

DISCUSSION AND SUGGESTION

Only 22% of the students master both the isometric view and multi views. This approach has highly potential to design an innovative serious game for learning orthographic projection. The Digital Native student had experienced many beautiful, fascinating, and charming video games previously. How to design an attractive serious game for educational purpose is a tough mission for a Digital Immigrant teacher. The serious game design team should recruit Digital Native members who have expertise in visual arts, visual communication, visual effects, and animation skill to meet the learning preferences of Digital Native students. The participants come from three industrial vocational high schools in Tainan city(Taiwan), so the findings and conclusion of this study may not be generalized to all industrial vocational high school in Taiwan.

BIODATA AND CONTACT ADDRESSES OF AUTHORS

Ming-Hung CHU is master student in the Institute of Creative Industries Design at National Cheng Kung University. His education background is in industrial education and mechanical engineering. He is an experienced teacher in industrial high school for 28 years. His expertise is in engineering graphics, computer aided 3-D design, now he design a serious game called ITouYing help students to master the orthographic projection learning.

Ming-Hung CHU 701, NO. 1, University road, Tainan city, TAIWAN (R.O.C.) E. Mail: [email protected]

Tay-sheng JENG He got his Ph.D. in Georgia Institute of Technology, USA. (1999). He is a Professor of the Department of Architecture at National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan, where he has joint appointment at the Institute of Creative Industries Design. His research interests include interaction design, smart space, and building information modeling. Currently, he is the chairman of the Department of Architecture at National Cheng Kung University.

Prof. Dr. Tay-sheng JENG 701, NO. 1, University road, Tainan city, TAIWAN (R. O. C.) URL: http://www.arch.ncku.edu.tw/en/node/147 E. Mail: [email protected]

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Chien-Hsu CHEN He got his Ph.D. at Department of Industrial Engineering of University of Texas at Arlington. He is a professor of the Department of Industrial Design at National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan since 1988, where he has joint appointment at the Institute of Creative Industries Design. His research interests include ergonomics, interaction design, augmented reality and usability design. During August 2010 to July 1013, he was the Chairman of the Department of Industrial Design at National Cheng Kung University.

Prof. Dr. Chien-Hsu CHEN 701, NO. 1, University road, Tainan city, TAIWAN (R. O. C.) URL: http://www.ide.ncku.edu.tw/en/faculty/chien-hsu-chen E. Mail: [email protected]

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INTERNATIONAL STUDENT SATISFACTION OF ANTALYA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Engin ÖZTÜRK Antalya International University TURKEY

Assoc. Prof. Dr. İbrahim Halil ÇANKAYA Uşak University TURKEY

ABSTRACT

Student satisfaction is crucial for educational institutes, especially universities. This study utilizes “Net Promoter Score”, which is a management tool that can be used to gauge the loyalty of a firm’s customer relationships. It serves as an alternative to traditional customer satisfaction research. Although criticized, it has been widely used mainly because of its simplicity and practicality. Another reason that leaded to this method is that it has been utilized in “Key influencers of international student satisfaction in Europe” reports prepared 3 times by StudyPortals since 2011 (www.studyportals.eu) which has more than 1200 participating universities in 40 countries in its Student Experience Exchange Platform (STeXX) project funded by the European Union in 2010‐2011, forming a basis of comparison for the outcomes of the research. This research aims to reveal the international student satisfaction of Antalya International University students.

Key Words: Student satisfaction, Mobility, Higher education, International education.

INTRODUCTION

Number of international students has been steadily increasing. During 2000‐12, the number of foreign tertiary students enrolled worldwide more than doubled, with an average annual growth rate of almost 7%. In OECD countries, the number of foreign students enrolled at the tertiary level mirrored the global trend (OECD, 2014). Academics usually perceive the marketing of higher education as a “necessary evil” that has relatively little to do with the ultimate goal of a university (Bush et al. 1998), while increasing number of students who are willing to pay for a better education abroad has been evolving higher education into a market where education itself has become services, lecturers and professors have taken the role of service providers, universities have taken the role of business organizations and the students have started to see themselves as customers or clients together with their conventional duties in some aspects. Therefore student satisfaction, which is defined as the favorability of a student’s subjective evaluation of the various outcomes and experiences associated with education (Oliver & DeSarbo, 1989), has become more important in order to attract new and more students from any country.

Universities in Turkey Including newly established 8 universities with the recent amendment at the beginning of April 2015, the number of universities has summed up to 189, 77 of them being foundation universities (YÖK, 2015). There are two types of universities in Turkey: government and foundation. As there are no private universities in Turkey, profit making cannot be a primary concern for any of them. Because the law forbids foundation universities to make profit and they must be supported by their foundations. However, as the number of foundation universities have increased beyond demand and tuition fees in government universities have been waived, majority of the foundation universities have difficulties in recruiting paid students. This could be seen in recruited number of students in 2014 too. While 97.5% of 390,631 seats in government universities had been filled in 2014, this ratio was only 77.4% for foundation universities (ÖSYM, 2014). Please note that majority of the empty seats consist of paid student quota, leaving foundation universities with drastically lower student

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incomes. As lost income needs to be compensated, recruiting paid international students is becoming more important for foundation universities.

International Students in Turkey Recruiting international students is not only important for foundation universities, but also government universities. Council of Higher Education, (YÖK) has an intention to increase the number of international students from to over 100,000 in a few years (YÖK, 2014). This figure stands at 38,590 for 2012 according to UNESCO data (UNESCO, 2014), bringing the inbound mobility rate to 0.89%. Comparing this figure to OECD average of 8.38%, England’s 17.14%, France’s 11.82% and USA’s 3.53%, the ratio of international students in Turkey is quite low and is likely to increase (OECD, 2014). This means there will be more international students in government universities too.

Decision to Study Abroad Deciding to go abroad for tertiary education is a difficult choice. It needs exploring options of countries and institutions too. This choice is time consuming to make, involves significant expenses and risk, and must consider a wide range of possibilities and alternatives (Kemp & Madden, 1998; Pimpa, 2005; Yang, 2007). Factors such as family, peers, global ranking of the institution are important in decision making (Marginson & van der Wende, 2007). Mazzarol and Soutar (2002) identified six factors influencing the selection of a host country: knowledge and awareness of the host country, personal recommendations, cost issues, environment, geographic proximity, and social links. Top 5 countries with most students in Turkey are Azerbaijan, Turmenistan, Iran, Germany and Greece (UNESCO, 2014). Considering the six factors above and Turkish minorities with Greek and German citizenship, it could be said that the current situation is in line with the findings of the mentioned study.

Measuring Student Satisfaction Satisfaction is frequently measured through either a single‐item aggregate or multi‐item attribute level (Szymanski & Henard, 2011). While aggregate approach assesses overall satisfaction, attribute approach assesses each attribute or dimension of the product or service. In case those two approaches are not highly correlated, using either one of the approaches may yield different overall satisfaction levels (Mittal et al., 1998). If an aggregate approach is used, despite the simplicity in answering and analysis, information generated would hardly be useful to find out their opinions about what attributes are important for them (Elliott & Shin, 2002). In this case, more information is necessary to find out the attributes considered important by the students, or in other words, what makes them satisfied or dissatisfied with their experiences in their universities.

Satisfaction vs. Loyalty Some scholars believe that satisfaction is the key to loyalty. The main idea is that; loyalty will be naturally intensified by an increase in satisfaction (Cronin & Taylor, 1992). In general, researchers have assumed a linear relationship between satisfaction and loyalty. For instance, Gustafsson et al. (2005), Lin & Wang (2006) assumed a positive linear relationship between satisfaction and loyalty. However, the linear relationship between them is contradicted by Oliver’s ‘satisfaction‐loyalty asymmetry’ (Oliver, 1999). According to him, satisfaction does not necessarily mean loyalty (Oliver, 1999). This has led some researchers to argue that there is a nonlinear relationship between satisfaction and loyalty (Agustin & Singh, 2005; Mittal, Ross, & Baldasare, 1998; Oliver, 1999). Jones & Sasser (1995) commented that merely satisfaction while still having freedom of choice is not enough for loyalty. Oliver (1999) pointed out that the relation between satisfaction and loyalty is asymmetric. Although loyal consumers are most typically satisfied, satisfaction does not universally translate into loyalty. Reichheld & Teal (1996) labelled this phenomenon the ‘satisfaction trap’. Therefore loyalty could be seen a better measure for satisfaction.

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METHODOLOGY

Universe The universe of the study consists of 393 international students currently studying at Antalya International University.

Data Collection Tool The study was conducted by finding out the Net Promoter Score of the university. "Net Promoter Score" was introduced by Reichheld (Reichheld, 2003). NPS measures the loyalty that exists between a provider and a consumer. The provider can be a company, employer or any other entity –for instance, a university‐ that is asking the questions on the NPS survey. The consumer is the customer, employee, student or respondent to an NPS survey.

NPS is based on a direct question: “How likely is it that you would recommend our company/ product/ service to a friend/ colleague/ relative?” The scoring for this answer is based on an 11 scale Likert scale, ranging from 0 to 10. Therefore this scale is an ordinal scale.

Promoters are those who respond with a score of 9 or 10 and are considered loyal enthusiasts. Detractors are those who respond with a score of 0 to 6 ‐ unhappy customers. Scores of 7 and 8 are passives, and they will only count towards the total number of respondents, but not directly affect the formula. NPS is calculated by the following formula: NPS= %Promoters‐%Detractors

The primary purpose of the NPS methodology is to evaluate loyalty, not to evaluate satisfaction. However as stated above, loyalty could be a better way to assess satisfaction, since one needs to partially risk his/her credibility in order to recommend.

Despite the lack of support in form of scientific studies, the net promoter score have gained popularity among business executives. The Net Promoter concept has attracted quite a lot of controversy from academic and market research circles. Some critiques to NPS are not providing proof of a causal connection between NPS and growth (Keiningham et al., 2007), not adding anything compared to other loyalty‐related questions (Hayes, 2008), and using a scale of low predictive validity (Schneider et al., 2007).

Despite all these shortcoming of the NPS, the proponents of the Net Promoter approach claim that the statistical analyses presented prove only that the "recommend" question is similar in predictive power to other metrics, but fail to address the practical benefits of the approach, which are at the heart of the argument Reichheld put forth. Proponents of the approach also counter that analyses based on third‐party data are inferior to analyses conducted by companies on their own customer sets, and that the practical benefits of the approach (short survey, simple concept to communicate) outweigh any statistical inferiority of the approach. However a survey using any other question can use the same approach.

Since only one value is not enough in finding out the reasons, a second question concludes the survey: “Why did you rate so?” The answers usually are revealing for most of the providers. This part of the survey is in phenomenological pattern. Since the survey includes both qualitative and quantitative parts, this study is considered in mixed method.

RESULTS

77 out of 393 international students have returned the NPS survey form. Some students preferred to comment on more than one item and all of those items were recorded. The average rating of the university was calculated as 6.62 (σ=2.32), and NPS was calculated as ‐17.1%. 21.1% of the students were promoters and 38.2% were detractors.

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According to the returned results, 30.8% of the total comments were about academics, while 29.9% was about university services, 21.4% was about city and culture, and 12.0% was about social life. Rest of the comments was about cost, surroundings, and personal and professional development.

While 78.0% of the comments about academics were positive, 22.0% stood to be negative. City and culture received no negative comment, making 100% positive. While only a mere 8.6% of the comments about university services were positive, 91.4% of them were negative. Interestingly, social life drew no positive comments just to make 100% negative. While 48.7% of all of the comments were positive, 51.3% were negative.

49.1% of the positive comments were about academics and 43.9% were about city and culture. On the other hand, a vast 53.3% of the negative comments were about university services.

Most satisfied students are Europeans with 42.9% promoter rate and South East Asians, where 31.5% are promoters, and least satisfied are Africans (4.8% promoters). Detractor rate was lowest for Central Asians with 25.0% and South East Asians with 26.3%. Middle Eastern students were the biggest detractors with 62.5%.

Benchmarking With STeXX Following table shows comparison of the overall ratings of EU and Turkish university with Antalya International University’s ratings.

Table 1: Overall Ratings Of EU And Turkish Universities And AIU 2011 EU 2011 Turkey 2013 EU 2013 2014 EU 2014 Turkey AIU Turkey Overall 8.8 8.2 8.8 8.7 6.6 NPS Score +72 +50 +56 +39 +60 +56 ‐17

Following table shows overall comments of the students about the universities they study in EU and Antalya International University’s international students about their own university.

Table 2: Overall Comments Of The International Students In EU Universities And AIU 2011 EU 2013 EU 2014 EU AIU Academics 21% 22% 25% 31% Personal and Professional Development 29% 10% 8% 1% City and Culture 27% 25% 25% 21 University Services and Facilities 4% 14% 11% 30%

Following table shows positive comments of the students about the universities they study in EU and Antalya International University’s international students about their own university.

Table 3: Positive Comments Of The International Students In EU Universities And AIU 2011 EU 2013 EU 2014 EU AIU Academics N/A 21% 25% 49% Personal and Professional Development N/A 11% 8% 2% City and Culture N/A 25% 27% 44% University Services and Facilities N/A 11% 10% 5%

Positive comments about academics included background of academic staff and education level at the university. Majority of the positive comments on city and culture was concentrated on international atmosphere of the university and the city, and pleasant weather of Antalya. A few comments were made on the architecture of the university.

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A South East Asian student who has rated as 10 has stated his/her opinions as “…What I like most studying here is my professor who will push you to your potential who will always believe you that you can do it.”

An African student who has rated as 9 has shared his/her opinions as “This university is fully interested in their students and specially in the quality of education, trying to give their students the best of all. Moreover, the university respects the different cultures living into its campus and developing many activities to share that with other ones. I feel so happy and excited studying in this university due to having people of different countries. People with we can share culture, customs, moments, dreams, experiences, etc; it also people who was different perspective about seeing the world.”

A Central Asian student who has rated the university as 8 has shared his/her opinions as “Teachers are perfect. The location of the university is a little far away from the city center. Otherwise I would give 10/10.”

A European student who has rated as 8 has stated his/her opinions as “I love my professors and the way they deal with me in terms of schooling advice and academic help. The reason why it’s 8 is because sometimes there are delays in the student registry office that in turn delay certain things in our schooling life here.”

A South East Asian student who has rated as 7 has stated his/her opinion as “It is very challenging to study in this university because of its high expectations and the quality of the professors, setting a new benchmark for formal university education. I have rated 7 because when settling down the student affairs and the foreign student office would be of little help.”

Following table shows positive comments of the students about the universities they study in EU and Antalya International University’s international students about their own university.

Table 4: Negative Comments Of The International Students In EU Universities And AIU 2011 EU 2013 EU 2014 EU AIU Academics N/A 24% 35% 13% City and Culture N/A 15% 12% 0% University Services and Facilities N/A 29% 21% 53% Cost N/A 16% 13% 7% Social Life N/A N/A N/A 23%

An African student who has rated as 7 has stated his/her opinions as “… and I’m struggling with fake promises!” A South East Asian student who has rated as 6 has stated his/her opinions as “I have rated so because I would be happy if some more friends come to join us in our university. Because we are so few.”

A Central Asian student who has rated as 5 has stated his/her opinions as “Because university does not have experienced professors they come to experience here (smiley). One more thing is that I don’t want them to face disappointment. University does not look like university, I mean shapely it has only 3 buildings. It takes many years to feel the atmosphere of university.”

A Middle Eastern student who has rates as 4 has stated his/her opinions as “Because I didn’t meet the exact experience I wished for. Maybe might meet in the future but for not it is quite less. The dormitories are far from the campus and the city. And we don’t have enough activities neither.”

A European student who has rated as 3 has stated his/her opinions as “I have to be responsible for my friends’ future… Very tough. Busy as hell. Dozen of exams per semester. Many foreign faces but not related at all. Professors who seem responsible but make students feel confused about later career.”

Another African student who has rated as 1 has stated his/her opinions as “I have rated so because this university cannot be considered as a university. We still feel like we are in a high school.”

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Another Middle Eastern student who has rated as 0 has stated his/her opinions as “There are regulations and surveillance everywhere.”

Calculated NPS scores differ from region to region. While students from some regions show higher satisfaction, students from other regions tend to be more dissatisfied. European and South East Asian students have higher NPS scores with respect to their African and Middle Eastern friends. Although there are students from Americas, only one student has returned the survey, therefore NPS for Americas has not been calculated. Following table shows the NPS scores with respect to geographical origins of the students.

Table 5: NPS Score With Respect To Geographical Origins Of The Students. Region NPS Europe +28.6 South East Asia +5.3 Central Asia ‐5.0 University Average ‐17.1 Middle East ‐50.0 Africa ‐52.4

CONCLUSIONS

Both NPS score and the average rating of Antalya International University have been found to be dramatically low with respect to European universities. Being a new university, there are many drawbacks that Antalya International University faces, some of which are lack of facilities and lack of students. Both of these problems are time related problems that the university administration has little to do with. It could be predicted that the facilities and number of students would gradually increase within a few years, carrying the NPS score to positive values.

The location of the university is criticized by some students. However geographical layout of Antalya limits having such a vast plot close to city.

Positive comments on academics are considerably higher than European universities. This is very important because academic satisfaction is the biggest key to success for a new university. Moreover, since the university succeeded to attract students from 81 countries in 3 years, reaching Turkey’s highest international student ratio even in its first year, international atmosphere of the university is greatly appreciated by the students. European students are more satisfied with respect to their friends. This could be because of cultural similarity, as well as geographical proximity. African and Central Asian students’ dissatisfaction appears to be related with social life and facilities.

According to the outcomes of this research, the university administration should take action in educating administrative staff, keep promises given to attract students, provide social livelihood and activities to the students, and decrease food cost in order to increase satisfaction, while maintaining internationality of the university and academic staff quality.

IJONTE’s Note: This article was presented at 6th International Conference on New Trends in Education ‐ ICONTE, 24‐26 April, 2015, Antalya‐Turkey and was selected for publication for Volume 6 Number 3 of IJONTE 2015 by IJONTE Scientific Committee.

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BIODATA AND CONTACT ADDRESSES OF AUTHORS

Engin ÖZTÜRK is an education counselor and curriculum developer at Continuing Education Center of Antalya International University.

He is an experienced educator, a marketing expert, and a leader. He has a widespread work and education background from engineering to economics, and journalism to industrial production. He has taught 11 different subjects in 9 years in Thailand before recruiting international and local students for his current university by visiting more than 14 countries and 40 cities as a motivational speaker. He thinks intercultural understanding is the key to the global peace, sustainable development and business growth. He shows great interest in international education marketing.

Engin ÖZTÜRK AIU Downtown Campus, Markantalya AVM Kat:7 Muratpaşa/ANTALYA‐ TURKEY E. Mail: [email protected]

İbrahim Halil ÇANKAYA is an associate professor at Uşak University. He has previously worked as a sociology teacher at government schools before his positions at Dicle and Mevlana Universities.

His main research interest areas are organizational sociology, organizational psychology, and organizational behavior as well as education administration.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. İbrahim Halil ÇANKAYA Uşak University TURKEY E. Mail: [email protected]

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Cronin, J. I., Taylor, S. A. (1992). Measuring Service Quality: A reexamination and extension, Journal of Marketing, 56 (7), 55‐68. http://dokuman.osym.gov.tr/pdfdokuman/2014/OSYS/yerlestirme/2014‐ÖSYS‐TABLO4‐ EnKucukEnBuyukPuanlar23072014.pdf Retrieved March 5, 2015.

Elliott, K. M., Shin, D. (2002). Student Satisfaction: An alternative approach to assessing this important concept. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 24(2), 211‐219. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_Promoter Retrieved February 19, 2015.

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https://faaliyet.yok.gov.tr/KATALOG/raporlar/tumUnversitelereAitIletisimBilgileri.zul?raporTipi=xls Retrieved February 17, 2015.

Gustafsson, A., Johnson, M.D., & Roos, I. (2005). The effects of customer satisfaction, relationship commitment dimensions, and triggers on customer retention. Journal of Marketing, 69(4), 210–218.

Hayes (2008). The True Test of Loyalty. Quality Progress, 20–26.

Jones, T. O., Sasser, W. E. (1995). Why satisfied customers defect. Harvard Business Review, 73(6), 88–99.

Kane, D., Williams, J., Cappuccini‐Ansfield, G. (2008). Student Satisfaction Surveys: The Value in Taking an Historical Perspective, Quality in Higher Education, 14 (2), 135‐155.

Keiningham, T. L., Cooil , B., Andreassen, T. W., & Aksoy, L. (2007). A Longitudinal Examination of Net Promoter and Firm Revenue Growth. Journal of Marketing, 71 (3), 39–51.

Kemp, S. J., Madden, G. G., & Simpson, M. .J. (1998). Emerging Australian education markets: A discrete choice model of Taiwanese and Indonesian student intended study destination. Education Economics, 6(2), 159‐169.

Lin, H.‐H., Wang, Y.‐S. (2006). An examination of the determinants of customer loyalty in mobile commerce contexts. Information & Management, 43(3), 271–282.

Marginson, S., Wende, M. (2007). To rank or to be ranked: The impact of global rankings in higher education. Journal of Studies in International Education, 11(3/4), 306–329.

Mazzarol, T., & Soutar, G. N. (2002). Push‐pull factors influencing international student destination choice. International Journal of Educational Management, 16(2), 82–90.

Mittal, V., Riss, J. R., W. T., & Baldasare, P. M. (1998). The asymmetric impact of negative and positive attribute‐ level performance on overall satisfaction and repurchase intentions. Journal of Marketing, 1, 33–47.

OECD (2012). Education at a Glance 2012. OECD Indicators: OECD Publishing.

OECD (2013). Education at a Glance 2013. OECD Indicators: OECD Publishing.

OECD (2014). Education at a Glance 2014. OECD Indicators: OECD Publishing.

Oliver, R. L. (1999). Whence consumer loyalty. Journal of Marketing, 63 , 33–44.

Pimpa, N. (2005). Marketing Australian University to Thai Students. Journal of Studies in International Education, 9 (2), 137‐46.

Reichheld, F. F., Teal, T. (1996). The loyalty effect. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

Reichheld, F. F. (2003). The one number you need to grow. Harvard Business Review, 81 (12), 46‐54.

Schneider, D., Berent, M., Thomas, R., & Krosnick, J., (2007). Measuring Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty: Improving the 'Net‐Promoter' Score; Annual Conference of the World Association for Public Opinion Research (WAPOR); Berlin (Germany)

Szymanski, D. M., Henard, D. H. (2001) Customer satisfaction: a meta‐analysis of the empirical evidence, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 29(1), 16–35.

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Yang, M. (2007). What attracts mainland Chinese students to Australian higher education? Studies in Learning, Evaluation, Innovation and Development, 4(2), 1–12. http://www.yok.gov.tr/documents/10279/2922270/yuksekogretimde+kalite_30.6.14_son.pdf/2d6a6896‐3ae9‐ 4890‐8eec‐e15d1759e2e9?version=1.0 Retrieved February 25, 2015 http://www.yok.gov.tr/documents/10279/30217/turk_yuksekogretiminde_gelismeler.pdf/ab0b683e‐0a96‐ 4248‐8587‐ca2d49877f48?version=1.0 Retrieved February 23, 2015 http://www.yok.gov.tr/documents/10279/2922270/B%C3%BCy%C3%BCme+Kalite+Uluslararas%C4%B1la%C5% 9Fma+cetinsaya‐19x27‐12,5forma.pdf/e5681887‐1560‐4fc3‐9bab‐0402e7f3ec2b Retrieved February 9, 2015 https://yolharitasi.yok.gov.tr/docs/YuksekogretiminUluslararasilasmasi.pdf Retrieved February 18, 2015 http://www.uis.unesco.org/EDUCATION/Pages/international‐student‐flow‐viz.aspx Retrieved March 1, 2015

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A CLASSIFICATION OF STUDENT SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES IN OPEN AND DISTANCE LEARNING

Instr. Ela AKGÜN ÖZBEK Anadolu University Eskişehir- TURKEY

ABSTRACT

The rapid growth of world population has increased the demand for education and face to face education has become insufficient to supply this demand. As a response to this, open and distance learning has become one of the fundamental approaches to obviate this paucity. Specifically, the online practices of open and distance learning that are facilitated by Internet technologies have become frequently applied practices instead of being an alternative to face to face education. Because it is a type of learning that learners experience relatively distant from each other and the instructor, open and distance learning is a process of learning that necessitates learners to employ various competencies and skills. In the present study, a review of literature is made and 58 skills and competencies are identified. These are later classified as metacognitive, cognitive, technological and affective competencies and skills. It is believed that such a classification may provide guidance in making informed decisions in the design of the learning processes, the determination of readiness of learners, and in the identification and modification of the content of orientation activities that are prepared to make students develop these skills in open and learning. It is also believed that such a classification can be used to survey student readiness for open and distance learning, and identify the domains that need to be supported most.

Key Words: Open and distance learning, learner competencies, learner skills, classification.

INTRODUCTION

ODL is a learning process that requires learners to employ various skills and competencies because ODL is a type of learning in which learners and teachers are separated from each other both spatially and in terms of time depending on the type of distance learning program. There is a plethora of skills and competencies required of learners that are mentioned in distance education literature. In the present study, the learner competencies and skills from literature are identified and classified as metacognitive, cognitive, technological and affective competencies and skills. It is believed that such a classification may provide guidance in making informed decisions in the design of the learning processes, the determination of readiness of learners, and in the identification and modification of the content of orientation activities that are prepared to make students develop these skills in ODL.

METHODOLOGY

This study is a qualitative content analysis. Content analysis is defined as “any technique for making inferences by objectively and systematically identifying specified characteristics of messages.” (Holsti, 1969: 14). After the analysis of the literature, the skills and competencies that are identified.

In order to identify student skills and competencies in ODL, research was conducted in Anadolu University Library database and Google scholar. For the analysis, only materials that specifically deal with student skills and competencies are chosen. The web pages of universities that list skills and competencies that are required 174 Copyright © International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications / www.ijonte.org

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are omitted from the analysis. As a result of the election of materials, 20 articles and books are chosen for the analysis.

After the selection of the materials, the student skills and competencies in ODL are identified and listed. 58 skills and competencies were identified. After the listing of the skills and competencies, they are categorized as metacognitive, cognitive, technological and affective skills and competencies based on the function of the skill and the domain that they refer to.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

In this section the categories that emerge as a result of the analysis of literature are explained, the relevance of the skills and competencies that are identified in the analysis of the related literature are discussed and their value in ODL are explained.

Metacognitive Skills and Competencies The most widely used definition of metacognition is perhaps thinking about thinking. Çubukçu (2008) who analyzed the literature on metacognition reported that there are several different definitions of metacognition. While Flavell (1976) defines metacognition as “one’s knowledge concerning one’s own cognitive processes and products or anything related to them”, Baird (1990) defines it as “the knowledge, awareness and control of one’s own learning” (As cited in Çubukçu, 2008: 83). Likewise, Malamed (n.d) maintains that metacognition is a regulatory system that helps individuals to understand and control their cognitive performances; and believes that learners recognize how they learn, define their learning needs, choose and apply the appropriate strategies to meet their learning needs which in the end helps them to take the responsibility of their own learning. Depending on this assumption, researchers identified the processes involved in the metacognitive activities. Proust (2010) argues that metacognition involves all the processes that learners go through while thinking about and monitoring one’s own thinking and all the information obtained in this process. According to White and Frederiksen (2005), metacognitive skills involve planning, monitoring, arranging and reflection. While Winnie and Hadvin (1998) argue that metacognitive processes involve defining the task and objectives, planning, application and adaptation; Pintrich (2000) purports that getting an idea about the requirements of the task, monitoring the processes, choosing and applying the cognitive strategies that are necessitated by the task and reflecting on the effectiveness of the adopted strategies define metacognitive strategies (As cited in Çubukçu, 2008: 83).

Many researchers argued that it is quite difficult to distinguish metacognitive skills from cognitive skills. Nevertheless, Ku and Ho (2010) contend that whether an activity is a metacognitive or cognitive can be identified by the analysis of the objective of the activity and explicate that metacognitive activities incorporate planning and organization in order to complete a task successfully. In this study, metacognitive strategies will be considered as the skills related to planning, monitoring, organizing and reflection.

As a result of the content analysis, 19 metacognitive skills and competencies are identified. These skills and competencies are given in Table 1..

Table 1: Metacognitive Skills and Competencies SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES Sources To have self-discipline Dulaney-Gilbert, 2001; Cowley et al., 2002; Palloff & Pratt, 2003; Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2004; Poper, 2007; Borges, 2008 Having effective time-management Dulaney-Gilbert, 2001; Cowley et al., 2002; Palloff & Pratt, 2003; Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2004; Vonderwell & Savery, 2004; Poper, 2007; ; Borges, 2008; Morrison, 2012; Bork & Rucks-Ahidiana, 2013 Having the responsibility to contact with Cowey et al., 2002; Palloff & Pratt, 2003 the instructor and other staff in case of a

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problem Being an independent learner Cowley et al., 2002; Palloff & Pratt, 2003; Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2004; Wang, 2007 Having a realistic perception of academic Palloff & Pratt (2003); Craig et al. (2008); Cowley et al. (2002); skills Taking the responsibility of one’s own Dulaney-Gilbert, 2001; Cowley et al., 2002; Palloff & Pratt, learning 2003; Garrison, Cleveland-Innes & Fung, 2004; Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2004; Vonderwell & Savery, 2004; Borges, 2008; Craig et al., 2008; Stapa, 2009; Bork & Rucks-Ahidiana, 2013 Self-direction Cowley et al., 2002; Palloff & Pratt, 2003; Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2004; Vonderwell & Savery, 2004; Borges, 2008; Craig et al., 2008; Bork & Rucks-Ahidiana, 2013 Being able to make decisions alone Palloff & Pratt (2003); Cowley et al. (2002); Being able to determine learning needs Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2004; Craig et al., 2008; Nita & Roxanne, 2009; Stapa, 2009 Being able to determine learning Dulaney-Gilbert, 2001; Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2004; objectives Vonderwell & Savery, 2004; Borges, 2008; Craig et al., 2008; Stapa, 2009 Being able to create a learning plan and Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2004; Vonderwell & Savery, 2004; apply it Borges, 2008; Craig et al., 2008 Being able to evaluate learning and the Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2004; Vonderwell & Savery, 2004; learning process, and to make reflections Wang 2007; Borges, 2008; Craig et al. 2008 Having an idea about one’s learning styles Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2004 Determining preferences for learning Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2004 Having self-confidence Dulaney-Gilbert, 2001; Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2004 Being able to perceive problems and Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2004; Dulaney-Gilbert 2001; Borges mistakes as opportunities for learning 2008; Being able to identify sources for learning Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2004; Vonderwell & Savery, 2004; Craig et al., 2008 Being able to identify and determine Vonderwell & Savery, 2004 learning strategies Being open to new experiences Dulaney-Gilbert, 2001

In ODL, which provides an opportunity for a more flexible learning experience, learners usually face learning activities and processes that are fairly different from face to face education. As a result of this, that learners develop their metacognitive skills has a significant contribution to learner success. The primary reason for this is that learners need to manage their own learning plans and they also need to monitor their own progress. As a result of this, that learners have self-discipline appears to be a significant skill (Dulaney-Gilbert, 2001; Cowley et al., 2002; Palloff & Pratt, 2003; Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2004; Poper, 2007; Borges, 2008). Particularly in distance learning models that are based on self-study with little chances for interaction, learners need to develop their self-discipline skills without the presence of teacher guidance. To do this, learners need to be independent learners (Cowley et al., 2002; Palloff & Pratt, 2003; Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2004; Wang, 2007). To be able to cope with problems, to make decisions on one’s own when needed are significant characteristics. As such, open and distance learners need to be able to make their own decisions (Cowley et al., 2002; Palloff & Pratt, 2003) and should take the responsibility of their own learning (Dulaney-Gilbert, 2001; Cowley et al., 2002; Palloff & Pratt, 2003; Garrison, Cleveland-Innes & Fung, 2004; Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2004; Vonderwell & Savery, 2004; Borges, 2008; Craig et al., 2008; Stapa, 2009; Bork & Rucks-Ahidiana, 2013).

Learners need to develop several skills and competencies to be able to take the responsibility of their own learning. One of the most important of these skills is self-direction (Cowley et al., 2002; Palloff & Pratt, 2003; Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2004; Vonderwell & Savery, 2004; Borges, 2008; Craig et al., 2008; Bork & Rucks- Ahidiana, 2013). Self-direction skills incorporate many subskills. The first one of them is to be able to make effective time-management (Dulaney-Gilbert, 2001; Cowley et al., 2002; Palloff & Pratt, 2003; Guglielmino &

International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications July 2015 Volume: 6 Issue: 3 Article: 17 ISSN 1309-6249

Guglielmino, 2004; Vonderwell & Savery, 2004; Poper, 2007; ; Borges, 2008; Morrison, 2012; Bork & Rucks- Ahidiana, 2013). In a flexible learning model where learners learn at their own pace, time management is a very significant skill to avoid procrastination and to meet up to the requirements of the program. Learners who cannot use their time effectively can easily be distracted and have problems before assessment and evaluation processes. Therefore, to be successful, open and distance learners need to prepare a study plan, revise and apply it.

Planning, here, appears to be one of the most significant metacognitive skills in ODL. Learners need to plan their learning processes carefully. In order make an effective plan, learners need to identify their learning needs above all (Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2004; Craig et al., 2008; Nita & Roxanne, 2009; Stapa, 2009). After the identification of learning needs, learners need to identify their learning objectives (Dulaney-Gilbert, 2001; Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2004; Vonderwell & Savery, 2004; Borges, 2008; Craig et al., 2008; Stapa, 2009). As with any other learning experience, identification of objectives ensures that learners have a clear goal and the learning process becomes meaningful with a clear purpose.

Following the identification of learning objectives, learners need to prepare a learning plan (Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2004; Vonderwell & Savery, 2004; Borges, 2008; Craig et al., 2008). The planning stage is exceptionally important in ODL, especially in distance learning models where there is self-study, little teacher presence and little interactivity in the learning communities. It can be helpful to identify the learning styles and learning preferences for an effective planning (Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2004). Learners can benefit from sources for learning more effectively when they are aware of how they learn. For instance, visual learners who learn by seeing may not find listening activities productive. Likewise, kinaesthetic learners may not benefit from learning activities based solely on reading materials and activities. Thus, that learners have an idea about their learning styles and how they learn may help them have a more permanent learning. Obviously, learners need to have a realistic perception of their academic skills (Cowley et al., 2002; Palloff & Pratt, 2003; Craig et al., 2008).

Having identified their learning styles, learners should be able to identify the appropriate learning strategies (Vonderwell & Savery, 2004). Learning strategies are the cognitive strategies that learners use during the learning process. These strategies should be identified prior to the cognitive stage and they should also be monitored and appropriated during the learning activities. Learners should also be flexible enough to adopt new strategies when one strategy does not work.

In addition to learning strategies, learners should identify their learning resources (Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2004; Vonderwell & Savery, 2004; Craig et al., 2008). These resources are not limited to the books and online sources that are going to be used during the lessons. In addition to the resources that are provided by the course-providers, learners should be able to access available library resources, learner communities, online resources and academic support services. Furthermore, feedback from peers and the instructor should also be considered as sources for learning. Learners who are aware of learning resources can use these sources more effectively during the learning process and they may feel less anxious.

Another metacognitive skill that open and distance learners need to have is reflection skills. Learners should be able to evaluate and reflect on their learning and learning processes (Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2004; Vonderwell & Savery, 2004; Wang 2007; Borges, 2008; Craig et al. 2008). By nature, reflection is a process where learners cogitate their experiences in learning. In this process, distance learners like face to face learners need to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of their learning strategies and they should be able to decide on new strategies when needed. Determining whether learning really happened or not is again the responsibility of the learner. Learners can use self-reflection lists, progress sheets, learning portfolios and learning journals.

Besides these, open and distance learners should also have some personal characteristics which can also be categorised as metacognitive. These are being self-confident (Dulaney-Gilbert, 2001; Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2004); being able to perceive problems and mistakes as opportunities for learning (Dulaney-

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Gilbert, 2001; Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2004; Borges, 2008); having the responsibility to contact with the instructor and other staff in case of a problem (Cowey et al., 2002; Palloff & Pratt, 2003) and being open to new experiences (Dulaney-Gilbert, 2001). Specifically, being able to deal with problems in case of uncertainty in flexible learning environments may help learners to have a more effective learning experience.

As can be inferred from above, metacognitive skills and competencies are not about the learning activities but skills and competencies that help learners to become autonomous learners. Being able to analyze one’s own competencies; planning, monitoring and reflecting on the learning processes can be identified as the main categories of the metacognitive skills. Learner autonomy is a requirement of distance learning and autonomy “a process not a product” (Thanasoulas, 2000). Learners may not be able to develop these skills themselves, and they may need guidance in developing these skills. Therefore, while designing an online course or a program, course-developers should also consider how they can guide learners in developing these skills and competencies.

Cognitive Skills and Competencies In essence, cognitive skills are the practical application of the metacognitive skills. Trautwein (2009:2) identifies cognitive skills as the skills like content knowledge, reading and mathematics skills, computer literacy and professional information that are acquired in structured or unstructured learning environments. Michelon (2006) considers cognitive skills and competencies as brain functions and identifies the skills related to brain functions such as perception, attention, memory, motor, language, visual and spatial processing and executive functions as cognitive abilities and purports that each function involve particular skills. Taking information in, keeping it in the memory and using information (Ku & Ho, 2010) are named as the main components of cognitive skills.

As a result of the content analysis, 19 cognitive skills and competencies are identified. These skills and competencies are given in Table 3.

Table 2: Cognitive Skills And Competencies of Open and Distance Learners SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES Sources Being able to follow the syllabus Cowley et al., 2002; Morrison, 2012 Being able to follow the study plan that is Craig et al., 2008 prepared Studying regularly Craig et al., 2008 Following the assignments Dulaney-Gilbert, 2001; Cowley et al., 2002; Palloff & Pratt, 2003 Submitting the assignments on time Dulaney-Gilbert, 2001; Palloff & Pratt, 2003; Craig et al., 2008 Completing the assignment oneself and Craig et al., 2008 avoiding plagiarism Being able to express thoughts, feelings, Dulaney-Gilbert, 2001; Palloff & Pratt, 2003; Guglielmino & comments and questions in written form Guglielmino, 2004; Borges, 2008; Craig et al., 2008; Poe & Stassen, n.d. Being able to understand what you read Dulaney-Gilbert, 2001; Palloff & Pratt, 2003; Garrison, Cleveland-Innes & Fung, 2004; Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2004; Borges, 2008; Poe & Stassen, n.d. Being able to do research Dulaney-Gilbert, 2001; Palloff & Pratt, 2003; Borges, 2008; Craig et al., 2008 Being able to analyze what you read Palloff & Pratt, 2003; Garrison, Cleveland-Innes & Fung, 2004; Borges, 2008 Being able to apply what you learn, and Dulaney-Gilbert, 2001; Garrison, Cleveland-Innes & Fung, learn by doing 2004; Piskurich, 2004; Poper, 2007; Borges, 2008 Being able to find and access sources Piskurich, 2004; Borges 2008 Being able to work colloboratively with Borges, 2008 peers

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Being able to ask questions when there is Cowley et al. 2002; Borges, 2008; Craig et al., 2008; need for help Morrison, 2012; Bork & Rucks-Ahidiana, 2013; Poe & Stassen, n.d.; Checking the course website, materials and Borges, 2008; Morrison, 2012 discussions regularly Participating in discussions in the lesson; Garrison, Cleveland-Innes & Fung, 2004; Poper, 2007; Borges, sharing ideas with peers and the instructor 2008; Nita & Roxanne, 2009 Being able to use learning strategies Poper, 2007 appropriate for the content / course Being able to give feedback to oneself and Borges, 2008 the peers

Being able to follow the syllabus (Cowley et al., 2002; Morrison, 2012), being able to follow the study plan that is prepared, studying regularly (Craig et al., 2008) and checking the course website, materials and discussions regularly (Borges, 2008; Morrison, 2012) seem to be the essential skills that open and distance learners need to develop. Considering the increasingly online nature of ODL, learners should follow the announcements made by the course instructors and technical staff so that they are prepared for the upcoming events and meet the deadlines. Developing these skills can prevent learners from getting lost in the learning process and meet the demands of the program. Otherwise, it is highly possible that the learners will procrastinate, cram before the exams or simply drop out the course. Following the assignments (Dulaney-Gilbert, 2001; Cowley et al., 2002; Palloff & Pratt, 2003), submitting the assignments on time (Dulaney-Gilbert, 2001; Palloff & Pratt, 2003; Craig et al., 2008) can also be considered as key to success and a reflection of how learners apply their metacognitive decisions into practice.

The skills and competencies related to learning the content follow the above mentioned skills and competencies. Being able to use learning strategies appropriate for the content or the course (Poper, 2007) can be given as the first of these. As each subject matter has a different nature, each may require the learners to adopt a different strategy appropriate for the subject matter they are dealing with. Learners should be able to identify the strategies and use them when necessary.

With the increasing number of sources that are available on the net, the abundance of information can also frustrate the learners. Therefore, the learners should also have necessary research skills (Dulaney-Gilbert, 2001; Palloff & Pratt, 2003; Borges, 2008; Craig et al., 2008). Being able to find and access sources (Piskurich, 2004; Borges 2008), as a result, seems to be one of the most important cognitive skills that open and distance learners should develop. However, locating the sources is not sufficient. As most open and distance learners are fairly separated from other learners and /or the instructor, being able to understand what they read (Dulaney-Gilbert, 2001; Palloff & Pratt, 2003; Garrison, Cleveland-Innes & Fung, 2004; Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2004; Borges, 2008; Poe & Stassen, n.d.) especially when there is lack of immediate help from the peers and the instructor is essential. Thus, learners should develop reading skills in ODL, considering the fact that most content is still presented in narrative fashion. Multiple ways of presentation like visuals, audio and video require the similar skills.

Having understood the material, the learners are expected to be able to analyze what they read (Palloff & Pratt, 2003; Garrison, Cleveland-Innes & Fung, 2004; Borges, 2008) to move beyond the passive reception of information. Analysis, which requires the learner to divide the topic into smaller pieces and find out the relationships between them, and add meaning to this new form of information is an essential skill that learners need to apply what they have learned into new situations (Dulaney-Gilbert, 2001; Garrison, Cleveland-Innes & Fung, 2004; Piskurich, 2004; Poper, 2007; Borges, 2008). Having theoretical information in the 21st century is not sufficient, especially in the information driven economies. The learners are increasingly expected to put theory or information into practice, that is apply the information. Therefore, that the learners can apply the information that they have acquired ensures that the ODL experience has a practical use in real life situations.

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During this learning process, thanks to the increasing opportunities for cooperation and collaboration as a result of web 2.0 technologies, ODL has began to demand learners to cooperate and collaborate. Being able to work collaboratively with peers (Borges, 2008), being able to ask questions when there is need for help (Cowley et al. 2002; Borges, 2008; Craig et al., 2008; Morrison, 2012; Bork & Rucks-Ahidiana, 2013; Poe & Stassen, n.d.), being able to give feedback to oneself and the peers (Garrison, Cleveland-Innes & Fung, 2004; Poper, 2007; Borges, 2008; Nita & Roxanne, 2009) and participating in discussions in the lesson; sharing ideas with peers and the instructor (Garrison, Cleveland-Innes & Fung, 2004; Poper, 2007; Borges, 2008; Nita & Roxanne, 2009) have increasingly become essential skills and competencies. It has long been argued that cooperation and collaboration in learning enhances critical thinking skills of the learners, and contributes to learners’ developing multiple perspectives. Moreover, in the workplace employees are expected to cooperate and collaborate with co-workers. To be able to cooperate and collaborate, as most of the synchronous and asynchronous discussions take place in forums or discussion boards, learners are expected to be able to express thoughts, feelings, comments and questions in written form (Dulaney-Gilbert, 2001; Palloff & Pratt, 2003; Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2004; Borges, 2008; Craig et al., 2008; Poe & Stassen, n.d.).

The last and perhaps increasingly important set of cognitive skills is about the quality of assignments. Plagiarism has long been a concern for especially in higher education institutions, and it has been reported that plagiarism is a serious problem concerning open and distance, especially online learning (Ewing, Anast & Roehling, 2015). Completing the assignment oneself and avoiding plagiarism (Craig et al., 2008) is therefore, not only a skill that the learners are expected to develop, but a requirement for the courses. Moreover, the completion of original work by the learners who take the course not only contributes to the learning of the learners, but also the rigor of the course.

Technological Skills and Competencies ODL has become increasingly technological, and each passing day a new technology is integrated into ODL programs. E-learning, mobile learning, ubiquitous learning all necessitate the learners to be familiarized and users of Internet technologies. As a natural outcome of this, learners are expected to develop certain technological skills and competencies.

As a result of the analysis, 7 skills and competencies related to technology are identified.

Table 3: Technological Skills and Competencies SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES Sources Having access to computer and the Internet Dulaney-Gilbert, 2001; Palloff & Pratt, 2003 Having the hardware necessary to log in an online course Palloff & Pratt 2003; Borges, 2008; Bork & Rucks-Ahidiana,2013 Having computer literacy / skills [Having computer skills Dulaney-Gilbert, 2001; Palloff & Pratt, 2003; like being able to use Word processors (e.g. MS Word), e- Borges, 2008; Bork & Rucks-Ahidiana,2013 mail, Interne, course management systems, learning management systems=t] Feeling comfortable with technology for educational Dulaney-Gilbert, 2001; Palloff & Pratt, 2003; purposes Singh, 2004 Learning the necessary software before course begins Piskurich, 2004; Borges, 2008; Roxanne, 2009; Stapa, 2009 Being able to use communication and collaboration tools Borges, 2008; Roxanne, 2009 Being able to use ICT to do research; store, analyze and Borges, 2008; Nita & Roxanne, 2009 share information

Having access to computer and the Internet (Dulaney-Gilbert, 2001; Palloff & Pratt, 2003) and having the hardware necessary to log in an online course (Palloff & Pratt 2003; Borges, 2008; Bork & Rucks-Ahidiana, 2013) are cited in the lists regarding the skills and competencies of open and distance learners. However, these should be regarded as the prerequisites for the online courses. That the learners have the necessary hardware and software does not ensure that they are able to use them. Therefore, having computer literacy / skills like 180 Copyright © International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications / www.ijonte.org

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being able to use Word processors (e.g. MS Word), e-mail, Internet, course management systems, learning management systems (Dulaney-Gilbert, 2001; Palloff & Pratt, 2003; Borges, 2008; Bork & Rucks- Ahidiana,2013) are cited to be perhaps most important technological skills and competencies that the learners should develop especially in online learning. Even when most of the learning does not take place in online learning settings, just being able to follow the announced syllabus, submitting the assignments necessitate these skills in the 21st century. Furthermore, learning the necessary software before course begins (Piskurich, 2004; Borges, 2008; Roxanne, 2009; Stapa, 2009) is also of utmost importance as dealing with both the content and the technology and media can be frustrating for the learners.

In addition to developing skills to navigate in the online settings, the learners should also be able to feel comfortable with technology for educational purposes (Dulaney-Gilbert, 2001; Palloff & Pratt, 2003; Singh, 2004). As technology has penetrated into our lives with especially the portable devices, learning has also been closely associated with technology. Therefore, even the ones who are not familiarized with educational technology now are expected to be able to use technology for education. The use of collaboration and cooperation tools like discussion forums, even twitter and facebook, google drive, etc. have become inseparable part of technological online learning settings and this naturally leads the learners to be able to use these devices to survive especially in online learning. Moreover, the learners should also be able to use ICT to do research; store, analyze and share information (Borges, 2008; Nita & Roxanne, 2009). With the increasing popularity of Open Educational Resources (OER) this has also become a strategy to benefit from the free use of educational sources which can help learners identify new sources and use them when necessary appropriately.

Affective Skills and Competencies Affective domain basically refers to one’s feelings, attitudes and values of learners. (Krathwohl, Bloom & Masia, 1964). It involves five phases including receiving, responding, valuing, organizing and characterization. Martin and Reigeluth (1999), also argue that there are six dimensions for affective learning: emotional, social, esthetic, moral, spiritual, and motivational. As a result of the analysis, 13 affective skills and competencies are identified. They are presented in Table 4.

Table 4: Affective Skills and Competencies SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES Sources Being flexible Palloff & Pratt, 2003; Garrison, Cleveland-Innes & Fung, 2004 Having a sense of humor Palloff & Pratt, 2003 Being able to cope with the stress that is caused by the Palloff & Pratt, 2003 conflict between work and educational life Following netiquette Piskurich, 2004; Singh, 2004; Poe & Stassen, n.d. Being able to use emoticons effectively Piskurich, 2004 Being able to control emotions in online discussions Piskurich, 2004 Allowing others to participate in discussions Piskurich, 2004 Thinking before responding to a post Piskurich, 2004 Staying motivated Poper, 2007 Having social communications with peers Poper, 2007; Morrison, 2012 Being able to express emotions Garrison, Cleveland-Innes & Fung, 2004 Feeling a part of a learning community Garrison, Cleveland-Innes & Fung, 2004 Communicating comfortably in discussions Garrison, Cleveland-Innes & Fung, 2004

Because open and distance learning usually allows learners to learn at their own pace, flexibility is one of the skills that they are expected to develop (Palloff & Pratt, 2003; Garrison, Cleveland-Innes & Fung, 2004). In ODL settings, learners should be able to cope with uncertainties, unexpected occurrences like technical problems and be able to cope with the stress that may be caused with these. In addition, because most open and distance learners are working individuals, they need to be flexible enough to cope with the several diverse demands of their lives like family and job responsibilities plus the requirements of the courses they are taking (Palloff & Pratt, 2003). 181 Copyright © International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications / www.ijonte.org

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Besides flexibility, the communications and interactions that take place in ODL settings also demand learners to develop certain affective skills and competencies. As stated in the cognitive skills and competencies, communication, cooperation and collaboration become increasingly significant especially in online learning. In such environments, learners need to learn to become a part of a learning community where they learn from each other which in return requires learners to communicate comfortably in discussions and express their emotions comfortably (Garrison, Cleveland-Innes & Fung, 2004). Otherwise, the learners can be driven into isolation which may possibly result in not only alienation from the learning community but also the learning experience itself.

One thing that becomes substantial in interactions is how the learners communicate. It is quite frequent that there are some learners who dominate discussions and hinder the participation of others, which can sometimes be intimidating for the ones who are les extroverted than the others. Thus, allowing others to participate (Piskurich, 2004) becomes an essential skill. Another noteworthy skill is the use of emoticons (Piskurich, 2004). Because most of the online communications are written, the use of emoticons has become widespread to reflect the emotions of the learners. However, the effective use of emoticons like the avoidance of excessive use of emoticons or the use of appropriate emoticons should be considered by the learners. They should also think before responding to a post immediately (Piskurich, 2004) as especially in asynchronous discussions, the learner has little chances for compensation because what is written remains. Luckily, the more technology-savvy the learners are becoming, the more competent they are in the use of emoticons and comfortable with online communications. Following the netiquette (Piskurich, 2004; Singh, 2004; Poe & Stassen, n.d.) is yet another skill that learners need to develop. As online learning becomes more internationalized, different cultures show up in the learning settings which may cause certain uncertainties or misunderstandings. Therefore, a common code of behavior which is sensitive to different cultures and backgrounds should be followed. Having a sense of humor (Palloff & Pratt, 2003) can help also learners to develop social communications in learning situations with diverse populations.

IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

As demonstrated by the analysis of the literature, there is a huge number of skills and competencies which are closely related to each other. Course designers, instructors, program developers and management cannot assume that the learners start the programs or courses having fully developed these skills and competencies, especially considering the fact that ODL targets huge and diverse populations. Therefore, for each set of skills and competencies, the abovementioned authorities should guide and help learners to develop these skills and competencies. In this respect, student support appears as a critical factor. The necessary support can be given by guidelines that can be published and distributed online or print and orientation programs before the course or program begins. Possible recommendations are, Metacognitive skills and competencies:  Training on time management  Training and support to improve study skills and self-study tips  Guidance in goal setting and identifying learning objectives  Guidance in critical reflection

Cognitive skills and competencies:  Preparatory practices to improve academic reading and writing  Opening writing centers or providing online support for writing  Providing library support services to improve research skills  Guidelines and support for how to prepare assignments  Providing templates for the assignments

Technological skills and competencies:  Clear guidelines about the technological hardware, software and skills to use them  An orientation week to tune in the platform

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 7/24 technical support including online support, toll free phone support and detailed web pages on frequently asked questions Affective skills and competencies:  Clear guidelines about netiquette  Multiple channels for communication with peers and the instructor  Providing social chat groups  Integrating social media platforms

In addition to the organization of orientation activities, this classification of student skills and competencies can be used as a guideline to prepare surveys to investigate student readiness for ODL.

BIODATA AND CONTACT ADDRESS OF THE AUTHOR

Ela AKGÜN ÖZBEK who has been working as an instructor in the Department of English Language Teaching in Faculty of Education in Anadolu University since 2003 holds a BS degree in English Language and Literature in Hacettepe University and a MS in English Literature in Middle East Technical University. She is presently a PhD candidate in the department of Distance Education in Anadolu University. She has been working also as a content expert, book chapter writer, academic advisor, course coordinator in The Department of English Language Teaching in The Open Education Faculty in Anadolu University since 2004. Open and distance learning, student and teacher roles and competencies of open and distance learners, and teacher training are among her research interests.

Ela AKGÜN ÖZBEK Anadolu University Faculty of Education Department of Foreign Language Education English Language Teaching Eskişehir- TURKEY E. Mail: [email protected]

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PERSPECTIVES OF FOREIGN STUDENTS TOWARDS DISTANCE EDUCATION

Assist. Prof. Dr. Mustafa COŞAR Hitit University Çorum- TURKEY

ABSTRACT

It is common that even though distance education is of lots of advantages, it may also have many disadvantages when it is not planned appropriately. The condition that the integration of the foreign students into the system of distance education and their success levels is one of these disadvantages. The students with a certain level of Turkish knowledge face many challenges such as understanding course contents, communicating with their fellows and lecturers, using course automation system; therefore, most of the time, they prefer face-to-face education.

The current study explores the effects of the distance education of two courses, Turkish Language and Atatürk's Principles and History of Turkish Revolution, on the foreign students enrolled at Hitit University in Spring term in 2014-2015 academic year. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire and various significant findings were defined. Thanks to the collected data, it has been determined what issues should be emphasized more and what kinds of assistanceship should be provided for the students while distance education system is set up for the users. Obviously, the current study will contribute positively for such potential future distance education programs founded by the institutions.

Key Words: Distance education, foreign student, blended-learning.

INTRODUCTION

Distance education is an educational process that has got a history dating back to the time when the need for education increased and, on the other hand, the expenses appeared as inevitable necessity that should be decreased (Horzum, 2003). It is actually an educational model which has many applications without any limit of time and place for the learners and teachers. The applications allow them to use course materials in order to manage the courses collectively by means of communication tools. The most determining difference between distance and face-to-face education is that the learners and teachers could collaborate without any time and place limitations. The missions of distance education can be mentioned as the follows: a) it enables all individuals to benefit from educational facilities for their lifelong, b) it contributes to the education of individuals and society, c) it reaches educational facilities to the large masses via the technological mediums without any borders, d) it provides leveling the playing fields in education for everyone and decreases the high expenses of traditional educational models (Sakar, 1997). Kaya (2002) has already summarized the advantages and disadvantages of distance education in the following list.

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Table 1: Advantages and Disadvantages of Distance Education (Kaya, 2002). Advantages Disadvantages - Provides various educational models for people. - Not easy face-to-face communicating. - Minimizes the opportunity gap. - Stops students' socialization process. - Eases mass education. - Does not provide adequate support for those - Describes standards in educational programs. learners without self-learning habits. - Decreases the expenses in education. - Takes time of the learners who are working for a - Increases quality in education. position. - Provides independence/autonomy for the learners. - Not get enough contributions from the applied - Furnish the learners with useful learning environments. courses. - Does not force the learners spend all time for learning - Not efficient on actualizing behaviors for skill inside classroom/school settings . and attitudes based conditions. - Helps people to learn individually. - Depends on the access to Internet and - Supports learners to learn independently. communication tools. - Puts responsibilities for learners. - Provides information from the prior sources. - Lets many more learners to get into contact with the experts. - Ensures that the success is actualized under the same conditions. - Supplies both mass and individual education. - Removes the obligation of being present in a certain time and place.

According to Ateş and Altun (2008), current traditional educational institutions are very limited in providing quality training services to the huge amount of individuals with various learning styles by regarding appropriate training expenses. On the other hand, current fast advances in information technologies and communication tools in the last decades have make a range of learning and teaching facilities visible. Technology integrated learning environments necessitate different course designs and requirements from the traditional training models (Valenta, Therriault, Dieter and Mrtek, 2001). From that perspective, distance education and training including technology integrated learning appear as leading notions.

Distance and face-to-face education should particularly be highlighted when they are compared in terms of education. The advantages mentioned above are valid in case the distance education system are efficiently applied. The core points of any distance education system are correct planning and determining of the needs of the learners. A successful distance education program strictly depends on cooperation between faculty members, assistants, systems developers and managers. Besides, it is a significant must that the learners and educators have got basic knowledge and skills about the technologies used. When such requirements and needs are not met, distance education may come up with challenging disadvantages (Alkan et.all., 2003).

Such factors like age, cultural background, past experience, interest and level of education should be taken into consideration in order to get in the needs of distant learners. It should be counted that to what extent such learners can take advantage of the courses over distance education system by regarding their familiarity with teaching methods and operating systems. If it is the case that the classroom is composed of large groups and different sub-groups of learners, this condition should also be considered. If it is possible, it could be effective and beneficial that the teacher visits the campuses and organizes both individual and group meetings with the learners. Such activities are useful in terms of proving that the teacher is not a notion without name. The design of teaching is a significant part of distance education. Analysis of teaching activity is meaningful in terms of the learners and quality of teaching methods employed. The analysis of education includes several bases such as task analysis, determining the content of the courses with certain levels, sequence of the topics, terms and conditions to take the courses. Actually, all these bases respond the following potential questions: a) what type of learning is required, b) in what sequence learning will be realized, c) what types of learning skills and 187 Copyright © International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications / www.ijonte.org

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knowledge the learners should have before beginning such an education. Educational purposes and tools should be defined by considering the needs of the learners and characters (Antalyalı, 2004).

LITERATURE REVIEW

The demographic factors like gender, age, occupation, marital status and work experience are frequent leading issues for researchers studying in the literature (Thompson, 1997). In the past it was not that possible to see the research on potential psychological and sociological factors excluding demographic ones (Cookson, 1989), but nowadays the literature regarding these issues have been multiplied (Antalyalı, 2004).

There are lots of scientific studies on the attitudes and beliefs of both learners and teachers towards distance education abroad. Dick, Case and Burns (2001) have explored the attitudes of graduates and undergraduates (n=270) towards distance education in the USA and Australia. According to the data, it was cleared that the attitudes of learners are so close to instable and they take distance education as a second preference (Ates and Altun, 2008).

Computer skills of university students and their attitudes towards Internet based education were analyzed in a two-fold study by Brinkerhoff and Koroghlanian (2005). The attitudes of these learners have were identified as neutral or medium-level. However, those student who already used Internet have got more positive attitudes. The changes in computer skills and attitudes towards Internet based education were investigated in the second phase of the research. Findings from the research showed that the skills and attitudes of the learners positively processed from time to time in four-years time. Furthermore, the undergraduates preferred Internet based courses more when 1999 and 2003 statistics were compared.

Perspectives of the learners to distance education were surveyed in another study on 254 students learning over distance education at Boise State University by Belcheir and Cucek (2002). As a result of that research, participants underlined positive side of distance education as independence of time and place, and negative side as its time-taking procedures and existing of a lot of learning errors when compared to traditional training models. Additionally, it was seen that the participants were happy with the distance education.

Erdoğan, Erkoç and Göktimur (2006) studied on the attitudes of the students towards distance education at open high school, open education faculty and some formal university education programs in İstanbul. Findings from the research proved that such issues as demographic particularities of the target population, determination of their attitudes and interest to distance education and designation of the system according to needs of the users should carefully be taken into consideration in order to have adequate and efficient outcomes from the distance education programs.

In a study by Drennan, Kennedy and Pisarski (2005), students (n=248) who took blended-learning, in which distance education was also supported by face-to-face courses, mentioned their perspectives towards the system. They listed their ideas about the distance education system as follows: a) they could easily reach and use the course materials by means of technological tools, b) they could adopt autonomous and independent learning as learning styles and focus on self-disciplined conditions.

Also, those students with advanced level of computer knowledge could simply integrate into these courses and come up with positive perspectives when they could come over the potential technical problems. Chang and Tung (2008) focused on variations like extension of innovations, technology acceptance model with perceived system quality and computer self-efficacy, and conducted research on tendency of the learners about the use of distance education environments. Accordingly, perceptions of students' computer self- efficacy, compatibility of the course web-sites for their preferences, usefulness and quality were significant factors on their preference to distance educational platforms.

Similarly, Venkatesh and Davies (1996) argued that accessibility of such platforms is determining on the perceptions of the learners in case they take these sites as useful (Ates and Altun, 2008).

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Ağır, Gür and Okçu (2008) investigated attitudes of primary school teachers (n=238) towards distance education. They used an “inventory of attitudes towards distance education” as data collection material. The results from the research indicated that the teachers had positive attitudes and their attitudes did not significantly change according to gender, institutions they worked for but the condition of having knowledge on distance education affected their attitudes towards distance education.

METHODOLOGY

1. Participants and Data Collection The data were collected by means of a questionnaire conducted for 32 first year foreign students out of 44 foreigners in Spring term in 2014-2015. Findings were attained from frequency distributions and proportional statistical tests.

There were three groups of questions (n=25) in the questionnaire; a) questions on demographic details, b) questions of their preference of distance education, c) fivefold likert scale questions as in Table-2.

Table 2: Choices for fivefold likert scale Completely Fairly Moderately Slightingly None 5 4 3 2 1

The data from the questionnaire were uploaded into the computer and evaluated by the help of various statistical analyses like frequency and average.

2. Distances Education Courses at Hitit University The courses, called compulsory shared courses, were designed as texts as in .pdf format with voiced materials as in .mp3 format by the lecturers. These courses were provided for the learners by means of distance education system. They followed asynchronous courses for a certain time in an academic term.

FINDINGS

1. Demographic Details of the Participants Demographic details of the participants were listed below.

Table 3. Distribution of foreign students according to their origins Rank Nationality Number 1 Afghanistan 1 2 Albania 1 3 Azerbaijan 5 4 Burkina Faso 1 5 Morocco 1 6 Palestine 1 7 Georgia 2 8 Kazakhstan 1 9 Kirghistan 2 10 Russia 1 11 Somalia 1 12 Syria 5 13 Turkmenistan 6 14 TC/Afghanistan 1 15 TC/Germany 1 16 TC/Holland 2 Total 32 189 Copyright © International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications / www.ijonte.org

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As in Table 3, age distributions of 32 foreign students from 16 different countries were given and their age ranges were between 18-23. The participants were mostly from Turkish countries. The distributions of foreign students according to their genders can seen in table 4 below.

Table 4: Distribution of foreign students according to their gender Gender Number Female 6 Male 26 Total 32

2. Perspectives of Foreign Student to Distance Educational The data from the questionnaire (n=25 questions) prepared according to the fivefold likert test were interpreted by means of frequency and mode statistics as in table 4 and 5. The responses from the participants and finding were evaluated and listed as follows. 1) It was observed that the participants had adequate knowledge and skill of use (4 and 5 points) for technological tools when the questions dealing with information technology and Internet were broadly evaluated. It was also mentioned that the participants could have opportunity to have access to Internet as moderate and advanced users. The participants had obviously got technological competency and quite easily connected and integrated into the distance education system in terms of these findings. 2) It was seen that the participants had positive responses more than moderate level (3 and above) when their responses to the questions on their prior knowledge and experience with distance education were evaluated. As a result, the participants were clearly interested and experienced in distance education. 3) When the responses for the satisfaction of the method of course delivery were assessed, it was found out that %59,4 of the participants (less satisfied) were not satisfied with the system. Consequently, it was evidently noticed that the participants had some challenges dealing with the distance education system and that's why they were not pleased with taking the courses in that way.

In addition, it was explicitly pointed out that %71,9 of the participants preferred blended learning methodology in the light of the data from the second group of questions on the methodology selection in distance education. It was frankly revealed that the foreign students did not wish to take the courses over merely distance education system since those students who wanted to take courses only on distance education system were limited to 2 students (which meant %6,3 of all students) in accordance with the results in table 5. Finally, both teaching methods (face-to-face and distance education system) were not separately preferred because face-to- face education was chosen by only %21,9 of all participants.

Table 5: Students' Preferences of the Method of Course Delivery

Frequency Ratio Preference of Method Face-to-face 7 21,9 Distance Education 2 6,3 Face-to-face + Distance Education 23 71,9 Total 32 100,0

The findings and statistical analyses from the students' responses for the third group of questions were presented in the table 6 below.

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Table 6: Frequency, Percentage and Mode Values of the Students' Responses for the Questionnaire Perce Frequency ntage Mode Questions (%) 1 2 3 4 5 1.I trust in my knowledge about using computer and Internet. 4 10 18 56,3 5 2.I have got a computer with Internet access. 1 3 7 12 9 37,5 4 3.My computer is a product of new technology with headphone, 12 11 9 37,5 3 microphone and camera. 4.My computer is compatible with all necessary softwares and hardwares (web browser, media player, office programs, pdf reader and 3 10 13 6 40,6 4 usb connections). 5.I have got basic competence in using Internet (searching, registering in 6 3 15 8 46,9 4 a web site, etc.) 6.I can easily use communication tools on the Internet (e-mail, chat and 6 14 12 43,8 4 forum, etc) 7.I can easily use social media (Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Wiki, etc.). 2 3 5 9 13 40,6 5 8.I know about distance education. 2 4 16 10 50,0 3 9.I know how to use information and communication tools in order to 2 3 16 9 2 50,0 3 learn over distance education system. 10.I already benefited from a distance education system. 5 3 18 6 56,3 3 11.I can read Turkish course materials composed of more than one page. 2 3 14 11 2 43,8 3 12.I can easily understand a course material that I read. 2 10 14 6 43,8 4 13.I can easily get in instruction of questions and answers in the exams. 2 21 6 3 65,6 3 14.I think I can study alone even if I do not have any synchronous contact 2 11 16 3 50,0 4 with the lecturer. 15.I think I can complete my studies on time even though working on- 6 7 17 2 53,1 4 line is distracting. 16.I think I can complete my studies on time even though it is a lot 6 15 10 1 46,9 3 distracting in my learning environment. 17.I think I can learn best by means of distance education. 1 2 22 7 68,8 3 18.It is very important to have instant interaction with the lecturer in 5 5 21 1 65,6 4 terms of my success. 19.It is very important to have fast assistance for technical and 4 2 23 3 71,9 4 administrative issues in terms of my success. 20.It is important to note frequent attendance in process of distance 2 4 23 3 71,9 4 education in terms of my success. 21.I think my experience on Internet technologies will contribute to my 3 6 20 3 62,5 4 success in in process of distance education. 22.I can better acquire the skills and competences that I should learn 2 11 18 1 56,3 4 when I use auditory and visual materials 23.I can easily discuss about course topics with other fellows on the 1 2 8 20 1 62,5 4 Internet. 24.I am satisfied with the method of course delivery in the distance 19 6 7 59,4 2 education system. 25.Course content for a verbal course on the on-line environment (on if it is prepared appropriately) can be of same quality with the one in the 1 5 9 17 53,1 4 face-to-face course (think of course presentation by moderate one of your lecturers).

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CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Conclusion %71,9 of the participants commented that blended learning can be more efficient instead of separate courses in both face-to-face and on-line over distance education system. Accordingly, they demanded to take blended learning because many reasons such as understandability of the courses, absence of interactions with their peers, having no course materials in their mother tongues, despite the fact that they got familiarity with information technologies and adequate competences in using computer technologies.

According to the findings of the research, the foreign students were not happy with taking the courses over distance education system and it was concluded that they needed assistance in understanding, evaluating course materials and passing the exams because of only Turkish language support. Such kind of students need more help, interest, assistance and guidance by the institutions since they have got challenges integration problems with the city, university and fellow in the host countries. Therefore, they do not exactly prefer distance education system to take the courses. However, they mention the courses can be delivered to a certain extent over distance education system because of its several advantages like increasing interest towards learning on-line.

Recommendations Some recommendations are given to take such foreign students into accounts in the list below.  It is thought that their success and self-confidence can be increased by means of supporting course materials in in-class activities in scheduled weeks. For example, the students can participate in face-to-face discussions between groups to contribute their understanding the courses and interacting with others.  On-line course materials should also be prepared in foreign languages which will help foreign students a lot.  The course contents should be supported by auditory and visual materials to create positive effects on their level of understanding and learning the courses.  Course materials can be designed in a mutual language after checking out student profiles.  Such experimental studies on the students from different countries can contribute a lot to the field of study.

BIODATA AND CONTACT ADDRESS OF THE AUTHOR

Dr. Mustafa COŞAR is an assistant professor at Computer Engineering Department of Engineering Faculty, University of Hitit, Çorum, Turkey. He got his master degree in Computer Education and Instructional Technology in Education on (Distance Education) from Gazi University, Enstitution of Educational Sciences. And he got his PhD in Computer Education and Instructional Technology from Gazi University. He has published about 2 research papers in National Journals and also presented more than 26 research papers in various National and International Conference/Seminar/Workshops.

Assist. Prof. Dr. Mustafa COŞAR Hitit University Computer Engineering Department of Engineering Faculty 19030, Çorum- TURKEY URL: http://www.hitit.edu.tr E. Mail: [email protected]

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REFERENCES

Alkan, M., Genç, Ö. ve Tekeder, H., (2003), “İletişim Teknolojileri ile Bütünleşik Bir Uzaktan Öğretim Ortamının Geleneksel Sınıf Öğretimine Göre Üstünlükleri ve Sınırlamaları,” Elektrik, Elektronik, Bilgisayar Mühendislikleri Eğitimi 1. Ulusal Sempozyumu, Ankara.

Antalyalı, Ö. L., (2004), Uzaktan Eğitim Algısı ve Yöneylem Araştırması Dersinin Uzaktan Eğitim ile Verilebilirliği, Yayımlanmamış Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü.

Ateş, A. ve Altun, E., (2008), Bilgisayar Öğretmeni Adaylarının Uzaktan Eğitime Yönelik Tutumlarının Çeşitli Değişkenler Açısından İncelenmesi, GÜ, Gazi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, Cilt 28, Sayı 3, 125-145.

Belcheir, M. J. ve Cucek, M., (2002), Faculty Perceptions of Teaching Distance Education Courses, Research Report, Boise State University.

Brinkerhoff, J. and Koroghlanian, C. M., (2005), Student Computer Skills and Attitudes Toward Internet- Delivered Instruction. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 32(1), 27-56.

Drennan, J., Kennedy, J. ve Pisarski, A., (2005), Factors Affecting Student Attitudes.

Erdoğan, Y., Erkoç, M. F. ve Göktimur, M., (2006), Farklı Öğretim Kurumlarındaki Öğrencilerin Uzaktan Eğitime Yönelik Tutumları, 15. Ulusal Eğitim Bilimleri Kongresi, 13-15 Eylül 2006, Muğla Üniversitesi, Muğla.

Horzum, B., (2003), Öğretim Elemanlarının İnternet Destekli Eğitime Yönelik Düşünceleri (Sakarya Üniversitesi Örneği). Basılmamış Yüksek Lisans Tezi: Sakarya.

Kaya, Z., (2002), Uzaktan Eğitim, Ankara, Pegem A Yayıncılık.

Şakar, A. N., (1997), “Anadolu Üniversitesi Uzaktan Öğretimde Bilgi Sistemi-Bir Model Önerisi.”, Anadolu Üniv., Eskişehir.

Valenta, A.,Therriault, D., Dieter, M., & Mrtek, R. (2001). Identifying student attitudes and learning styles in distance education. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 5(2), 111-127.

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THE ANALYSIS OF LEARNING MODALITY OF MUSIC TEACHER CANDIDATES

Assist. Prof. Dr. Ezgi BABACAN Necmetin Erbakan University State Conservatory Konya- TURKEY

ABSTRACT

The researches on learning styles have put forward the necessity that during music education in different dimensions dominant learning style preferences should be used in learning process, their relationships with musical assignments and effectiveness. Besides, it is seen that teaching methods which make learning easier according to visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning qualities are suggested in musical learning. The purpose of this research is to determine learning modality of teacher candidates in Music Education Department and analyse them according to different variances. In this research, in which the relationship between learning modalities of music teacher candidates and their levels of gender, class, age, individual instrument and academic success is analysed, relational screening model has been used. 113 students who have been going on education in the Department of Music Education in Necmetin Erbakan University A.K.E.F. during 2014-2015 academic year comprise the sample of the research. The data which have been obtained in the research have been gathered via personal information form and BIG16 Learning Modalities Inventory, developed by Şimşek (2002). The inventory consists of 48 items and three learning modalities as visual, auditory and kinesthetic take part. In the result of the research, it has been concluded that more than the half of music teacher candidates (%60,2) mainly prefer using a mixed visual-auditory-kinesthetic modality. It has been determined that there is not any significant variation between gender, age, class, individual instrument, general academic average variances and their learning modalities.

Key Words: Music Education, Music Teacher Candidates, Learning Modalities.

INTRODUCTION

Teaching is explained in the most general sense as relatively marking behavioural changes which occur in the result of an individual's interaction with his environment (Senemoğlu, 2007:4; Özden, 2005:21) and the most fundamental elements of this process are student, teacher and curriculum. That learning process could carry out productively is directly linked to 'learner' s'; namely, the student's individual characteristics changing from one to one such as age, intelligence, gender, knowledge, talent, skill, past life (Babacan, 2010:12). Individual differences focus in five main groups as mental, physical, environmental, cultural and emotional (Küçükahmet, 2005:27-28) and they affect the individual's learning process besides it affects the individual's whole development process. Learning style concept in individual differences is defined as qualities which show the individual's tendencies and references towards learning. These qualities show how the individual perceives learning, interacts with his environment and reacts to the elements in his environment (Özer, 1998:151). According to Keef (1990:60), learning style concept is the combination of perceptual, affective and physiological qualities which are the signs of how the individual perceives, interacts with and reacts to his learning environment (Quoting: Güven,2004:14-15). According to Barba, Swassing and Milone (1979), even if there are a number of ways in defining learning style a common system states the perceptual and affective input of the knowledge as auditory, visual and kinaesthetic/tactile. While some individuals show only one modality personally, some could make transition between modalities easily or does not show a dominant modality. Perceptual learning styles/modalities/models are methods which lead knowledge obtained from environment during learning to be perceived, organised and processed and these perception ways are: seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling and touching (Quoting: Mishra, 2007:1). The researchers who have searched the

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importance of learning modality profiles point out that when complementary educational setting is provided learners prove by significantly high points and when they are taught by their most powerful visual, auditory and tactile learning modalities they prefer learning (Martini, 1986; Quoting: Tendy, 1998:16). The researches which have been done (Dunn, 1983, Dunn, 1984; Reinert, 1976) show that students have four basic perceptual learning channels (modalities). These are: visual learning (reading, studying on a diagram), auditory learning (lesson and sound recording), kinesthetic learning (experimental learning; that’s, completely physically participating in a learning condition) and tactile learning (active/practical learning: carrying out building models, laboratory experiments) (Quoting: Reid, 1987:90). According to Molumby, the definition of three perceptual channels in learning styles is in this way (2004:52): While visual consciousness states how the student processes knowledge by reading written resources and seeing the others’ samples in the classroom, auditory learners reacts relatively to oral statements and musical performances. Kinesthetic learners discover environment by some activities which they perform with their whole body such as playing an instrument, creative movements and dancing. According to Barbe and Swassing (1979:6), individuals may show some changes in their preferences for their own learning modality. Most people have a dominant modality. That’s, it could be said to be a kind of channel in which knowledge could be processed in the most effective way; furthermore, with which a second modality could accompany. Other people; especially adults, may be deprived of dominant modality and have mixed modalities instead (Quoting:Tight, 2007:32). Since perceptual preferences (Şimşek, 2001:36) are related to settings, materials which students prefer using during learning and encoding format of the message used, the whole of these preferences are called learning modality.

During music education the relationship of learning modality with music has been analysed in numerous ways. Researchers have accepted the effects of learning modality in rhythmic perception, the effects of kinesthetic empowerment/support and the effects of modality-based teaching. However, in only few of these studies tests to assess standardised learning modality power/durability or preferences are available (Sanders, 1991:18). According to Kinslow (1995:15-17), although music is a language it is not an oral language. While the language created and spoken uses words, music uses tonal and rhythmic models. Perception is our talent to comprehend mentally and recognise by the help of senses. Musical perception is linked to music; on the other hand, it is a complicated activity which involves analysing, thinking about, evaluating and feeling music besides listening to it. Auditory perception is a part of the whole musical activity; however, it is not same with any other activity.

Auditory memory is a kind of inner perception which involves sound volume, melody, harmony, rhythm, dynamics, tempo and other elements in music (Rickey, 2004:18). According to Mishra (2007:2) auditory memory is the capability to be able to hear notes of a musical composition with correct order but without any sound resource or a notational clue. Even to be able to remember a composition which has been played before correctly or wrongly is a skill depending on auditory memory. Auditory memory provides us with hearing what is going to come next in music and directing what is heard to fingers (Newman, 1974). According to Rubinstein (1950:51), music is sound and ear is just a medium in which music is possible to be perceived. Therefore, auditory memory controls the functions of the others and training on memorising by ear is the one which could be analysed, controlled and even trusted best. Gordon (1995) defines auditory memory as “before reality” or inner perception. He believes that auditory memory triggers the whole musical performance. In other words, ear helps thought be conceptualised before playing music. Besides, ear provides continuity and helps people who play by ear and without note (Quoting: Rickey, 2004:18).

Visual memory is the capability to be able to remember the note appearance of a music composition on the paper and visualise positions of finger movements or positions of the hand on the instrument in mind. Visual memory could also be considered as ‘photographic memory’. Still, what is actually asked in the usage of visual memory is not the exact mental photography of the entire notation (Mishra, 2007:2). Lo (1976) emphasises it is important to comprehend almost everything wholly related to notation because it might be a futile/unnecessary effort to try to memorise something which is not understood. Rubinstein (1950:52) defines visual memory as “a medium which converts notes into sound and makes it exist physically on the manual “. Visual learning is not only the impression remaining from the visible but it is that those in papers are perceived. According to Newman (1974), visual learning is significant but it shows variations depending on to what extent

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it are used in practice. Somebody can remember music nearly exactly; however, the other approaches (auditory, kinesthetic) have no persistence and memory is untrustful. Motor, auditory and analytical approaches should be a part of the visual (Quoting: Rickey, 2004:19).

Kinesthetic memory is the capability to keep muscular movements which are needed in conditions such as a musical performance in mind (Mishra, 2007:2). According to Shockley (1980), the kinesthetic form of memory is also known as tactile, motor, finger and sometimes muscle memory. It states not only feeling the manual under fingers but also the distance involving up-down (right-left) movement on the manual. Kinesthetic memory is developing/forming habit depending on the coordination of muscles and repeating (Bryant, 1999). It is a habit developing automatically through playing by memory continuously (Newman, 1974) or a habit rooted in the automatic reflex in fingers, wrists and arms (Sterba, 2000). Most pedagogues agree that finger memorisation should be practiced much carefully so as to take memory into the most powerful and trustful condition while practising an instrument. When it is practiced by the same finger coordination with a certain clarity motor memory becomes more durable (Quoting: Rickey, 2004:19).

Different learning styles/models and researches in which these are analysed in terms of different variances are available (Kinslow, 1995; Hagans 2004; Stuber, 1997). It is seen that there are researches on defining the range of learning models/styles/modality in music education about perceptional dimension and generally dominant learning modality at home and abroad, searching modality in musical works and matching teaching strategies with dominant learning styles (Sanders, 1991; Mishra, 2007; Bauer, 1994; Molumby, 2004; Lammers, 2006; Rickey, 2004; Ömür, 2003; Babacan, 2010). When the range of perceptional dimension in these researches are analysed (see also.table-1) it is seen that a dominant modality does not generally occur. Since music is primarily perceived by the means of hearing many researchers have tested the hypothesis that talented musicians are auditory or auditory learners could be better musicians but both hypotheses have not been supported in literature (Mishra, 2007:5).

Table 1: The Range of Learning Modality in Researches on Music Researcher Year Auditory Visual Kinesthetic (Mixed) Dobbs 1989 24 28 14 34 Dunn 1994 19 50 6 25 Falkner 1994 22 29 50 - Gates 1993 33 11 13 43 Gates 1993 (pilot) 4 40 34 33 Hughes 1990 26 39 35 - Kreitner 1981 (SBMI) 14 24 7 55 Kreitner 1981 (LSI) 12 - 31 58 Pautz 1989 18 33 18 31 Persellin 1988 27 43 12 18 Persellin & Pierce 1988 42 50 8 - Sanders 1996 34 50 3 13 SBMI = Swassing-Barbe Modality Index, LSI = Learning Styles Inventory (Quoting:Mishra, 2007:5)

In his research in which he examined the relationship between musicians’ learning modality and musical memorising strategies they preferred, Mishra (2007) concluded that there is a weak relationship between learning styles and memorising style preferences; furthermore, only a part of visual learners (%34) prefer visual memorising strategy. Molumby (2004) used various teaching strategies so that flute students comprehend their potential to understand their own individual learning styles and stated all respondents had positive reactions. In his research, Rickey (2004) observed his 17 students’ learning style profiles and learning approaches which they used in memorisation with pretest-posttest interview questions in video record; then, stated that the most common ways pianists used in memorisation were visual, auditory, tactile and analytical

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approaches and students were tended to visual and tactile approaches in memorisation, %88 (15) of them preferred visual and tactile memorising approach.

In this research, it is aimed to analyse the range of learning modalities of teacher candidates in Music Education Department and the relationship between learning modality and different variances. Responses to the questions below have been searched for this aim: Which learning modality do students prefer rather? Does students’ learning modality differentiate according to gender? Does students’ learning modality differentiate according to age? Does students’ learning modality differentiate according to class? Does students’ learning modality differentiate according to grade point average in individual instrument? Does students’ learning modality differentiate according to general academic average?

METHOD

Research Model and Study Group In the research screening model has been used. Screening model has been used as it is aimed to analyse the relationship between learning modality of teacher candidates in Music Education Department and their gender, class, age, individual instrument and academic achievement GPA (grand point average). 113 students who have been continuing their education in Music Education Department of Necmettin Erbakan University A.K.E.F. consist the sample of the research. Students’ demographic qualities on gender, class, age have been presented in table-2 and the range of their individual instrument and GPA has been presented in table-3.

Table 2: The Range of Demographic Qualities of Responsive Students in the Research Variance Subcategory f % Total 18-20 53 46,9 Age 21-23 51 45,1 113-%100 24 and over 9 8,0 Male 40 35,4 Gender 113-%100 Female 73 64,6 1 28 24,8 2 37 32,7 Class 113-%100 3 36 23,0 4 22 19,5

Table 3: The Range of Individual Instrument and Academic GPA of Students Variance Subcategory f % Total 0-20 2 1,8 21-40 1 0,9 Individual 41-60 6 5,3 113-%100 Instrument GPA 61-80 42 37,2 81-100 62 54,9 0-49 / F-FD 1 0,9 50-59 / DD-DC 15 13,3 Academic GPA 113-%100 60-84 / CC-CB 72 63,7 85-100 / BB-AA 25 22,1

Data Collection Tool Data obtained in the research have been collected by personal information and “BIG16 Learning Modality Inventory” developed by Şimşek (2002). The inventory is consisted of 48 items and three learning modalities as visual, auditory and kinesthetic take part in it. In the analysis done for BIG16 inventory, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin

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(KMO) value has been determined as 0.722. CronBach-Alpha reliability value in the whole inventory has been accounted as .844. Subdimensions have been accounted as visual dimension .793, auditory .771, kinesthetic dimension .684 and the assessment tool has been determined to be reliable. Each three dimensions of the scale are consisted of 16 items. Grading in the assessment instrument is in this way: “Strongly agree= 2”, “Agree= 1”, “Hesitant= 0”, “Disagree= -1”, “Strongly disagree= -2”. The range of the items in the inventory according to dimensions is in this way: Visual modality: 2, 4, 6, 12, 14, 20, 25, 28, 30, 35, 36, 37, 40, 43, 46, 48 Auditory modality: 1, 3, 8, 9, 13, 17, 21, 22, 26, 29, 31, 33, 39, 42, 44, 47 Kinesthetic modality: 5, 7, 10, 11, 15, 16, 18, 19, 23, 24, 27, 32, 34, 38, 41, 45

This inventory developed is a tool which could be used in determining learning modalities of students at the age between 16-25 (Şimşek, 2002).

The Analysis of Data In the analysis of data of the learning modality inventory, total points of each dimension has been written in the column (values between -32 and 32) primarily by using Excel. According to the directions in the inventory, estimates of grading have been evaluated as the dimension in -32 and -8 points range “reactive to learning modality”, values in -7 and 7 points range “not regarded” and values in 8 and 32 points range “holding learning modality” (Bilasa, 2012:15; Bölükbaş, 2007:54). Accordingly, the highest point in positive (+) values represents first degree dominant learning modality, secondly high degree represents secondary dominant modality and the lowest value represents tertiary modality. In case very close points to each other are resulted it has been interpreted that the student holds more than one learning modality. In the research students (n: 11) who are reactive to all three modalities and were not able to get enough point from any modality have been extracted from the research sample. In the result of the students’ points of positive values on the evaluation in the inventory range of learning modality has been presented in table-4. In this research, students’ dominant visual, auditory and kinesthetic dimension points have been used (table-5). In the analysis of data an evaluation has been made by using SPSS-18 statistics programme and in the analysis percentage and frequency has been used and in the analysis of relationships between variances chi square test has been used. In statistical estimates significance level has been supposed 0.05.

FINDINGS

In this part, the ranges of teacher candidates’ learning modality and the relationship of gender, age, class level, individual instrument and academic GPA with learning modality have been analysed.

Table 4: The Range of Students According to Their Learning Modalities Learning Modality f % Visual 17 15,0 Auditory 9 8,0 Kinesthetic 1 0,9 Visual-Auditory 11 9,7 Visual-Auditory-Kinesthetic 68 60,2 Kinesthetic-Auditory 5 4,4 Visual-Kinesthetic 2 1,8 Total 113 100

According to the range in table-4, from the highest percentage %60,2 of the teacher candidates educated in music uses visual-auditory-kinesthetic modality, %17 uses visual modality and %11 visual-auditory modality. According to this result, more than half of the candidates use all three modalities and although general range is mostly visual modality it shows mixed modalities are preferred rather.

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Table 5: The Range of Students According to Their Dominant Learning Modality Learning Modality f % Visual 62 54,9 Auditory 40 35,4 Kinesthetic 11 9,7 Total 113 100

According to table-5, %54,9 of music teacher candidates use visual, %35,4 use auditory and %9,7 use kinesthetic learning modality. Accordingly, it could be said that more than half of the candidates prefer visual learning and visual learning modality is preferred rather than the other modalities.

Table 6: Chi Square Test Results on the Analysis of Learning Modality According to Gender Learning Modalities Gender χ² Visual Auditory Kinesthetic Total n 23 13 4 40 Male % 57,5 32,5 10,0 100 χ²=0,230 n 39 27 7 73 Female sd=2 % 53,4 37,0 9,6 100 P=0,892 n 62 40 11 113 Total % 54,9 35,4 9,7 100

When table-6 has been analysed, it has been determined that there is no significant variation between teacher candidates’ learning modality and gender (p=0,892). Both male and female candidates prefer visual learning modality rather.

Table 7: Chi Square Test Results on the Analysis of Learning Modality According to Age Learning Modality Age χ² Visual Auditory Kinesthetic Total n 32 17 4 53 18-20 % 60,4 32,1 7,5 100 n 25 21 5 51 21-23 χ²=3,402 % 49,0 41,2 9,8 100 sd=4 n 5 2 2 9 24 and over p=0,493 % 55,6 22,2 22,2 100 n 62 40 11 113 Total % 54,9 35,4 9,7 100

When table-7 has been analysed, it has been seen that there is no significant variation between teacher candidates’ learning modality and age groups (p=0,493). When percentiles in all three groups have been analysed, it has been determined that the candidates prefer visual learning modality relatively.

Table 8: Chi Square Test Results on the Analysis of Learning Modality According to Class Level Learning Modality Class χ² Visual Auditory Kinesthetic Total n 17 9 2 28 χ²=3,558 1st % 60,7 32,1 7,1 100 sd=6 n 19 14 4 37 p=0,736 2nd % 51,4 37,8 10,8 100 3rd n 17 7 2 26

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% 65,4 26,9 7,7 100 n 9 10 3 22 4th % 40,9 45,5 13,6 100 n 62 40 11 113 Total % 54,9 35,4 9,7 100

According to table-8 it has been discovered that there is no significant variation between teacher candidates’ learning modality and class level (p=0,736). When percentiles according to class level have been analysed, it has been determined that 1st, 2nd and 3rd class students prefer visual learning modality whereas 4th class students prefer auditory learning modality rather.

Table 9: Chi Square Test Results on Learning Modality According to Individual Instrument GPA Learning Modality Individual Instrument GPA Auditor χ² Visual Kinesthetic Total y n - 2 - 2 0-20 % - 100 - 100 n - - 1 1 21-40 % - - 100 100 n 5 - 1 6 41-60 χ²=24,317a % 83,3 - 16,7 100 sd=8 n 18 22 2 42 61-80 p=0,002 % 42,9 52,4 4,8 100 n 39 16 7 62 81-100 % 62,9 25,8 11,3 100 n 62 40 11 113 Total % 54,9 35,4 9,7 100 a. 10 cells (66,7%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is ,10.

When table-9 has been analysed, it has been determined that there is a significant variation between teacher candidates’ learning modality and individual instrument GPA (p=0,002). It is not decent to interpret results of significance test because in this analysis the expected value of pore numbers lower than 5 exceeds %20 of total pore number (%66,7) (Büyüköztürk, 2014:163). For this reason, unification has been applied into grade point averages.

Table 10: Chi Square Test Results on the Analysis of Learning Modality According to Individual Instrument Unified GPA Learning Modality χ² Visual Auditory Kinesthetic Total n 23 24 4 51 0-80 % 45,1 47,1 7,8 100 χ²=5,529 n 39 16 7 62 81-100 sd=2 % 62,9 25,8 11,3 100 P=0,063 n 62 40 11 113 Total % 100 100 100 100 a. 1 cells (16,7 %) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 4,96.

When table-10 has been analysed it is seen that there is no significant variation between teacher candidates’ learning modality and individual instrument GPA (p=0,063). When percentiles in groups have been analysed it has been determined that the candidates with GPA in rank 81-100 points prefer visual learning modality while

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the others with GPA in rank 0-80 prefer visual-auditory learning modality. According to these results, it could be said the candidates who use visual learning modality have higher GPA.

Table 11: Chi Square Test Results on the Analysis of Learning Modality According to General Academic Average Learning Modality Class χ² Visual Auditory Kinesthetic Total n - 1 - 1 0-49 % - 100 - 100 n 9 5 1 15 50-59 % 60,0 33,3 6,7 100 χ²=3,349 n 40 26 6 72 60-84 sd=6 % 55,6 36,1 8,3 100 p=0,764 n 13 8 4 25 85-100 % 52,0 32,0 16,0 100 n 62 40 11 113 Total % 54,9 35,4 9,7 100

According to table-11, it is seen that there is no significant variation between teacher candidates’ learning modality and general academic average (p=0,764). According to general academic average, when percentiles have been analysed it has been determined that students with 50-59, 60-84 and 85-100 GPAs prefer visual learning modality.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

In this research in which the relationship between the range of learning modality of teacher candidates educated in music and their learning modalities and different variances, %54,9 of the students prefer visual, %35,4 prefer auditory and %9,7 prefer kinesthetic learning modality rather. Moreover, it has been evident that %60,2 of students have visual-auditory-kinesthetic mixed modality rather. According to this result, more than the half of the candidates use all three learning modalities and general range shows that while visual modality is main mixed modalities are preferred rather. In a similar way, Yağısan and Sümbül (2009) determined that students in music department actively used all learning modalities particularly auditory and kinesthetic learning modality. While in body of literature it is seen that visual learning modality is predominant in different branches (Çağlayan and Şirin, 2009; Çağlayan and Taşğın, 2008; Bilasa, 2012), results of the researches in the field of music become distinct. In the results of the research for learning modality in music education (See also table 1), it is seen that mixed modality rather than dominant modality has occurred predominantly or dominant learning modality shows variety. For instance; Falkner (1994) found that third class students with high music talent were primarily visual and kinesthetic students rather than auditory. Similarly, Kreitner (1981) brought into open that although choir students with music talent at secondary school show auditory learning preference faintly, they are predominantly kinesthetic and visual learning students (Quoting: Mishra, 2007:4). Apfelstadt (1986) concluded in his research, in which he examined the relationship between 65 second class students' learning modality (visual auditory, kinesthetic and mixed type) and their vocal intonation, primarily visual learning students and then respectively mixed, kinesthetic and auditory learning students became the most clear (intoning withn the right frequency) singers. Besides, he stated that those whose auditory side was powerful forgot the sound after a while; on the other hand, visual learners remembered and reproduced sounds by producing forms visually. In a similar way, Zikmund (1988) determined that visual learning students who are reinforced visually learned melodies and rhythms better than visual learning students who are not reinforced visually. In the same way, it was seen that tactile/kinesthetic learning students got higher points when they were reinforced tactually/kinesthetically (Quoting: Bauer, 1994:37). As a matter of fact, Mishra (2007:5) states most researchers tested the hypothesis that talented musicians were auditory or auditory learners could be better musicians; however, both hypotheses were not supported in literature.

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A significant variation in learning modality of teacher candidates educated in music according to their gender, age and class levels (table-5-6-7). According to the results, both male and female students prefer visual learning modality relatively to other modalities. In parallel with this research, some other research in which learning modality does not vary according to gender are available (Yağışan ve Sümbül, 2009; Çağlayan ve Taşğın, 2008; Bölükbaş, 2007). Similarly, when percentiles in age groups have been analysed, music teacher candidates prefer visual learning modality rather. In parallel with the research, in the result of the research by Çağlayan and Taşğın (2008) it was observed that age variance did not create a variation in learning modality but in parallel with getting older (25 and over) the rates at student candidates' having visual, kinesthetic and auditory learning modalities show a closer range among each other. According to class level 1st, 2nd and 3rd class students prefer visual modality while 4th class students prefer auditory learning modality. Unlike this, Yağışan and Sümbül (2009) determined that age variance creates variation in learning styles and 2nd class students in Music Department prefer visual style relatively to 3rd class students; on the other hand, auditory style is preferred by 1st class students rather. Moreover, Reid (1987), who searched for individuals' learning modality preferences and qualities in the learning process of the second language, English, concluded that learning styles of students who have various foundations on language were varied and factors such as gender, age, study period, study field (department), TOEFL point influenced learning modality.

It has been determined that there is not a significant variation between music teacher candidates' learning modalities and general academic averages (table-8-9-10). Still, it has arisen that students with high grade points (between 81-100) prefer visual learning modality (%62,9) rather. Researches for the positive effectiveness of learning styles on academic success at different fields in education are available (Özbek, 2006; Bolat, 2007; Babadoğan 2002; Veznedaroğlu and Özgür 2005; Önder 2006; Ömür 2003; Rickey 2004). In the research on the learning methods of the learning modality of students whose native language is English Witkin, Moore, Oltman and their colleagues (1997) concluded that students who had changed their department during their academic career turned towards departments suitable for their own cognitive methods. In parallel with this view, Grasha (1984) stated some researches concluded people with certain learning styles prefer different content areas according to learning style qualities (Quoting: Reid, 1987:94–95). In music area, rather than the researches which analyse only the relationship between learning modality and academic achievement, studies on using learning modality at teaching activities and the effect of the relationship between various teaching materials and methods and learning modality on academic achievement have been encountered. For instance; Bauer (1994) determined students' individual learning styles could be shaped in order to get a better academic achievement opportunity in the result of his research with 90 persons in the course 'Understanding Music' on whether any learning style quality had any significant contribution to general model variety in teaching by CD- ROM and general model variety in explanatory teaching type. In his research, in which he analysed 17 voluntary piano students' learning style profiles and learning approaches they used in memorising, Rickey (2004) put forward the most common ways which pianists used in memorising were visual, auditory, tactile and analytical approaches and %8 of them (15) preferred visual and tactile memorising approach . Babacan (2010) stated that teaching activities which are done in learning modality dimension had a positive effect on a student’s achievement and attitude in piano training. By the consequence that piano training which is practiced through a unique teaching model and in a monotonous way does not improve students' performances, Ömür (2003) suggests that piano training should be practiced thorough the view that students have different learning systems and strategies.

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BIODATA AND CONTACT ADDRESS OF AUTHOR

Ezgi BABACAN is assistant professor in Music Department, Faculty of Education in Necmettin Erbakan University, Konya. Graduated in PhD degree in Institute of Education Sciences at Selçuk University in 2010. Her research interest in music education, piano education, learning modality in music education.

Assist. Prof. Dr. Ezgi BABACAN Necmettin Erbakan University Faculty of Education Department of Music Education Konya -TURKEY E. Mail: [email protected]

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Tight, G. D., (2007). The Role Of Learning Style Preference And Instructional Method In The Acquisition Of L2 Spanish Vocabulary. Doctora Dissertation, Minesota University, USA.

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IS LEARNING EFFECTIVE WITH SOCIAL NETWORKS? LET’S INVESTIGATE!

PhDc. Nil GÖKSEL CANBEK Anadolu University Eskişehir TURKEY

Prof. Dr. Jace HARGIS Chaminade University Honolulu USA

ABSTRACT

There is extensive literature which shares the effectiveness of collaborative learning. Instructional strategies, which have been used to guide collaboration efforts include derivatives of inquirybased learning such as project based, problem based, experiential, service and challenge based learning. Initially, the World Wide Web allowed greater ease of connecting to educators, hence the potential for collaboration increased. The significant advantage, which was provided with the Web 2.0 era, was to accelerate the opportunities for educational innovations through social networks in which educators and learners are able to engage in a two way interaction both individually and in groups, collaboratively. The authors of this study believe that many of these innovations align directly with the premise of connectivism. In this study, Educational Social Networking Sites (SNSs) such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Classroom 2.0, Facebook, Google Plus, Plurk Educator’s PLN, Sophia, Learn Central, ISTE Community, WhoTeaches Edutopia, Technology Integration in Education, The 21st Century Teacher, Better Lesson Diipo, Intel Education Teachers Engage Community, Everloop, Edudemic, K12 Advantage, Collaborative Translation and Second Life virtual worlds will be investigated in terms of educational connectedness and efficacy. Specific examples will be examined which highlight the power of social networking for effective teaching and learning within the scope of Distance Education and Open Educational Resources (OER).

Key Words: Educational Social Networking Sites (SNSs), Connectivism, Collaboration, Distance Education, OER.

INTRODUCTION

Inevitably we are in and perhaps beyond the era of Web 2.0! It is all but certain to be part of this promising era when we come across the recent advances on the web that have substantially affected the dimensions of new learning and teaching technologies in the field of distance education. The distinct advantage, which has been provided with the Web 2.0 era, is Social Network Sites (SNSs) that allow learners to interact not only as individuals and but in collaborative group studies as well. By focusing on the expediency of SNSs used in distance education, it can clearly be observed that collaborative approaches presented on project based, problem based, experiential, service and challenge based learning towards learning are becoming more effective in time.

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To put that into perspective, the authors of this study support the idea that SNSs may lead new educational directions in terms of connectedness and efficacy. While leading this research on SNSs, the authors’ aim is to explore the significance and potential usage of the abovementioned sites to initiate a debate for both current and further studies. This analysis will address both promises and perils of SNSs and conclude with an approach of SNSs used in educational contexts.

The study was initiated by the authors frequent encounters with their own social networks and the evolution of these programs into teaching and learning. SNSs have become many things to many people, including an ideal environment for instruction and professional development. The authors of the study have previously explored research in the area of virtual worlds, mobile learning, augmented reality and computer aided instruction. This next level of connecting these and many more technology tools seems a natural next step for investigation. The significance of this work lies in the area of humanizing what educators do online and therefore the connection of people, as opposed to connecting network of wires.

A CONSTRUCTIVIST PERSPECTIVE ON WEB 2.0 ERA

In the Web 2.0 era, the phrase “social networking sites” (SNS) is used as an umbrella term for all social media and computermediated communication that enables learners to construct profiles, display user connections, search and traverse within that list of connections (Davis, DeilAmen, Rios, & Canche, 2012; Ellison, & Boyd, 2007). To another perspective, social networks, as a very old and pervasive mechanism for mediating distal interactions among people, have become prevalent in the age of the Web (Huberman, Romero, & Wu, 2008). By using SNSs, the learner communities may enhance their online connections within a flexible form of the sites in which students can be in an informal conversation, reflexive dialogue and collaborative content generation (McLoughlin, & Lee, 2010). In this regard, educational SNSs supported by Web 2.0 tools create a globally reached learning circles in which learners could regulate their personalized learning at a distance. They are also safe alternatives to indulge lecturers to collaborate with learners on a professional level through online activities that are visible to the web at large. As indicated by BakerDoyle (2015) the progress and exchange of knowledge through networks has become a central aspect of education today. In this connection, more and more lecturers have started paying great attention on educational social networks to value social connectedness.

The foundation of social networks lies in the theory of connectivism, origins of which began with the concept of constructivism. In Piaget’s view, constructivism is the view that humans generate knowledge and meaning from building and connecting prior knowledge to new conceptual frameworks (Piaget, 1970). Connectivism is a relatively recent theory of learning, which states that learning is a process connected to information sources, may reside in non human appliances, the capacity to know more is more important than what is currently known and decisionmaking is itself a learning process (Siemens, 2005). This approach of a realizing that it is the journey, which is more important than the destination may result in an entirely different way to teach, learn and value what we know and can do. Historically, 207 Copyright © International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications / www.ijonte.org

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success in education has been measured by the person with answers, especially those students who could answer quickly, a memorized fact in isolation. Since these facts are now readily available on any smartdevice, the successful paradigm in the classroom may become the person who can find credible facts in isolation online and create a synthetic rationale by combining the facts into coherent ideas. This process of “connecting the dots (facts)” produces both potentially new knowledge as well as an educated person who can create endless sources of new knowledge through the ability to make appropriate, relevant and meaningful connections.

EDUCATIONAL WEB 2.0 SITES

Based upon the connectivist theories, there have been webbased sites designed on the ideas of Web 2.0, which can be educationally constructive to lecturers and learners in sharing resources, enhancing motivation, building social interaction and reviving inert knowledge (Lu, & Churchill, 2014). Below are the examples of some wellknown educational SNSs and SNSs that are additionally used (e.g. Twitter, LinkedIn, facebook, Google+) to augment online learning: 1. Twitter (https://twitter.com/) is a microblogging service with which users can tweet on any topic related to their current status in short posts within the 140character word limit. It is one of the most viable milieus that is used to seek and share information across Web. The microtweeting platform is also used with educational purposes as a crucial part of a learning process. The lecturers may integrate virtual twitter message into their real time class activities. A list of educational hashtags can be viewed at: http://novemberlearning.com/assets/populareducationhashtags.pdf. 2. LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) was developed primarily as a professional networking site in 2003, a derivative of SNS. Their initial slogan was “Relationships Matter”. The intent was to help connect professionals to job opportunities, partnerships, and other businessrelated work, which traditionally was accomplished through physical networking, business meetings and conferences. This site seems now to have morphed into much more, combining professional, social, educational and business. Currently, they boast over 300 million users from 200 different countries. They most recently bought Lynda.com, an online training site. 3. Classroom 2.0 was created by Steve Hargadon and used by over 80,000 members from 200 countries, Classroom 2.0 (http://www.classroom20.com/) Wiki (http://wiki.classroom20.com) as a free, communitysupported network provides resources via educational tools such as podcasts, blogging, collaborative idea maps, Google Earth, Webcasts, VoiceThread, and social bookmarking (Gee, & Levine, 2009). 4. Facebook was created by a group of college alumni namely Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes to help residential college and university students, the site is served as ‘‘. . .an online directory that connects people through social networks at colleges and universities” (Zuckerberg, 2005, p. 1). Today the site (http://www.facebook.com) is considered as one of the leaders of the social media race with more active users worldwide (Thuseethan, & Kuhanesan, 2015) To the writer, the

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site allowed online users to mingle other groups who share firsthand information instantly. 5. Google Plus was launched in 2011 and has become one of the most wellknown and popular endeavor of Google. It has been delivering functions such as posting for updated status, circles for group information sharing, sparks for videos and articles and hangouts/huddles for video chatting (Beal, 2015). The site can be reached at https://plus.google.com/. 6. Plurk (http://www.plurk.com/top/) has been a new way of microblogging based platform that let users communicate with friends promptly and efficiently. Launched on May 2008, the site’s interface has been showing updates in horizontal form through a scrollable timeline which lists all the updates received in chronological order through short messages or links called Plurks, which can be up to 140 characters in length, the same as Twitter (Tu, BauMin et al., 2011). 7. Educator's PLN was built by Thomas Whitby and is a ning site dedicated to the support of a Personal Learning Network for Educators across the globe. The site (http://edupln.ning.com/) not only helps educators to share a slew of resources like downloadable podcasts but also disposes links to relevant blogs, videos, resource lists, and events (Bernard, 2011). 8. Sophia is similar to Facebook and Twitter social networking. The allure of Sophia (https://www.sophia.org/#popularcontent) is to share and acquire knowledge through free lesson plans, private group (study) creation, and online tutoring. Educational lessons entitled as "packets" contain a particular lesson or lessons on a specific subject that can be created in a simple or a complex pattern (Dube, 2011). 9. Learn Central was cofounded in 1994 by Michael Ciarletta and Beth Sneddon as a learning solutions company and sponsored by Elluminate. Learn Central (http://www.learncentral.com/) is a milieu for educators to host/learn through executing high quality, cost effective learning programs and virtual conferences. 10. ISTE Community is the International Society for Technology and Education (ISTE), an ideal platform, which gathers communities focused and collaborate on educational technology within the innovative formats of webinars. The site can be accessed at http://istecommunity.org/. 11. WhoTeaches (https://www.whoteaches.com/) is a social network on which students can interact with other learners and educators in order to purchase Learning Package deals from private tutors and share documents. 12. Edutopia was created by the George Lucas foundation, the site has been providing a learning milieu that helps educators to implement strategies including critical thinking, projectbased learning, social and emotional learning, comprehensive assessment, teacher development, integrated studies, and technology integration via success story series displayed in K12 schools. The Edutopia website can be accessed at http://www.edutopia.org/. 13. Technology Integration in Education was created by Greg Limperis. The site (http://www.technologyintegrationineducation.com/) is designed similarly to Classroom 2.0 gathers group discussions by empowering students to fully participate in a connected, technologyrich network.

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14. The 21st Century Teacher is a social network site that is used for helping teachers for utilizing technology in the classroom within the structure of group forums, community blogs, and other related resources. 15. Better Lesson, as a free provider, has been sharing 1000 resources to empower lecturers to share the highest quality Common Corealigned lessons created. This social network site is ideal for educators to work collaboratively. The site can be accessed at http://betterlesson.com/. 16. Diipo is a social network that is similar to Moodle and Gaggle, which allows educators to stay connected with the learners through texting and blogging. The site can be accessed at http://diipo.com/. 17. Intel Education Teachers Engage Community provides regularly scheduled educational webinars and free professional development resources. Intel® Education is created for fostering educators’ technology literacy. The community provides a variety of forums and collaborative groups to discuss and focus on instructional design, projectbased approaches, assessment of 21st century skills and online collaboration. The Intel® Engage community can be accessed at http://engage.intel.com. 18. Everloop (http://www.everloop.com/) is for children under the age of 13, and safeguards against profanity, cyberbulling and other inappropriate content. The site also teaches how to network appropriately in an educational sense via various social activities offered. The site is considered as an ideal platform for children’s education as it is being monitored by parents and supported by such organizations such as iSafe. 19. Edudemic started in April 2010 by Jeff Dunn. Edudemic has been a communityfocused and resourcesharing platform, which unifies educators, administrators and learners within a social network that has lots of information on technology, education, and integration. With more than 500,000 visitors, it’s become one of the wellknown forum of discussion. The site could be reached at http://www.edudemic.com/. 20. K12 Advantage is an online milieu (http://www.k12advantage.com/) that came into existence in December 2008 and has continued to serve as a platform for archival of information supported with forums and chats for K12 academic levels. 21. Collaborative Translation was created by educator James O'Reilly. Collaborative Translation is a social network site that is carried out by a group of people who are not professional translators but have a good knowledge of the specific subject (Shimohata, Kitamura, Sukehiro, & Murata, 2001). 22. Second Life (SL) launched in 2003 and has been used as a virtual space for training and education, a trend that has been increasing in the following years (Canbek, Mavrommati, Makridou, & Demiray, 2011). As a different type of SNS, learners interact with their avatars. Second Life, is an opportunity that embodies a community of learners in which learners and course instructors interact equally and collaboratively during the process of knowledge construction (Feldberg et. al, 2009).

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SCALE OF CONNECTIVENESS BY NUMBERS

To help readers understand the scale of connectiveness, which people from around the world are currently and frequently engaged in, the authors present some of the numbers given below. As of 2015, there are: ● 750 million Facebook users worldwide; ● 100 million Twitter users worldwide; ● 230 million tweets sent per day (40% don’t actively tweet, but sign in to read others’ posts); ● $800 billion of new funding secured by Twitter recently; ● $8 billion of estimated valuation of Twitter; and ● $80 billion of estimated valuation of Facebook (Fiscal Times, 2011).

These numbers provide significant evidence that supports the astonishing growth in SNSs. Among the wellknown educational SNSs are Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Google+ for educational aims. Although initially, these sites were embraced for reasons other than educational, with this interest followed the funding to build a substantial infrastructure. Now, educators can take advantage of this stable infrastructure, as well as the large number of people who daily (if not hourly) connect from across the globe. One of the most popular sites for teacher professional development is now Twitter, which shares Open Educational Resources (OER), and Just in Time (JiT) training. The power of these approaches, especially JiT Training provides not only the facts in isolation building blocks, but presents them at a time, when they can be most effectively used. This approach is similar to Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), which is the measure of the difference between what a person can learn without instruction and what they can do with instruction. The “instruction” in this case is the ideas and resources, which the web can provide in rapid time and scale.

PROMISES OF EDUCATIONAL SNSs

The ability of any emerging technology depends on many variables, some of the major variables include access and cost, interest and functionality, and perhaps most important is appropriateness, relevance and meaningfulness. Social Network Systems have shown promise in many areas of marketing, connecting people and ideas, and now with a stable infrastructure, many educators are realizing the potential of SNSs within and beyond the formal learning environment. Educationbased SNSs have been found to be effective in online courses to enhance and clarify communications (Brady, Holcomb, & Smith, 2010). The promise of engaging learners in using SNSs was explored by Roblyer, McDaniel, Webb, Herman, & Witty (2010) who found that students were more likely to use SNSs in general and were open to using them to assist in learning. Azidieh (2012) found that SNS benefits included flexibility for learning and access; information was repeatable for additional information processing; convenience and open accessibility, which increased the amount of time attending to concepts. Others found the benefits of SNS included learner engagement,

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ability to provide quick feedback and enhanced learner collaboration (Christine, Flickinger, & Chisolm, 2013).

PERILS OF EDUCATIONAL SNSs

Of course, there are potential disadvantages for using SNS for education, which may be significant depending on the outcomes for the institution, instructor, course, and learner background, as well as to their access to functional technology. Azidieh (2012) cautioned the use of SNS due to privacy issues; the false perception of real friendships; the significant amount of time, which SNS requires to main currency; and the high level of miscommunication that may occur. Other common perils for the use of SNS in education were technical issues, highly differentiated participation, and security concerns (Christine, Flickinger, & Chisolm, 2013). Several researchers have cautioned against the combination or even the perception of combining personal and academic lives (Munoz, & Towner, 2009). Students have expressed the need for a distinct separation of personal and education SNS accounts, both of which would not be visible to stakeholders from other aspects of their lives. Respecting this philosophy will allow both worlds to exist and at the same time capitalize on the amount of time that students spend online, specifically attending to their SNS. Although they are kept separate, the academic leader can utilize the powerful ability of the SNS and more importantly, the expertise, which the learner already possesses at navigating and efficiently using the SNS infrastructure. Historically, learners entered the educational arena as novice’s in every sense. In the new SNS paradigm, many learners are experts at operating the learning instrument, and therefore, this sense of comfort creates an environment, where students are more apt to engage more frequently, thereby producing more potential for contact with the instructor and contentrich material.

CONCLUSION

Throughout the paper, a number of SNSs were introduced to readers in order to raise awareness for the educational promises of SNSs. With the advent of online technologies, people’s presence on networks became possible. Many features of SNSs such as collaboration are salient as they are usually desired in traditional learning environments. The features of SNSs clearly indicate that they are more than profile formation, liking and sharing posts; in contrast, they are great platforms that replicate features of social learning.

The authors of this study believe that many of these innovations align directly with the premise of both constructivist and connectivist approaches that remove one way guided teaching. By providing interactive communication between SNS users, both instructors and learners may revive inert knowledge. Based upon the connectivist and constructivist approaches, the authors claim that the educational SNS’s shared in this paper and designed within the frame of Web 2.0 may accelerate the opportunities for innovations in distance education. However, the authors caution that the next steps will not happen automatically. The progress will happen through deliberate actions on the part of instructors their ability to embrace and fully understand the potential of SNS’s as they pertain to education.

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Identifying efficient ways for instructors to learn and find their own intrinsic motivation to engage in SNS will be a key component of whether they will be successfully integrated into an educational environment.

BIODATA AND CONTACT ADDRESSES OF AUTHORS

Nil GOKSEL CANBEK, as an instructor at School of Foreign Languages at Anadolu University (AU), Turkey, is currently a PhD student in the field of distance education. She completed her MA degree in the field of distance education at the Graduate School of Social Sciences of AU pursued her MA Degree with the study entitled “LearnerInstructor Interaction within UniversityCommunity Partnerships by Giving Samples from Second Life (SL)” in 2009. Recently she has been working on various academic works related to social networks and their potential usage in distance education, online and immersive learning, new learning technologies, Second Life in Education, Social Interaction, Augmented Reality, Mobile Augmented Reality, Mobile Web 2.0, Blogs, Collaboration Technology, Computer Mediated Distance Learning, E learning, Mashups and Technological Innovation.

PhDc. Nil GOKSEL CANBEK Anadolu University Eskişehir TURKEY E. Mail: [email protected]

Dr. Jace HARGIS is currently the Associate Provost and Professor at Chaminade University Honolulu. Previously, he has been a College Director in the UAE; an Assistant Provost and Associate Professor at the University of the Pacific; and a Director of Faculty Development and Assistant Professor at the University of North Florida. He has authored a textbook, an anthology and published over 100 academic articles as well as offered hundreds of national and international academic presentations. He has earned a B.S. in Oceanography from Florida Institute of Technology; a M.S. in Environmental Engineering Sciences and a Ph.D. in Science Education from the University of Florida. His research agenda focuses on how people learn with the use of emerging instructional technologies.

Prof. Dr. Jace HARGIS Chaminade University Honolulu HI USA E. Mail: [email protected]

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