Educational Research and Reviews Volume 11 Number 7 10 April, 2016 ISSN 1990-3839
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Dr. Peter W. Wong Southern Cross University Assoc. Prof. Manjula Vithanapathirana Australia. Faculty of Education University of Colombo Colombo, Sri Lanka. Associate Editors Dr. Ahmet Basal Dr. Melissa Vick Yıldız Technical University School Of Education Education Faculty James Cook University Foreign Languages Education Department Townsville, İstanbul, Australia. Turkey.
Dr. Maniam Kaliannan Prof. Lazarus Ndiku Makewa Faculty of Adminstrative Science & Policy Studies University of Eastern Africa Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Baraton, Selangor, Kenya. Malaysia. Prof. Ogunsakin R. Ebenezer Dr. Tavis D. Jules Department of Statistics Cultural and Educational Policy Studies Ekiti State University Ado Ekiti, School of Education Loyola University Chicago Nigeria. Chicago, USA. Dr. A. Kadir Maskan Dicle University Dr. Adams Onuka Ziya Gokalp Education Faculty Centre for Peace and conflict Studies (CEPACS) Department of Physics Education University of Ibadan Diyarbakir, Turkey. Nigeria.
Dr. Yambo John M. Onyango Dr. Mohd Akhtar Siddiqui University of Eastern Africa Institute of Advanced Studies in Education Kamagambo Adventist College Campus Faculty of Education Baraton, Jamia Millia Islamia Central University Kenya. New Delhi, India. Dr. Tolga Gök
Torbali Vocational School of Higher Education
Dokuz Eylul University
Izmir, Turkey.
Editorial Board Prof. Bingjun Yang Prof. García Mayo, María del Pilar School of Foreign Languages Departamento de Filología Inglesa y Alemana y de Southwest University Traducción e Interpretación Chongqing, Universidad del País Vasco (UPV/EHU) China. Paseo de la Universidad 5 Vitoria, Dr. Ernest W. Brewer Spain. The University of Tennessee Educational Administration and Supervision Prof. Frank Witlox Tennessee, Ghent University USA. Department of Geography Gent, Prof. Gail Derrick Belgium. Regent University School of Education Prof. Georgios D. Sideridis Virginia Beach, University of Crete USA. Department of Psychology Rethimno, Dr. Evridiki Zachopoulou Greece. Department of Early Childhood Care and Education Thessaloniki, Prof. Andreas Veglis Greece. Department of Journalism and Mass Media Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Dr. Francesco Pastore Thessaloniki, Seconda Università di Napoli Greece. Italy,
Prof. Mutendwahothe Walter Lumadi Dr. Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah Curriculum & Instructional Studies Technical Education and Vocation College of Education TEVTA Secretariat UNISA, Lahore, South Africa. Pakistan.
Dr. Miriam McMullan Dr. Ravi Kant Faculty of Health and Social Work College of Teacher Education University of Plymouth Maulana Azad National Urdu University Plymouth, Darbhanga, UK. India.
Prof. Moshe Barak Dr. Dibakar Sarangi Graduate Program for Science and Technology Education Directorate of Teacher Education and State Council for Ben-Gurion University of the Negve, Educational Research and Training Beer Sheva, (DTE & SCERT) Israel. Odisha,
India. Dr. Hiam Zein
Psychology and Education Dr. Elisa Backer Lebanese American University Faculty of Business Chouran-Beirut, Federation University Australia Lebanon. Australia.
Dr. Joel O. Eriba Dr. Ahmad Alkhawaldeh Faculty of Education Department of Curriculum and instruction Benue State University University of Jordan Makurdi, Jordan. Nigeria.
Educational Research and Reviews
Table of Contents: Volume 11 Number 7 10 April, 2016
ARTICLES ARTICLES
Investigation of teachers' perceptions of organizational citizenship behavior Research Articles and their evaluation in terms of educational administration 318
Ahmet AVCI Strengthening preceptors’ competency in Thai clinical nursing 2653 LinkingRenu Mingpun organizational, Boonchom health Srisa in- Jeddahard, and secondary Apinya Jumpamool schools to students' academic achievement 328 Saleh Ali Y. Alqarni The effect of playing different musical instruments on arm asymmetry 2661 ExaminingE. Erdem KAYA participation of university students in recreational entertainment marketing activities 339
OrganizationalAdem Pala ımage perceptions of higher education students 2667 Rüyam KÜÇÜKSÜLEYMANOĞLU Preservice preschool teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs and attitudes toward teaching profession 345 TheŞenel curriculum Elaldı and developmentNazlı Sıla Yerliyurt for science teachers’ training: The action lesson focusing on science process skills 2674 JesdaA study Khayo of developingtha, Somsong attitude Sitti and scale Kanyarat for piano Sonsupap teaching 358 Tarkan YAZICI
EffectThe proposed of daily workmodel on of student’s writing with memorization accompaniment ability of in m pianousic education 371 education for students and its prospect in application 2684 Barış TOPTAŞ Izzet Yucetoker
The views of Arab students regarding Turks, the Ottoman Empire, and the Republic of Turkey: A case of Jordan 377
HasanThe validity Isık and reliability study of the sports facility utilization
scale of university students: The case of Karabük University 2688
ExaminingSerdar CEYHUN the relation between metacognitive understanding of what is listened to and metacognitive awareness levels of secondary school students 390 Erhan AKIN Analyzing state and private school students’ achievement goal Theorientation relationship levels between in terms fan of someidentification variables and moral disengagement of physical 2695 educationÜnal TÜRKÇAPAR and sports students 402 Yavuz Yıldız
EffectsBenefits of of doctorate teaching programinterdisciplinary on a novice subjects teacher’s collaboratively conceptualization in of an effective teacher:Jordanian A precase-vocational study education 2702 411 GüldenMon’im İlin A. Al-Saaideh and Mohammad Sayel Nasr-allah Al-Zyoud
ARTICLES
Ethnomathematics in Arfak (West Papua –Indonesia): Hidden Mathematics on knot of Rumah Kaki Seribu 420 Haryanto, Toto Nusantara, Subanji and Abadyo
The use of “ask, write, throw” technique as a writing skill practice when teaching Turkish as a foreign language 426 Nazife Burcu TAKIL
A study on reflection as a source of teacher development: Pre-service and experienced teachers 437 Saziye Yaman
Effects of using dynamic mathematics software on pre-service mathematics teachers’ spatial visualization skills: The case of spatial analytic geometry 449 Temel Kösa
High school students’ attitudes towards smart board use in Biology classes 459 İ. Ümit YAPICI and Ferit KARAKOYUN
Evaluation of the curriculum of English preparatory classes at Yildiz Technical University using CIPP model 466 Uğur Akpur, Bülent Alcı and Hakan Karataş
Interpersonal problem solving, self-compassion and personality traits in university students 474 Coskun Arslan
Predictors of academic procrastination and university life satisfaction among Turkish sport schools students 482 Ocal Kubilay
A study of democratic school culture perceptions of sport high school students 491 Enes IŞIKGÖZ
Vol. 11(7), pp. 318-327, 10 April, 2016 DOI: 10.5897/ERR2016.2641 Article Number: 943961E57611 ISSN 1990-3839 Educational Research and Reviews Copyright © 2016 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article http://www.academicjournals.org/ERR
Full Length Research Paper
Investigation of teachers' perceptions of organizational citizenship behavior and their evaluation in terms of educational administration
Ahmet AVCI
Department of Education Sciences, Faculty of Education, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakıf University, Turkey.
Received 12 January, 2016; Accepted 26 February, 2016
The aim of this study is to investigate teachers' perceptions of organizational citizenship behaviors and to evaluate them in terms of educational administration. Descriptive survey model was used in the research. The data of the research were obtained from 1,613 teachers working in public and private schools subjected to Ministry of National Education in Uskudar District of Istanbul province in 2014. In this study, data were obtained from the "Personal Information Form" developed by the researcher and from the "Organizational Citizenship Scale". According to research results; teachers had a high level of positive opinions with regard to organizational citizenship behaviors. The opinions of the respondents varied significantly according to gender, professional seniority, state of education and the working time at the school where they worked. High level of organizational citizenship behaviours in the school will affect education activities in positive way, contribute in generating a healthy school climate and influence students’ success in positive way too.
Key words: Organizational citizenship behaviors, education management, school.
INTRODUCTION
Globalization and increasing conditions of competition employees. The institution will succeed only when people have led organizations to adopt the understanding of begin to work eagerly every day in order to see each human resource management by leaving the other, to do the best that they can do related to business, understanding of employee management in the traditional to serve its customers and to assist firms to compete. sense in order to create more efficient business According to this understanding, employees are environments. Human resources management ensures supported so as to exhibit more effective, participatory employees, who perform the activities that are required to and independent behaviors of the formal reward system achieve the organizational objectives, to be able to take for the organizational objectives. At this point, action, develop and make a great effort by motivating organizational citizenship behaviors are the most them to achieve the purposes of the organization (Boone important interesting concepts, and this situation is and Kurtz, 2013: 254). According to Boone and Kurtz exactly true for training organizations, as well (Celep et (2013: 255), an institution is favorable only by its al., 2005: 1; Koçel, 2013: 668; Erşahan, 2011: 153).
E-mail: [email protected], [email protected].
Authors agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License AVCI 319
Studies carried out in recent years particularly have Burns and Carpenter, 2008), organizational citizenship focused on how organizations can increase their behaviors and attitudes of teachers (Bogler and Somech, performance to higher levels. "Organizational citizenship 2005). Also within the country, many researches and behavior" is the most important among the emphasized studies have been carried out about the organizational and investigated subjects concerning the organizations' citizenship behaviors in educational institutions and the ability to work with high performance, increasing the variables associated with these behaviors: Organizational efficiency, making extra efforts by working beyond citizenship behaviors and organizational health (Buluç, expectations, presenting an organizational behavior 2008), organizational citizenship behaviors and training committed to organization's vision, mission, values and organizations (Sezgin, 2005; Acar, 2006), organizational goals by forming the culture of "we are a big family" citizenship behaviors and organizational learning (Taşçı among employees (Bateman and Organ, 1983; Organ, and Koç, 2007), organizational citizenship behaviors, 1989; Organ and Konovsky, 1989; Podsakoff et al., 1990; organizational commitment and burnout (Celep et al., Farh et al., 1990; Graham, 1991; DiPaola and 2005), organizational citizenship behaviors and Tschannen-Moran, 2001; DiPaola and Hoy, 2005 as cited organizational trust (Yücel and Samancı-Kalaycı, 2009), in Avcı, 2015d: 2). For all that, together with organizational citizenship behaviors and the student organizational citizenship, transformational and achievement (2003), organizational citizenship behaviors transactional leadership has significant effects on and the organizational justice (Taştan and Yılmaz, 2008), corporate success and other corporate factors (Avcı, organizational citizenship behaviors and teachers' 2015b: 2759). Also, compared to transactional perceptions (Titrek et al., 2009; Çetin et al., 2003; Yılmaz, leadership, transformational leadership provides more 2010), organizational citizenship behaviors, contribution to achievement of organizational success organizational justice and organizational trust (Baş and and goals and affects organizational citizenship more Şentürk, 2011; Polat and Celep, 2008), organizational positively in almost all studies (Yukl, 1989; Bass, 1997; citizenship behaviors and personality characteristics of MacKenzie et al., 2001; Geijsel et al., 2003; Avcı, 2015c). teachers (Yücel and Kaynak-Taşçı, 2007). In the study carried out, it was observed that the When we look at the results of these studies, we see performance of the individuals with organizational that organizational citizenship behaviors are very citizenship behaviors within the organization was higher important for institutions and have very critical role in the than the others (Williams and Anderson, 1991; Moorman, success of the institutions. In suggestions made 1991; Moorman et al., 1993; Konovsky and Pugh, 1994; according to the results of the study, establishment and Organ and Ryan, 1995; Konovsky and Organ, 1996; development of organizational citizenship behaviors in Podsakoff et al., 1996; Podsakoff et al., 1997; Podsakoff institutions is strongly recommended. In particular, the et al., 2000; Motowidlo, 2000). This situation is the same importance of making organizational citizenship in educational organizations as such in all successful behaviors sensible in the entire institutions is emphasized organizations (DiPaola and Tschannen-Moran, 2001: based on the creation of a positive organizational culture 433; DiPaola and Hoy, 2005: 37; Allison et al., 2001: 288 in institutions, the realization of healthy organizational as cited in Avcı, 2015d: 3). communication, the establishment of unity and Raising individuals who are innovative, entrepreneurial togetherness among employees and achievement of and self-aware, who have a leader spirit and strong institutional success. In this study, organizational character, who can use their capacity in the most efficient citizenship behaviors were investigated in terms of way being aware of the opportunities and capabilities are different variables according to the teachers' perceptions, now the most important issues today. At this point, the and these results were evaluated in terms of educational critical need for organizational citizenship behaviors is administration. obvious for the efficient functioning of education and training systems, ensuring the development of students in the best way, creating a healthy school climate and Purpose and significance of the study reaching an atmosphere in which the objectives of the school are followed in unity and togetherness, at the With this study, it was tried to determine the same time, people make a great effort and make organizational citizenship behaviors in the school and sacrifice. Thus, many researchers have been carried out how these behaviors vary according to gender, about the organizational citizenship behaviors in professional seniority, and the school from which they educational institutions and the variables associated with graduated and the working hours in the schools they these behaviors: Organizational citizenship behaviors worked, from the viewpoint of teachers. The results of and school climate (DiPaola and Tschannen-Moran, this research are important in terms of data that will 2001), organizational citizenship behavior and school and reveal for revealing the level of organizational citizenship career achievements of students (Allison et al., 2001), behaviors in the school, the detection of how do teachers organizational citizenship behaviors with achievement perceive these according to different variables, the and acquisition of students (DiPaola and Hoy, 2005; establishment of an effective education and training
320 Educ. Res. Rev.
system with a healthy school management and climate 777 as cited in Avcı, 2015d: 3): 1) Behaviours for and the development of organizational citizenship providing active participation and contribution to the behaviors. Studies related to organizational citizenship organization and 2) Behaviours avoiding any behaviours behaviors in the literature, as mentioned, generally that may damage the organization and prevent them addressed the relationships with school and educational within organization. General characteristics of the first- administration variables. Although there are studies that type behaviours are individuals’ active contribution to the analyzed the organizational citizenship behaviors with the organization and efficient participation in the viewpoints of teachers and in terms of different variables organizational structure and their contribution to the that teachers had, they are not at the desired level. This organization by working and sacrifice. As general research is also important in terms of making contribution characteristics, the second-type behaviours contribute to to make up this deficiency in the literature. the organization by avoiding and preventing the In the light of this information, the main purpose of the behaviours that may damage the organization. Although research is to determine the viewpoints of teachers on there are some basic differences between these two organizational citizenship behaviors. The main questions types of behaviours, the underlying aspect for both of of the research: How are the organizational citizenship them is to grow the organizational success and efficiency behaviors evaluated according to the teachers' (Podsakoff et al., 1996: 263; Motowidlo, 2000: 116). perceptions? The following questions were sought to be answered within the research: Do the organizational citizenship behaviors show a significant difference based Sub-dimensions of organizational citizenship on gender, professional seniority, educational status and behaviour the school they worked according to teachers' perceptions? As a general concept, the sub-dimension of organizational citizenship behaviour is considered under the following five titles (Podsakoff et al., 1990: 115-116; THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Podsakoff et al., 1996: 279-280; Podsakoff et al., 2000: 516-517; DiPaola and Tschannen-Moran, 2001: 431-432 Organizational citizenship behaviour as cited in Avcı, 2015a: 719): 1) Altruism: It implies that an individual helps voluntarily and willingly his/her Organizational citizenship behaviour is defined as colleagues and those newly starting working and plays an discretional extra-role behaviour which is not directly active role in solution of work-related problems within the involved or defined in the formal reward system, and organization and assists other persons gratuitously. 2) which in the aggregate promotes the effective functioning Courtesy: It refers to preventing potential problems by of the organization (Bateman and Organ, 1983: 588). informing, reminding and transferring useful information Unlike formal organizational behaviours, organizational and to fulfilling the tasks more effectively by efficient use citizenship behaviour is on volunteer basis (Organ and of time and possibilities. 3) Conscientiousness: It implies Konovsky, 1988: 157), goes beyond the routine work that an individual fulfils his/her tasks voluntarily beyond behaviours (Podsakoff et al., 1990: 115), is not based on the minimum expected role behaviours. Arriving the work explicit orders and instructions (Graham, 1991: 253), place on time, using the working time efficiently and contributes to organizational success in short, medium respecting the rules defined in the working place and long term (Williams and Anderson, 1991: 602). voluntarily can be considered under this title. 4) Those non-formal behaviours that go beyond formal and Sportsmanship: It refers to performing the tasks willingly written work and task behaviours are generally called as without complaining in the event of problems and organizational citizenship behaviour (Farh et al., 1990: disruptions experienced in the organization. 706; Moorman, 1991: 846; Moorman et al., 1993: 210 as Sportsmanship denotes not complaining when disturbed cited in Avcı, 2015d: 3). by others or when the conditions are not as desired and it Starting from the definitions of organizational also denotes not refusing colleagues’ wishes. 5) Civic citizenship behaviour and their scope, such behaviours virtue: It means active and volunteer participation in the involve the following three basic aspects (Bateman and organizational activities and life by keeping the Organ, 1983: 588; Podsakoff and MacKenzie, 1997: 135; organizational interest at the highest level. Wagner and Rush, 2000: 380): 1) Being discretional and volunteerist, 2) Involving extra behaviour not included in terms of reference 3) Contributing to organizational METHODOLOGY effectiveness and success. Examining the structure of organizational citizenship behaviours, it is seen that such Research model behaviours can be assessed under the following two This research, according to teachers' perceptions, is a quantitative groups (Organ and Konovsky, 1988: 157; Farh et al., investigation using survey instruments and descriptive research 1990: 706; Moorman, 1991: 846; Organ and Ryan, 1995: examining the organizational citizenship behaviors. The survey
AVCI 321
model was used in the research. A survey model is a research Citizenship Scale has a high reliability value. approach aiming to indicate past or currently existing situation as it is. The individual or the subject discussed in the research is defined as it is in its own conditions, and is not changed (Karasar, 2007: Analysis and interpretation of data 77). The data entry obtained from the respondents was made by SPSS
17.0 and research data were resolved with "average", "standard Population and sample deviation", “t-test”, “one-way analysis of variance” and Post Hoc
Tests intended for determining differentation between groups. Teachers who worked in public and private schools subjected to
Ministry of National Education in Uskudar district of Istanbul Province in 2014 formed the population of the research. The sample was not taken in the research; information was obtained FINDINGS from the population. There were 4813 teachers in the population. In the research, web-based and original Survey Information According to the findings of this research, teachers have Management System (ABYS), which was specially prepared for the highly positive perception on organizational citizenship research, was developed. Owing to opportunities and facilities behaviors ( = 4.28). The average of male teachers’ provided by this system, a complete inventory sampling model was utilized in order to reach all of the schools in the district. A complete perceptions ( = 4.36) is higher than that of female ones inventory sampling model is the information collection from all units ( = 4.14). The opinions of the respondents vary in the target audience regarding the research (Şenol, 2012: 35). A significantly according to gender, professional seniority, complete inventory model requires significant effort and has important advantages as it foresees the collection of information state of education and the working time in the school from all units in the audience (Şenol, 2012: 35). The success of the where they work. The results obtained from the statistical sample increases in proportion to the existence of preliminary analyses conducted in respect of the researched problem information about the audience units. The sample becomes difficult together with these general findings are shown in tables. when these kinds of information are not reached accurately and Teachers’ levels of perception on organizational reliably. However, the fact that such preliminary information is not citizenship behaviors are shown according to gender in necessary for a complete inventory is an important advantage of the complete inventory (Şenol, 2012: 36). Owing to this and similar Table 1. advantages, the complete inventory sampling model was used In Table 1, the fact that whether the opinions about the while obtaining information from the population. The sample was organizational citizenship behavior varied according to not taken in the research, the information was obtained from the the gender of those who participated in the research was population; and the data of 1613 teachers with necessary revealed by Independent sample t-test. The opinions requirements were used. Among 1613 people whose data were about the organizational citizenship behavior (as it was t= evaluated, 544 of them (33.7%) were females; 1069 of them (66.3%) were males. Totally 394 (24.4%) people including 123 -5.911, p < 0.05) varied significantly according to the (7.6%) female and 271 (16.8%) male from the state primary school; gender of the respondents. Male’s perception average totally 479 (29.7%) people including 206 (12.8%) female and 273 about organizational citizenship behaviours is higher than (16.9%) male from the state secondary school; totally 406 (25.2%) that of females. people including 138 (8.6%) female and 268 (16.6%) male from the Teachers’ levels of perception on organizational state high schools; totally 104 (6.4%) people including 14 (0.9%) female and 90 (5.6%) male from the private primary school; totally citizenship behaviors are shown according to 68 (4.2%) people including 16 (1.0%) female and 52 (3.2%) male professional seniority in Table 2. from the private secondary school; and totally 162 (10%) people In Table 2, the fact that whether the opinions about the including 47 (2.9%) female and 115 (7.1%) male from the private organizational citizenship behavior varied according to high schools participated in the research. The number of males that the professional seniority of those who participated in the participated in the study was higher than the number of female, and research was revealed by ANOVA test: The opinions similarly, the number of those from governmental institutions who participated in the study was higher than the number of about the organizational citizenship behavior (as it was p respondents from private institutions. < 0.05) varied significantly according to the professional seniority of the respondents. In order to detect the difference between the groups, Data collection and analysis Post Hoc Tests were conducted. According to the test results, a significant difference was found out between 0- Data collection tools 1 year and 2-3 years (the difference between the
1. Personal Information Form: Closed-ended questions averages: 81.000; S: 9.11; p < 0.05) in terms of investigating the personal and professional characteristics of professional seniority. Likewise, in respect of professional teachers who were included within the scope of the application in seniority, a significant difference was revealed between Personal Information Form. 2-3 and 3-5 years (the difference between the averages: 2. Organizational Citizenship Behavior Scale: Appropriateness of -82.463; S: 8.20; p < 0.05); 2-3 and 6-7 years (the data to factor analysis was investigated by KMO value (Kaiser- Meyer-Olkin) and Bartlett Test of Sphericity, and KMO value of .959 difference between the averages: -64.795; S: 8.58; p < and Barlett Test of Sphericity (p: .000) were observed to be 0.05); 2-3 and 8-10 years (the difference between the significant. The general reliability value of Organizational averages: -94.482; S: 7.75; p < 0.05) as well as 2-3 and Citizenship Scale was .975. This value indicates that Organizational 11 years and above (the difference between the
322 Educ. Res. Rev.
Table 1. Gender and organizational citizenship independent sample t-test results
Gender N 퐗 S t
Female 543 4.1441 81.959 -5.911 Organizational citizenship Male 1069 4.3655 49.890
p < 0.05.
Table 2. Professional seniority and organizational citizenship ANOVA results.
Professional seniority N S Sum of squares Average of squares F 0-1 year 87 4.3181 72.740 632802.3 126560.469 35.016 2-3 years 87 3.3977 119.08 5808207 3614.316 3-5 years 140 4.3295 68.995 6441009 6-7 years 126 4.1250 54.366 8-10 years 194 4.4659 39.387 11 years and above 979 4.3409 53.550 General 1613 4.2840 63.211
p < 0.05.
averages: -83.103; S: 6.72; p < 0.05). A significant research was revealed by ANOVA test: The opinions difference was revealed between 6-7 and 8-10 years (the about the organizational citizenship behavior (as it was p difference between the averages: -29.686; S: 6.87; p < <0.05) varied significantly according to the respondents' 0.05); 6-7 and 11 years and above groups (the difference state of education. between the averages: -18.307; S: 5.69; p < 0.05). In order to detect the difference between the groups, Teachers’ levels of perception on organizational Post Hoc Tests were conducted. According to the test citizenship behaviors are shown according to working results, a significant difference was found out between 4- time in the school where they work in Table 3. year higher education-bachelor’s degree and master’s In Table 3, the fact that whether the opinions about the degree (the difference between the averages: 25.956; S: organizational citizenship behavior varied according to 4.16; p < 0.05) and also between 4-year higher the working time at the school where they worked of education-bachelor’s degree and 2-3-year associate those who participated in the research was revealed by degree (the difference between the averages: -48.481; S: ANOVA test: The opinions about the organizational 10.33; p < 0.05) in terms of state of education. Also a citizenship behavior (as it was p <0.05) varied significant difference between doctoral degree and 2-3- significantly according to the respondents' working time at year associate’s degree (the difference between the the school where they worked. averages: -70.909; S: 17.80; p < 0.05) was revealed. In order to detect the difference between the groups, Post Hoc Tests were conducted. According to the test results, a significant difference was found out between 0- RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 1 year and 2-3 years (the difference between the averages: 17.179; S: 4.58; p < 0.05) in terms of working This research was carried out to investigate teachers’ time in the school where they work. Likewise, in terms of perceptions on organizational citizenship behaviors and their working time, a significant difference was revealed to evaluate them in terms of educational administration. between 2-3and 6-7 years (the difference between the Regarding the organizational citizenship behaviors, averages: -25.634; S: 6.45; p < 0.05); 2-3 and 11 years teachers have highly positive opinions. Many similar and above (the difference between the averages: - studies in the literature including those of Oğuz (2011), 27.955; S: 4.96; p < 0.05). Polat and Celep (2008), Özdevecioğlu (2003), Taştan Teachers’ levels of perception on organizational and Yılmaz (2008), Buluç (2008), Avcı (2015d) and citizenship behaviors are shown according to state of Akyüz (2012) have similar results with ours. In the education in Table 4. researches of Arlı (2011), Yıldırım (2012), Titrek et al., In Table 4, the fact that whether the opinions about the (2009), Kürşad (2010), Polat (2009), Korkmaz (2011) and organizational citizenship behavior varied according to Dilek (2005), similar results were obtained. Teachers’ the state of education of those who participated in the high perception on organizational citizenship behaviors is
AVCI 323
Table 3. Working time at the school where he/she worked and organizational citizenship ANOVA results.
퐗 Working time at the school where he/she worked N SS Sum of squares Average of squares F 0-1 year 465 4.2954 57.764 140581.8 28116.352 7.171 2-3 years 311 4.1022 83.980 6300427 3920.614 3-5 years 226 4.2613 69.574 6441009 6-7 years 135 4.3977 44.909 8-10 years 150 4.2727 60.516 11 years and above 326 4.4204 45.090 General 1613 4.2840 63.211 p< 0.05.
Table 4. State of education and organizational citizenship ANOVA results.
State of education N 퐗 S Sum of squares Average of squares F 4-Year Higher Education, Undergraduate 1281 4.3181 55.630 274246.3 54849.260 14.293 Post graduate 267 4.0227 89.750 6166763 3837.438 Doctor's degree 18 4.0681 44.838 6441009 Teacher's training school 2 4.8977 17.768 2-3-Year Associate Degree 37 4.8750 20.838 Other 8 4.7159 43.070 General 1613 4.2840 63.211
p < 0.05.
highly important for education and training system. This is teachers do not have similar criteria to evaluate the because the high level of perception on the organizational citizenship behaviors. The fact that male organizational citizenship behaviors in schools will have a teachers have higher average of perceptions can be positive impact on the education and training activities in interpreted in the way that they have a more positive schools contribute to creation of a healthy school climate perspective to evaluate the organizational citizenship and also affect the students’ success positively. behaviors in the school where they work. Therefore, it is desired and expected to ensure high perception on organizational citizenship behaviors in all According to the result of this research, the opinions on institutions especially in schools. the organizational citizenship behaviors vary significantly by the respondents’ professional seniority:
The opinions of the respondents vary significantly While this result corresponds to those of Kürşad (2010), according to gender, professional seniority, state of Ölçüm-Çetin (2004) as well as Baş and Şentürk (2011), it education and the working time in the school where differs from the research results of Polat and Celep they work (2008). Based on the result of this study, the highest average is in 8-10 year and 0-1 year group whereas the According to results of this research, the opinions on the lowest average is in 2-3 year group in respect of organizational citizenship behaviors vary significantly professional seniority. The other averages vary between according to the respondents’ gender: one another. This result can be interpreted in the way that teachers are considerably enthusiastic and idealistic This result corresponds to the research results of Ölçüm- and have more positive perspective on the management, Çetin (2004), Kürşad (2010) as well as Yücel and institution and incidents during the first year when they Kaynak-Taşçı (2007) while it differs from those of Baş start their profession; but their average of perception and Şentürk (2011); Titrek et al. (2009) and Polat and goes down in the following year due to various situations Celep (2008). According to the result of this research, the and incidents that they may have encountered. The average of male teachers’ perceptions on the highest average is available in 8-10 year group, which organizational citizenship behaviors is higher than that of can be considered that teachers get accustomed to the female ones. This result reveals that male and female current situation and more adapted to their profession
324 Educ. Res. Rev.
after their 7th year. This can be regarded as positive be high for corporate success and efficiency. What is because when teachers’ positive perceptions on the desired at this point is that the more the academic level organizational citizenship behaviors increase, they can increases, the more positive contributions teachers will be more productive and beneficial to their institution. make to themselves and their environment and hence the higher the level of organizational citizenship behaviors According to the result of this research, the opinions on felt in the institution will be. The similarities or differences the organizational citizenship behaviors vary significantly between all other results may result from the socio- by the respondents’ working time in the school that they economic levels and possibilities of the schools where work: the teachers work and also the teachers’ personal perceptions and differences. This result differs from the research results of Polat and Regarding the organizational citizenship behaviors and Celep (2008). In respect of the working time in the the connection of these behaviors with organizational school, one of the highest averages is available in 0-1 variables, while there is a positive outlook in general, year group while the lowest average is in 2-3 year and 3- there are also some studies that approach the issue in a 5 year group. These results show us that a teacher who critical manner. Şeşen (2008) examines this issue in starts working in a school is really enthusiastic and detail in his study called "A critical analysis of studies on motivated but in the following years, he/she cannot organizational citizenship behaviors: Theological and maintain these feelings and these feelings slowly go epistemological concerns". According to Şeşen (2008), down to the lowest level as from the second year of the issue of organizational citizenship behaviors attracted employment. The lowest level is reached by the groups of the interest of many researchers especially in the last 11 year and above. In fact, the desired and expected fifteen to twenty years, and many researches have been scenario is different from this. It is expected that teachers’ carried out on the premises and results of this issue. perceptions on the organizational citizenship behaviors However, when analyzing the research results according will increase as much as their working time at school to Şeşen (2008), it is seen that the concept of increases. This is because teachers are expected to get organizational citizenship behavior was based on some more accustomed to their new school, school universal consents and that it was not discussed on the management, colleagues and profession over years. In basis of theoretical, conceptual or philosophical. line with this expectation, the level of teachers’ perception However, when analyzing the domestic and foreign on the organizational citizenship behaviors should be sources related to organizational citizenship behaviors, it high. From this perspective, the school management is seen that it is not really possible to agree with the should, at the end of the first year, particularly take care opinion of Şeşen (2008). This is because there are many of the teachers who have newly started working at their domestic and foreign researches concerning the new school. The school management should especially premises and especially the results of organizational take of the teachers in this group and support them. citizenship behaviors, and these researches reveal the Likewise, the school management should endeavor to positive effects of organizational citizenship behaviors for maintain the teachers’ high level of perception on the the institutions on the basis of scientific data (Bateman organizational citizenship behaviors which is available and Organ, 1983; Podsakoff et al., 1990; Graham, 1991; during the first year of their employment. Podsakoff, Mackenzie, Paine and Bachrach, 2000;
According to the result of this research, the opinions on Motowidlo, 2000; DiPaola and Tschannen-Moran, 2001; the organizational citizenship behaviors vary significantly DiPaola and Hoy, 2005; Bogler and Somech, 2005; by the respondents’ state of education: Özdevecioğlu, 2003; Sezgin, 2005; Polat and Celep, 2008; Buluç, 2008; Oğuz, 2011 as cited in Avcı, 2015f: This result differs from the research results of Kürşad 19). Thus, it possible to observe that the critical (2010); Polat and Celep (2008); Titrek et al. (2009) as importance and value revealed by organizational well as Baş and Şentürk (2011). In respect of state of citizenship behaviors for the institutions are based on education, the lowest averages are available in the group scientific data rather than some universal consent, as of master’s degree and doctoral degree while the lowest Şeşen (2008) stated. ones are in the groups of teacher’s training school, 2-3- Additionally, the relationship of organizational year associate’s degree and bachelor’s degree. The citizenship behaviors with internal variables is significant more the academic level increases, the more the level of and positive. According to the research of Oğuz (2011), perceived organizational citizenship level decreases. This there is a moderate, positive and significant relationship result can be interpreted in the way that the averages between the leadership styles of managers and OCB; decrease gradually when the academic level increases according to the research of Yılmaz and Çokluk-Bokeoğlu since teachers’ evaluation criteria will change and they (2008), there is a moderate, positive and significant will have a more idealistic perspective. This result is an relationship between OCB and organizational expected but not desired one because the level of commitment; according to the research of Polat and organizational citizenship behaviors is always desired to Celep (2008), there is a moderate, positive and
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significant relationship between the perception of suggestions related to this (Allison et al., 2001: 287), they organizational justice and OCB, and there is a moderate, voluntarily support their teacher friends even though this positive and significant relationship between the is not located within their job description formally, they perception of organizational trust and OCB; according to support the school administration, they take care of the research of Polat (2007), there is a moderate, positive students even during break time and out of working hours and significant relationship between the perception of of school (Nguni et al., 2006: 171), they continue to work organizational justice and OCB, and there is a moderate, fearlessly with dedication under difficulties they positive and significant relationship between the encounter, they avoid all kinds of attitudes and behaviors perception of organizational trust and OCB. that could damage the school and working atmosphere; In all researches carried out, the fact that opinions they do not gossip, they keep away from destructive, about organizational citizenship behavior were positive is back-breaking, harmful words, deeds and actions (Burns a beneficial situation for the educational system. This is and Carpenter, 2008: 51); they make contributions to because organizational citizenship behaviors have a very their school by acting with a team spirit and "being we" critical role, a significant importance and a consciousness and by working voluntarily in devotion and comprehensive benefit in the success and effectiveness self-sacrifice beyond what is expected from them (Bogler of the institutions (Bateman and Organ, 1983: 587). and Somech, 2005: 424). Such organizational citizenship Organizational citizenship behavior makes a great behaviors and transformational leadership styles shown contribution to the success of the organization and to the in the educational institutions support the students' realization of the objectives by protecting organization individual, academic and social developments by creating from disruptive and unwanted behaviors (Organ and an efficient and effective educational leadership and Konovsky, 1989: 157), by developing employees' talents environment (Avcı, 2015e:169), nevertheless, prepare and skills and by creating an effective and productive the necessary environment for educating more working atmosphere (Podsakoff et al., 1990: 109; Farh et successful and happy students (DiPaola and Tschannen- al., 1990: 707 as cited in Avcı, 2015a: 720). The fact that Moran, 2001: 441; DiPaola and Hoy, 2005: 42; Bogler the organization makes individuals achieve their goals and Somech, 2005: 430; Avcı, 2015b: 2765). while achieving its own goals, and that individuals make These results show that the organizational citizenship organization achieve its goals while achieving their own behaviors exhibited in institutions have positive effects on goals is the basic requirement of living organization. healthy operation and success of institutions. This When considered from this point of view, organizational situation is especially valid for the educational institutions citizenship behavior plays a balancing role in achieving that have the most important role in a country's individual and organizational goals (Organ and Ryan, development. When considered from this point of view, it 1995: 776; Podsakoff et al., 1996: 278). According to the appears that the promotion and the enhancement of results of the research carried out, organizational organizational citizenship behaviors also in educational citizenship behaviors particularly support the institutions is important and essential for more efficient organizational structure basically at three points within education system of our country, improving the quality of the organization about the formation of efficient and education and the establishment of quality and success- effective work environment (Motowidlo, 2000: 116; oriented school culture (Çetin et al., 2003; Özdevecioğlu, Borman, 2004: 239; Purvanova et al., 2006: 4 as cited in 2003; Sezgin, 2005; Polat and Celep, 2008; Buluç, 2008; Avcı, 2015a: 720): 1). It increases the solidarity and Yılmaz and Taşdan, 2009; Titrek et al., 2009; Yılmaz, cooperation among employees, 2) It increases the sense 2009; Avcı, 2015d). of responsibility of the employees towards their institutions and colleagues, 3) It ensures the fact that employees develop good and positive attitudes towards RECOMMENDATIONS their institutions and colleagues. Organizational citizenship behavior plays a crucial role Recommendations for practitioners in the effective and successful management of the schools. (DiPaola and Tschannen-Moran, 2001: 425; For the formation of strong organizational citizenship DiPaola and Hoy, 2005: 37; Avcı, 2015b: 2759). In behaviors at school; studies should be carried out to schools where the organizational citizenship behavior establish a school environment in which the ideas and exists, teachers continuously develop themselves in suggestions of all employees are taken into account, terms of personal and professional in order to be more decision on participation is provided, a policy of open to beneficial to the students and in order for school to innovation, development and change is carried out. For achieve its goals faster and more efficiently (DiPaola and the formation of strong and healthy organizational Hoy, 2005: 38), they take care of lesson hours to pass citizenship behaviors, the school manager should not be efficiently, they make an effort in order for lessons, separated from justice and objectivity in decisions to be programs and the social activities in the school to be made relating to all employees; should exhibit a fair more quality and efficient and they bring ideas and management mentality on issues such as fulfilling the
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promises he/she gives, rewarding, promoting and Akyüz B (2012). Hizmetkâr liderlik davranışlarının örgütsel adalet, evaluating performance; that all employees are equal and örgütsel vatandaşlık davranışları ve performans üzerine etkisi: Eğitim sektörü üzerine bir araştırma. Yayınlanmamış doktora tezi. Gebze important. Yüksek Teknoloji Enstitüsü, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Gebze. School administrators should be well-informed that the Allison BJ, Voss RS, Dryer S (2001). Student classroom and career organizational citizenship in school is a really important success: The role of organizational citizenship behavior. J. Educ. factor for effective and efficient education and training as Bus. May-June, pp. 282-288. Arlı D (2011). Öğretmenlerin örgütsel vatandaşlık davranışlarının örgüt well as for teachers’ job satisfaction and high kültürü algıları ve örgütsel güven düzeyleri açısından incelenmesi. performance and hence school principals should be Yayınlanmamış doktora tezi. Ege Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler competent accordingly. School principals should share Enstitüsü, İzmir. with teachers the data on the teachers’ success, job Avcı A (2015a). The role of leadership and organizational citizenship behaviour in efficient management. Afri. J. Bus. Manage. 9(20):717- satisfaction and life pleasure in the schools where strong 724. organizational citizenship is available. Likewise, school Avcı A (2015b). Investigation of transformational and transactional principals should encourage teachers to have the similar leadership styles of school principals, and evaluation of them in terms traits with the successful ones in those schools. School of educational administration. Educ. Res. Rev. 10(20):2758-2767. Avcı A (2015c). Dönüşümcü ve işlemci liderlik stilleri: Kavramsal principals should be aware of teachers’ level of çerçevesi ve eğitim örgütleri açısından etkileri. FSM İlmi Araştırmalar perception on the organizational citizenship in school İnsan ve Toplum Bilimleri Dergisi (FSM Scholarly Studies J. Humanit. using techniques of SWOT regularly and take the Soc. Sci. 5:85-108. necessary measures according to the obtained results. Avcı A (2015d). Öğretmenlerin örgütsel vatandaşlık davranışlarına ilişkin görüşleri. Eğitim Bilimleri Dergisi J. Educ. Sci. 42:1-16.
Avcı A (2015e). Öğretmen algılarına göre okul müdürlerinin liderlik
stilleri. Hasan Ali Yücel Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi 12(2):161-189. Recommendations for researchers Avcı A (2015f). Örgütsel vatandaşlık davranışları: Kavramsal gelişimi ve eğitim örgütleri açısından etkileri. Hasan Ali Yücel Eğitim Fakültesi The undergraduate and postgraduate studies may focus Dergisi, 12(2):11-26. especially on the creation of the organizational citizenship Baş G, Şentürk C (2011). İlköğretim okulu öğretmenlerinin örgütsel behaviors and also an effective and efficient education adalet, örgütsel vatandaşlık ve örgütsel güven algıları. Kuram ve Uygulamada Eğitim Yönetimi (Educational Administration: Theory environment in educational institutions. The domestic and and Practice) 17(1):29-62. foreign publications may be followed, modern and new Bateman TS, Organ DW (1983). Job satisfaction and the good soldier: models may be created and hence the education system The relationship between affect and employee “citizenship”. Acad. may be improved. The organizational citizenship Manage. J. 26(4):587-595. Bogler R, Somech A (2005). Organizational citizenship behavior in behaviors may be described by qualitative methods. school: How does it relate to participation in decision making? J. Teachers’ level of perception on the organizational Educ. Adm. 43(5):420-438. citizenship behaviors should be analyzed and the Boone EL, Kurtz DL (2013). Çağdaş İşletme. Yalçın, A. (Çev. Ed.). problematic points should be detected and also the Ankara: Nobel Yayınları. Borman WC (2004). The concept of organizational citizenship. Am. necessary works to compensate them and increase the Psychol. Soc. 13(6):238-241. level of perception on the organizational citizenship Buluç B (2008). Ortaöğretim okullarında örgütsel sağlık ile örgütsel should be conducted. It is also possible to carry out some vatandaşlık davranışları arasındaki ilişki. Türk Eğitim Bilimleri Dergisi research in which the variables such as leadership and 6(4):571-602. Burns T, Carpenter J (2008). Organizational citizenship and student organizational citizenship behaviors, school culture, achievement. J. Cross-Discipl. Perspect. Educ. 1(1):51-58. success level of schools, moral and job satisfaction of Celep C, Sarıdere U, Beytekin F (2005). Eğitim örgütlerinde örgütsel administrators, teachers and students are examined bağlılık, örgütsel vatandaşlık davranışı ve tükenmişlik arasındaki comparatively. ilişki. XIV. Ulusal Eğitim Bilimleri Kongresi Pamukkale Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi 28-30 Eylül 2005 Kongre Cilt Kitabı 1:13-19. In line with the findings of this research, education Çetin M, Yeşilbağ Y, Akdağ B (2003). Öğretmenlerin örgütsel systems can be highly enriched by re-designing the vatandaşlık davranışı. M. Ü. Atatürk Eğitim Fakültesi Eğitim Bilimleri structure, sub-dimensions and characteristics of the Dergisi 17:39-54. organizational citizenship behaviors considering the new Dilek H (2005). Liderlik tarzlarının ve adalet algısının; örgütsel bağlılık, iş tatmini ve örgütsel vatandaşlık davranışı üzerine etkilerine yönelik developments and current data and by spreading them bir araştırma. Yayınlanmamış doktora tezi. Gebze Yüksek Teknoloji across large masses as well as creating new suggestions Enstitüsü, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Gebze. for the future. DiPaola MF, Hoy WK (2005). Organizational citizenship of faculty and achievement of high school students. High School J. 88(3):35-44. DiPaola M, Tschannen-Moran M (2001). Organizational citizenship Conflict of Interests behavior in schools and its relationship to school climate. J. School Leadersh. 11(5):424-447. Erşahan B (2011). Örgütsel vatandaşlık davranışı. Bakan, İ. (Ed.) The author has not declared any conflict of interests. Yönetimde Çağdaş ve Güncel Konular. Ankara: Gazi Kitabevi. Farh JL, Podsakoff PM, Organ DW (1990). Accounting for organizational citizenship behavior: Leader fairness and task scope REFERENCES versus satisfaction. J. Manage. 16(4):705-721. Graham JW (1991). An essay on organizational citizenship behavior. Acar AZ (2006). Örgütsel yurttaşlık davranışı: Kavramsal gelişimi ile Employee Responsibil. Rights J. 4(4):249-270. kişisel ve örgütsel etkileri. Doğuş Üniversitesi Dergisi 7(1):1-14. Karasar N (2007). Bilimsel araştırma yöntemi Ankara: Nobel Yayınları.
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Vol. 11(7), pp. 328-338, 10 April, 2016 DOI: 10.5897/ERR2015.2607 Article Number: B37FA0B57613 ISSN 1990-3839 Educational Research and Reviews Copyright © 2016 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article http://www.academicjournals.org/ERR
Full Length Research Paper
Linking organizational health in Jeddah secondary schools to students' academic achievement
Saleh Ali Y. Alqarni
King Abdulaziz University, Institute of Graduate Educational Studies, Jeddah, KSA.
Received 14 December, 2015; Accepted 16th February, 2016
This study aimed to assess organizational health (OH) in secondary schools in Jeddah district in Saudi Arabia. A second aim of the study was to compare the organizational health of these schools according to their rankings on student achievement tests, school type and the nature of the respondents' work. The Organizational Health Inventory (OHI), developed by Hoy and Feldman (1987), was used to examine OH in the subject schools. The (138) secondary schools in Jeddah district were classified into three main categories (high, average, low) based on their students' results on the achievement test for science colleges, which is given annually across the nation by the National Center for Assessment in Higher Education (NCAHE). With the school and not the respondent selected as the unit of research, 20 random schools from each category were compared using the ratings of "high"-achieving, "average"- achieving and "low"-achieving schools, as measured by the NCAHE, on the 7 dimensions of the OHI. All the principals and teachers working in the three selected representative school categories were approached in the process of data collection. The secondary schools’ OH scores were found relatively high. The high-achieving schools had higher OH scores than the schools in other two categories. Moreover, the average-achieving schools outperformed the low-achieving schools on overall OH scores. Findings also showed that the private schools had healthier climates than the public schools. Schools can help improve their student learning process and academic attainment by improving the health of their organizational environment.
Key words: Organizational health, school health, school climate, secondary schools, student achievement.
INTRODUCTION
Many organizational theorists and researchers have (1985) noted that “without a climate that creates a suggested that giving attention to the school climate harmonious and well-functioning school, a high degree of would make a difference in the learning environment and academic achievement is difficult, if not downright student attainment (Bossert, 1988; Goddard et al., 2000; impossible to obtain” (p. 15). In contrast, Hoy and Grosin, 1991; Hoy et al., 1998). Similarly, Hoyle et al. Hannum (1997) stated that the “concept of school climate
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Alqarni 329
itself is defined in a myriad of ways and is often merely a student performance and OH data. Fairman and McLean slogan rather than a carefully defined and meaningful (2011) reported that the three dimensions of OH that construct” (p. 291). Therefore, researchers have used showed the greatest impact on student performance are additional metaphors. Each metaphor, in its own way and goal focus, cohesiveness, and adaptation. from its own perspective, strives to capture the enduring In a related context, Brosnahan (2011) used the quality of the school environment, which educators inventory developed by the OH diagnostic and sometimes refer to as the school climate, through the development corporation to determine whether there is a collective perceptions of teachers and administrators correlation between the sample schools’ OH scores and (Hoy and Miskel, 1991; Hoy and Clover, 1986). Among their students’ achievement. The study revealed that the these metaphors for school climate is organizational top five dimensions with the greatest impact on student health (OH) (Hoy and Tarter, 1992), which is another achievement were "cohesiveness", "adaptation", "goal perspective for examining school climate (Hoy et al., focus", "communication", and "autonomy". Based on 1998). these findings, it is apparent that exemplary schools had Using the concept of OH as a metaphor to address healthier climates than schools characterized as less- school climate, many studies especially in the United recognized institutions. States, have suggested that analyzing OH is essential to In summary, research from the 1960s through the improving schools’ effectiveness (Bolding, 1982). Other 2000s and continuing today largely agrees that OH is a researchers have emphasized OH’s crucial role in useful concept for addressing the health of a school’s students’ achievement in secondary schools (Hoy et al., climate and that it has a great impact on academic 1991). Additionally, Hoy and Hannum (1997) noted that outcomes. It can also provide school leaders and healthy schools are characterized by comparatively educators with ideas for school aspects that could have effective professional practices, emphasis on student gone without adequate attention. Organizational health, learning outcomes and high teacher commitment. according to Hoy and Hannum, (1997), can be used as a Hoy et al. (1990) found that the Organizational Health gauge for reform in schools. Inventory (OHI) was strongly related to student In Saudi Arabia, improving pupils’ performance in the achievement and that the school climate instruments basic schools has been a priority for the Ministry of (OCDQ-RS) were not strong predictors in this respect. Education, the directorates of education, the offices of Other research found a close relationship between school education, the schools themselves, and the Saudi public. climate variables and student attainment. For example All of these groups dream of an effective basic education Bulach et al. (1994) revealed that students attending that enhances pupils' opportunities to join the labor schools known for a positive culture had higher achieve- market and continue their education, eventually leading ment than others attending schools with a negative to their success in life. In view of this, King Abdullah Bin climate. Hoy and Hannum (1997) later conducted a study Abdul-Aziz Public Education Development Project focusing on OH and student achievement and revealed a (Tatweer), embarked in 2007, is the corner stone of significant relationship between the dimensions of OH institutional and organizational development of public and student achievement. Furthermore, OH theory has education. The project seeks to improve the overall identified the dimensions that show the greatest impact quality of public education and uplift the students' on student performance to be goal focus, cohesiveness, learning outcomes through four main programs that adaptation, and autonomy (Fairman and McLean, 2003). represents the pivots of the educational process as Relatedly, the Australian Council for Educational follows (Ministry of Education, 2008: p. 27): Research (ACER) published a 2004 report indicating that students at schools that develop a positive climate might 1. Teachers' rehabilitation program. also show greater academic achievement. Soon 2. Curriculum development program. thereafter, Korkortsi (2007) asserted in his Ph.D. 3. Educational environment enhancement program dissertation that the dimensions of a school’s OH were 4. Non-class activity support program significantly related to the students’ academic attainment. Moreover, his study recommended that Ghanaian Ten years after this project was launched, the schools should improve their OH to facilitate student achievement of students in secondary schools still does achievement. not amount to the desired expectations. Reviewing the A simultaneous study by Roney et al. (2007) revealed a results of secondary school students on the achievement positive relationship between middle schools’ overall tests conducted by the NCAHE, an apparent weakness is scores on the organizational health scale and their often observed in their performance. A technical report students’ reading scores. Macneil et al. (2009) found that released by the NCAHE revealed that the Biology, students attained better scores on standardized tests in Chemistry, Physics, English and Mathematics skills were schools characterized by healthy learning environments. significantly low and that there was an increasing Recent OH research has been based on five years of weakness in the cognitive skills that require higher
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thinking skills (Al-Harbi, 2012). to their rankings on student achievement? Moreover, The National Strategy for Transformation 3. What differences exist among the participants’ into Knowledge Society (2014) pointed that "the perceptions of the level of OH in secondary schools in the education sector exhibit serious structural problems such Jeddah district in relation to differences in their school as poor academic performance of the students, shortage types (public/private) and the nature of their work of competent teachers, and weak competition among (principal/teacher)? schools" (Ministry of Economics and Planning, 2014: p. 24). The National Strategy for the Development of Public Education (2014) pointed that quality of education Significance of the Study requires the provision of quality inputs and the creation of an educational environment that is healthy, safe, The study is significant for a number of reasons. First, its protective with adequate resources and facilities. This outcomes could provide important information for the highlights the influential role of organizational health development and improvement of secondary schools in which is, according to Hoy and Hannum (1997), an Saudi Arabia. Educational planners, administrators and essential factor of school effectiveness. policy-makers could use this information to determine From the reports released annually by the NCAHE, it is problem areas in the secondary school environment and evident that some secondary schools in Jeddah district improve the performance of Saudi Arabian learners. have maintained high student academic achievement, Likewise, the present study would provide researchers other schools are noted for average achievement, and with an exploratory measure (the Arabic Version of (OHI- still many other schools are noted for weak achievement. S) for assessing a school’s health. Moreover, the current The reason for this varying academic achievement has study could greatly benefit the educational directorate in not yet been explored. Jeddah as well as principals and teachers in secondary We then considered OH theory and that the healthier schools as they attempt to create healthy climates in their an organization is, the higher the achievement (Fairman schools and therefore promote student achievement. and McLean, 2003), that researchers and theorists have The results of the study could provide the directorate shown that a school’s OH is critical and that a healthy with useful information regarding the health of the climate school climate promotes high student achievement that prevails in the district’s secondary schools. The (Brosnahan, 2011; Fairman and McLean, 2003; outcomes would also help the directorate learn of areas Henderson et al., 2005; Hoy and Hannum, 1997; Hoy et of weakness in school health that may negatively affect al., 1990; Hoyle et al., 1985; Korkortsi, 2007; Macneil et student learning; hence, certain decisions can be made al., 2009; Roney et al., 2007). The question then arises: and actions taken to address the sources of the Might these differences be related to the health of the imbalances. schools’ climates? Do we then attribute these differences Furthermore, the study will give secondary school in student academic achievement to the schools’ OH? teachers a clear picture of what types of behaviors can However, there is no available research in Saudi Arabia promote and support a healthy climate that helps improve regarding OH or its effects on student achievement. In academic achievement in their schools. other words, it is fair to state that the concept of OH has Above all, because there are no studies that address not yet been introduced into the Saudi educational schools’ OH in Saudi Arabia, the present study will be the literature. Because there were previously no studies on first of such study and will guide to further studies in the schools’ OH conducted in Jeddah district or anywhere Saudi educational field. else in Saudi Arabia, and because school health is an essential factor in school effectiveness and student achievement, a study is needed to explore the current THEORETICAL BACKGROUND OH of the secondary schools in Jeddah district and to explore any differences among these schools regarding The concept of OH was first introduced and developed by their rankings on student achievement tests. Matthew Miles in 1965 to conceptualize and define some specific features of the organizational climate of a school. It was also associated with the Parsonian concept of the Research questions school as a social system (Parsons, 1967). In his study of the innovative processes in schools, Miles (1965) found The study sought to answer the following questions: that the school environment has a great impact on productivity. Moreover, Miles developed a scale of ten 1. What is the level of OH in secondary schools in the dimensions in an attempt to explore the main aspects of Jeddah district? healthy schools. These dimensions were “goal focus", 2. Are there any significant differences in the OH of "communication adequacy", "optimal power equalization", secondary schools in the Jeddah district that may be due "resource utilization", "cohesiveness", "morale",
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"innovativeness", "autonomy", "adaptation", and "problem- level includes only “institutional integrity”. The managerial solving adequacy”. level include “principal influence, consideration, initiating Accordingly, Miles (1969) confirmed that a healthy structure and resource support”. The technical level organization is one that “not only survives in its includes “morale and academic emphasis”. The seven environment, but continues to cope adequately over the dimensions were clearly defined by Hoy et al. (1991) as long haul, and continuously develops and expands its follows: coping abilities” (p. 378). He added that “a healthy organization is the one which is not static in its existing - Institutional integrity: is “the school’s ability to cope setting, but is ever developing itself and its skills to with its environment in a way that maintains the handle and carry on” (p. 378). To clarify Miles’ concept, educational integrity of its programs”. Hoy and Hannum (1997) asserted that “this definition - Principal Influence: is “the principal’s ability to implies that healthy organizations are those that are able influence the action of his superiors”. to cope or manage successfully with disruptive outside - Consideration: is “principal behavior that is friendly, forces while directing their energies towards the mission supportive, open, and collegial; it is a genuine concern, and objectives of the organization”. on the part of the principal, for the welfare of the Additionally, Hoy and Hannum (1997) defined a “healthy teachers”. school” as “one in which the technical, managerial and - Initiating structure: refers to “the ability of the principal institutional levels are in harmony and the school is to engage in behavior that clearly defines performance meeting its basic needs as it successfully copes with standards, work expectations, and school procedures”. disruptive external forces and directs its energies towards - Resource support: refers to “schools where adequate its mission” (p. 264). classroom supplies and instructional materials are Childers (1985) stated that “Organizations, like the available and extra materials are readily supplied if people who comprise them, can be either healthy or sick. requested”. The healthy organization is functional, while the sick - Morale: is “a collective sense of friendliness, openness, organization is dysfunctional“ (p. 4). Similarly, enthusiasm, and confidence among faculty members”. Neugebaurer (1990) noted that “for the body to be - Academic emphasis: refers to “the extent to which the healthy, a myriad of bodily functions must operate in school is driven by a quest for academic excellence” (p. perfect harmony. Likewise for an organization to be 62). healthy, a complex array of interpersonal and admini- strative functions must be addressed simultaneously” (p. Additionally, they stated that “institutional integrity serves 38). as an indicator of health at the institutional level. Principal Fairman and McLean (2003) defined OH as “an influence, consideration, initiating structure, and resource organization’s ability to function effectively, to cope support provide measures of the health of the managerial adequately, to change appropriately, and to grow from system. Morale and academic emphasis are the indices within”. In addition to these attempts to define the of health at the technical level. Each of these dimensions concept, much research has sought to address school of OH is measured by a subtest of the OHI” (Hoy et al., health to understand various aspects of the school 1991). organizational climate. Kimpston and Sonnabend (1973) In another attempt to develop a reliable scale for OH in conducted a study to determine whether there is a secondary schools, Hart et al. (2000) conducted a 3- relationship between schools’ OH and capacity to change phase study to develop a psychometric scale that was and innovate. The study revealed that teachers perceive valid and reliable for measuring teacher morale and the their schools’ OH more positively in institutions that are different dimensions of organizational climate in known to be innovative. They also found that the most secondary schools. The three-phase study concluded influential factors in this respect were innovativeness, with a “School Organizational Health Questionnaire” decision-making, and the school’s relationship with the containing 12 dimensions: “teacher morale", "appraisal community. and recognition", "curriculum coordination", "effective Hoy and Feldman (1987) later formulated an OH discipline policy", "excessive work demands", "goal inventory containing seven dimensions to measure congruence", "participative decision-making", schools’ OH. This inventory was used and greatly "professional growth", "professional interaction", "role supported by Hoy et al. (1991). In their book “Open clarity", "student orientation", and "supportive leadership”. Schools/Healthy Schools,” they emphasized the Focusing on student learning, Hoy and Hannum (1997) importance of OH for students’ academic achievement in and Hoy and Miskel (1991) emphasized that in schools secondary schools (Hoy et al., 1991). Hoy and Feldman characterized as “healthy”, the institutional, managerial (1987) and Hoy and Miskel (1991) classified these seven and technical aspects are in “harmony”, and this harmony dimensions into three main levels: institutional, mana- should manifest in both the teaching process and student gerial, and technical. According to them, the institutional learning outcomes. Similarly, Pakkeer-Jaufar (2001) found
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that improving the quality of the OH factors in secondary evident, or trends that are developing” (p. 113). They added that schools resulted in better student achievement. In a “descriptive research deals with the relationships between related context, Farahani et al. (2014) found positive variables, the testing of hypotheses, and the development of generalizations, principles, or theories that have universal validity. It significant relationships between schools’ OH and their is concerned with functional relationships” (p. 144). students’ academic achievement. Considering this study’s purpose and questions and the Likewise, Licata and Harper (1999) reported that “aca- magnitude of its target population, the descriptive survey appears demic emphasis” is a crucial predictor for understanding the most suitable method for achieving the purpose of the study the relationship between school health and robustness. and reaching meaningful conclusions. Scott and Usher (1996) stated that survey research attempts to collect data about larger Licata and Harper (2001) and Korkmaz (2006) found a populations than are typical in experimental research. significant positive relationship between a school’s health and the robustness of its vision. Considering OH an indicator of school climate, Villiers (2006) sought to Population and Sampling determine primary school educators’ perceptions of school climate. A significant relationship was found The unit of analysis in this research was the school (Hoy et al., between the perceptions of primary school educators with 1991; Hoy and Sabo, 1998) and not the respondent; the target regard to organizational climate and OH. population for this study comprised all (government and private) secondary schools in Jeddah district. The 138 secondary schools Examining teacher characteristics as possible predictors were categorized into three main achievement levels based on their of school health, Bevans et al. (2007) indicated that students' scores on the Achievement Test for Science Colleges, school and staff characteristics are predictors of a which is given annually across the nation by the NCAHE. Namely, school’s OH. Furthermore, the study revealed that some they are "high" achieving schools, "average" achieving schools and school and staff characteristics interacted to predict "low" achieving schools. A representative sample from each of the collegial leadership and staff affiliation. Other researchers three categories was selected as the schools to which the survey would be given. From the 138 secondary schools, 20 schools were have focused on the nature of workplace factors as selected randomly from each category. After having these schools possible influences on school health, such as Cemaloglu accepted to be part of the study, all the principals and teachers (2007), who found a negative relationship between working in the three selected representative school categories were school health and teachers’ exposure to bullying and that approached in the process of data collection. This 60-school OH was a predictor of bullying. sample included 857 responses from teachers and principals that were used to test the hypotheses of this research. The sample of In another attempt to establish such a relationship, 60 schools appears appropriate for a study that uses the school as Sabanci (2011) examined the relationship between the unit of analysis. Between 40 and 50 schools have been found to teacher stress and a healthy school organization. The have sufficient statistical power for scholarly research (Goddard et article found a significant negative relationship between al., 2000). teachers’ stress levels and OH. Regarding organizational trust, Smith (2000) found a significant positive relation- Instrument ship between the dimensions of faculty trust and the determinants of health in high schools. “The Organizational Health Inventory for Secondary Schools (OHI- In conclusion, OH is clearly an important approach that S)” was used as a data collection instrument. This inventory was could effectively provide a conceptual framework for used first by Hoy and Feldman (1987) and Hoy and Forsyth (1986). addressing school climate. OH has been shown to reflect In their “Open Schools/Healthy Schools”, Hoy et al. (1991) and predict many school issues, such as student published this inventory and emphasized its validity and reliability for examining the OH of secondary schools. Other researchers learning; teacher efficacy; school effectiveness; collegial have examined the OHI in terms of validity and reliability (Hoy and trust; workplace stressors; negative behaviors, such as Hannum, 1997; Hoy et al., 1990; Korkmaz, 2006, 2007; Korkortsi, bullying; leadership styles; school robustness; decision- 2007; Licata and Harper, 2001). making; innovativeness; and school-community relations. The inventory is a 44-item survey for secondary schools. The The present study appears to be the first to address the OHI consists of the seven dimensions stated earlier: "institutional concept of OH in the Saudi educational context. integrity, principal influence, consideration, initiating structure, resource support, morale, and academic emphasis". On that questionnaire, principals and teachers determine the extent to which specific behavior patterns occur in their schools. The 44 METHODOLOGY items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale. They range from 1 (rarely) to 5 (very frequently). Alpha coefficients in Hoy et al. (1991) for the This descriptive study will seek to describe the current situation of seven subscales ranged from 0.87 to 0.95. Additionally, construct OH in secondary schools in Jeddah district. It will also analyze and validity of the OHI has been supported by several studies (Hoy et interpret the existing differences among those schools on the OH al., 1991; Hoy and Sabo, 1998). scale that relate to the schools’ rankings on the student academic In the current study, the (OHI-S) was used as a data collection achievement tests. A descriptive study describes and interprets the tool but underwent a process of adaptation for linguistic and cultural situation as it exists. Best and Kahn (1998) stated that descriptive issues that influence the Saudi educational system. Moreover, a research “is concerned with conditions or relationships that exist, pilot study of 15 selected secondary schools with characteristics opinions that are held, processes that are going on, effects that are comparable to those of the target population was executed. These
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schools were not included in the study sample. One hundred ten relation to student achievement. To explore the directions responses from teachers and principals were collected in that of these differences among the three categories in stage. Reliabilities for the seven subsets ranged from 0.84 to 0.92. student academic achievement scores and to determine The alpha coefficient for the entire scale was found to be 0.96, which is a very high level of reliability for this scale. The construct which categories had higher scores, post hoc validity of the (OHI-S) was also supported in the current study. The comparisons were calculated using the Scheffe test. seven dimensions were highly correlated with the overall scale. The For the seven dimensions and the overall OH, the correlations ranged from 0.72 to 0.90 and were all significant at the results of the Scheffe test indicate significant differences 0.01 level. The inter-correlations among the seven dimensions were between the "high-achieving" schools and the "average- also high, significant at the 0.01 level, and in the positive direction. Data on student achievement were obtained from the annual achieving" and "low-achieving" ones. In other words, the report published by NCAHE based on students' results on the "high-achieving" schools scored higher on OH and its achievement test for science colleges. The report lists the rankings seven subscales scores than the schools in the other two of schools across the Kingdom and shows these school rankings school categories; the “high-achieving” schools were according to their educational directorates. healthier than the "average-achieving" and "low- Jeddah secondary schools’ classifications depend on the achieving" schools. Additionally, a Scheffe test for OH average performance of their students during the previous three years - 2012, 2013 and 2014. This formula is intended to ensure and the seven dimensions, except for "Institutional the stability of the school rankings and prevent influence by natural Integrity" and "Resource Support", indicated a significant fluctuations. The standards adopted for the school accountability difference between the "average-achieving" and "low- ratings are as follows: achieving" schools in favor of the "average-achieving" ones. This finding probably means that the higher - High-achieving schools - the average of the students’ performance is 70 or above. schools scored on OH, the higher scores their students - Average-achieving schools - the average of the students’ attained on the student achievement tests. performance is between 65 and 70. To answer the third question, "What differences exist - Low-achieving schools - the average of the students’ performance among the participants’ perceptions of the level of OH in is less than 65. secondary schools in the Jeddah district in relation to differences in their school types (public/private) and the
nature of their work (principal/teacher)? A t-test was FINDINGS used, as shown in Tables 3 and 4 to explore such The first question was “"How are the organizational differences on the OH scale and subscales. As shown in health levels of the secondary schools in the Jeddah the table, private schools obtained higher means than district?” The means and standard deviations are shown public schools on the OH scale and the seven subscales. in Table 1. The statistics in the aforementioned table It is also apparent that the (t) values were all significant (p show a high level of OH in Jeddah secondary schools < 0.01) for the scores on overall OH and the seven with a mean of (3.72). All seven dimensions have high subscales. Consequently, there are significant levels of occurrence. "Initiating Structure" was ranked differences (p < 0.01) between public and private schools first, with a mean of (4.07), and "Resource Support" was regarding OH. It can be noted from the table that private last with a mean of (3.51). The standard deviations schools outperformed public schools in all seven ranged from (0.90 to 0.52), which indicates convergence dimensions. In other words, the private schools had among the respondents in their estimation of the healthier climates than the public schools. dimensions of OH. As seen in Table 4, there were no significant For the overall OH and the seven dimensions, high- differences between the principals and teachers in their achieving schools have higher mean values than the perceptions of the OH of their schools in general or in average- and low-achieving schools. The high-achieving their perceptions of initiating structure, consideration, schools had high levels of OH and its seven dimensions. morale and academic emphasis. This finding could be Similarly, the average-achieving schools had relatively because principals and teachers largely converge in their high levels of OH and its seven dimensions, except for perceptions and awareness of the implications of these resource support. However, the low-achieving schools dimensions. For institutional integrity (u = 9362.5, p < attained levels that ranged from relatively high to average 0.05) and resource support (u = 9068, p < 0.05), on the seven subscales. significant differences were found between the principals To answer the second question, Are there any significant and teachers in that the principals gave higher ratings. differences in the organizational health of the secondary schools in the Jeddah district that are related to the DISCUSSION schools’ rankings on student achievement tests?, One- way analysis of variance was used, as shown in Table 2. The findings of the study have shown that the OH of the As is clear from the table, there are significant differences high-achieving schools in the Jeddah district was (p < 0.01) among the three school rankings regarding essentially characterized by high or very high levels of their scores on the OH scale and its seven subscales in overall OH and its seven dimensions. The OH of school
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Table 1. Means and Standards Deviations of Jeddah Secondary Schools on OH Scale and Subscales.
OH Dimensions Source of Variation Sum of squares Mean square df F Sig. Between Groups 7.854 3.927 2 Institutional Integrity Within Groups 227.013 0.266 854 14.772 0.000 Total 234.867 - 856
Between Groups 50.560 25.280 2 Initiating Structure Within Groups 512.670 0.600 854 42.111 0.000 Total 563.230 - 856
Between Groups 37.721 18.860 2 Consideration Within Groups 616.637 0.722 854 26.120 0.000 Total 654.358 - 856
Between Groups 22.850 11.425 2 Principal Influence Within Groups 443.575 0.519 854 21.996 0.000 Total 466.425 - 856
Between Groups 89.610 44.805 2 Resource Support Within Groups 618.677 0.724 854 61.847 0.000 Total 708.287 - 856
Between Groups 31.015 15.507 2 Morale Within Groups 418.546 0.490 854 31.641 0.000 Total 449.560 - 856
Between Groups 50.550 25.275 2 Academic Emphasis Within Groups 469.895 0.550 854 45.935 0.000 Total 520.445 - 856
Between Groups 36.649 18.324 2 Total OH Within Groups 333.011 0.390 854 46.992 0.000 Total 369.660 - 856
Health was found to be moderately high in the structure," which was found to have a very high schools obtained either relatively high or average average-achieving schools except for "initiating level of occurrence. Meanwhile, the low-achieving scores on all the seven dimensions and overall
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Table 2. One-Way Analysis of Variance (differences in the organizational health of the secondary schools in relation to their rankings on student achievement tests)
School Category Institutional Initiating Principal Resource Academic M, N, SD Consideration Morale Total OH or Rank Integrity Structure Influence Support Emphasis M 3.6294 4.2896 3.9772 3.8005 3.8646 4.1006 3.8911 3.9362 High Achieving N 395 395 395 395 395 395 395 395 SD 0.50910 0.71968 0.84687 0.71864 0.84167 0.66859 0.72273 0.62309
M 3.5111 4.0567 3.7359 3.5077 3.2908 3.8780 3.5255 3.6437 Average N 247 247 247 247 247 247 247 247 Achieving SD 0.48922 0.65521 0.75672 0.63750 0.85599 0.62255 0.69120 0.54036
M 3.3953 3.6874 3.4610 3.4409 3.1481 3.6331 3.3172 3.4404 Low Achieving N 215 215 215 215 215 215 215 215 SD 0.55543 0.97395 0.95016 0.80918 0.86282 0.82903 0.82758 0.71112
M 3.5366 4.0714 3.7782 3.6259 3.5194 3.9192 3.6418 3.7275 All Schools N 857 857 857 857 857 857 857 857 SD 0.52381 0.81116 0.87432 0.73817 0.90964 0.72470 0.77974 0.65715
OH. It was therefore obvious that the three learning process and academic attainment by be attributed to their fine buildings and facilities, categories of schools differed in their OH. improving the health of their organizational good employment system of teachers, and Generally, the OH of the secondary schools in the environment. These findings are consistent with balanced relations with the local community. In Jeddah district was found to be relatively healthy. those of other researchers and theorists - that a private schools, there is probably more emphasis According to the research findings, the schools’ healthy school climate promotes high student on student achievement and learning outcomes. OH shows meaningful differences based on the achievement (Brosnahan, 2011; Fairman and All of these reasons and others might collectively schools’ rankings in student achievement test McLean, 2003; Henderson et al., 2005; Hoy and explain why private schools outperformed public scores. For the seven dimensions and the overall Hannum, 1997; Hoy et al., 1990; Hoyle et al., schools on OH. The research also found no OH, the "high-achieving" schools outperformed 1985; Korkortsi, 2007; Macneil et al., 2009; Roney significant differences between principals and the schools in the other two school categories. et al., 2007). teachers regarding their perceptions of the OH of Moreover, the "average-achieving" schools out- The findings of the study also showed significant their schools in general or of initiating structure, performed the "low-achieving" schools in overall differences between public and private schools consideration, morale and academic emphasis. OH and the seven dimensions, except for regarding OH. Private schools outperformed public However, significant differences were found "Institutional Integrity" and "Resource Support". It schools in all seven dimensions and in overall OH. between teachers and principals regarding can be concluded that the better a school’s overall Although this effect appears to be small in this institutional integrity and resource support such OH is, the more its students will achieve. respect, private schools seem to have healthier that the principals gave higher ratings. This is Therefore, schools can help improve their student climates than public schools. These findings might probably because teachers have ambitions,
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Table 3. T-Test ((differences in the organizational health between public and private schools).
OH dimension School type N Mean SD T Sig Public 560 3.4699 0.51873 Institutional Integrity -5.199 0.00 Private 297 3.6625 0.51088
Public 560 3.9296 0.81162 Initiating Structure -7.233 0.00 Private 297 4.3387 0.74099
Public 560 3.6466 0.86857 Consideration -6.178 0.00 Private 297 4.0262 0.83157
Public 560 3.4514 0.69996 Principal Influence -10.040 0.00 Private 297 3.9549 0.69592
Public 560 3.3167 0.84868 Resource Support -9.408 0.00 Private 297 3.9018 0.89898
Public 560 3.7942 0.71793 Morale -7.133 0.00 Private 297 4.1549 0.67830
Public 560 3.4946 0.76308 Academic Emphasis -7.849 0.00 Private 297 3.9192 0.73512
Public 560 3.5862 0.63344 Total OH -9.045 0.00 Private 297 3.9940 0.61808
Table 4. Mann-Whitney U (differences among principals and teachers regarding their perceptions of OH in their schools).
OH Dimensions Nature of work N Mean Sum of ranks Mann-Whitney U Sig Principal 29 520.16 15084.50 Institutional Integrity 9362.500 0.043 Teacher 828 425.81 352568.50
Principal 29 501.03 14530.00 Initiating Structure 9917.000 0.109 Teacher 828 426.48 353123.00
Principal 29 499.22 14477.50 Consideration 9969.500 0.120 Teacher 828 426.54 353175.50
Principal 29 489.53 14196.50 Principal Influence 10250.500 0.179 Teacher 828 426.88 353456.50
Principal 29 530.31 15379.00 Resource Support 9068.000 0.025 Teacher 828 425.45 352274.00
Principal 29 478.12 13865.50 Morale 10581.500 0.276 Teacher 828 427.28 353787.50
Principal 29 496.53 14399.50 Academic Emphasis 10047.500 0.135 Teacher 828 426.63 353253.50
Principal 29 512.50 14862.50 Total OH 9584.500 0.065 Teacher 828 426.08 352790.50
Alqarni 337
expectations and aspirations in this regard and as a psychometric scale that reliably assesses schools’ OH. result give lower rating than principals for the status of Future studies on OH should enhance the qualitative those two dimensions. Concerning institutional integrity, research method. Structured interviews would hopefully teachers may desire systems that protect them from help minimize the drawbacks of qualitative methods in parents’ irrational interventions and reduce pressure from this regard. the local community. Regarding resource support, It is worth studying and surveying OH by focusing on teachers may believe that the already-existing resources other population, such as female schools and offices of - either the instructional materials or other supplementary education. Surveying students’ opinions about the OH of materials, are not sufficient to help them carry out their their schools could be a different way to address OH. duties efficiently. Other studies should explore OH in different areas and districts across the kingdom. These studies will hopefully contribute to investigating the larger picture of OH in the Conclusions Saudi educational system. Furthermore, correlational studies would contribute to The main conclusion of the study is that the stronger the an understanding of the existing relationships between overall organizational health of a school, the higher school OH and other organizational variables, such as student achievement. Schools can, therefore, influence leadership style, work stress, educational efficacy, student learning and academic achievement by improving organizational change, organizational conflict, job satis- the health of their climates. A healthy school climate is faction, organizational commitment, school innovativeness characterized by "institutional integrity", "principal and other factors. These studies are important because influence", "consideration", "initiating structure", "resource they provide a broader understanding of the variables support", "morale", and "academic emphasis". affecting or affected by the OH of a school. The OHI-S appears to be applicable to the Saudi educational context. It can provide insights for school leaders, both teachers and administrators, into aspects of Conflict of interest their schools that could have gone unnoticed. School administrators are recommended to use it as a continuing The author has not declared any conflict of interest assessment tool as they attempt to create healthy climates in their schools. This inventory would give teachers and administrators a clear picture of what types ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of practices can promote and support a healthy climate that helps improve academic achievement in their This project was funded by the Deanship of Scientific schools. Research (DSR), King Abdulaziz University, under grant no. 126-324-1436/G. The author, therefore, acknowledges with thanks DSR technical and financial support. RECOMMENDATIONS
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Vol. 11(7), pp. 339-344, 10 April, 2016 DOI: 10.5897/ERR2016.2646 Article Number: AB437C157615 ISSN 1990-3839 Educational Research and Reviews Copyright © 2016 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article http://www.academicjournals.org/ERR
Full Length Research Paper
Examining participation of university students in recreational entertainment marketing activities
Adem Pala
Mugla Sitki Kocman University Faculty of Sports, 48000, Koketli, Mugla, Turkey.
Received 16 January, 2016; Accepted 02 March, 2016
The aim of this study was to examine participation of university students in recreational entertainment marketing activities. The survey population consisted of university student in Marmara University Province of Istanbul. The sample constituted a total of 272 students (150 male and 122 female), determined by circumstantial method. The survey constituted by Korkmaz was used as a data collection tool. Frequency and percentage of the data were calculated, independent t test and one-way ANOVA test was used for data analysis. Significant level was accepted as p<0.05 in statistical analysis. Consequently, significant differences were found between genders in terms of “recreational entertainment” dimension and “the place” where they participate in recreational activities (p<0.05). When the effect of age on participating in recreational activities was examined, no statistically significant differences were found in terms recreational entertainment, environment, technology and place (p>0.05).
Key words: Recreation, entertainment, marketing, university.
INTRODUCTION
Recreation market is a wide market including many fields However, they contain the satisfactory and positive such as art activities, tourism movement, sport activities, experiences of people live by participating recreational entertainment and socialization. It would not be wrong to activities. This increases the importance of human factor say that the intensity of competition was gradually in marketing intangible products of recreational activities. increasing in this market including a good deal and Staff, who constitute an important dimension of human different business organizations. Business organizations, factor, play critical role in both serving quality services to willing to find constant permanent place in this market in customers in recreation market and the occurrence of which organizations compete intensely, need effective customer satisfaction. In other words, staff is the marketing approaches that enable them to be successful perceived face of the business organizations (Hoffman (Argan, 2007). Besides, recreation marketing has and Bateson, 2006). differential features because recreation products have Because of construct of free time and recreation their own features (Horner and Swarbrooke, 2005). products, free time and recreation marketing handles These features of recreation marketing are below. marketing in an integrated approach. Free time and Recreation products are not only physical products. recreation marketing is related to service marketing,
E-mail: [email protected]. Tel: +905557465861.
Authors agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License 340 Educ. Res. Rev.
industrial marketing, tourism marketing and sport Research questions and hypotheses marketing. In other words, free time and recreation marketing can be evaluated as an electric version of Primary intent of this research was to investigate many marketing practice (Akyıldız, 2010). participation of university students in recreational It is not possible to stock recreational products. entertainment marketing activities. Question of research Therefore, difficulties in capacity can arise in recreation was “are recreational entertainment activities important and recreation firm. It is not possible to stock services for university students? To this end, the following two when demand starts to decrease, and to use stocks when hypotheses have been formulated and tested. demand starts to increase (Özel et al., 2013). Another feature making recreation marketing important is H1: There is no statically significant difference participating that recreation activities are not obligatory; that is to say, recreational entertainment activities between male and people can head for these activities without being under female students. any pressure (Özgören, 2007). H2: There is no statically significant difference partici- Entertainment Marketing; as it is the same in many pating recreational entertainment activities between ages. fields, when entertainment marketing is defined, it is possible to say modern marketing approach becomes effective. The features of modern marketing definition can METHODOLOGY be found in the definition and content of entertainment marketing. This section presents detailed information on this study’s research model, data collection techniques and analysis of collected data. This is quite natural because it is not possible to distinguish entertainment marketing from general marketing practice. Even entertainment marketing has its Research model own specific features; generally necessity of practicing modern marketing brings the success. Generally, It was a research conducted with descriptive research model. In this study, in order to determine participation of university student in entertainment marketing can be defined as recreative entertainment marketing activities in Marmara University, implementation of marketing principles to entertainment theoretical information was included by reviewing the related products or the other products served with entertainment literature, and questionnaire was used. (Argan, 2007). In entertainment marketing 4 C: Product, price, distribution, place, distribution and promotion in traditional Population and sample marketing constitute the marketing mix components. The The survey population consisted of university students in Marmara marketing mix components can be referred as approach University and sample consisted of 122 females (45.9%) and 150 of business organization. There is 4C approach in (55.1%) males; totally 272 students, (172 students in school of traditional marketing. 4C consists of customer value, physical education and sport, 100 students in faculty of political convenience, cost and communication. A similar approach sciences) participated in the study. Mean of students’ ages was is valid for entertainment marketing. There are important generally 17-24. These age categories were selected because they are required to participate in recreational entertainment activities. headings referred by 4C in entertainment marketing. Random sampling method was used for selecting the sample. The These are content, conduit, consumption and con- random sampling is a method in which all members of group have vergence (Lieberman and Esgate, 2002). an equal and independent chance of being selected (Arlı and Nazik, 2004).
Purpose of the study Data collection tool
The desires of young consumers, especially university Survey method was used to collect data. Questionnaire form students, are increasing each passing day and they are (recreation and entertainment preference scale) was constituted by looking for how to experience entertainment with higher using the research of Korkmaz (2013). The validity and reliability quality. While marketers serve their products, they should analysis were done again before applying the questionnaire. The commercialize their product in the frame of needs and survey consisted of 4 sub-dimensions after factor analyses which were; recreational entertainment, place, environment and satisfaction of new generation. technology. Factor analysis was applied to test factor structure of It is an incontrovertible fact that marketing under- the Questionnaire. Kaiser-Mayer-Olkin (KMO) and Bartlett test were standing has changed with the fast development and used to find out the adequacy of the sample (Table 1). Cronbach’s differentiation of technology and cyber world. Young alpha internal consistency analysis was used to find out the consumers, especially university students, take the most reliability (Table 1). important part in this change. Research has shown that Factor analysis cannot be suitable for all data. Suitability of data can be tested by using KMO and Bartlett tests. Analysis showed people choose to enjoy in free-time activities. The aim of that KMO value was found as 0.757 and Bartlett value was found this study is to examine participation of university as 284.606, and significant level was 0.000. It can be said that students in recreational entertainment marketing activities. these findings prove that sample size and correlation between Pala 341
Table 1. KMO and bartlett test results of recreation and entertainment preference questionnaire.
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy 0.757 Approx. Chi-Square 284.606 Bartlett's Test of Sphericity df 10 Sig. 0.000*
Table 2. Cronbach’s alpha test results of recreation and entertainment preference questionnaire.
Dimensions Cronbach Alfa Recreational entertainment 0.845 Place 0.786 Environment 0.689 Technology 0.796
Table 3. Confirmatory factor analysis of recreation and entertainment preference questionnaire
X2 df X2/df AGFI GFI CFI RMSEA RMR Before modification 377.01 129 2.92 0.82 0.86 0.78 0.08 0.06 After modification 319.46 124 2.57 0.84 0.88 0.82 0.07 0.05
items are suitable. Cronbach’s alpha was found as 0.849 (Table 2). Table 4. Demographic information of participant. The internal consistency value of sub-dimensions tested in terms of validity and reliability was found as for recreational entertainment Gender N % 0.845, place 0.786, environment 0.689, and technology 0.796 (Table 3). Male 150 55.1 Confirmatory factor analysis showed that Recreation and Female 122 44.9 Entertainment Preference Questionnaire is suitable for the sample Total 272 100 group of this study. Modification indices reported perfect fit (Figure Age N % 1). 17-21 170 62.5 22-26 70 25.7 Data analysis Over 26 32 11.8
The data were analyzed by statistical package for social science Total 272 100 (SPSS) Windows 22.0 software. The internal consistency value of sub-dimensions tested in terms of validity and reliability was found to be for recreational entertainment 0.845, place 0.786, environment 0.689, and technology 0.796. KMO and Bartlett test, frequency and percentage of the data were calculated; independent t test and one- Differences between genders in terms of recreation and way ANOVA test were used for data analysis. Significant level was entertainment preferences are displayed in Table 5. accepted as p<0.05 in statistical analysis. Confirmatory factor Significant differences were found between male and analysis was applied by using AMOS. female students in terms of place (t=2.37, p<0.05) and recreational entertainment (t=2.94, p<0.01). Male FINDINGS students had higher mean than females in terms of these sub-dimensions (Place: t(263.886)=2,374; p=0.018, μmale 122 females (45.9 %) and 150 (55.1 %) males, totally 272 = 9.008, sd= 1.86, μfemale = 8.485, sd= 1.76 and students (172 students in school of physical education Recreational Entertainment: t(296,216)=2,940; p=0.004, and sport, 100 students in faculty of political sciences) μmale = 10.513, sd= 2.96, μfemale = 10.49, sd= 2.70). No participated in the study. The ages ranged between 17 to significant differences are found between genders in 21 (n=170), 22-26 (n=70) and over 26 (n=32), and the terms of technology and environment. frequency was found as 62.5, 25.7 and 11.8%, No significant differences have been found between respectively (Table 4). age groups in terms of recreation and entertainment 342 Educ. Res. Rev.
Figure 1. CFA of recreation and entertainment preference questionnaire.
Table 5. Differences between genders in terms of recreation and entertainment preferences.
Dimensions Gender N ̅ Ss t p Male 150 9.0080 1.86135 Place 2.374 0.018* Female 122 8.4852 1.76071
Male 150 6.9000 1.77888 Environment 1.667 0.098 Female 122 7.0984 1.83362
Male 150 7.1000 2.15117 Technology 0.984 0.227 Female 122 7.1885 1.95542
Male 150 10.5133 2.96905 Recreational entertainment 2.940 0.004* Female 122 10.4902 2.70523
preferences. The confidence interval was 95% (Tables 5 t(263.886)=2.374; p=0.018, μmale = 9.008, sd= 1.86, μfemale and 6). = 8.485, sd= 1.76 ve Recreational Entertainment: t(296.216)=2.940; p=0.004, μmale = 10.513, sd= 2.96, μfemale = 10.49, sd= 2.70). No significant differences have DISCUSSION been found between genders in terms of technology and environment. The reason that no difference was found 122 female (45.9 %) and 150 (55.1 %) male, totally 272 between ages can be interpreted that students were at students, (172 students in School of physical education close age to each other. and sport, 100 students in Faculty of political sciences) Today, it is not enough to only participate in participated in the study. Significant differences were recreational activities. People are willing to enjoy, spend found between male and female students in terms of good time and leave with a complete satisfaction from place (t=2.37, p<0.05) and recreational entertainment activities they involve. Recreational activity organizers (p<0.01). Male students have reported higher mean than should arrange activities by considering entertainment females in terms of these sub-dimensions (Place: factor. In 2013, the study by Hawaii Tourism Firm has Pala 343
Table 6. ANOVA test results of age variable.
Sub-dimensions Age N ̅ Ss F p 17-21 170 8.7247 1.78977 Place 22-26 70 8.7857 1.96264 0.318 0.728 Over 26 32 9.0063 1.79999
17-21 170 7.0176 2.03947 Environment 22-26 70 7.5714 2.64066 1.612 0.201 Over 26 32 7.4063 2.57606
17-21 170 6.9941 1.91690 Technology 22-26 70 7.3714 2.32922 1.134 0.323 Over 26 32 7.4063 2.18292
17-21 170 11.1176 3.34562 Recreational Entertainment 22-26 70 10.8429 3.78263 0.459 0.633 Over 26 32 11.5625 4.01559
revealed that visitors from USA, Japan, Canada and students, increment of their interest and awareness. Europe prefer entertainment activities in their free time. In Recreational entertainment activities have a critical the study titled entertainment marketing and experimental place in free time activities. These free times of consumption, Hackley and Tiwsakul (2006) have stated participants should be organized systematically and that new theoretical conceptualizations have been make people to use it very well. In the study titled “the required. Barn (2005) suggested that problems could use of leisure time: activities of serious leisure and casual arise unless entertainment activities were integrated into leisure” Arslan (2012) emphasized that not only private entertainment sector. Selwakumar and Vikkraman (2012) sector establishment but also government institutions have concluded that male and female participants have should contribute these systematical free time activities. different recreational entertainment preferences and In the study titled, The administered public recreation these results support our findings. In the same study, it marketing concept, Novatorov (2015) suggested that was found that participants preferred sport activities as recreational activity practitioners should provide benefit recreational entertainment activities. Furthermore, for participant or customer by staying in ethical value recreational entertainment activities contain many perspective. Environment is very important to participate activities, so activities involving sport provide satisfaction in recreational activities. Lu et al. (2016) stated that for free time and also people participating these activities “international students think participating in leisure travel become fit because they do exercise. WHO emphasizes may reduce the pressure they receive from the unfamiliar that not only being physically fit, but also mental and environment”. Entertainment activities are stunning and social well-being while well-being is defined. Recreational cheap for university student, especially, when combined entertainment activities provide people complete with sports and entertainment activities (Larkin, 2015; satisfaction while providing the opportunity to become Lee et al., 2013) physically, mentally and socially well. Selvakumar and Vikkarman (2012) found difference between genders in terms of using technology to SUGGESTIONS participate in recreational entertainment activities. Also, it This study can be applied in different field at Marmara was stated that socialization was an important factor to University and Turkey to extent the sample group. This participate in recreational entertainment activities. study can be applied to public and opinions about their Recently, it can be seen that people are getting alone participation in recreational entertainment marketing can by addicting a mobile and computer although social be collected. Recreational entertainments activities can media usage has increased with the development of be developed with government support and make local technology. In the study in which the effects of social community to be able to benefit from these activities. media marketing on sport activities are examined, Rayat Monthly income can be added in next studies. et al. (2015) found that social media instruments had an important function to participate in recreational activities in campus. Goksel and Seraslan (2015) found similar Conflict of Interests results in the study of social media usage of clubs. This function stems from getting information of activities by The author has not declared any conflict of interest. 344 Educ. Res. Rev.
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Vol. 11(7), pp. 345-357, 10 April, 2016 DOI: 10.5897/ERR2016.2648 Article Number: FC977CB57617 ISSN 1990-3839 Educational Research and Reviews Copyright © 2016 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article http://www.academicjournals.org/ERR
Full Length Research Paper
Preservice preschool teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs and attitudes toward teaching profession
Şenel Elaldı* and Nazlı Sıla Yerliyurt
Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkey.
Received 17 January, 2016; Accepted 19 February, 2016
The purpose of this study is to investigate preservice preschool teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs and attitudes toward the teaching profession. The population of the present study consisted of 855(Female= 729) preservice preschool teachers studying at the Faculty of Education, Cumhuriyet University, in the fall semester of the 2015 – 2016 academic year. This study used mixed methods, both quantitative and qualitative methods. There were two samples (n = 407and; n = 278). While the quantitative phase of the study involved a descriptive research design, the qualitative phase included a case study research method. Quantitative data were collected through Preschool Teachers’ Self Efficacy Beliefs Scale and Teaching Profession Attitude Scale. In qualitative method, preservice preschool teachers were asked to describe their perceptions about teaching profession through a metaphor. Quantitative results revealed that preservice preschool teachers had high level of selfefficacy beliefs and positive attitudes toward teaching profession. With regard to the gender differences, the analyses indicated that females had more selfefficacy beliefs and positive attitudes toward teaching profession than did their male counterparts, but the differences were not statistically significant. In terms of grade level, while the senior and junior participants had higher level of self-efficacy beliefs and attitudes toward teaching profession than freshmen and sophomore participants, a meaningful difference was only observed in the subscale of Harmony between the1st and 3rd grades favoring 3rd grade. There was also a positive and small correlation between the participants’ self-efficacy beliefs and their attitudes towards teaching profession. Qualitative results were obtained from 75 metaphors which were classified under nine categories. In line with the codes and their categories, it can be interpreted as the participants have positive attitudes toward teaching profession through metaphors. Therefore, qualitative part of this study supports the findings revealing the preservice preschool teachers’ positive attitudes toward teaching profession.
Key words: Selfefficacy beliefs, attitude, teaching profession, preservice preschool teachers, metaphor.
INTRODUCTION
Teachers regarded as the cornerstones of education have crucial and molding roles with regard to realizing
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected].
Authors agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License
346 Educ. Res. Rev.
specified aims and objectives of the system and of education. Students commonly take teaching-related promoting students‟ achievement (Demirtaş et al., 2011); pedagogy courses including Methods of Teaching, thus, the impact of teachers on students and education Introduction to Educational Science, Educational programs is much more higher than any other Psychology, Curriculum Development and Instruction, components (that is, curriculum, physical sources, Measurement and Evaluation, Turkish Education System educational technology etc) (Şişman, 2004). Therefore, in and School Management, Classroom Management, order to improve quality of education delivered to Instructional Technologies and Materials Design, students, one should be able to produce quality teachers Psychological Counseling and Guidance, and Teaching (Darling-Hammond and Bransford, 2005). Practice (Parylo et al., 2015). Preservice teacher education in which preservice On the other hand, there are opportunities for the ones teachers undergo an “apprenticeship of learning” who want to become a teacher but did not graduate from (Pendergast, Garvis, & Keogh, 2011, p.46) provides the faculties of education in Turkey. The common path for first step in the professional development of teachers and graduates after the completion of Bachelor‟s degree in prepares them in knowledge and skills (Wilke, 2004). Science and Literature Faculties is to obtain a teaching Furthermore, preservice teacher education has an certificate through completing a pedagogical formation identity as an important channel for students' development program (non-thesis Master‟s degree). In addition, the in terms of cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains second-shift education provided in the evening in some of in an integrated manner (Yong et al., 2015). As for the Faculties of Education and Open Education Teaching preschool education, it has positive impact on children‟s Programs for English Language and Preschool Teacher academic performance and social-emotional adaptation Education are another alternative teacher training to formal schooling. According to Er-Sabuncuoğlu and programs. However, although pedagogic formation Diken (2010), preschool education is the period where programs, second-shift evening programs, and Open problems in development and learning are detected, and Education are alternatives for the preparation of teachers the preschool teachers are the ones who need the ability in Turkey, no matter from which program they graduate, to observe and detect potential risks and development all teacher candidates are required to get a certain score delays in children. Ministry of National Education [MoNE] from the state exam called KPSS (Exam for the Selection (2012) defines purposes of preschool education in two of Civil Servants) to be recruited as a teacher (Eret, categories: to fulfill the young children‟s child care needs 2013). and to provide early childhood education by equipping prospective teachers with necessary skills that help them become “a good teacher. However, increase in the LITERATURE REVIEW number of newly opened universities in almost every city of Turkey eventually brings problems in the quality of Teachers are required to have not only qualifications of teachers (Mother Child Education Foundation [MCEF], teaching profession but also beliefs to fulfill the 2007). Therefore, preschool teacher education programs responsibilities of this profession (Aslan et al., 2008) so are advised to review their program outcomes to improve that there is a strong relationship between selfefficacy the quality of the preschool teacher education in Turkey. beliefs and perceptions of competence on their job satisfaction (Bandura,1997).The beliefs that teachers have in their abilities organize and execute courses of Pre-service teacher education in Turkey action that are required to successfully accomplish a specific teaching task in a particular context (Tschannen- Traditional teacher preparation, conducted at university Moran et al., 1998). level, was reorganized in Turkey in 1997 (Yüksel, 2012). The concept of self-efficacy based on the Social Today, there are totally 72 education faculties under Learning Theory of Bandura (1986; 1989) includes one's Higher Education Council (HEC) in Turkey together with beliefs, attitudes, behaviors and own abilities to complete the private ones. Of these faculties, 64 of them are state tasks, reach goals and lead to better performance universities (Eret, 2013). Students are admitted to these (Gürcan, 2005). Additionally, teacher self-efficacy refers teacher education programs through their scores from the to teachers‟ beliefs in their capabilities to positively affect nation-wide university entrance exam. However, some students‟ learning and success (Denzine, Cooney, & teacher education programs such as music, arts, and McKenzie, 2005). Although teachers‟ sense of efficacy is physical education apply additional ability tests while a primary requirement for successful teaching and plays selecting their students (Eret, 2013). Preschool and an important role in productive teaching practices elementary school teacher education lasts four years in (Goddard et al., 2004), teacher self-efficacy does not faculties of education (Tok, 2011). Teacher candidates refer to productive teaching practices or successful get their subject courses from the relevant faculties in teaching but is related to benefitting students‟ learning their universities and teaching courses from the faculties processes and outcomes (Woolfolk and Hoy, 1990).
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Teacher efficacy influences teachers‟ behavior toward In this context, this study aimed to determine students. Teachers with high efficacy tend to accept their preservice preschool teachers‟ self-efficacy beliefs and students‟ ideas easier than less efficacious teachers and their attitudes toward teaching profession in terms of use those ideas in decision-making process in the gender and grade level, and also to reveal the classroom (Ashton, 1984). Moreover, while teachers relationships between preservice preschool teachers‟ displaying high self-efficacy are more apt to offer creative self-efficacy beliefs and their attitudes towards teaching solutions by investigating problems from alternative profession. viewpoints (Giallo and Little; 2003; Gordon, Lim, In accordance with the purpose, the following questions McKinnon, & Nkala, 1998; Gurcay, 2015), teachers low in were addressed: self-efficacy tend to employ reductive strategies, such as 1. What level of self-efficacy beliefs and attitudes toward time out, warnings, and loss of privileges in classroom teaching profession do preservice preschool teachers management (Barfield and Burlingame,1974; Emmer and have? Hickman, 1991; Henson, 2001), and therefore it can be 2. Do preservice preschool teachers‟ self-efficacy beliefs concluded that high self-efficacy beliefs positively affect and attitudes toward teaching profession differ in terms of students‟ learning outcomes and quality of teaching. gender and grade level? Attitudes which are mental predispositions or tendencies 3. Are there any significant relationships between the to respond to an object, person, or event (McMillan, self-efficacy beliefs and attitudes toward teaching 2000) reflect evaluations ranging from positive to profession of preservice preschool teachers? negative (Fabrigar et al., 2005). 4. What are the metaphorical images that reflect Attitudes of teachers toward profession influence their preservice preschool teachers‟ perceptions regarding the professional competencies and success (Richardson and concept of teaching profession. Watt, 2005) in their planning, decision making and classroom practices (Hooks et al., 2006; Semerci and Semerci, 2004). Therefore, preservice education MEDHODS programs aim to equip preservice teachers with the necessary skills and knowledge to become effective Research design teachers (Darling-Hammond and Bransford, 2005) and to Mixed methods approach, the use of both quantitative and develop positive attitudes toward teaching (Jain, 2007). qualitative data in a single study (Creswell and Plano, 2011), was Since today‟s preservice teachers will be tomorrow‟s applied in two samples (n = 407; and n = 278). While the inservice teachers, displaying positive attitudes help them quantitative phase of the study involved a descriptive research become successful and effective inservice teachers in the design, the qualitative phase included a case study research future (Hussain et al., 2011). However, many preservice method. Descriptive research is used to describe a current situation that existed in the past or exists now in the way it is (Karasar, education programs worldwide fail to achieve the aims of 2009). Case studies inquire “a contemporary phenomenon within its their own programs (Parylo et al., 2015). real-life context when the boundaries between phenomenon and In examining the literature, while there have been context are not clearly evident” (Yin, 1994, p. 13). several research studies on preservice teachers‟ attitudes toward teaching profession (Aslan and Akyol, 2006;Bulut, 2009; Çapa and Çil, 2000; Çapri and Çelikkaleli, 2008; Population and sample
Demirtaş et al., 2011; Eraslan and Çakıcı, 2011; Gökçe The population of the present study consisted of 855(Female= 729, and Sezer, 2012; Gülşen, 2014; Güven and Kaya, 2013; Male= 126) preservice preschool teachers studying in the Faculty of Kızıltaş et al., 2012, Köksal, 2013, Pehlivan, 2008; Education at Cumhuriyet University, Turkey in the fall semester of Tunçeli, 2013), limited research on the relationship the 2015 – 2016 academic year. The sample of quantitative phase between the self-efficacy beliefs and attitudes toward of the study comprised 407(Female= 333) preservice preschool teachers who voluntarily participated in the study. Of the teaching profession of preservice teachers is available. participants, 23.6 % (n=96) were freshmen from 1st grade, 19.4% However, preservice teachers are expected to gain high (n= 79) sophomores from 2nd grade, 20.9 % (n=85) juniors from 3rd self-efficacy beliefs and positive attitudes toward teaching grade and, 36.1 % (n= 147) seniors from 4th grade. However, the profession during their training in Education Faculties. As sample of the qualitative phase included 278 (Female = 232) Pehlivan (2008) emphasizes, it is difficult to train preservice preschool teachers who completed the phrase taking preservice teachers who chose teaching profession part in the questionnaire through a certain metaphor and its reason. Of the participants in qualitative phase 77 were freshmen, 52 were unwillingly, and do not have any efforts or enthusiasm to sophomores, 61 were juniors and, 88 were seniors. improve their performance. Therefore, it can be concluded that both high self-efficacy beliefs and positive attitudes toward teaching profession are prerequisites Instrument that a preservice teacher should have during preservice The data were gathered via a questionnaire. The questionnaire training, or otherwise, they may have discouraging included four major constructs: (1) demographic information experience in their future professions as teachers. including gender and grade, (2) Preschool Teachers‟ Self Efficacy
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Beliefs Scale, (3) Profession of Teaching Attitude Scale, and (4) better understanding, The phrase of „Teaching Profession is like a/ -not including metaphors about the concept of teaching profession an...... because...... ‟ to determine preservice were eliminated. After the elimination process, seventy-five valid preschool teachers‟ mental images about the concept of teaching metaphors in 278 papers were included in the qualitative part of the profession through metaphors. study.
Stage 3. Coding: Each metaphor was reviewed, and coded (i.e., Preschool Teachers’ Self Efficacy Beliefs Scale bridge, motherhood, life, art, farming, etc.). In addition, the grades
of the participants were coded as 1,2,3,4; Gender was coded as M The Preschool Teachers‟ Self Efficacy Beliefs Scale developed by and F. Tepe and Demir (2012) is a 37 –item instrument for measuring the self-efficacy beliefs of preschool teachers and preservice preschool Stage 4. Category development: After the coding stage, the teachers. This 5- point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (Completely metaphors were grouped under nine conceptual categories as (1) a Disagree) to 5 (Completely Agree), and used as a one dimension loved and respected career; (2) transmission of knowledge; (3) a or six dimension scale can be regarded as a valid and reliable guiding career; (4) an effective means of shaping society; (5) a instrument to measure self-efficacy beliefs of preschool and necessary part of life process; (6) a demanding career; (7) a heart/ preservice preschool teachers (Tepe and Demir, 2012). In this cornerstone for the development of society (8) a sacred duty and; study, one dimension form of the scale was used. The calculated (9) fun. mean scores of the scale are: 1 – 1.80 = Completely Disagree; 1.81 – 2.60 = Disagree; 2.61 – 3.40 = Neutral; 3.41 – 4.20 = Agree; 4.21 Stage 5. Ensuring validity and reliability: The data were – 5.00 = Completely Agree. Additionally, Cronbach‟s alpha analyzed separately by the researcher and a colleague (expert) coefficient was .97 (Tepe and Demir, 2012), In addition, the from Education Faculty in order to ensure reliability and validity of Cronbach‟s Alpha for this measure in the present study was 0.91. the study findings. As a result of the calculation made using the formula:
The Teaching Profession Attitude Scale [Consensus / (Consensus + Dissensus) × 100] (Miles and The Teaching Profession Attitude Scale developed by Çetin (2006) Huberman, 1994), is a 35 –item (15 reverse coded ) instrument with three subscales of Love, Value and, Harmony for measuring the attitude toward the The cohesion between the coders was calculated as .98. According teaching profession. The calculated mean scores of this 5-point to Miles and Huberman (1994), an overall agreement rate of about Likert scale are: 1 – 1.79 = Completely Disagree; 1.80 – 2.59 = 70% is acceptable among the researcher and the coders to assess Disagree; 2.60 – 3.39 = Neutral; 3.40 – 4.19 = Agree; 4.20 – 5.00 = the reliability and validity of the findings. Completely Agree (Çetin, 2006). Cronbach Alpha internal consistency coefficient of the Teaching Profession Attitude Scale was found to be .95 by Çetin (2006). The Cronbach's alpha showed FINDINGS an internal consistency of .83 for the sample of this study which composed of 407 participants. Levels of pre-service preschool teachers’ self- efficacy beliefs and attitudes toward teaching Data analyses profession
In the analysis of quantitative data, the SPSS 18.0 package program was used focusing on frequencies, percentages, arithmetic The mean scores of the participants obtained from the mean, standard deviation, independent sample t-test, Mann scales and the standard deviations of the distribution are Whitney-U test, one-way ANOVA and Tukey test. Qualitative data presented in Table 1. were analyzed through the content analysis technique since The findings, given in Table 1, showed that while the metaphor analysis is essentially a qualitative research methodology related to content analysis (Moser, 2000). In this regard, the self-efficacy beliefs of the participants was at the metaphors created by the participants were interpreted at five Completely Agree Level of 4.21 –5.00 (on the 5 –point stages as (1) classification, (2) elimination and reorganization, (3) Likert scale), with a mean of 4.25 (SD = .817),their coding, (4) category development, and (5) ensuring validity and teaching profession attitude was at the Agree Level on reliability (Yıldırım and Şimşek, 2008). the 5 –point Likert scale, with a mean of 4.02 (SD =
Stage 1. Classification: In this stage, the participants‟ metaphors 1.167). Additionally, the mean scores of the sub-scales of were listed and arranged in alphabetical order. the Teaching Profession Attitude Scale ranged from 3.74 (SD=1.29) to 4.48 (SD= .852) at the level of Agree and Stage 2. Elimination and reorganization: The metaphors Completely Agree. In line with these findings, it can be produced by the participants were reviewed individually and interpreted that the participants have high levels of self- assessed whether each participant expressed a certain metaphor clearly according to three criteria: (a) relevancy (b) coherency and efficacy beliefs and positive teaching profession attitudes. (c) meaningfulness (Eren and Tekinarslan, 2013). In line with these criteria, papers; Pre-service preschool teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs -including a certain metaphor without giving any reason for the metaphor, and attitudes toward teaching profession in terms of -including a certain metaphor and its reason which are not gender compatible with each other -including metaphors that were illogical or had no contribution to a Mean, standard deviation and independent t test scores
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Table 1. The levels of self-efficacy beliefs and attitudes toward teaching profession of the participants.
Profession Mean SD Degree of Agreement Preschool Teachers‟ Self Efficacy Beliefs Scale 4.25 .817 Completely Agree Teaching Profession Attitude Scale (Overall Scale) 4.02 1.167 Agree 1st Sub- scale: Love 3.92 1.19 Agree 2ndSub- scale: Value 4.48 .852 Completely Agree 3rd Sub- scale: Harmony 3.74 1.29 Agree
Number of participants = 47
Table 2. Independent group t-test and Mann Whitney U test scores of the participants in terms of gender.
Male Female T &P Values Levene’s Test Variable (n= 74; 18.2 %) (n= 333; 81.8 %) Mean SD Mean SD t P F P Preschool Teachers‟ Self Efficacy Beliefs Scale 4.12 .906 4.22 .837 .893 .327 .295 .588 Teaching Profession Attitude Scale (Overall Scale) 4.07 .998 4.24 .938 1.391 .165 .044 .833 1st Sub- scale: Love 4.06 .997 4.23 .938 1.391 .165 .044 .833 2ndSub- scale: Value 4.19 .886 4.44 .898 2.138 .033 .171 .680
Mann Whitney U 3rd Sub- scale: Harmony N Mean Rank Sum of Ranks U Z P Male 74 167.87 70605.50 9647.500 -3.156 0.002* Female 333 212.03 12422.50
Levene‟s Test: F=1.909; P<0.05.
of the participants and Mann Whitney U test score Pre-service preschool teachers’ self-efficacy the difference observed in the mean scores of the for the subscale of Harmony in terms of the beliefs and their attitudes toward teaching participants, as shown in Table 3, was significant gender are presented in Table 2. profession in terms of grade level or not. According to the one-way ANOVA results, As shown in Table 2, although female partici- the significant difference was observed in the pants had higher mean scores obtained from the The distributions of the mean scores with Harmony subscale of the Teaching Profession both scales and the subscales of the Teaching standard deviations obtained from the both Attitude Scale and given in Table 4. Profession Attitude Scale than male participants, scales in terms of their grade levels are presented As illustrated in Table 4, there was a statistically in Table 3. there were no statistically significant gender significant difference between the groups in terms differences [p>.05], except for the sub-scale of of the scores of the subscale Harmony at the level Level of attitudes toward teaching profession Harmony in which there was a statistically signifi- of 0.05. Therefore, the Turkey technique was cant gender difference favoring female participants. Variance analysis was done to determine whether used as a multi-comparison technique to determine
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Table 3. The descriptive statistical results demonstrating self-efficacy beliefs and attitudes toward teaching profession of the participants in terms of grade level.
1st Grade 2nd Grade 3rd Grade 4th Grade Grade (n= 96; 23.6 %) (n= 79; 19.4%) (n= 85; 20.9 %) (n= 147; 36.1 %) N=407 Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Preschool Teachers‟ Self Efficacy Beliefs Scale 4.11 .814 4.13 .952 4.26 .901 4.27 .781 Teaching Profession Attitude Scale (Overall Scale) 4.15 1.04 4.18 1.04 4.21 .939 4.28 .847 1st Sub-scale: Love 4.14 1.03 4.18 1.04 4.20 .939 4.26 .846 2nd Sub-scale: Value 4.37 .886 4.39 .869 4.39 .999 4.40 .865 3rd Sub-scale: Harmony 3.74 1.36 4.15 1.12 4.28 1.09 4.15 1.24
Table 4. One-Way ANOVA results of the Harmony subscale in terms of grade level.
Total of Mean of Std. Group F Sig. (p) Squares Squares deviation Difference Between groups 20.746 .6.915 3 4.489 .004* 3rd Sub- scale: 1-3 Within groups 620.772 1.540 403 Harmony Total 641.518 406
*p<.005.
Table 5. Pearson correlation results between self-efficacy beliefs and attitude toward teaching profession of the participants.
Preschool Teachers’ Self Efficacy Beliefs Scale N r P Teaching Profession Attitude Scale (Overall Scale) 407 0.126 .000* 1st Sub- scale: Love 0.132 .000** 2ndSub- scale: Value 0.154 .000** 3rd Sub- scale: Harmony 0.056 .001
determine which group the difference favored. According or trivial (absolute value of r = 0.00 - 0.09); small (absolute to the results, a significant difference was found between value of r = 0.10 - 0.29); moderate or medium (absolute the 1st and 3rd grades in favor of the 3rd grade (Mean value of r = 0.30 - 0.49); large (absolute value of r = 0.40 =4.28) regarding attitudes toward teaching profession - 0.69); and very large (absolute value of r = 0.60 - 1.00) [F(3- 406)= 4.489; p<0,05]. (Matthews et al., 2012). The relationships between the participants‟ self-efficacy beliefs and the subscales Love and Value of the Findings on the relationship between self-efficacy Teaching Profession Attitude scale range from moderate beliefs and attitudes toward teaching profession of correlation with a coefficient of r = 0.13 to large the participants correlation with a coefficient of r = 0.15respectively. How- ever, there were no relationships between the preservice In order to find out whether there was a significant preschool teachers‟ self-efficacy beliefs and the subscale relationship between self-efficacy beliefs and attitudes of Harmony. toward teaching profession of the participants, Pearson correlation analysis was performed and given in Table 5. Findings on the metaphorical images that reflect the The output shows that there is a positive and small participants’ perceptions regarding the concept of correlation between the preservice preschool teachers‟ teaching profession self-efficacy beliefs and teaching profession attitude scores with a coefficient of r =0.12, which is also Metaphors created by the participants regarding the significant at p < 0.00. The absolute value of the concept of teaching profession are presented in Table 6. correlation coefficient can be interpreted as; nonexistent As seen in Table 6, seventy-five valid metaphors were
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Table 6. Metaphors created by the participants with loadings.
Metaphor f Metaphor f Metaphor f Metaphor f Metaphor f Acting 3 Opening up a door everyday 1 Gardening 9 Medicine 4 Running a marathon 1 Architecture 2 Dough 2 Glasses 1 Mining 1 Sailing open sea 1 Art 15 Eating 1 Guidance 6 Mirror 4 Sculpting 1 Ballpoint Pen 1 Embassy 1 Happiness 6 Modeling 2 Shepherding 1 Book 1 Experiment 1 Heart 1 Motherhood 17 Social Media 1 Bread and Water 9 Exploring new horizons 1 Heroism 1 Navigating a Ship 1 Soil 2 Breathing 5 Family 3 House 1 Nothingness 1 Singing into the night 1 Bridge 1 Farming 4 Jug 1 Organ 1 Sun 19 Caterpillar 1 Field 3 Labyrinth 1 Organizing something 1 The first link in the chain 1 Candle 7 Flag 1 Lantern 4 Parenthood 8 Treasure 2 Coaching 1 Flying to unknown places 1 Light 8 Passion 13 Tree 9 Column 1 Food 2 Life 27 Planting 6 Vehicle 1 Compass 1 Friendship 4 Love 21 Profession of Prophets 1 Warrior 1 Conducting an Orchestra 1 Future 3 Machine 3 Raising a child 1 Weaving 1 Constructing a building 1 Game 1 Magic wand 1 Road Map 3 Writing Poetry 2 Total=278
created by 278 participants and explained under “Teaching profession is like parenthood, because informs students” nine categories. Each category, except for 7th and it represents confidence, patience and, protection” “Teaching profession is like a tree, because its th 8 categories, was represented by five metaphors “Teaching profession is like love, because it fruits are students” “Teaching profession is like a candle, because it describing the nature of the category well. requires loyalty, passion and, devotion” “Teaching profession is like heroism, because it consumes itself to light for students”
Category 1. Teaching profession as a loved constructs a family from a person and then a “Teaching profession is like opening up a door, society from a family” because it requires new doors which are full of and respected career knowledge to open everyday” “Teaching profession is like the sun, because it Under this conceptual category, 63 participants Category 2. Teaching profession as used six different metaphors. The most frequent illuminates students” transmission of knowledge metaphors used in this category are motherhood, passion, love, heroism, family and, parenthood. For this category, 52 participants produced nine
metaphors which are book, ballpoint, candle, Category 3. Teaching profession as a guiding “Teaching profession is like motherhood, because lantern, light, opening up a door, sun, treasure career it requires compassion” and, tree. “Teaching profession is like passion, because it Under this category 22 participants used 11 includes patience, dedication and love” “Teaching profession is like a book, because it metaphors such as compass, conducting an
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orchestra, navigating a ship, road map, guidance, Category 6. Teaching profession as a demanding career shepherding, coaching, modeling, vehicle, organizing something, friendship. In this category, 37 participants produced 15 metaphors “Teaching profession is like conducting an orchestra, which are farming, field, gardening, nothingness, soil, because every student has a different character and it is planting, raising a child, writing poetry, flying to unknown not an easy process” places, singing into the night, acting, experiment, “Teaching profession is like a road map, because it is exploring new horizons and, running a marathon, sailing inevitable for students to reach their goals” open sea. “Teaching profession is like shepherding, because it leads to students” “Teaching profession is like acting, because it needs “Teaching profession is like coaching, because it preparing well before exhibiting performance otherwise, motivates students to learn” failure is inevitable” “Teaching profession is like a compass, because it shows “Teaching profession is like experiment, because you the right direction to students” cannot guess the outcome” “Teaching profession is like running a marathon, because it requires dedication and hard work without minding Category 4. Teaching profession as an effective weather conditions” means of shaping society “Teaching profession is like nothingness, because it always starts with zero” This category consists of 16 metaphors created by 38 “Teaching profession is like writing poetry, because it participants. The most frequent metaphors used in this requires a special ability” category are architecture, bridge, caterpillar, constructing a building, dough, flag, jug, warrior, sculpting, weaving, mining, medicine, mirror, magic wand and, social media, Category 7. Teaching profession as a heart/ art. cornerstone for the development of society “Teaching profession is like weaving, because it requires great effort, challenging and creativeness” Eight participants produced six metaphors related to this “Teaching profession is like social media, because it category. They are column, heart, machine, organ, house needs sharing” and, the first link in the chain. “Teaching profession is like a bridge, because it “Teaching profession is like a column, because it keeps a connects students to real life” society standing” “Teaching profession is like dough, because it kneads “Teaching profession is like an organ, because its most and shapes students” important function is education” “Teaching profession is like a warrior, because it fights “Teaching profession is like a heart, because a society ignorance” doesn‟t exist without it” “Teaching profession is like mining, because it brings “Teaching profession is like a house, because it requires precious stones to light” building on a solid foundation” “Teaching profession is like the first link in the chain, because it constructs societies” Category 5. Teaching profession as a necessary part of life process
This category contains seven metaphors produced by 48 Category 8. Teaching profession as a sacred duty participants such as bread & water, breathing, life, eating, In this category, two participants produced two metaphors food, future and, glasses. which are profession of prophets, embassy. “Teaching profession is like profession of prophets, “Teaching profession is like bread and water, because it because it leads to humanity” is basic necessity for survival of a society” “Teaching profession is like embassy, because it “Teaching profession is like breathing, because it is mediates students in learning process” inevitable to maintain life” “Teaching profession is like glasses, because it enables students to see better” Category 9. Teaching profession as fun “Teaching profession is like life, because it aims to gain experiences” This category consists of three metaphors which are “Teaching profession is like future, because it prepares game, labyrinth and, happiness produced by eight students for their future” participants.
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“Teaching profession is like a game, because it is an I'm tired of the lessons and teachers. (2) I’m afraid of enjoyable process” starting such an enduring profession. (3) The idea of “Teaching profession is like a labyrinth, because it renewing yourself continuously preoccupies me to contains many ways full of joys” perform this profession (4). Teaching profession is a “Teaching profession is like happiness, because the backbreaking work that never improves. (5) Constantly more you share teaching the more you enjoy it” being trapped in a classroom makes me angry. In line with this result, it may be implied that female preservice preschool teachers have more positive attitudes to DISCUSSION overcome negative aspects of teaching profession. Furthermore, preschool teaching is generally much more This study was conducted to determine preservice preferred by female students than males in Turkey preschool teachers‟ self-efficacy beliefs and their (Argun and İkiz, 2003; Kızıltaş et al., 2012). In this vein, attitudes toward teaching profession in terms of gender Guarino et al., 2006) emphasize that females form greater and grade level, and also to reveal the relationships proportions of new teachers than males as males have between preservice preschool teachers‟ self-efficacy historically a wider choice of jobs than women. According beliefs and their attitudes towards teaching profession. to Kızıltaş et al. (2012), without expecting employment The findings revealed that preservice preschool teachers opportunities, female preservice preschool teachers self-efficacy beliefs were at the Completely Agree Level choose this department more consciously and willingly (4.21 – 5.00) on the 5 –point Likert scale, with a mean of than do their counterparts. In this context, Aydın and 4.25 (SD = .817). This result, which implies high level of Sağlam (2012) imply that since teaching profession self-efficacy beliefs, is consistent with the results of other requires dedication and loving children like motherhood, it studies in relevant literature (Akkuş, 2013; Gençtürk, may be viewed as a woman's profession. 2008; Girgin et al., 2010; Gömleksiz and Serhatlıoğlu, With regard to grade level differences, this study 2013; Keskin, 2006). Furthermore, preservice preschool revealed that while the senior and junior participants had teachers attitudes toward teaching profession was at the Completely Agree Level of self-efficacy beliefs and Agree Level(3.40 – 4.19) on the 5 –point Likert scale, attitudes toward teaching profession, freshmen and with a mean of 4.02 (SD = 1.167). This result implies that sophomore participants had Agree Level. A meaningful preservice preschool teachers have moderate positive difference was only observed in the subscale of Harmony attitudes toward teaching profession. Similarly, Argun and between the1st and 3rd grades favoring 3rd grade İkiz (2003), Başbay et al. (2009), Korkmaz and Usta according the result of Tukey test. Similarly, the results of (2010), Köksal (2013), Üstün et al. (2004), Oral (2004) the studies conducted by Akkoyunlu and Orhan (2003) and Yılmaz (2009) found positive attitudes displayed by and Kiremit (2006) indicated that self-efficacy beliefs of preservice teachers toward teaching profession. senior and junior preservice teachers had higher than With regard to the gender differences, the analyses that of freshmen and sophomore preservice teachers. indicated that females had more self-efficacy beliefs and They explained the results of increasing self-efficacy positive attitudes toward teaching profession (at beliefs in upper grades as gaining much more expe- Completely Agree Levels) than did their male rience, preparing themselves for graduation and almost counterparts (at Agree Levels), but the differences were being ready for teaching profession. Since, the numbers not statistically significant, except for the sub-scale of of years of a teacher‟s schooling are generally positively Harmony which indicated a statistically significant gender correlated with student‟s performance (Farrel, 1995). difference favoring female participants. This finding was Additionally, Doğan (2002) and Karahan (2003), who consistent with those in the previous studies that found studied on preservice teachers‟ attitudes toward teaching no gender differences in terms of self-efficacy beliefs of profession in terms of grade level, found that senior preservice teachers (Çevik, 2010; Demirtaş et al., 2009; preservice teachers had more positive attitudes toward Gençtürk, 2008; Gömleksiz and Serhatlıoğlu, 2013; Gür, teaching profession than those who were freshmen. They 2008; Koparan et al., 2011; Korkmaz and Usta, 2010; imply that long term education cause an increase in Şenol, 2012; Ülper and Bağcı, 2012; Yaman et al., 2004) preservice teachers‟ attitudes toward teaching profession. and their attitudes toward teaching profession (i.e., A positive and small meaningful correlation between Başbay et al.,2009; Bulut & Doğar, 2006;Bulut, 2009; the preservice preschool teachers‟ self-efficacy beliefs Demirtaş et al., 2011; Gülşen, 2014; Gömleksiz, Oral & and their attitudes toward teaching profession, with a Bulut, 2006; Gürbüztürk & Genç, 2004; Sürücü, 1997). coefficient of r =0.12 was found in the present study. However, there was a meaningful difference in the scores Some studies (i.e., Çakır, 2005; Çakır et al., 2004; Çapri obtained from the subscale of Harmony in favor of female and Çelikkaleli, 2008; Demirtaş et al., 2011; Oğuz and participants. This subscale has five reverse coded items Topkaya, 2008) indicated a positive and meaningful related to professional harmony which are: (1) Teaching relationship between pre-service teachers‟ self-efficacy profession is the endmost career for me to perform since beliefs and their attitudes toward teaching profession.
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While there were no relationships between the preservice prospective teachers‟ beliefs can change significantly in preschool teachers‟ self-efficacy beliefs and the subscale the process of becoming a teacher and that metaphors of Harmony, there was a positive and moderate can be used to examine these changes as well. correlation between the subscale of Love; a positive and large correlation between the subscale of Value and attitudes toward teaching profession. Conclusion It was also aimed to reveal preservice preschool teachers‟ perceptions regarding the concept of teaching The findings reveal that preservice preschool teachers profession in the light of metaphors. As Haggis (2004) have high level of self-efficacy beliefs and moderate level indicates, metaphors can be used to shape thoughts, but positive attitudes toward teaching profession. There is also to shape the nature and scope of action, in both also a positive and small meaningful correlation between creative and restrictive ways. Preservice teachers may the preservice preschool teachers‟ self-efficacy beliefs examine their current views and consider carefully the and their attitudes toward teaching profession. None of type of teachers they wish to be and become through 278 participants developed negative metaphors regarding developing metaphors (Wright et al., 2013) which teaching profession and therefore, the positive attitudes represent beliefs regarding the various teacher roles of the participants toward teaching profession have also (Hasim et al., 2013) and therefore, the use of metaphors been supported by metaphors. As noted by Knowles can enable preschool teachers to represent their (1994), the metaphors of preservice teachers can provide personal understanding of the teaching profession, them- a glimpse to the developing conceptions of teaching and selves as learners and as teachers in a way that can be related concepts. These glimpses should not be ignored, beneficial in exploring the complexity of teaching (Earle, but examined closely, in order to help teacher education 1995). In this context, 75 valid metaphors were created programs discover students‟ beliefs earlier in a program by 278 participants. For example, teaching profession (Wright et al., 2013). was defined by the participants as “parenthood”, “love”, Yet, the study had its limitations. The most important “column”, “heart”, and “dough”, as well as “weaving”, limitation of the study was the sample size, and therefore, “acting”, “running a marathon”, “writing a poetry”, “brea- it is suggested studies combining qualitative and thing”, and “conducting an orchestra”. These metaphors quantitative approaches in a large sample size through were grouped under nine conceptual categories as (1) a reaching out and keeping in touch with other universities. loved and respected career; (2) transmission of It is also suggested perform longitudinal studies to ob- knowledge; (3) a guiding career; (4) an effective means serve the differences occurring in the self-efficacy beliefs of shaping society; (5) a necessary part of life process; and attitudes of preservice teachers at specific time (6) a demanding career; (7) a heart/ cornerstone for the intervals. development of society (8) a sacred duty and; (9) fun. Although the findings of this study can only be gene- While the most loaded category with 63 participants ralized in the context wherein the study was conducted, it was teaching profession as a loved and respected career can have important implication and insights on preservice category, the least loaded one with two participants was preschool teachers‟ self-efficacy beliefs and their teaching profession as a sacred duty category. In line attitudes toward profession in Turkey and in other with the codes and their categories, it can be interpreted countries as well. as the participants have positive attitudes toward teaching profession through metaphors. Therefore, qualitative part of this study supports the findings Conflict of Interests obtained from the Teaching Profession Attitude Scale and revealing the pre-service preschool teachers‟ positive The authors have not declared any conflicts of interest. attitudes toward teaching profession. 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Vol. 11(7), pp. 358-370, 10 April, 2016 DOI: 10.5897/ERR2016.2654 Article Number: A3F3B9557621 ISSN 1990-3839 Educational Research and Reviews Copyright © 2016 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article http://www.academicjournals.org/ERR
Full Length Research Paper
A study of developing attitude scale for piano teaching
Tarkan YAZICI
Mersin University, Faculty of Education, Department of Fine Arts Education, Mersin, Turkey.
Received 19 January, 2016; Accepted 25 February, 2016
In this study, the development phases of a measurement instrument, which can be used for measuring the piano teaching attitudes of piano teachers, are investigated. Validity and reliability studies of the scale, which was developed in Turkey’s circumstances, were carried out with 196 piano teachers giving piano lectures in different districts of Turkey in the year 2015. Content validity, principal component analysis and confirmatory factor analysis together with construct validity and total correlation of items of piano teaching attitude scale, which was created by 25 positive, 10 negative, total 35 items including fivefold Likert type alternatives, were examined via Cronbach Alpha, lower and upper 27% t test. The results show that the validity of the scale, which is developed by the validity and reliability studies conducted and ended up with 3 factors and 19 items, is high and that it can be used as a scale for measuring the teaching attitudes in piano education.
Key words: Piano, teaching, piano teaching, scale, attitude scale.
INTRODUCTION
Musical communication realized through piano, which is believe the importance of change – forgetting – acknowledged as the most universal and most funda- discountenance - unleashing (abandoning) - pushing the mental instrument in terms of acquiring-understanding limits of thought and the necessity of intellectual and the skills of playing-listening-reading music, creating action freedom, would not exhibit such problems (Ercan, musical knowledge and providing a basis for other 2008; Baştuğ, 2009). In this context, practising of a musical studies, is significantly influential for creating curriculum while taking individual differences into consi- desired individual behaviours/behavioural changes of deration and using different methods/techniques while individuals (as cited in Kasap, 2004 from Buchanan, staggering them pedagogically by the piano teacher, who 1964; Vernezza; MEB, 2006 from Uçan, 1988). However, are the most fundamental element of an effective piano despite cultural differences, students receiving piano education, matters in terms of students to play piano well, lectures all over the world may display four different to enjoy it completely, to be motivated, not to be “problematic learning” models such as possessing limited disappointed and not to get bored; because, education, technical skills despite musical sensitivity, lacking which is an activity of affection and reaches utopia, is musicality despite overcoming technical problems, pro- kind of a fantasy world of the wishes for the future and gressing slowly due to going into details and overlooking means to be able to overcome all difficulties and to details despite possessing intuition-musicality. Though, a untangle problematic issues meticulously (Gökbudak, student, who is ready to constant change and who can 2013, 2005; Yazıcı, 2013; Say, 2005).
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Because real education occurs with the “activities 2012; Duman, 2008; Bloom, 2012). Therefore, determina- practiced in the classroom for the students” after the tion of piano teaching attitudes of piano teachers is of teacher closes the classroom door, educational practices particular importance for increasing the quality of draw the limits of education as a significantly determinant education and level of learning of students. Though there factor in terms of students’ ability to acquire/not to is no sample of a scale for determining the attitudes of acquire gains (Fidan, 2012; Bandura, 1995). In this piano teaching in the literature in Turkey; for this purpose, sense, due to the possibility of a teacher with negative in this research it is aimed to develop a Likert-type scale attitudes to rapidly and profoundly inflict damage on for determining attitudes of piano teaching. education, the concept of “attitude” has a great importance with regard to influencing and changing thoughts and behaviours of the teacher and determining METHODOLOGY the quality of teaching practices (as cited in Özmenteş In this research, which is an effort aimed to develop Likert-type and Özmenteş, 2009 from Mullins, 1984; Yazıcı and Kılıç, scale, successive functional steps, such as defining attitude 2015). Hence, when the fact that an educator can enable (attribute) to be measured, engineering test scale, applying the test students to acquire positive/negative behaviours through and analysing acquired data, are as followed (Tezbaşaran, 2008). his/her excitement, personality, behaviours and knowledge is considered, the piano teaching attitudes of piano teachers come to the forefront; because, educator, Participants thanks to his/her extraordinary difficult-complicated The research conducted with randomly selected 196 piano teachers expert/technician role in creating human behaviour, teaching piano in the different provinces of Turkey in 2015. 61.7% performs an important function related with learning/ of the participants are females (n=121) and 38.3% are males teaching processes such as accelerating and correcting a (n=75). behaviour, which can originally be acquired slowly/falsely
(Semerci and Semerci, 2004; Alkan and Kurt, 2014). Defining the attitude (attribute) to be measured Attitude, which forms one of the main subjects of social psychology due to its effects on social perceptions and In this step, the literature is reviewed; the situations to be observed behaviours, has an important influence on learning in relation to the attitude to be measured are projected and worded /teaching process covering acquiring and changing know- in accordance with the scaling technique used. ledge, skills, strategy, belief and behaviours. Thereby, an educator possessing positive attitudes in teaching Engineering the test scale and content validity processes will try to make the lecture more fun, always provide feedback, enrich the personal development of the Firstly, the scale material is prepared and projected so as to be students, include all students in the learning process and used by the researcher and reproduced. In line with the comments teach the lesson with the help of rich methods (Tolan, of two academicians specialized in psychological counselling and 1983; Schunk, 2009; Yılmaz, 2008). Thus, “full guidance, the scale prepared by the researcher in the wake of necessary simplification was scaled down to 35 items and in order understanding”, in which a planned education service to realize the content validity questions and size of the scale sensitive to the students is provided, suitable and timely together with the assessment forms were sent to two academicians support is given to those facing learning difficulties and specialized in piano teaching. It was reported that they agree that almost all students develop high-level learning skill, will items are suitable for the field and the wording is adequate in terms be ensured (Bloom, 2012). On the other hand, negative of comprehensibleness. The last version of the questionnaire was published online and the links of the questionnaire were emailed to attitudes may drag teachers to disapproval, refusal, piano teachers. Application lasted for ten days, data analysis only dislike of students, failure to improve himself/herself, started after 196 participants, which is fivefold of the item number of being unexcited and unwilling in their professional life and the scale, were reached (Kline, 1994; Harrington, 2009). consequently may negatively affect exhaustion level of the teachers. A piano teacher suffering from emotional Analysis of the data acquired via test scale exhaustion will have difficulty in focusing on his/her job, feel strained and frustration, experience unwillingness for This step, in which SPSS and Lisrel programs are used, consists of education and his/her per-sonal achievements will dete- functional steps such as scoring the answers given to the items, riorate. As a result, quality of education will decrease and calculating the raw scores of the individuals in the scale, the students will be adversely affected in terms of potential characteristics of the distribution of raw scores, the characteristics of the distribution of item scores and item analysis. gains they may acquire. Yet, if education service is of Scale is a measuring instrument consisting of fivefold Likert-type high quality, students will experience a quality (1=Never, 5=Always) 35 questions planned to be grouped under 3 educational activity. However, due to negative attitudes, sub-dimensions. The items of the scale and the dimensions they learning processes are encumbered with “errors” belong are shown in Table 1. 7 items (1, 3, 20, 21, 32, 33, 35) in the reaching huge amounts, whereas, an effective and highly scale form the sub-dimension of “The importance given to teaching piano”, 14 items (2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 26) satisfactory learning by most of the students is only constitute the sub-dimension of “The compassion for teaching possible with an educational atmosphere with “minimum piano”, 14 items (7, 10, 12, 13, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, errors” (Semerci and Semerci, 2004; Kılıç and Yazıcı, 34) comprise the sub-dimension of “The professional approach 360 Educ. Res. Rev.
Table 1. Planned factor structure of the attitude scale for piano teaching.
Factor Expression 1. Piano teaching is necessary for musical development 3. Piano teaching contributes to my musical status 20. Teaching piano is not that big of a deal F1: The importance given to teaching piano 21. Teaching piano makes me proud 32. I consider teaching piano as very significant 33. Teaching piano requires a serious preparation 35. An effective piano education does not require an extra effort.
2. I do not enjoy teaching piano 4. My performance of piano teaching is always well 5. I always enjoy making pre-studies for piano teaching 6. I always enjoy training musical piece while teaching piano 8. I have difficulty while training hard pre-studies for piano teaching 9. I have difficulty while training complicated musical pieces while teaching piano 11. Teaching piano is always fun for me F2: The compassion for teaching piano 14. I wish I was not required to teach piano 15. Teaching piano is difficult for me 16. I lose sleep when I think I will always teach piano 17. I feel sorry for the time spent for teaching piano 18. I really get bored while teaching piano. 19. I am interested in teaching piano only because it is a duty 26. Thinking about teaching piano makes me eager
7. I think the things I have learnt about teaching piano is adequate 10. Technical studies should be given more weight in teaching piano 12. I always want to train the pre-studies I have picked 13. I always want to train the musical pieces I have picked. 22. I allocate vast time for planning before teaching piano 23. I really enjoy examining the literature related with piano education 24. I enjoy planning piano education F3: The professional approach towards teaching piano 25. I can volunteer for participating the projects related with piano education 27. I lose track of time while planning piano education 28. I follow updated resources (articles, books, etc.) related with piano education 29. I do not feel uncomfortable even I am required to teach piano for hours 30. I can easily quit certain things for developing myself in piano education 31. I exchange ideas with the piano teachers about piano education when I can find the chance 34. I really enjoy practicing the new development in piano education in courses
towards teaching piano” (Table 1). Items numbered 20, 35, 2, 8, 9, RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 of the scale are reverse coded since they are negative expressions. Total scores of the items are assessed for Construct validity each sub-dimension and the overall scale. For the overall scale high score means the attitude towards piano teaching is highly positive. Explanatory factor analysis Descriptive statistics of the data gathered from 196 samples of the attitude scale for piano teaching are presented in Table 2. Within the explanatory factor analysis, which is In order to measure construct validity, explanatory factor analysis multivariate statistic aiming to find and explore limited (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were carried out. Within the scope of the reliability study, item analysis methods number of unrelated and conceptually meaningful new consisting of total correlation of items, Cronbach Alpha, lower and variables (factors, dimensions) by gathering a number of upper 27% quartile t tests were applied. related variables, an operation for finding factors based YAZICI 361
Table 2. Descriptive statistics of attitude scale for piano teaching.
Item No ̅ SS Min. Max. Item No ̅ SS Min. Max. 1 4.63 0.61 1 5 18 4.47 0.73 2 5 3 4.40 0.79 1 5 19 4.63 0.78 2 5 20 4.89 0.38 3 5 26 3.68 0.98 1 5 21 4.62 0.64 1 5 7 3.32 1.18 1 5 32 4.71 0.56 2 5 10 4.03 0.85 1 5 33 4.48 0.68 2 5 12 3.82 0.85 1 5 35 1.62 0.98 1 5 13 3.72 0.91 1 5 2 4.24 1.05 1 5 22 3.39 0.95 1 5 4 4.03 0.64 2 5 23 4.18 0.89 1 5 5 3.88 0.87 1 5 24 3.93 0.91 1 5 6 4.45 0.63 3 5 25 3.85 1.07 1 5 8 2.50 1.13 1 5 27 3.64 1.03 1 5 9 2.52 1.06 1 5 28 3.91 0.90 1 5 11 4.44 0.72 2 5 29 3.69 1.00 1 5 14 4.71 0.66 1 5 30 3.61 0.92 1 5 15 4.53 0.73 2 5 31 3.76 0.87 2 5 16 4.80 0.54 2 5 34 4.10 0.84 2 5 17 4.93 0.33 3 5 - - - - -
on the relations between variables is conducted. In the 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 26, 7, 10, 12, 13, 24 and 34) are not placed factor analysis, the factor weight values are high (while in conformable dimensions and have higher weight being 0.45 or more is a good measure, it can be values in the dimensions they do not belong to. decreased to 0.30) in selecting the items not measuring Because of the unconformable factor structure of the the same construct and items are observed to have high scale, non-observant items were incrementally eliminated weight value for a single factor, while to have lower and the results shown in the Table 4 were acquired. A weight value for other factors (the factor weight value total of 16 items, including all of the 15 items that are not difference between a factor for which an item has the in conformity with the factor structure in the first Varimax highest factor weight value and other remaining factors rotation and 3rd item, were removed from the scale. When should be minimum 0.10) (Büyüköztürk, 2011). the structure acquired by the latest Varimax rotation was The KMO in the explanatory factor analysis was examined, it was observed that there were 3 factors measured as 0.857, while significance level in the whose values are higher than 1 and that there are 19 Bartlett’s Sphericity Test is measured as p<0.01. It is items falling into 3 sub-dimensions. The contributions of observed that it is appropriate to make an explanatory the 3 sub-dimensions to the variance are respectively factor analysis with the data acquired by the application 21.50% - 21.50% - 12.50% and the total variance for the carried out with 196-person-wide sample (Table 3). The scale in general was found to be 55.06%. It was also results gathered form the first Varimax rotation are shown observed that the weight values of the items in the factors in Table 3. they belong varied between 0.56 and 0.83 and that every When Table 3 is examined, 35-item scale forms a 9- single item has the highest weight value in their own factor structure which has a value higher than 1. How- factor. ever, because the current situation is not in conformity with the 3-factor structure identified in the content validity, scree plot graphic was examined for determining the Confirmatory factor analysis most important factor number. When the scree plot graphic was examined, the slop significantly disappears In confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation after the third factor, and three factors are important modelling, Ki-square statistic (X2), the ratio of ki-square (Figure 1). statistic to degree of freedom (X2/df), statistical For the conformity of factor structure, the weight values significance of individual parameter estimations (t value), of the items in the factors they belong, the weight values (SRMR, GFI) “based on the inclusions”, (NFI, NNFI, CFI) in other factors and the difference between weight values “based on the independent models” and root mean in more than one factor were observed. When Table 3 square error of approximation, which are classified as was examined, it was observed that 15 items (33, 35, 2, conformality indices, are used for the assessment of 362 Educ. Res. Rev.
Table 3. The results of the explanatory factor analysis (first varimax).
Item No F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 p1 - - - 0.651 - - - - - p3 - - - 0.480 - - - - - p20 - - - 0.498 - - - - - p21 - - - 0.457 - - - - - p32 - - - 0.713 - - - - - p33 - - - - - 0.791 - - - p35 ------0.774 p2 ------0.771 - p4 - 0.320 0.522 0.316 - - - - - p5 ------0.688 - - p6 0.324 - - - - - 0.330 0.392 0.319 p8 - - 0.872 ------p9 - - 0.894 ------p11 - 0.493 ------p14 - 0.766 ------p15 - 0.697 ------p16 - 0.832 ------p17 - 0.598 ------p18 - 0.660 ------p19 - 0.713 ------p26 0.747 ------p7 - - 0.418 ------p10 - - 0.321 - - - 0.602 - - p12 - - - - 0.920 - - - - p13 - - - - 0.915 - - - - p22 0.499 ------p23 0.529 ------p24 0.532 - - - - 0.626 - - - p25 0.665 ------p27 0.723 ------p28 0.614 ------p29 0.707 ------p30 0.630 ------p31 0.518 ------0.315 - p34 0.307 - - - 0.583 - - - - KMO -0.857 Barlett’s p) 0.000 Value 9.507 3.385 2.039 2.010 1.515 1.282 1.168 1.113 1.051
conformality of the models (Bayram, 2010). Acceptance explanatory factor analysis were assessed and good conformality values of the conformality indices simultaneously, it was precipitated that there are some are given in Table 5 (Bayram, 2010; Sümer, 2000; items requiring to be removed. Therefore, starting to Raykov, 1997). eliminate the items with the lowest factor weight, it was According to Table 5, it was observed that the 9-factor determined that the scale reaches its best structure with structure of the scale and its conformality indices could 3 factors and 19 items (Table 7). not reach adequate levels. When Table 6 and Figure 2 Findings show that the conformality indices turn out to were analysed, it was also observed that there are quite be in acceptable and very good levels in general after a number of items standardized factor weight of which modification connections, that the t values for each item are below 0.50. is significant at 0.01 level and that the model displays a When the acquired findings and the results of the decent conformality (Figure 1) (Çokluk et al., 2010; Meydan YAZICI 363
Figure 1. Scree plot graphic gathered by the first varimax rotation of the scale.
Table 4. Explanatory factor analysis results (latest varimax).
Items No F1 F2 F3 p1 0.677 - - p20 0.669 - - p21 0.563 - - p32 0.761 - - p11 - 0.617 - p14 - 0.745 - p15 - 0.729 - p16 - 0.827 - p17 - 0.555 - p18 - 0.721 - p19 - 0.741 - p22 - - 0.723 p23 - - 0.661 p25 - - 0.668 p27 - - 0.736 p28 - - 0.757 p29 - - 0.603 p30 - - 0.572 p31 - - 0.626 Value 6.939 2.220 1.302 Variance (%) 21.504 21.503 12.053 Total Variance (%) 55.059 364 Educ. Res. Rev.
Table 5. Conformality indices of confirmatory factor analysis (first results).
Conformality values Model Conformality Indices Acceptable Good/Very Good Values acquired Result X2/sd 0< X2/sd< 5 0< X2/sd< 3 3.08 Non-conformal RMSEA 0.00≤RMSEA≤0.10 0.00≤RMSEA≤0.05 0.103 Non-conformal SRMR 0.00≤SRMR≤0.08 0.00≤SRMR≤0.05 0.10 Non-conformal GFI 0.90≤GFI≤1.0 0.95≤GFI≤1.0 0.67 Non-conformal NFI 0.90≤NFI≤1.0 0.95≤NFI≤1.0 0.80 Non-conformal NNFI 0.90≤NNFI≤1.0 0.95≤NNFI≤1.0 0.84 Non-conformal CFI 0.90≤CFI≤1.0 0.95≤CFI≤1.0 0.85 Non-conformal
Table 6. DFA Results of the Scale (first results).
Item Std. β t Item Std. β t Factor 1 Factor 3 p1 0.50 6.71 p7 0.25 3.36 p3 0.35 4.53 p10 0.25 3.36 p20 0.56 7.59 p12 0.11 1.50 p21 0.64 9.02 p13 0.15 1.98 p32 0.69 9.91 p22 0.66 9.96 p33 0.38 5.01 p23 0.66 10.09 p35 0.20 2.48 p24 0.77 12.25 p25 0.69 10.65 Factor 2 p27 0.78 12.56 p2 0.42 5.89 p28 0.68 10.49 p4 0.60 8.82 p29 0.66 10.08 p5 0.46 6.42 p30 0.59 8.61 p6 0.42 5.78 p31 0.53 7.66 p8 0.45 6.27 p34 0.55 8.02 p9 0.43 6.01 p11 0.71 11.01 p14 0.67 10.21 p15 0.68 10.45 p16 0.75 11.97 p17 0.49 6.89 p18 0.72 11.27 p19 0.74 11.58 p26 0.47 6.62
and Şeşen, 2011). and the total score of the test. Positive and higher values Factor weights standardized in accordance with the for item-total correlation indicate that the items illustrate results of confirmatory factor analysis varies between similar behaviours and that the test has a high level of 0.55-0.70 for “The importance given to teaching piano”, internal consistency. In general it is possible to claim that 0.54-0.77 for “The Compassion for teaching piano” and 0.30 and higher values for item-total correlation mean 0.55-0.74 for “The professional approach towards that item can successfully differentiate individuals while teaching piano” (Table 8; Figure 3). items with values between 0.20-0.30 can be included in the test only when it is necessary. Another method used
Reliability of the scale for item analysis is lower and upper quartile t-test. A result of significant difference between groups, which is Item-total correlation, as one of the item analysis gathered by examining the difference between average methods applied as part of reliability study, explains the item scores of the lower 27% and upper 27% quartile relationship between scores gathered from the test items according to the total test score by using unrelated t-test YAZICI 365
Figure 2. Diagram of confirmatory factor analysis (first results). 366 Educ. Res. Rev.
Table 7. Conformality indices of confirmatory factor analysis.
Model conformality Conformality value Values acquired Result index Acceptable Good / very good X2/sd 0< X2/sd< 5 0< X2/sd< 3 1.55 Very good RMSEA 0.00≤RMSEA≤0.10 0.00≤RMSEA≤0.05 0.053 Acceptable SRMR 0.00≤SRMR≤0.08 0.00≤SRMR≤0.05 0.066 Acceptable GFI 0.90≤GFI≤1.0 0.95≤GFI≤1.0 0.90 Good NFI 0.90≤NFI≤1.0 0.95≤NFI≤1.0 0.94 Good NNFI 0.90≤NNFI≤1.0 0.95≤NNFI≤1.0 0.97 Very good CFI 0.90≤CFI≤1.0 0.95≤CFI≤1.0 0.98 Very good
Table 8. DFA results of the scale.
Factor Item No New No. Std. β t p R2 p1 1 0.55 7.42 0.000 0.30 p20 2 0.60 8.20 0.000 0.36 The importance given to teaching piano p21 3 0.62 8.48 0.000 0.38 p32 4 0.70 9.78 0.000 0.49
p11 5 0.65 9.63 0.000 0.42 p14 6 0.68 10.01 0.000 0.46 p15 7 0.69 10.33 0.000 0.48 The compassion for teaching piano p16 8 0.79 12.42 0.000 0.62 p17 9 0.54 7.60 0.000 0.29 p18 10 0.73 11.25 0.000 0.53 p19 11 0.77 12.17 0.000 0.59
p22 12 0.63 9.19 0.000 0.40 p23 13 0.68 10.08 0.000 0.46 p25 14 0.73 11.18 0.000 0.53 The professional approach towards p27 15 0.74 11.48 0.000 0.55 teaching piano p28 16 0.71 10.74 0.000 0.50 p29 17 0.61 8.76 0.000 0.37 p30 18 0.60 8.76 0.000 0.36 p31 19 0.55 7.80 0.000 0.30
unrelated t-test, indicates a higher internal consistency also found that the item-total correlation of each items of for the test. Both analyses (item-total correlation and the scale is higher than 0.30 (between 0.30 and 0.70) lower and upper quartile test) show the degree of and that the t values belonging to the comparison of differentiation between individuals in terms of the lower and upper 27% quartiles are significant at 0.01 behaviour examined (Büyüköztürk, 2011). (Table 9). These results can be interpreted as the items When the results of the reliability analysis in the Table in the scale have higher reliability, they can differentiate 9 were examined, Cronbach Alpha coefficient for the the sample in terms of the music education approaches scale in general was found to be remarkably high at 0.90 and items included in the scale are suitable for measuring level. Cronbach Alpha coefficients for the sub-dimensions the same behaviour in the scale. Descriptive statistics of were calculated as 0.70 – 0.86 – 0.86 respectively. It was the sub-dimensions of the scale are shown in Table 10. YAZICI 367
Figure 3. Diagram of confirmatory factor analysis. 368 Educ. Res. Rev.
Table 9. Item analysis results of the scale.
Sub-dimension Item No t(n1=n2=53) r(n=196) α α p1 -4.093** 0.37 p20 -3.875** 0.49 The importance given to teaching piano 0.70 0.90 p21 -7.105** 0.51 p32 -6.494** 0.50
p11 -8.771** 0.60 p14 -4.325** 0.45 p15 -7.765** 0.48 The compassion for teaching piano p16 -5.382** 0.56 0.86 p17 -3.051*** 0.38 p18 -9.626** 0.58 p19 -8.082** 0.63
p22 -9.526** 0.50 p23 -8.330** 0.60 p25 -11.485** 0.62 The professional approach towards p27 -13.889** 0.70 0.86 teaching piano p28 -10.316** 0.57 p29 -11.511** 0.66 p30 -9.834** 0.58 p31 -7.246** 0.42
r: Item Total Correlation; t:Lower and upper 27% t test; α: Cronbach Alpha **p<0,01
Table 10. Descriptive statistics of attitude scale for piano teaching.
Sub-dimension Item No ̅ SS Min. Max. The importance given to teaching piano 4 4.70 0.40 3.00 5.00 The compassion for teaching piano 7 4.64 0.48 2.71 5.00 The professional approach towards teaching piano 8 3.75 0.68 1.63 5.00 Scale in general 19 4.28 0.46 2.42 5.00
Conclusion this scale is reliable for measuring the attitudes towards piano teaching. The scale consists of a total of 19 items, Because education is a complex process, in which the 14 positive and 5 negative. It was also seen that these performance/performance potential fluctuates constantly items reflect 3 basic structure (the importance given to as a result of its transaction with experience and the teaching piano, the compassion for teaching piano, the world, there is strong link between education and attitude professional approach towards teaching piano) that were (Driscoll, 2012). Even though “attitude” concept taken into consideration during the preparations of this influences the teaching practices of teachers, determines scale. It is also believed that this attitude scale, validity the quality of teaching activities, directs their love-hate- and reliability of which was ascertained, can contribute behaviours and causes them to give positive/negative positively to piano teachers; because, thanks to this reactions to people, traits such as interests, attitudes, scale, attitudes towards piano teaching will be values, tendencies, etc., which form the emotional space, determined, thus it will be possible to confirm whether the are ignored especially for piano teaching (Morgan 1991; desired success is achieved or not.
Tezbaşaran, 2008; Tufan and Güdek, 2008). For this reason, a scale has been constructed in this study for Conflict of ınterests determining the attitudes of piano teachers toward piano education. Validity and reliability analyses showed that The author has not declared any conflicts of interest. YAZICI 369
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ANNEX 1. Attitude scale for piano teaching.
After reading the expressions below, please indicate their conformality to you by marking (X). Never Rarely Sometimes Usually Always 1. Piano teaching is necessary for musical development. 2. Teaching piano is not that big of a deal. 3. Teaching piano makes me proud. 4. I consider teaching piano as very significant. 5. Teaching piano is always fun for me. 6. I wish I was not required to teach piano. 7. Teaching piano is really difficult for me. 8. I lose sleep when I think I will always teach piano. 9. I feel sorry for the time spent for teaching piano. 10. I really get bored while teaching piano. 11. I am interested in teaching piano only because it is a duty. 12. I allocate vast time for planning before teaching piano. 13. I really enjoy examining the literature related with piano education. 14. I can volunteer for participating the projects related with piano education. 15. I lose track of time while planning piano education. 16. I follow updated resources (articles, books, etc.) related with piano education. 17. I do not feel uncomfortable even I am required to teach piano education. 18. I can easily quit certain things for developing myself in piano education. 19. I exchange ideas with the piano teachers about piano education when I can find the chance.
Vol. 11(7), pp. 371-376, 10 April, 2016 DOI: 10.5897/ERR2016.2664 Article Number: 4092BF657623 ISSN 1990-3839 Educational Research and Reviews Copyright © 2016 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article http://www.academicjournals.org/ERR
Full Length Research Paper
Effect of daily work on student’s memorization ability in piano education
Barış TOPTAŞ
Adiyaman Universty State Conservatory, Department of Music and Performing Arts, Adiyaman, Turkey.
Received 22 January, 2016; Accepted 2 March, 2016
It is very important for a student to study regularly so that the results of effective training given by the teacher can be positive. It is an inevitable fact that daily and regular work will bring success to students. Therefore, daily work is highly important in music education. Daily work in instrumental education, which is a part of music education, is important for students to get successful results. The purpose of this study, which was prepared on the basis of these considerations, is to investigate to a what extent a student that works every day in piano education has been able to memorize a piano he has worked on. The students of experimental and control groups, which were generated for this purpose, studied with different methods at different times. Students in the control group studied only for 60 min in one day. Students in the experimental group studied for 60 min in total of four consecutive days with a period of 15 min in a day. In this research, memorization levels of the experimental and control groups were measured. SPSS 17.00 package program was used for the measurements. A significant difference was determined between the pre-test and post-test scores of the control group students using the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test. A significant difference was also determined between the pre-test and post-test scores of the experimental group students using the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test. According to the results of the Mann-Whitney U test, a significant result (p= .004 >.05 ) has emerged in favor of the experimental group students studying on a daily basis. Thus, it has been concluded that the study conducted is effective and applicable in the following studies.
Key words: Piano education, daily work, effective work, memorization ability.
INTRODUCTION
In its plain and concise meaning, music education is the Accordingly, all studies to be conducted in all areas of process of giving the individual certain musical music education must be self-denying and planned on a behaviours purposefully through his/her own life, creating daily basis. The desired behaviors in music education are certain changes purposefully in the individual‟s musical to be acquired with a systematic study conducted in this behaviour through his/her own life or changing and way. development purposefully the musical behavior of the In education, studies that are to be done by an individual through his/her own life (Uçan, 1997). individual to gain the desired behaviour are important
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since they are the most basic way to achieve the for a student playing a musical instrument is a key role. intended purpose. These studies are used in every area That students have correct attainments in their technical of education in order to ensure the permanence and development, and the development of their playing skills continuity of the gained behaviours or gain basic skills will eliminate many possible problems that may be related to the subject that is wanted to be taught. These encountered at the subsequent stages and in their future studies called practice or study are among the most life. At this point, students should be guided in order for fundamental elements required for an effective learning them to gain correct working principles. For they have an process (Toptaş and Çeşit, 2014). effective playing skill by means of correct guidance The objective of music trainers and musical instrument (Kurtuldu, 2010). trainers should be to raise students who are focused on The expected success in musical instrument training, the work or piece they will play, know what they should which makes up an important branch of musical training, be careful about in the piece of music they will play, use is about the memory and the functions of the memory to their time efficiently, and who get to know themselves in a great extent. Musical instrument training is a long and the field of learning” (Akın, 2013). A student playing a tiring education-training process which requires musical instrument should first ask himself the following disciplined work that is planned in accordance with the questions before starting a new work: who and which physical and personal training status of a person musical period does this work belong to, what does the (Uzunoğlu, 2006). There will be many situations in which composer composing this work want me to do, with which students will encounter problems in the long learning methods should I study this work, how much should I period of musical instrument training. These situations work daily. A student studying by asking himself these may include technical skill problems about the musical questions will have started to write and implement the instrument, the problem of the inability to read the first rules of systematic and planned study. “The musical notes correctly or the failure to remember the realization of the aimed behaviours in musical instrument musical notes of a work studied at a sufficient level. training, which is an important aspect of music training, With the developing technology, smartphones and requires a planned and organized process (Akbulut, tablets have become an indispensable element of all 2013). people in their daily lives. Especially internet-based social Learning piano is not different from other learning. networks have become a part of students‟ lives. Many However, one will disregard developmental differences students who receive training in various fields of music by looking at this situation from this perspective” (Özçelik, are affected by technology in their personal works either 2010). Talent is one of the important factors to play an positively or negatively. Music students use their personal instrument. However, good education and systematical rooms to work on their instruments in general all around practice are also necessary, as well as talent. However, the world. Practice rooms mean that the student piano (violin, stringed instruments, etc.) is a subject of becomes one only with his musical instrument and works learning, too. The most important output of teaching is without being disturbed by any external factor. In today‟s learning. Learning does not only occur through receiving world, many music students reduce the quality of their training. The only way to achieve success with the works by keeping their smartphones on while working in training received is working systematically. It should be these rooms. And this does not mean anything for known that playing the piano is also a skill that develops systematic, efficient and conscious working. It is through correct exercises and repetitions. Enough necessary to become one with the instrument and work repetition of the sentences in a piece of music ensures and work with a full concentration in order to learn the that fingers learn that skill under the automatic control of musical work worked on by heart with all of its properties the brain, without detailed orders and directives. in short time. However, this should not mean that the brain is passive, It is known that learning by heart is necessary to record and it should be noted that the brain fulfils the knowledge in the memory. It is used in a widespread interpretation aspect of music more freely by gaining manner by students or teachers in education-training life skills of the fingers (Ercan, 2006). either consciously or unconsciously; memory is especially That a student‟s level of reading musical notes and about storage among storage and search-find-bring back hand skills are good is not sufficient for playing the piano functions, and it is necessary to store knowledge in from all aspects. Thus, the trainer has a great role in memory for a long time. For example, storage of the piano teaching. Small hints that the trainer will show on etudes or works learnt within the scope of music training the piano will ensure that the student plays the piece of in the memory (for a long time) is possible by studying work he studies more quickly and in a shorter time by these pieces a lot or learning them by heart consequently understanding (Toptaş, 2014). to a great extent. Then, it can be said that learning by A good teacher in teaching piano is important in terms heart is related to brain functions, effectively included and of the development and success of the students used in coding, storage, search-find-bring back of the (Gökbudak, 2003). The guiding role of the trainer in the memory stages (Uzunoğlu, 2006). learning of the student of what systematic working means Learning musical works by heart should not be TOPTAŞ 373
considered from only one perspective, solely as learning technique and orderly working plan are followed musical notes by heart. The musical interpretation (Uzunoğlu, 2006). properties, technical structure, rhythmic character, the The process of starting a new piano work by a piano harmonic pattern of the work should be learnt by heart as student and working on the work is quite a complicated a whole, multi-directionally. “Permanent learning in music process. There are many situations that the student may only happen by “learning the music by heart”. Trying should be careful about. The finger numbers, musical only to learn the musical notes by heart without learning signs and tempo of the work that is worked on are among the music by heart may lead to the loss of the music from these. Each new piano work requires students to perform the memory just as the information studied one day certain behaviours systematically, otherwise, if these before the exam and forgotten during the exam (Duru, behaviours are not fulfilled, then only the musical notes of 2013). the piano work are played. In this case, general work is The only way for permanent learning in music training not carried out, and correct results cannot be obtained. and its sub-dimension of musical instrument training is to In the effective piano teaching, questions should be practice daily and to comply with particular working formed for students to be able to perceive the music in methods carefully. The necessity of permanent learning their minds, fictionalize and express it, to perceive is known in the realization and maintaining of musical musical integrity and reach musical integrity, in short, to instrument training, which makes up one of the lower play well. For example; „I know musical notes, I know steps of music training. It can be considered that the what musical note I should play at what time, but I cannot permanence of the etudes or works learnt correctly and play as my teacher does, or my teacher does not like fully in musical instrument training that requires a long what I play. Then, I should make other efforts or seek process is in direct correlation with the correct use of other things to be able to play well. What are these efforts importing to the memory (Uzunoğlu, 2006). and searches? It is expected that the questions of this Only keeping the musical notes in the memory does not kind occupy students‟ minds‟ (Bağçeci, 2005). mean that one has learnt the musical work. Learning the According to Öztürk (1995), repetition strategies used work completely leads the student to the correct result. It for understanding what is read are the strategies that are is necessary to work in a systematic and conscious way based on mental repetition and ensure that students in daily practices in order to achieve this result. The choose knowledge by determining and acquiring it in this teacher is an important factor in the systematic and way (Karakış and Çelenk, 2007). conscious working of the student. The teacher should The general objective of these strategies can be explain to the student how to work on a piece of work, considered as to help the processing of newly which parts to focus on, how to make the connections of encountered knowledge in short-term memory, to be able the work and how to achieve the correct result in a to act preferentially in its transfer to long-term memory detailed way. That the teacher writes small explanatory and process the chosen information to ensure that it and understandable notes on his/her work where he/she becomes permanent. Individuals do a certain kind of deems necessary will create more meaningful results. “It mental practice both at the beginning of the processing is necessary to focus on ear memorization, eye process and in the realization of the processing that will memorization, the memorization of hand and arm ensure permanence. Repeating is the easiest mental movements and the memorization of the work from exercise that one can resort to (Kurtuldu and Güçlü, various aspects (Duru, 2013). 2010). In piano training, it is necessary to repeat a The behaviour of playing or singing by heart may particular behaviour at regular intervals in order to happen as a result of importing the etude/work to be reinforce and internalize it. The longer the time gap played/sung into the memory with different memorization between these intervals is, the harder is this stage of methods. The importing of the etude/work into the reinforcing and internalizing the behaviour learnt. On the memory also requires focusing particularly on such contrary, the more frequent the time gap between these properties as the harmonic structure, formal structure, periods is, the easier is the stage of reinforcing and rhythm patterns, musical note alignment, hand-arm internalizing the behaviour learnt; and consequently, the movements and breathing points (activating the reticular behaviour will be learnt (Pirigon, 2013). activation system of the brain). The most important way A person can turn behaviour into a skill through of memorizing a particular piece of music is to work repetition. The behaviour in the form of skill can be consciously. To working consciously is to work in line with performed in the quality, duration and competence a particular plan (Uzunoğlu, 2006). required automatically (Otacıoğlu, 2005). Working on a piece of musical work without giving the As a result, there are many names for practicing by necessary importance delays playing the work correctly. following a right path in order to achieve the targeted Moreover, the status of keeping the work in the memory success level in an instrument. These can be named as is also taken into a hard situation. “Nevertheless, learning working daily, systematically, regularly, in a planned by heart may become a necessary and effective method manner, actively, without disrupting, effectively and in importing the information to the memory, not forgetting efficiently. The basis of all these names is to be willing. it and keeping it there for a long time, when a correct Each student that is willing to work is already a person who 374 Educ. Res. Rev.
knows what he/she can do during the process of working. measurements in the comparison of the pre-test – post-test scores of the experiment group students and the comparison of the pre- test – post-test results of the control group. The Mann-Whitney U Test, which is applied for unrelated measurements, was used in the METHODOLOGY analysis of the pre-test scores of the experiment group and control
group and the analysis of the post-test scores of the experiment The research is aimed at investigating the level of memorization of group and control group (Büyüköztürk, 2007: 155,162). The level of piano works by university students who have received continuous significance in statistical measurements was accepted as 0.05. piano training for two years through daily practice. Thus, the pre- test – post-test control group model among real trial models was used in the research. “Trial models are research models in which FINDINGS the data needed to be observed directly under the control of the researcher with the aim of determining cause and effect relations are produced” (Karasar, 2009: 87). “Experimental patterns are Analyses for the answer of the following sub-problems generally classified as real experimental patterns, semi- were included in this part of the work. experimental patterns and pre-trial designs. Among experimental designs, the test subjects are appointed to experimental conditions 1. Is there a significant difference in terms of the pre-test in an unbiased manner only in real trial patterns” (Büyüköztürk, 2007: 10). and post-test scores of the experiment and control The “Volksliedchen” work by SCHUMANN from the book “Album groups regarding the effect of daily practice in piano For The Young” was used in the research. The research was limited training on the level of memorization of the student? to 5 days. On day 1, after the selected piece of piano work had 2. Is there a significant difference between the pre-test been practiced for 20 min by the experiment and control groups, and post-test results of the experiment groups within performance was rated by the assessment scale for the pre-test. themselves in terms of the effect of daily practice in piano The experiment group students practiced for 60 min in total by working on the same piece for 15 min on day 2, 3, 4 and 5. The training on the memorization level of the student? control group students practiced for 60 min only on the fifth day. The study was carefully monitored by the researcher. During the As it is seen in Table 1, the pre-test rank average of the study, none of the students exhibited any negative situation that experiment group is 6.17, and the pre-test rank average would affect the results of the study. The study was concluded by of the control group is 6.83. There is a 0.66-point applying the post-test to the students of the experiment and control difference between the rank averages of the two groups. groups that worked for an equal duration in total. According to this analysis, the value (U= 16.00, p>0.05)
obtained shows that there is no significant difference Statement of problem between the two groups. This result shows that the memorization skills of the study groups that are divided The problem sentence of this research was formed based on the into two groups in an unbiased manner by the matching effect of daily practice in piano training on the level of memorization method according to the result of the “memorization level of the student is. test” are equal.
The Mann-Whitney U test was used in order to Study group compare the study groups‟ memorization skill levels of the piano piece after the study and determine whether The study group consisted of 12 students who had continuously there is a significant difference between the post-test received piano training for 2 years. A “memorization level test” was scores. Table 2 shows the results of the Mann-Whitney U applied to a group of 20 students in order to determine the study group of 12 people. F.BURGMÜLLER‟s Fortschritt – Progress piece test conducted with the aim of determining whether there of work that 20 students receiving piano training continuously for 2 is significant difference between T1 post-test scores of years had never encountered before was used. These 20 students the control group that worked for only one day and 60 worked on this piece for 1 h and played by heart (without looking at min in total and the experiment group that worked for 15 musical notes). A mini performance scale was developed by the min for 4 days and 60 min in total: researcher in order to assess the piano piece chosen in a reliable As it is seen in Table 2, the post-test rank average of manner. This mini performance scale was used in order to be able to assess the performance results. In this research, 12 people who the experiment group is 9.50, and that of the control remained below the first eight people in the ranking and have the group is 3.50. There is a difference of 6.00 points weakest memorization power as a result of the test (between the between the rank averages of the two groups. According 9th and 20th) were included in the study group. These 12 people to this analysis made, the value of (U= 0.00, p>0.05) were divided into the experiment and control groups equally in an obtained shows that there is a significant difference unbiased manner by the scores they took. The study was put into between the experiment and control group. This result action on the planned date and time as of the unbiased appointment of the experiment and control groups. revealed that daily and planned study conducted with the experiment group is a more effective method of memorizing a piece of piano work. Data analysis Alongside with the above stated Mann-Whitney U Test, the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test was used in order to Data obtained as a result of the study conducted were analysed using SPSS 17.0 (Statistical Package for Social Science) software. determine whether there is a significant difference The Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test was used for the relevant between the pre-test and post-test scores before and TOPTAŞ 375
Table 1. The Mann-Whitney U-test results of the pre-test scores by groups.
Groups N Rank average Rank total U Z p Experiment 6 6.17 37.00 16.00 -0.324 0.746 Control 6 6.83 41.00 Total 12
Table 2. The Mann-Whitney U-Test result of the post-test scores by groups.
Groups N Rank average Rank total U Z p Experiment 6 9.50 57.00 0.000 -2.887 0.004 Control 6 3.50 21.00 Total 12
Table 3. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test results of the pre-test – post-test scores.
Pre-Test – Post-Test N Rank average Rank total Z p Negative Ranking 0 0.00 0.00 -2.207 0.027 Positive Ranking 6 3.50 21.00 Equal 0 Total 6
Table 4. The Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test result of the pre-test and post-test scores by the experiment group.
Pre-test/Post-test N Rank average Rank total Z p Negative Ranking 0 0.00 0.00 -2.226 0.026 Positive Ranking 6 3.50 21.00 Equal 0 Total 6
after the experiment of the control group that worked only significant difference between the pre-test and post-test for one day and 60 min in total. The results of the scores of the experiment group. Table 4 shows the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test carried out for the purpose of results of the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test performed for understanding whether there is a significant difference the purpose of understanding whether there is a between the pre-test and post-test results of the control significant difference between the pre-test and post-test group are shown in Table 3. scores of the experiment group. As it is seen in Table 3, there is a significant difference As it is seen in Table 4, there is a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test results of the control between the pre-test and post-test scores of the group (Z= -2.207, p<0.05). This result shows that a experiment group (Z= -2.226, p<0.05). This result shows change took place in the score of the control group that that a change occurred in the scores of the experiment worked for only one day and 60 min. In other words, it group that works for 15 min for 15 days and 60 min in was found out that there is a significant difference total. In other words, it is seen that planned and daily between the pre-test and post-test scores measuring the practice with the experiment group creates positive level of memorizing the piano work of the control group results in memorizing the piece of piano work. that worked for only one day and 60 min without the opportunity to make daily practice. In parallel to the test carried out for the control group DISCUSSION above, it was also examined whether there is a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of Piano, which was invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori and the experiment group. The Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test is among claviers, went through many structural changes was used in order to determine whether there is a from the past to present. Technology that constantly 376 Educ. Res. Rev.
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Vol. 11(7), pp. 377-389, 10 April, 2016 DOI: 10.5897/ERR2016.2665 Article Number: CF5E84257627 ISSN 1990-3839 Educational Research and Reviews Copyright © 2016 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article http://www.academicjournals.org/ERR
Full Length Research Paper
The views of Arab students regarding Turks, the Ottoman Empire, and the Republic of Turkey: A case of Jordan
Hasan Isık
Yildirim Beyazit University, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of History, Ankara, Turkey.
Received 23 January, 2016; Accepted 02 March, 2016
Arab and Turkish people lived together for nearly four hundred years under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, during which time both sides inevitably adopted a certain kind of attitude and view toward the other. This study is an attempt to explore Arab people’s views toward Turks, the Ottoman Empire, and the Republic of Turkey. Through a case study of Jordan, the study seeks to understand the views of Turks, the Ottoman Empire, and the Republic of Turkey from the perspective of Arab university students rather than official Arab administrations. The study employed a survey method to collect data from higher education Arab students studying in Jordan. The researcher prepared a 26-item survey entitled “The Views of Arab Students Regarding Turks, the Ottoman Empire, and the Republic of Turkey.” Expert views were used to ensure the content validity of the survey. The Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient was .76 at the end of the reliability analysis. Arithmetic means and standard deviations regarding the views of Turks, the Ottoman Empire, and the Republic of Turkey among Arab students studying in Jordan were calculated. In order to reveal the differences between the views by gender, an independent-sample t-test was implemented. Moreover, the data were associated with history textbook contents in Jordan. Some of the data derived from the survey administered to the students are in line with the history textbook’s contents while others are inconsistent with them.
Key words: Turks, the Ottoman Empire, the Republic of Turkey, Jordan, Arab, textbook content, view.
INTRODUCTION
Four hundred years of Turk and Arab togetherness under time. Although some studies have been conducted in the rule of the Ottoman Empire came to an end with Turkey based on the belief that these two nations’ views World War I. Following this separation, many believe that toward each other are important as they have shared the views of both states toward each other changed over such a long history, no study have examined the views of
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Arab people living in Arab countries toward Turks, the to‖ could be an important indicator of objectivity. Ottoman Empire, and the Republic of Turkey. The However, the demonstration of such objectivity by the relationship and interactions between Turks and Arabs nation-states founded in territories considered to be the grew in intensity after the Talas War, which took place in remainders of the Ottoman heritage, such as the Arabian 751. It is assumed that both nations influenced each geography and Balkans, was difficult to achieve. In recent other in many fields, such as policy, science, culture, arts, centuries, almost all of the states have demonstrated a and social life, after this date. It goes without saying that unique approach to using history as part of their the interactions increased when Turkish and Arabian formation, which has influenced the formation of ideas in communities were brought together under the Ottoman the younger generations of Turks and Arabs. Ortayli Empire. The Ottoman Empire maintained the title of (2015) stated that history was manipulated in the 19th caliphate by 1517 and acted as the unitary power of and 20th centuries, a period during which history was Islam until the late 19th century, which likely shaped the conveyed to large masses of people as an instrument of relationship between Turks and Arabs within the Ottoman tricking them and serving distorted interpretations. boundaries. However, although Arab people were in a However, it is difficult to specify to what extent such multinational structure within the Ottoman Empire prior to abuse of history is common in the Arab world. World War I, nationalism and Western capitalism A society’s perception of another society is often influenced their choice for independence. The Ottoman influenced by literature, the press, cinema, television Empire de facto collapsed when World War I came to an series, and political figures’ explanations as well as end in 1918, and a unitary Republic of Turkey was history textbooks used in schools. This study explores the founded in Anatolia. Rulers of this new state adopted the Arab students’ views regarding Turkish society by principles of nationalism and secularism. Furthermore, associating them with the narratives in the history they rapidly carried out Westernization revolutions. textbooks. Every individual living and studying in a Consequently, different types of information about country shapes their basic knowledge, skills, beliefs, Turkish–Arabian history provided in school textbooks in ideas, and value judgements through textbooks (Akbaba, both Turkey and Arab countries emerged in the following 2014, p. 338). period (Yigit, 2009; Gokdemir, 2010; Yenal, 2011; Ozay, The studies conducted thus far in the Republic of 2014). Turkey are limited to the analysis of textbooks in certain Following independence, the influence of the post- Arab states to explore their views of Turks, the Ottoman Ottoman colonial rule on Arabian cultural life and nation- Empire, and the Republic of Turkey (Yigit, 2009; state approaches led Arabs to develop a negative attitude Gokdemir, 2010; Yenal, 2011). Some studies have been toward the Ottoman history (Turan, 2011, p. 171). Moral conducted on how Arab states’ textbooks depict Turks tendencies are important in evaluating human actions, and the Ottomans, but no study has been found that people, practices, and organizations in history (Koksal, investigates the views of Turks and the Ottoman Empire 2013, p. 181). Arab students’ views regarding Turks, the among those students taught from these books. Ottoman Empire, and the Republic of Turkey incorporate According to the literature reviewed, a few relevant a moral evaluation of the relationship between Turks and studies on this matter have been conducted in Turkey. In Arabs. As a matter of fact, some of the expressions in the the study entitled ―Turks in the High School History scale employed in this study focus directly on moral Textbooks Used in Arab Countries (The Case of Jordan phenomena involving moral values like justice and and Syria),‖ Yigit (2009) sought to reveal how information tolerance. The study results, as they will be explained in related to Turks is presented in high school history detail herein, indicate that Arab students approach the textbooks in Arab states based on cases in Syria and relationship between Turks and Arabs from a moral pers- Jordan. Gokdemir (2010) conducted the study entitled pective. Arab students attach importance to phenomena ―Turks and Turkish Image in Saudi Arabian Textbooks,‖ involving moral values, such as justice, tolerance, and which attempted to reveal the image of Turks and Turkey helpfulness. Therefore, they exhibit positive views toward in the history textbooks used in Saudi Arabia. Yenal’s the processes during which these phenomena appear. (2011) study, entitled ―Turks and Turkish Image in the This may be indicative of the fact that the young Textbooks Used in Syrian Primary and Secondary university students who participated in this study, Education Institutions,‖ dealt with the textbooks used in analyzed in an Arab university in Jordan, based their primary and secondary education in Syria. In ―Ottoman evaluations of a historical or current phenomenon on a and Turkish Image in History Textbooks Used in Primary cultural foundation in which symbolic phenomena like and Secondary Education Institutions in Arab Countries justice and tolerance constitute an important part (The Case of Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon),‖ Ozay (2014) (Pamuk, 2014, p. 40). examined and assessed the content of primary and After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Arabs secondary education history textbooks. All of these founded their own nation-states and took advantage of identified studies were limited to the examination of history as a unifying element. During this construction textbooks of the relevant Arab states. No other studies on process, the definition of the Ottoman Empire as a ―pre- the Turks and the Ottoman image from the perspective of independence supranational structure one was affiliated Arab people were found. Isık 379
Table 1. The sample of the study
Group Number of students participating in the study Total number of students University of Jordan 92 37,362 Yarmouk University 108 38,880
METHODOLOGY researcher, who consulted four experts (a history education expert and a statistical expert working at Gazi University and an expert of Research model educational sciences and a language expert working at Aksaray University) during each phase of the development. In particular, the This study employed a survey model, which is a scientific method statistical expert from Gazi University was consulted on the scale attempting to reflect a situation the way it is and evaluating the development process as he has a good command of the views on individuals or objects within their own conditions (Karasar, 2008). scale development. The relevant expert identified various views on The survey method was employed because it fits the purpose of the the scale development process and phases for the development of study, reflects the current situation, enables the study of large a data collection tool. He explained that the phases employed in samples, and provides information about an issue or an event from developing the survey form used in the present study were participants’ perspectives (Buyukozturk et al., 2008). The survey presented by Churchill (1979) in sequence, and consistency existed model approach describes a situation in the past or present as the between what the researcher did while developing the scale in the way it is. No effort is made to change the event, individual, present study and what Churchill (1979) did. Thus, the scale community, or object constituting the subject of the study. What development phases of Churchill (1979) were scrutinized. In matters is to observe the current state without any change in it addition to Churchill’s (197) sequence for developing a scale, the (Sonmez and Alacapinar, 2011, p. 46). existing studies carried out in Turkey were considered while developing the survey form. An examination of the studies indicated the need for the following phases of scale development: 1. item Universe and sample pool, 2. expert view, 3. factor analysis, and 4. calculation of reliability (Karasar, 2008; Balci, 2001; Erkus et al., 2000). Thus, the The universe, which refers to the total set of elements on which the researcher prepared a survey form consisting of 30 items study results will be generalized, can be defined as the group for considered appropriate for defining the dimensions aimed at which the results to be obtained through data analysis will be valid determining Arab students’ views about Turks, the Ottoman Empire, and interpreted (Buyukozturk et al., 2008, p. 78; Karasar, 2008, p. and the Republic of Turkey. A 5-point Likert-type rating was 109). The universe of this study includes Arab students attending adopted for the survey, ranging from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 10 state universities located in Jordan. Meanwhile, the sample (strongly disagree). refers to a limited part of the universe that is selected to collect The study employed a survey for data collection because it fit the information about the universe; working with a sample group allows purpose of the study, enabled the researcher to work with larger the researcher to save time, energy, and money (Buyukozturk et al., samples, and saved time compared to data collection through 2008, p. 79; Karasar, 2008, p. 111). The sample of the study observations and interviews (Buyukozturk et al., 2008). Initially, the includes students from the University of Jordan, which is located in survey form consisted of 30 items. The researcher considered the capital city of Jordan (Amman), and Yarmouk University, which Churchill’s (1979) phases of specifying the domain of construct as is located in Irbid province, among 10 state universities in Jordan. well as generating sample items at this stage, in addition to Financial conditions also influenced this study because the subjects related to Turks, the Ottoman Empire, and the Republic of researcher conducted this study in a foreign country, using his own Turkey as presented in the textbooks used in Jordan, when financial resources. preparing the items included on the survey form. The study was conducted with 200 Arab students selected from Following the literature review, the survey form entitled ―The the two state universities making up the sample through simple Views of Arab Students Regarding Turks, the Ottoman Empire, and random sampling in the fall semester of the 2013–2014 academic the Republic of Turkey‖ was submitted to a history education expert year. The key feature of the random sampling method is that the and a statistical expert working at Gazi University as well as an sample has a high capacity to represent the universe. In simple expert in educational sciences working at Aksaray University for random sampling (non-proportional element sampling), all the them to deliver their opinions on the content validity of the item elements in the universe have a close possibility of being selected pool. Based on their feedback, one item was excluded from the or the units are selected by giving each sampling unit an equal scale. Next, an academic studying the Turkish language and possibility of being selected (Buyukozturk et al., 2008, p. 84; working at Aksaray University analyzed the form, who determined Karasar, 2008, p. 113; Senol, 2012). In other words, the chance of that one item might cause misunderstanding by implying something being selected is the same for all individuals, and the selection of different from what was intended. Thus, this item was also an individual influences the selection of other individuals. Simple excluded. In addition, punctuation errors and incorrect grammatical random sampling is the best and most valid method for selecting a uses were corrected in accordance with the recommendations of representative sample (Buyukozturk et al., 2008, p. 84). Thus, 200 the Turkish language expert. As a result, two of the statements students studying in the two identified universities were selected were excluded from the draft scale based on the feedback, using the simple random sampling method. The number of the reducing the number of items to 28. students in the sample group from the University of Jordan and After making the relevant corrections based on the domain Yarmouk University is given in Table 1. experts’ feedback, the scale was considered ready to be administered. After ensuring the content validity, the 28-item survey Data collection tool was translated into Arabic by a linguistic expert working at Yarmouk University whose native language is Arabic and who has a good The survey form employed in the study was developed by the command of Turkish language. Later, another linguistic expert with 380 Educ. Res. Rev.
Table 2. Factor analysis results of the survey form
Items 1 I think Turks have been at the forefront of Islam religion throughout history. 0.560 2 I think Turks have made important contributions to Islamic culture. 0.571 3 I think Turks living in the Republic of Turkey came from Central Asia. 0.598 4 I think the Ottoman sultans generally engaged in positive activities. 0.528 5 The Ottoman Empire demonstrated tolerant governance. 0.567 6 The Ottoman Empire colonized Arabs. 0.570 7 The weakening of the Ottoman Empire led to the colonization of Arab lands. 0.679 8 The Ottoman Empire prevented Arabs from being independent. 0.742 9 The construction of a railway in Jordan by the Ottoman Empire was a positive development. 0.522 10 I believe that the Ottoman Empire engaged in good things in Arab regions. 0.697 11 The non-adoption of modern European techniques by the Ottomans led to the regression of Arab people. 0.630 12 The Ottoman Empire should not have entered the war with Germany during World War I. 0.694 13 The caliphate should have been from the Arabs, not from the Ottomans. 0.635 14 I think the Committee of Union and Progress led to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. 0.516 15 I think the Committee of Union and Progress had an influence on the separation of Arabs from the Ottoman Empire. 0.626 16 I think Turks tried to protect Jerusalem against the British during World War I. 0.569 17 I have access to adequate sources about Turkish history and culture in my language (Arabic). 0.754 18 Turkish and Jordanian cultures are close to each other. 0.738 19 If Arabs and Turks work together, they can do good things. 0.533 20 I generally learn what I know about Turkey from Turkish TV series. 0.405 21 Turkey has been dealing with the problems of the Arab world recently, which is something positive. 0.634 22 I think, currently, the Republic of Turkey is supporting Palestinians. 0.721 23 Turkish subjects in high school history textbooks in Jordan are adequate. 0.647 24 Generally, Turks are positively mentioned in high school history textbooks in Jordan. 0.666 25 Turkish history in Jordan’s high school history textbooks is as detailed as European history. 0.591 26 Turks and Arabs can write a common history about the period they lived together. 0.724
a good command of Arabic and Turkish languages translated the remaining survey items varied between 0.389 and 0.724 without survey from Arabic into Turkish in order to prevent any possible any rotation; however, they varied between 0.405 and 0.754 when semantic shifts resulting from the translation process. they underwent rotation using the Varimax rotation technique. The The draft survey form was administered by the researcher to 50 items and factors in the survey form explained 48.980% of total students attending Yarmouk University to determine its reliability. At variance. Table 2 presents the item loadings of the items included this point, Churchill’s (1979) phases of collecting data and purifying in the survey form. measures were taken into consideration. The data were subjected One of the important phases Churchill (1979) proposed was to reliability and validity analyses using SPSS 10.0 for Windows. To assessing the reliability of the scale. Within this framework, internal determine the construct validity of the survey, the obtained data consistency levels were tested to determine the reliability of the were first subjected to the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) test, survey form. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of reliability, which measures of sampling adequacy (MSA), and Bartlett’s sphericity was found to be .76, was used for determining the internal test. KMO was 0.911, the MSA values of the items ranged between consistency level. A coefficient of reliability of 0.70 or above 0.833 and 0.947, and Bartlett’s sphericity test value was indicates a reliable scale (Sipahi, Yurtkoru and Cinko, 2010). x2=4502.695; sd=465 (p=0.000). Based on these values, it was concluded that the 28-item survey form could be subjected to factor analysis. A principal component analysis was conducted to Data collection and analysis determine whether or not the scale form was unidimensional. The Varimax rotation technique was applied, and factor loadings were The participants were informed of the purpose, quality (a scientific examined to determine whether or not the survey form disintegrated study), and privacy (personal data protection) of the study while into unrelated factors. Accordingly, one item with an item loading collecting the data. To distribute survey forms to the students, the less than 0.30 and one item with a loading on two separate factors researcher went to the classrooms of participating students at and a loading value less than 0.100 were removed from the survey Yarmouk University and the University of Jordan, where the study form. Thus, the survey form was simplified, and the factor analysis was carried out. A total of 200 survey forms were distributed by the was repeated on the remaining 26 items. According to Kline (1994), researcher, and 200 survey forms were returned. a factor loading value is a coefficient expressing the relationship of Churchill (1979)’s collecting data phase as well as those phases items to a factor. Items are expected to have a high loading value in coming after it were taken into consideration in the data collection the factor under which they fall. If there is a cluster of items with a and analysis processes of the current study. The collected data high relationship to a factor, these items measure such a construct were analyzed using SPSS 10.0 for Windows. Within the context of together (Cokluk et al., 2010). The factor loadings of the 26 the direct analysis, descriptive statistics of the participants’ views Isık 381
Table 3. The gender-based distribution of the students who Turks living in the Republic of Turkey came from Central participated in the study Asia. Adding the students who disagreed (11.5%; N=23) and strongly disagreed (1%; N=2) to those who Gender F % responded that they were neutral indicates that 70% of Female 164 82.0 students did not agree with this item. Thus, the Arab Male 36 18.0 students did not completely comprehend the relationship Total 200 100.0 between Turkish culture and Central Asian culture, which constitutes the foundation of Turkish culture. On the fourth item (that is, ―I think the Ottoman sultans generally engaged in positive activities‖), 40% of the students (N=80) agreed (Table 2). The mean was found were used to analyze the data. to be = 3.76. In addition, 22.5% of students strongly agreed, meaning 62.5% of the students either agreed or FINDINGS AND INTERPRETATIONS strongly agreed with the statement. Thus, the majority of participants believed the Ottoman sultans’ activities to be For data analysis, arithmetic means and standard positive. The fifth item (that is, ―The Ottoman Empire deviation values of the ―The Views of Arab Students demonstrated tolerant governance‖) is associated with Regarding Turks, the Ottoman Empire, and the Republic the fourth item. Although 40% of the students (N=80) of Turkey‖ scale were calculated, and a t-test was indicated that they were neutral, another 42.5% either implemented to reveal whether any differences by gender agreed or strongly agreed. Thus, the Arab students had existed. Table 3 summarizes the distribution of positive opinions about the Ottoman sultans, but were participating students by gender. hesitant about the tolerant attitude of the Ottoman rule. In response to the sixth item (that is, ―The Ottoman Empire colonized Arabs‖), 36% of the participants (N=72) Findings derived from the scale and interpretations strongly agreed. The mean was found to be = 3.84. In of Arab Students’ views of Turks, the Ottoman addition, 31.5% of students agreed, resulting in a total of Empire, and the Republic of Turkey 67.5% who agreed to some extent. The students
consider the Ottoman sultans’ activities to be positive The findings and interpretations from the scale items as (Item 4), but they also agreed at an almost equal rate that well as the analyses of the responses of the Arab the Ottoman Empire colonized Arabs. This result may students are summarized in Table 4. stem not from the Ottoman rule, but from the Arabian In relation to the first item (that is, ―I think Turks have perspective adopted by the students regarding the late been at the forefront of Islam religion throughout history‖), Ottoman Empire rule. This perspective may be a 36.5% (N=73) of students agreed (Table 2). The analysis reflection of the Jordanian government’s political attitude of this item resulted in a mean of x = 3.92 for students toward the Ottoman Empire as well as its effects on who agreed. Considering that another 31.5% of students textbooks. strongly agreed, a considerable proportion of Arab Table 2 shows that 36% of students (N=72) strongly students in Jordan think that Turks have been at the agreed and 35% (N=70) agreed with the seventh item forefront of Islam religion throughout history. The second (that is, ―Weakening of the Ottoman Empire led to the item (that is, ―I think Turks have made important colonization of Arab lands‖). The total rate of these two contributions to Islamic culture‖) is associated with the options is 71%. The mean was = 4 for those who first one, so it is not surprising that 41.5% (N=83) of the strongly agreed. The result obtained from this item can students agreed with this item (Table 2). The analysis of be associated with the result of the sixth item. Taking this item resulted in a mean of = 3.92 for students who these two items into account, a proportional majority of agreed. Another 30% (N=60) strongly agreed, indicating the participating Arab students thought that the Ottoman that the majority of respondents (71.5%) agreed with this Empire colonized Arabs and that the weakening of the expression to some degree. The proportional distribution Ottoman Empire led to colonization. of this item is closer to the results obtained for the first In relation to the eighth item (that is, ―The Ottoman item. Empire prevented Arabs from being independent‖), which The third item of the scale (that is, ―I think Turks living is considered to be associated with the seventh item, in the Republic of Turkey came from Central Asia‖) 39% of the students (N=78) stated that they were neutral generated a predominantly neutral response among whereas 45% either agreed or strongly agreed. The rate students (58.5%; N=117). The analysis of this item of 45% can be a reflection of the accounts relevant to the resulted in a mean of = 3.24 for students who had a issue provided in high school history textbooks. neutral perception of this item, implying that Arab According to this item result, a majority of the Arab students do not have adequate knowledge about whether students who participated in the study considered the 382 Educ. Res. Rev.
Table 4. Descriptive statistics results concerning Arab students’ views of Turks, the Ottoman Empire, and the Republic of Turkey.
I strongly I agree I am neutral I disagree I strongly S/N Items s agree (%) (%) (%) (%) disagree (%) x 1 I think Turks have been at the forefront of Islam religion throughout history. 63 (31.5) 73 (36.5) 52(26) 10 (5) 2 (1) 3.92 0.92 2 I think Turks have made important contributions to Islamic culture. 60 (30) 83 (41.5) 43 (21.5) 10 (5) 4 (2) 3.92 0.94 3 I think Turks living in the Republic of Turkey came from Central Asia. 17 (8.5) 41 (20.5) 117 (58.5) 23 (11.5) 2 (1) 3.24 0.80 4 I think the Ottoman sultans generally engaged in positive activities. 45 (22.5) 80 (40) 58(29) 16 (8) 1 (0.5) 3.76 0.90 5 The Ottoman Empire demonstrated tolerant governance. 29 (14.5) 56 (28) 80 (40) 22 (11) 13 (6.5) 3.33 1.06 6 The Ottoman Empire colonized Arabs. 72 (36) 63 (31.5) 36 (18) 19 (9.5) 10 (5) 3.84 1.16 7 The weakening of the Ottoman Empire led to the colonization of Arab lands. 72 (36) 70 (35) 48 (24) 6 (3) 4 (2) 4.00 0.95 8 The Ottoman Empire prevented Arabs from being independent. 35 (17.5) 55 (27.5) 78 (39) 20 (10) 12 (6) 3.40 1.07 9 The construction of a railway in Jordan by the Ottoman Empire was a positive development. 91 (45.5) 64 (32) 33 (16.5) 10 (5) 2 (1) 4.16 0.94 10 I believe that the Ottoman Empire engaged in good things in Arab regions. 52 (26) 77 (38.5) 55 (27.5) 14 (7) 2 (1) 3.81 0.93 11 The non-adoption of modern European techniques by the Ottomans led to the regression of Arab people. 27 (13.5) 64 (32) 80 (40) 17 (8.5) 12(6) 3.38 1.02 12 The Ottoman Empire should not have entered the war with Germany during World War I. 42 (21) 64 (32) 85 (42.5) 5 (2.5) 4(2) 3.67 0.90 13 The caliphate should have been from the Arabs, not from the Ottomans. 61 (30.5) 46 (23) 76 (38) 10 (5) 7(3.5) 3.72 1.06 14 I think the Committee of Union and Progress led to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. 65 (32.5) 52 (26) 71 (35.5) 8 (4) 4 (2) 3.83 0.99 15 I think the Committee of Union and Progress had an influence on the separation of Arabs from the Ottoman Empire. 52 (26) 61 (30.5) 71 (35.5) 13 (6.5) 3 (1.5) 3.73 0.97 16 I think Turks tried to protect Jerusalem against the British during World War I. 37 (18.5) 50 (25) 97 (48.5) 9 (4.5) 7 (3.5) 3.50 0.96 17 I have access to adequate sources about Turkish history and culture in my language (Arabic). 41 (20.5) 69 (34.5) 42 (21) 39 (19.5) 9(4.5) 3.47 1.15 18 Turkish and Jordanian cultures are close to each other. 32 (16) 60 (30) 49 (24.5) 32 (16) 27(13.5) 3.19 1.26 19 If Arabs and Turks work together, they can do good things. 86 (43) 61 (30.5) 40 (20) 7 (3.5) 6 (3) 4.07 1.01 20 I generally learn what I know about Turkey from Turkish TV series. 69 (34.5) 41 (20.5) 33 (16.5) 24 (12) 33 (16.5) 3.44 1.47 21 Turkey has been dealing with the problems of the Arab world recently, which is something positive. 77 (38.5) 64 (32) 40 (20) 17(8.5) 2 (1) 3.98 1.00 22 I think, currently, the Republic of Turkey is supporting Palestinians. 75 (37.5) 45 (22.5) 54 (27) 15 (7.5) 11 (5.5) 3.79 1.18 23 Turkish subjects in high school history textbooks in Jordan are adequate. 24 (12) 24 (12) 46 (23) 74 (37) 32 (16) 2.67 1.22 24 Generally, Turks are positively mentioned in high school history textbooks in Jordan. 30 (15) 59 (29.5) 60 (30) 37 (18.5 ) 14 (7) 3.27 1.13 25 Turkish history in Jordan’s high school history textbooks is as detailed as European history. 13 (6.5) 34 (17) 87 (43.5) 47(23.5) 19 (9.5) 2.87 1.01 26 Turks and Arabs can write a common history about the period they lived together. 42 (21) 84 (42) 54 (27) 15 (7.5) 5 (2.5) 3.71 0.96
Ottoman Empire to be an obstacle preventing making a total of 77.5%. The strongly agree ninth item is a specific example of the issue Arabs from being independent. response showed a mean of x = 4.16, the highest generalized in the tenth item: ―I believe that the In response to the ninth item (that is, ―The con- in the survey. In this sense, investments such as Ottoman Empire engaged in good things in Arab struction of a railway in Jordan by the Ottoman the Hejaz Railway, constructed within Jordan’s regions‖ (Table 2). In response to the tenth item, Empire was a positive development‖), 45.5% of boundaries by the Ottoman Empire, can be 38.5% of the students (N=77) agreed (mean: = the students (N=91), which is a substantial propor- considered as positive reflections in the current 3.81) and 26% (N=52) strongly agreed, making a tion, strongly agreed and another 32% (N=64) agreed perceptions of the young Arab generation. The total of 64.5%. Isık 383
For the eleventh item of the scale (that is, ―The non- culture in my language (Arabic)‖), 34.5% of the students adoption of modern European techniques by the (N=69) agreed (mean: = 3.47). In addition, 20.5% of Ottomans led to the regression of Arab people‖), 40% of the students strongly agreed, bringing the total amount the students (N=80) indicated that they were neutral for students who agree to some extent to 55%. Thus, (Table 2), with a mean of x = 3.38. Meanwhile, 45.5 of more than half the students have access to sources students agreed or strongly agreed with this statement. about Turkish history and culture in their own language. Participants also responded neutrally to the twelfth Only 30% of students (N=60) agreed with the item: ―The Ottoman Empire should not have entered the eighteenth item: ―Turkish and Jordanian cultures are war with Germany during World War I‖ (42.5%; N=85; close to each other‖ (mean: = 3.19). Another 16% mean: = 3.67). Furthermore, 53% of students agreed strongly agreed, meaning 46% of the participants agreed or strongly agreed, which is quite noteworthy. Finally, with this item to some extent. In other words, nearly half only 4.5% of students disagreed or strongly disagreed, of the students who participated in the study perceived which is rather low. Taking this difference into account, Turkish and Jordanian cultures to be close to each other. the participating Arab students did not think it was good For the nineteenth item of the survey form (that is, ―If for the Ottoman Empire to enter World War I in an Arabs and Turks work together, they can do good alliance with Germany. things‖), 43% of the students (N=86) strongly agreed In addition, 38% of the students (N=76) responded that (mean: = 4.07). In addition, 30.5% agreed, meaning they were neutral for to thirteenth item: ―The caliphate 73.5% of students agreed to some degree. This total rate should have been from the Arabs, not from the is quite noteworthy. As previously indicated, the students Ottomans‖ (mean: = 3.72). Another 53.5% strongly believed that Jordan and Turkey have a common history, agreed (30.5%) or agreed (23%). The caliphate was with cultures close to each other; this item shows that historically an important figure for the Islamic world. The students’ stance toward common businesses and studies rate of students who thought the caliphate should have between two states seems positive. Moreover, this item been from the Arabs, not from the Ottomans, is quite had the second highest mean for the strongly agree noteworthy. Only 8.5% of the Arab students disagreed or option ( = 4.07), following the ninth item (that is, ―The strongly disagreed, which strengthens this opinion. construction of a railway in Jordan by the Ottoman The fourteenth item in Table 2 is ―I think the Committee Empire was a positive development‖; = 4.16), which is of Union and Progress led to the collapse of the Ottoman quite noteworthy. Empire,‖ to which 35.5% (N=71) of students responded For the twentieth item (―I generally learn what I know that they were neutral (mean: = 3.83). Similarly, about Turkey from Turkish TV series‖), 34.5% (N=69) of students responded to the fifteenth item (that is, ―I think the students strongly agreed (mean: = 3.44). The total the Committee of Union and Progress had an influence rate for students agreeing to any degree was 55%. on the separation of Arabs from the Ottoman Empire‖) Meanwhile, 38.5% of the students (N=77) agreed with that they were neutral at a rate of 35.5% (N=71). It is the twenty-first item: ―Turkey has been dealing with the interesting that both items elicited similar responses. In problems of the Arab world recently, which is something addition, 58.5% of the students agreed or strongly agreed positive‖ (mean: = 3.98). In addition, 32% of the with the fourteenth item, compared to 56.5% for the students agreed, meaning 70.5% of students agreed with fifteenth item, again indicating a strong similarity in this issue to some degree. This is quite a noteworthy students’ responses. Thus, more than half of the students result indicating that university students from Jordan have believed that the Committee of Union and Progress a positive perception of the Republic of Turkey’s close played an important role in both the collapse of the engagement in the problems of Middle East and Arab Ottoman Empire and the separation of Arabs from the regions in recent years. Moreover, it is also noteworthy Ottoman Empire. that this item generated the third highest rate of students The sixteenth item of the scale (that is, ―I think Turks who strongly agreed. In response to the twenty-second tried to protect Jerusalem against the British during World item (that is, ―I think, currently, the Republic of Turkey is War I‖) generated 48.5% (N=97) neutral responses supporting Palestinians‖), which is associated with the (mean: = 3.50). Turkey’s history textbooks and history previous one, 37.5% of the students (N=75) strongly teachers emphasize this issue greatly. Teachers highlight agreed (mean: = 3.79) and 22.5% agreed (60% total the fact that Ottomans tried to protect Jerusalem from the agreed to some degree). As mentioned in the previous enemies, especially the British, which resulted in serious item, the Republic of Turkey has dealt with the battles and losses in the region. However, nearly half of Palestinian issue with much delicacy recently, and it has the students studying in Jordan are neutral about this become a topical issue worldwide. Turkey’s efforts are issue, which is a noteworthy result, although nearly an perceived by Jordan’s university students as signs of a equal amount (that is, 43.5%) of the students agreed supportive country for Palestine. On the twenty-third item strongly agreed with this item. (that is, ―Turkish subjects in high school history textbooks In response to the seventeenth item (that is, ―I have in Jordan are adequate‖), 37% of students (N=47) access to adequate sources about Turkish history and disagreed (mean: = 2.67), suggesting that the students 384 Educ. Res. Rev.
did not think that Jordan’s history textbooks adequately p<.05), indicating that students in the sample shared addressed Turkish subjects. In addition, 16% (N=32) similar views regarding Turks, the Ottoman Empire, and strongly disagrees, meaning 53% of students disagreed the Republic of Turkey. In terms of Turks being at the to some degree. This finding supports the results forefront of Islam, which is implied in history textbooks obtained from the third item of the scale (that is, ―I think used in Turkey as a general opinion, 67.5% of the Turks living in the Republic of Turkey came from Central participating higher education Arab students studying in Asia‖), to which 70% of students were neutral, disagreed, Jordan agreed that Turks have been at the forefront of or strongly disagreed. This result supports the results Islam religion throughout history. Thus, a majority of obtained from the twenty-third item. students in Jordan have a similar opinion as the general Nearly one-third of students (30%; N=60) indicated a opinion in Turkey. Furthermore, 71.5% of students neutral response for the twenty-fourth item (that is, agreed that Turks have made important contributions to ―Generally, Turks are positively mentioned in high school Islamic culture. This rate is higher than the rate for the history textbooks in Jordan‖; mean: x = 3.27). Mean- first item. According to Ozay (2014), tenth-grade history while, a combined 44.5% strongly agreed or agreed. textbooks in Jordan include the following statement: ―The Given the rate of neutral and agree/strongly agree Ottoman Empire, though it did not put much effort into responses, approaches toward Turks in Jordan’s history enhancing Arabian culture, opened many scientific and textbooks need to be examined. cultural centers‖ (p. 229). This statement concurs with the Furthermore, 43.5% of students (N=87) were neutral results obtained from the scale. In addition, young Arab about the twenty-fifth item (that is, ―Turkish history in people’s views are parallel to the statement in the Jordan’s high school history textbooks is as detailed as textbooks. Gok (2014) conducted a study in Turkey and European history‖; mean: = 2.87). In addition, 33% of found that 70% of the participating students agreed that students strongly disagreed or disagreed with this item, their perspective of Arabs was influenced by their indicating that the students did not believe that Turkish religious views. In addition, 74.7% believed that Turks history is as detailed as European history in Jordan’s high should act with Arabs to protect and spread Islam. These school history textbooks. rates are consistent with the students’ views presented in Finally, on the twenty-sixth item (that is, ―Turks and the current study. According to Gok (2014), this result Arabs can write a common history about the period they implies that the views of Turkish students, the majority of lived together‖), 42% of the students (N=84) agreed whom are Muslim, regarding Arabs are influenced by (mean: = 3.71). Another 21% of the students strongly Islamic beliefs. Generally, history textbooks in Turkey agreed, for a total of 63% who agreed to some degree. deal with Turkish–Arab relations and the Arab image not This result clearly indicates that the majority of the only within the context of nationality, but also as the students believed that Turks and Arabs share a common determining factor of Islam religion (Akbaba, 2014; p. history from the period they lived together. This issue can 351). be an important starting point for common textbook The third item in the current study asked students projects in the future. whether Turks came from Central Asia; 71% of the These analysis results are broken down by gender and students remained neutral or disagreed, suggesting that shown in Table 5. Arab students studying in Jordan do not know general Table 5 shows no significant difference by gender in Turkish history. Arab students’ views of Turks, the Ottoman Empire, and These two cultures shared a common history for four the Republic of Turkey (t(198)= -1.498; p<.05). This result hundred years, so students should have better may be indicative of the similarity in the Arab students’ knowledge of the cultures. Therefore, these results might views of these issues. contribute to conducting common studies to explore mutual cultural and historical backgrounds for both countries. Again, in relation to this issue, the twenty-third DISCUSSION item of the scale asked whether Turkish subjects in Jordan’s high school history textbooks were adequate. This study has attempted to reveal the views of higher While 23% of the students responded neutrally, 53% did education students in Jordan regarding Turks, the not believe the textbooks adequately covered subjects Ottoman Empire, and the Republic of Turkey rather than related to Turkish history, thereby supporting the results the official perspective of the Jordanian government or of the third item. the views presented in textbooks. A 26-item scale was A majority of students (62.5%) believed that the administered to the students studying in Jordan. Results Ottoman sultans engaged in positive activities, and were presented by comparing the data with the results of 42.5% believed the Ottoman Empire had a tolerant rule, previous studies about Turks and the Ottoman Empire while another 40% remained neutral. The 20% difference within the history textbooks used in Jordan. in the positive responses to these two items is quite The study also investigated whether any differences noteworthy. Although the students generally perceived occurred in students’ views based on gender. No signi- the activities of the Ottoman sultans in a positive light, ficant differences by gender were found ( t (198)= -1.498; they were hesitant to claim the Ottoman Empire adopted a Isık 385
Table 5. Comparison of Arab students’ views of Turks, the Ottoman Empire, and the Republic of Turkey by gender.
Gender N x ss sd t p Female 164 3.49 0.33 Male 36 3.59 0.34 198 -1.498 0.136
tolerant rule. This result might stem from the late Ottoman Empire colonized Arab lands, but the weakening Ottoman administration of Arabs and the policies as well of the Ottoman Empire led to the colonization of the as approaches implemented in the region; such infor- region as well. Therefore, it can be deduced that the Arab mation, rather than the work of the sultans, is presented students consider the Ottoman rule to be a colonizing in history textbooks used in Jordan’s high schools. One rule, but they also consider Western powers following the explanation for this can be found in the predominantly Ottoman rule to be colonizers. They may frown on being (56.5%) negative responses to the fifteenth item (that is, under the rule of another nation. ―I think the Committee of Union and Progress had an Similarly, 45% of the students agreed to some degree influence on the separation of Arabs from the Ottoman that the Ottoman Empire prevented Arabs from being Empire‖). The negative responses to the policies of the independent, whereas 16% disagreed, which is a really Committee of Union and Progress may be due to Arabs’ low percentage. Thus, a considerable number of the perceptions of events that took place during that period. students were of the opinion that Arabs, who were Considering results from the previously discussed items, wishing to be independent, were prevented from doing so a common history study in the future should take into by the Ottoman Empire. account these aspects for both countries. Ozay (2014) The data obtained from the survey may be a result of found that Jordan’s tenth-grade textbooks include the the perception created by the history textbooks used in following statement: ―The Ottoman Empire, which did not the high schools in Jordan. In his study about the content intervene in the internal affairs of the nations it ruled, let of history textbooks in Jordan, Yigit (2009) detected an the nations free in their traditions, customs, and indicator of ―fixation‖ as Ottoman capitulations for languages‖ (p. 230). Yigit (2009) analyzed textbooks foreigners are given under the same title, ―Capitulations used in Jordan and found that the textbook Arab for Foreigners and European Greed on Arab Regions,‖ as Movement and Turkification Policy claimed that the the colonization of Arab lands (p. 25). According to Yigit’s Ottoman Empire stood against Arab culture and law, and (2009) deductions, it is believed that the capitulations Turks were considered superior to Arabs (p. 22). He granted by the Ottoman Empire encouraged the added that the textbooks provided biased information European countries, and the Ottoman Empire inflicted the about the policy and structure of the Ottoman Empire. Europeans upon Arab lands. Yigit (2009) claimed that the In relation to the item about the Ottoman Empire’s actual reasons for the capitulations, especially those colonization of Arabs, 67.5% of the students agreed to during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, were not some degree, which is quite noteworthy. High school mentioned in the textbooks, suggesting the existence of history textbooks used in Turkey have contradictory an effort to create a misguided perception in the minds of information about this issue. These textbooks claim that, Arab students. In addition, the causes for weakening the far from colonizing, the Ottoman Empire helped these Ottoman Empire were limited to internal and external regions because these lands are holy for Islam and host causes and given in small explanations (Yigit, 2009, p. Ka’ba, where Muslims make pilgrimages that cross both 36). Ozay (2014) also analyzed textbooks in Jordan and Syria and Jordan. Students’ responses to this item found that the expressions of occupant and colonizer concur with Yigit’s (2009) findings related to Arab history were not used for the Ottoman Empire in the history textbooks. According to Yigit (2009), the Sure Alayı (a textbooks in primary and secondary school education. group of people sent from Istanbul to Mecca and Ozay (2014) reported that the Ottoman Empire was Madinah with gifts) are considered to have been denied considered not as a colonizer, but as the occupying (p. 31). The kiswah and gifts sent by the Ottoman Empire power in these history textbooks, whereas the term at the beginning of the pilgrimage season and the ―colonizer‖ was used for Western powers occupying Arab security and investment works are not mentioned in the lands. According to Ozay (2014), the reason given by the textbooks. This issue relates to the content of textbooks tenth-grade history textbooks in Jordan for the Ottoman used in Jordan and should be taken into account if a Empire sought to govern the Arab world was the common history book is considered in the future. ―occupation of western Arab region by Portuguese‖. Ozay Similarly, 71% of students agreed to some degree that (2014) added that the textbook includes the following the weakening of the Ottoman Empire led to the statement: ―The Ottoman Empire took the rule of Arab colonization of Arab lands. Thus, the students think the world due to these reasons and protected it against 386 Educ. Res. Rev.
European states and saved the Arab world from the of the Islam world, was passed on to the Ottoman Empire ambitions of Europeans until the late 18th century.‖ from the Egyptian Mamluk Sultanate. In relation to Similarly, Yigit (2009) found that Jordan’s history caliphate, the survey used in this study contained an item textbooks give the impression that the Ottoman Empire stating that the caliphate should have been possessed used Spanish as an excuse to conquer Western Arab not by the Ottomans, but by Arabs. When responding to provinces (p. 21). Yigit (2009) further claimed that these this item, 38% of the students remained neutral while textbooks mislead students because Arabs were unable 53.5% agreed to some degree. Considering these rates, to resist Spain and Portugal, particularly strong countries it can be concluded that the majority of the students engaged in geographical explorations, or even to protect believed that the caliphate should have been possessed their holy places; however, the fact that Spain would by Arabs, not the Ottomans. Regarding this issue, Yigit invade these areas were it not for the domination of the (2009) analyzed the textbooks used in Jordan. When Ottoman Empire was skipped. Yigit (2009) noted that mentioning the advancement of the Ottoman Empire in Arabs’ history was reflected more gorgeously than the the Arabian Peninsula, the textbooks out a particular period they lived under the Ottoman rule, and it was emphasis on sending the key of Al-Aqsa Mosque by implied that they did not receive any investment through Mecca Sheriff following the conquest of Egypt by Selim I the Ottoman Empire and did not show any cultural and paying homage to the Ottoman Empire (p. 24). Yigit development during that period (p. 32). This situation was (2009) interpreted this as a possible intention to impose revealed by Yigit (2009) through the analysis of Jordan’s on the students the idea that Sheriff Hüseyin reclaimed history textbooks, which deny the services and this power, which had been lost long before. Yigit (2009) investments of the Ottoman Empire in Arab provinces mentioned in his study that Jordan’s textbooks cover and claim that such activities started only after their Sheriff Hüseyin’s rebel during the Arabian riot, pointing independence. out that it was not carried out toward the caliphate, but Despite such comments in the textbooks, the results toward the Unionists. Although he added that the obtained from our survey differ, suggesting the possibility textbooks mention the need to found a new Arab that these issues are perceived differently by the caliphate, they failed to deal with the passing of the students. A common history book that can be produced in caliphate authority to the Ottomans. the future could exemplify the Ottoman activities in Arab To determine how students perceived the Committee of regions during the Ottoman rule concretely and eliminate Union and Progress, which is considered as one of such misleading ideas. For instance, Arab cities during factors contributing the to the collapse of the Ottoman the Ottoman rule offer a good example regarding this Empire, the students were asked to respond to two items: issue. The best evidence of this issue is students’ res- ―I think the Committee of Union and Progress led to the ponse to the ninth item in our survey: ―The construction of collapse of the Ottoman Empire‖ and ―I think the a railway in Jordan by the Ottoman Empire was a positive Committee of Union and Progress had an influence on development.‖ A large majority (77.5%) of the students the separation of Arabs from the Ottoman Empire.‖ strongly agreed or agreed with the item. If the Ottoman Students responded similarly to both items: 35.5% Empire made similar investments as the Hejaz Railway remained neutral for both the first and second items while within Jordan’s boundaries and young Arabs are made 58.5% and 56.5%, respectively, agreed to some degree aware of them, it could lead to positive perceptions with the items. In other words, more than half of the among younger generations of Arabs. students perceived the Committee of Union and Progress Almost half (45.5%) of the students agreed that the to be an influential factor in the collapse of the Ottoman Ottomans’ non-adoption of modern European techniques Empire and the separation of Arabs from the Ottoman led to the regression of Arab people. This perception is Empire. thought to be the result of Jordan’s history textbooks as Generally, in Turkey, allying with Germany during well. According to Yigit (2009), although the textbooks World War I is connected to the Committee of Union and covered the Ottoman Empire’s agricultural administration Progress policies, with a special reference to Enver of Arab lands, the only cause of agricultural weakening Pasha. Nearly half of the students (42.5%) responded mentioned in the textbooks is the Ottomans’ poor neutrally to the twelfth survey item: ―The Ottoman Empire administration, which misleads readers by skipping the should not have entered the war with Germany during conditions of the period, the influence of industrial World War I,‖ while 53% agreed to some degree with this revolution, the drought that took place during those years, statement. According to Yigit (2009), although Jordan’s and the grasshopper invasion (p. 24). These points, as history textbooks discuss the life of Sheriff Hüseyin, the identified in Yigit’s (2009) study, might have influenced leader of the Arab riot, his dislike for the Unionists from students’ responses if they had been included in the the start is mentioned as well as his advice to Turkey not textbooks. to enter World War I. Yigit (2009) further explained that, Historical books and history textbooks in Turkey explain by ignoring many contributing factors, such as the that during the reign of Selim I, one of the Ottoman conditions of that time, loneliness of the Ottoman Empire sultans, caliphate authority, referring to the representation in a blocking world, the allied powers’ rejection of the Isık 387
empire, the textbooks attempt to impose the idea that the constitution, their actions were welcomed Sheriff Hüseyin was a great foresighted figure supported enthusiastically in the Arab region. It is even claimed that by all whose actions were righteous. In this sense, the Arabs rejoiced at the revolution of the Committee of content of the history textbooks in Jordan and the data Union and Progress as if it was their own and started obtained in the current study concur with each other. The celebrations and festivals. study’s results about the rule of the Committee of Union Turkish history textbooks mention the serious struggles and Progress are also in line with Ozay’s (2014, pp. 230– and losses experienced by the Ottomans to protect 233) conclusions about Jordan’s tenth-grade history Jerusalem from the invasions, especially by the British. In textbooks, which included the following statements: ―The order see how this is perceived by Arab students, they Unionists had the policy of Turkification, and they turned were presented with the following item: ―I think Turks tried the governance into a central dictatorship. They placed to protect Jerusalem against the British during World War Turks in important positions; made war with Arabs; forced I.‖ Although 48.5% of the students responded neutrally to other nations to learn the Turkish language; ignored this item, 43.5% expressed agreement to some degree. science; enforced heavy taxes; and some of the Nearly half of the students who responded to the survey Unionists even suggested removing Arabs from their own displayed an approach similar to the one in the history lands and placing Turks there instead.‖ Ozay (2014) textbooks in Turkey, but the majority remained neutral, found that Jordan’s history textbooks criticize the which is a result that needs to be explored in greater Unionists’ Turkification policies and emphasize that the detail. idea of a separate Arab nation not dependent on the In addition to the items about the Ottoman Empire, the Ottoman Empire emerged due to Unionists overlooking students were asked to provide their opinions about the the Arabs. Ozay (2014) concluded that, according to Republic of Turkey. First, 55% of students responded Jordan’s high school history textbooks, it was the positively to some degree to the following item: ―I have oppressive rule of Kemal Pasha—a Unionist—in Syria access to adequate sources about Turkish history and that led Arabs to push for independence by considering culture in my language (Arabic).‖ This result indicates that their future after the Ottoman Empire entered World War I approximately half of the students have access to (p. 230). Ozay (2014) also found that eighth- and tenth- sources about Turkish history and culture. Furthermore, grade textbooks discuss how Arabs were deceived after they agreed to some degree (55%; strongly agreed= fighting for the British and the French against the Turks. 34.5%) with the statement that they learn most of what Similar conclusions were made by Yigit (2009), who also they know about Turkey from Turkish television series, analyzed Jordan’s history textbooks and found that, in the suggesting that recent Turkish television series have section entitled ―Paris Arab Conference (June 1913),‖ been followed with curiosity, especially in Middle Eastern they claimed that the reason Arab communities met in countries. The respondents were no exception, indicating Paris was to address the Turkification policies of the how important these series are for being informed about Committee of Union and Progress, which had a say in the Turkey. Yaman (2014) questioned Arab students learning administration as well as the Ottoman Empire (p. 20). Turkish language in order to reveal their perspectives on However, the same books do not cover this community’s cultural phenomena in Turkish language teaching and effort to break away from the Ottoman Empire or their concluded that the rate of Jordanians watching Turkish negotiations with foreign countries. Yigit (2009) explained television series is high. He also added that Turkish that this section is intended to make the readers think television series generate more interest in Turkey, but not that the Ottoman Empire did not undertake any enterprise in Turkish, among the Jordanians. in the region and just ignored and oppressed the region. Almost half (46%) of the students in the current study Yigit (2009) concluded that, in order to give the agreed with the item about the closeness of Turkish and impression that Arabs had to riot and think of themselves Jordanian cultures, suggesting that they consider the as the Ottoman Empire entered World War I, the history cultures of both countries to be close to each other. textbooks do not mention the conditions of the time or the Similarly, 73.5% of the students agreed with the world’s actions at that time, thereby misleading the possibility of conducting good works if Arabs and Turks readers about the reasons for their revolutions (p. 23). work together, which is quite high. Based on this item, it Yigit (2009) denoted in his work that Jordan’s history is possible to see that the students are leaning toward the textbooks made the Committee of Union and Progress a common works of Arabs and Turks in future. Similarly, scapegoat and use the expressions cruelty, violence, and Gok (2014) concluded that Turks are eager to be more Turkification policy wherever mentioning the Unionists informed about Arab culture and enhance their (pp. 27–29). He added that the Committee of Union and relationships with Arabs. Progress is presented as the reason for all the misdeeds Recently, organizations like Yunus Emre Institute and in Arab regions and the Ottoman Empire. Contrary to the Turkish Corporation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) accounts in Jordan’s history textbooks, Lutskiy (2011) have sought to determine how Arab students perceive stated that when the Committee of Union and Progress deep issues such as the Republic of Turkey’s dwelling on seized power from the Ottoman Empire and reinforced problems in the Arab region. Given this situation, the current 388 Educ. Res. Rev.
study asked the students to respond to the following our study, along with the data obtained from Arab statement: ―Turkey has been dealing with the problems of students, indicates that this claim is not valid—at least the Arab world recently, which is something positive.‖ not for Jordan. Indeed, Yaman (2014) stated that steps Students responded positively at a very high rate need to be taken to write a common account of the (70.5%). Related to this item, another statement was history by Turks and Arabs (p. 514) and that it is posed to the students: ―I think, currently, the Republic of necessary to rewrite history books from an objective point Turkey is supporting Palestinians.‖ Sixty percent of the of view through scholarly organizations formed by the two students agreed with this statement. Thus, students not nations. only considered Turkey’s dwelling on the problems of Ultimately, this study demonstrated that students’ views Arab world in a positive light, but also perceived Turkey are influenced by the history textbooks used in primary as a supportive state for Palestinians. What is noteworthy and high schools. A general parallelism exists between here is that Turkey’s dealing with the problems of the their views and the views imposed by the textbooks. Arab world generated more positive responses (10% However, different results were achieved for various higher) than support for Palestine. Thus, students items related to the Ottoman and Turkish images depic- perceived Turkey as a state dealing not only with the ted in history textbooks. Certain differences on some Palestinian conflict specifically, but also the problems of matters were evident between the students’ views and the Arab world. In relation to this issue, Gok (2014) what was presented in the textbooks. Nevertheless, it is presented Turkish students with the following statement: necessary to objectively present controversial issues by ―Turkey should support the development of the Arab preparing a common textbook under the guidance of a world‖; 75.3% of the students agreed. common committee. Eliminating the differences in the The rest of the survey items in the current study were historical accounts of textbooks regarding Turks, the used to define students’ views of Jordan’s high school Ottoman Empire, and the Republic of Turkey, based on history textbooks. In response to ―Generally, Turks are the specific case of Jordan, will be beneficial for positively mentioned in high school history textbooks in eliminating the two nations’ biases toward each other. Jordan,‖ 74.5% of the students remained neutral, strongly agreed, or agreed. However, Yigit’s (2009) findings about Jordan’s high school textbooks contradicted these results Conflict of Interests (p. 99). Yigit (2009) presented 13 forms of skipping, 3 forms of misleading, 12 forms of fixation, and 8 forms of The author has not declared any conflicts of interest. denying that resulted in the abuse of the historical narrative. The current study also asked about whether as detailed REFERENCES an explanation of Turkish history is included in the Akbaba B (2014). The presentation of Turkish–Arabic relations and the textbooks as that of European history (twenty-fifth item). image of Arabs in the history textbooks since the foundation of the The data indicated that 43.5% of the students remained Turkish Republic. J. Gazi Univ. Gazi Educ. Fac. 34(3):337-356. neutral whereas 33% disagreed with the statement, Balci A (2001). Research, methods, techniques, and principles in social studies. 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The importance of history textbooks in Turk-Arab relations and the Arab perceptions of high school students in Turkey. this item. However, in addition to writing a common Proceedings of international Turk-Arab common values and cultural account of history, Turan (2011) argued that the long- interaction symposium. Amman: Yunus Emre Institute. term common history of Arabs and Turks has not been Gokdemir ZB (2010). Turks and the image of Turks in Saudi Arabia’s fully known yet. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct school books]. Master’s Thesis, Unpublished. İstanbul: Marmara University. further research to reveal the aspects not known in the Karasar N (2008). Scientific research method. Ankara: Nobel. common history of Arabs and Turks before writing a Koksal H (2013). Moral approaches used by history teachers in their common account of their history. Turan (2011) called for ethical evaluations. Int. J. Acad. 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Amman: Yunus Emre Institute. Yenal G (2011). Turkish image on Syrian primary and secondary Pamuk A (2014). Identity and history (The use of history in identity textbooks. Master’s Thesis, Unpublished, İstanbul: Marmara construction). Istanbul: Yeni İnsan University. Senol S (2012). Research and sampling methods. Ankara: Nobel. Yigit M (2009). The Turks in high school history lesson text books used Sipahi B, Yurtkoru ES, Cinko M (2010). Data analysis through SPSS in in the Arabian Countries (Jordan and Syria cases). Master’s Thesis, social sciences. Istanbul: Beta. Unpublished, Ankara: Gazi University. Sonmez V, Alacapınar FG (2011). Exemplified scientific research methods. Ankara: Anı. Turan NS (2011). André Raymond and a view on Arab urban history in the times of the the Ottoman Empire. Ortadoğu Etütleri. 2(2):169-189. Yaman S (2014). Arabs’ willingness to learn Turkish and Turkish perceptions in the case of Jordan. Proceedings of international Turk- Arab common values and cultural interaction symposium. Amman: Yunus Emre Institute.
Vol. 11(7), pp. 390-401, 10 April, 2016 DOI: 10.5897/ERR2015.2616 Article Number: 024A83F57631 ISSN 1990-3839 Educational Research and Reviews Copyright © 2016 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article http://www.academicjournals.org/ERR
Full Length Research Paper
Examining the relation between metacognitive understanding of what is listened to and metacognitive awareness levels of secondary school students
Erhan AKIN
Siirt University Education Faculty Turkish Education Turkey.
Received 25 December, 2015; Accepted 04 March, 2016
The purpose of the study is to reveal the relation between the Metacognitive Understanding of What is Listened and the Metacognitive Awareness Levels of Secondary School Students. 210 students, who were at 5, 6, 7, and 8th Grades studying at Turgut Ozal Secondary School in Bulanik County of the city of Mus, participated in the study. The Metacognitive Understanding of What is Listened Awareness Scale, which was developed by Katrancı and the Metacognitive Awareness Scale, which was developed by Sperling whose validity and reliability studies were conducted by Karakelle and Sarac, in Turkey were used as data collection tool in the study. The Relational Scanning Model was used in the study, and the data were analyzed by using the SPSS Windows 22.0 Program. According to the data obtained in this study it was concluded that the Metacognitive Understanding of What is Listened levels and the Metacognitive Awareness levels were high. The Metacognitive Understanding of What is Listened to and the Metacognitive Awareness Levels of the Students showed no significant differences in terms of the education levels of the parents and the socio-economic levels of the families. On the other hand, the results were in favor of the girls in terms of the gender variable. According to the grade variable, it was observed that as the grades of the students at schools increased, the Metacognitive Understanding of What is Listened to and the Metacognitive Awareness Levels of the Students decreased. The results of the study have been discussed in the light of the literature findings, and recommendations have been made.
Key words: Metacognitive awareness, metacognitive listening, understanding.
INTRODUCTION
It is possible to claim that listening skill is needed more very first skill of an individual used in the uterus is the when compared with the other basic language skills. The listening skill. After the individual is born, the first skill is,
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Authors agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License AKIN 391
again, the listening skill. It is the first mother tongue Individuals have to take the information, which they activity. People acquire most of the information by obtain in the listening process, which is beneficial for listening before they start school (Ozdemir, 1987). The them, and let go the other ones; and behave in a critical listening skills of people develop without receiving a manner in this process, establish a good communication regular education and training, and continue to develop in in social life, and complete their education successfully in school years together with other language skills. order not to fall in the trap set by the speaker (Dogan, However, the other language skills depend on the 2007). development of the listening skill (Celenk, 2005). The individuals who start to take listening training begin The mother tongue is also acquired with the listening to comprehend that listening and hearing are two skill. For this reason, the listening skill has a separate different concepts. Individuals who understand this importance from this viewpoint. difference deduce results from the elements they listen to The listening skill is defined in various ways: It is the because, a listening process which does not end up in skill of understanding efficiently and responding in verbal understanding, is not a successful one. For this reason, communication process (Johnson, 1951: 58). It is paying the issue that is necessary to know by the individuals attention to the words spoken, and understanding them who receive listening training in their school lives is the as well as the voices (Hampleman, 1958: 49). It is an fact that listening has to end up with understanding. This active process that involves hearing, understanding and is the main duty of a Turkish language teacher. Students integrating what is heard with the background knowledge who receive a good listening education in Turkish and responding when necessary (Wolff et al., 1983). It is language classes will be at a good level in terms of a language skill which we use every day to make sense academic success in Turkish language classes. This of what is going around us without thinking (Rost, 1994: situation will also show itself in other languages. 1). It is eliminating the words that are heard in order to Listening is a skill that provides that the communication focus on the message; it is beyond mere hearing process ends up with understanding, and that this (Jalongo, 1995: 13). It is stopping the mind which process is completed with understanding the other party wanders around various subjects like speaking and or parties successfully. Students with improved listening moving, locking the mind on what is told by the speaker skills become aware of this skill by putting the items that (Moore, 120). It is a psychological process which starts are listened/followed in the right order, classifying, with becoming aware of the sounds and the images -if associating and criticizing them (MEB, 2006). there are any- and paying attention to them, and which The listening activity ending up with understanding, the ends with the recognition, remembrance and making person‟s questioning what s/he listens to, and reflecting sense of certain audio signs (Ergin and Birol, 2000: 115). this to the Turkish language classes is only possible by Listening is the activity of being able to understand the having a good metacognitive awareness level. verbal messages intended by a speaker or by a reader Metacognitive awareness is a topic which is handled (Ozbay, 2005: 11). Listening is a complex and multiple- frequently in our country and is about to receive the stage process where the spoken language is converted statue it deserves. The awareness in educational life into meaning in the mind (Narr. by Akyol, 2010: 1). brings success to the individual. It is considered that The most important point in listening skill, which is individuals whose metacognitive awareness levels are accepted as the specific struggle of the person to good will try to keep their goals at a high level both in understand what is heard and keeping this struggle or the their daily lives and in Turkish language classes in their effort until the end of the speech (Sever, 2000; Gogus, educational lives. 1978), is the fact that not every word or utterance is Human beings receive most of their knowledge by handled under the title of listening skill. Requiring specific using the listening skill. The information obtained by attention and continuance of this attention until the end of people and their using this information is called the the speech are other issues that are important in listening cognitive process. However, the individuals questioning skills. The listening skill is used unconsciously by the themselves about the cognitive process, organizing their individuals until school years. However, this skill is knowledge and keeping it may be called awareness. In trained in school years, and becomes a skill that is used order to define this awareness, it is a must to know consciously. The listening skill, which will influence the metacognition concept (Cakiroglu, 2007). Metacognition success levels of the students in their academic lives and concept, which was mentioned by Flavel (1970), may be daily lives, must be used consciously. The listening skill understood as the awareness of an individual of the has an important place in every place and time in their cognitive process, and using the skill to control this lives, and has become more important in our time, which process (Akin et al., 2007). According to Flavell (1985), is considered as the communication age. With the metacognition is “the knowledge of one‟s own cognitive advancement of technology, the need for the listening processes and the use of this knowledge to control the skill has grown more. This development in cognitive process”. According to Schunk (2009, 184), communication has made human beings become more metacognition is “the upper-level cognition”. active. Metacognition is the ability of one‟s controlling his/her 392 Educ. Res. Rev.
own cognitive structure and potential, and controlling the understanding what they read, and reported that students acquisition process of the knowledge” (Woolfolk, 2005). who used the metacognitive skills better had increased Metacognition may also be understood as the full success rates. Batha and Carroll (2007) conducted a control of the individual not only over the result but also study with the title “The Contribution of Teaching Based over the learning process as a whole, and his/her being on Metacognitive Strategies to Decision-making Process” aware of whatever s/he does. Metacognition does not and reported that there was a positive relation between focus on the result but focuses on the process. An the metacognition and decision making, and that the individual with a metacognition skill manages the process metacognitive strategy training was influential on by knowing what and how s/he has learnt; and at the end decision-making process. Katrancı and Yangın (2013) of the process, makes an evaluation about himself/herself conducted a study on metacognitive listening and (Doganay, 1997). Metacognitive awareness requires that reported that: metacognitive listening expresses the the individual behaves in a planned manner in every observing oneself strategies used during the listening stage of the learning process and chooses his/her way, process. During listening, an individual using observing becomes aware of his/her missing points and tries new oneself strategies is prepared for the listening process, methods, and criticizes himself/herself and the process and assesses what s/he learns (Arnold and Coran, 2011: (Ozsoy, 2007). 13). Meanwhile, metacognitive listening strategies Metacognition is among the biggest factor that ensures contribute to the understanding of what is read, and that the learning process ends up with success. For this performing the listening goal (Stein, 1999: 47). Based on reason, individuals must question himself/herself as this, they claimed that it was possible to suggest that follows and answer them (Akin, 2006: 43): metacognitive strategies had positive influence on listening skills of students. What do I know about the subject I am going to listen to? The individuals that are subject to listening training Do I know what I need? How much time will I need to develop their metacognitive awareness levels by asking listen to this text? which listening strategies can I make themselves questions and receiving good results. People use of while listening to this text? Have I understood what then become aware of the real purpose of the listening I have seen and listened to? If I make a mistake during training and listening process. People who act for this the listening process, how can I notice it? If the plan I purpose become the active individuals in the process and have made is not sufficient in bringing success to me, also the successful ones at the end of the process. This how can I renew it? How can I measure my success? is the most important way to achieve academic success both in Turkish language classes and in other classes. Metacognitive awareness is the selection of the best one Those with higher Listening Process Awareness Levels among the strengths of an individual after s/he notices eliminate what they listen in their daily lives and take only them. It is a process that tells the individual to activate those that are beneficial for them. Individuals whose himself/herself without an external stimulant and makes understanding what is listened levels are high may the individual know where, how and why to use his/her comprehend the purpose of the classes better than power. The concept of metacognition, which influences others. When the literature is examined, it is observed the success in school life, is a thinking skill that makes that, as Ozbay and Dasoz (2014) reported in their itself be felt constantly and that makes people successful studies, the majority of the studies on metacognitive in every aspect of life (Baltas, 2004). Sahin and Tunca strategies focused on understanding what is listened to (2014) conducted a study and reported that, as it is and on the listening in the process of acquiring a second stated below, the skills that are expected to appear in an language (Bozorgian, 2014; Rahimirad and Shams, 2014; individual with metacognition are the awareness of the Rahimi and Katal, 2013; Vandergrift, Goh and Mareschal, individual of himself/herself and the learning ways, 2006; Vandergrift, 2005; Serri et al., 2012; Goh and Hu, behaving consciously, self-control, planning, observing 2013; Dabbagh and Noshadi, 2014). In this study, the him/herself, organizing oneself, and assessing oneself influence of metacognitive awareness on listening in the (Doganay, 1997). When the studies conducted so far are mother tongue has been dealt with. It is considered that examined in general terms it is observed that this will contribute to the literature in this way. metacognitive skills increase success (Cakıroglu, 2007; Ozsoy, 2008) and motivation (Demir-Gulsen, 2000), and develop the attitudes on classes in a positive manner Purpose of the study (Kuçuk-Ozcan, 2000; Gelen, 2004), develop the self- control skills, develop the obtaining the knowledge ways, The study purposes to determine the metacognitive and ensure that the knowledge is used (Ciardiello, 1998; understanding levels of what is listened to and Schoeffler, 2012) and develop problem-solving skills metacognitive awareness levels of the students in Turgut (Howard et al., 2000; Rezvan et al., 2006). Cross And Ozal Secondary School students in the County of Bulanik Paris (1988) conducted a study and examined the of the city of Mus; and revealing the relation between relation between the metacognition of children and them. For this purpose, the answers to the following AKIN 393
questions have been sought: students. When the scale data were being evaluated, “1” point was given for the “Never” choice; “2” points for the “Sometimes” choice; and “3” points of the “Always” choice. The scale consists of 3 1. What are the Metacognitive Understanding of What is factors. It was observed that the before listening factor Cronbach Listened to levels and Metacognitive Awareness levels of Alpha internal consistency coefficient was 0.67; during listening the students? factor Cronbach Alpha internal consistency coefficient was 0.76; 2. What is the level of the influence of Metacognitive and the after listening factor Cronbach Alpha internal consistency Understanding What is Listened to on Metacognitive coefficient was 0.74. The total reliability coefficient of the scale is 0.89. In this study, the Understanding Behavior during Awareness? Metacognitive Listening reliability coefficient alpha was 0.958; the 3. Do the Metacognitive Understanding of What is Understanding Behavior after Metacognitive Listening reliability Listened to levels and Metacognitive Awareness levels of coefficient alpha was 0.889; and the General Understanding the students show statistically significant differences Behavior Reliability coefficient alpha was 0.950. according to gender? The Cronbach Alpha value of the Turkish Version of the 4. Do the Metacognitive Understanding What is Listened Metacognitive Awareness Scale was.64. The scale was developed by Sperling et al. (2002) whose validity and reliability studies were to levels and Metacognitive Awareness levels of the conducted by Karakelle and Sarac (2007). The metacognitive students show statistically significant differences awareness reliability coefficient for this study was alpha=0.969. The according to the grades they are in? personal information form was used to examine the demographic 5. Do the Metacognitive Understanding What is Listened properties of the students to levels and Metacognitive Awareness levels of the students show statistically significant differences Statistical analysis of the data according to the educational status of their fathers? 6. Do the Metacognitive Understanding What is Listened The data obtained in the study were analyzed by using the SPSS to levels and Metacognitive Awareness levels of the (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) for Windows 22.0 students show statistically significant differences program. The definitive statistical methods were also made use of according to the educational status of their mothers? in evaluating the data. The t-test was used in comparing the 7. Do the Metacognitive Understanding What is Listened quantitative continuous data between two independent groups; and the One-Way Anova Test was used in comparing the quantitative to levels and Metacognitive Awareness levels of the continuous data among more than two independent groups. The students show statistically significant differences Scheffe test was used as the supplementary post-hoc analysis to according to the educational status of their socio- determine the differences after the Anova Test. The Pearson economic status? Correlation and Regression Analysis were applied among the continuous variables of the study.
METHODOLOGY FINDINGS In this study, the purpose is revealing the Metacognitive Understanding of What is Listened to and the Metacognitive In this part, the findings obtained with the analysis of the Awareness Levels of Secondary School Students, whose socio- data collected with the scales from the students who economic levels are good and who are at 5, 6, 7, and 8th Grades participated in the study are given in Table 1. studying at Turgut Ozal Secondary School, in BulanikCounty of the city of Mus. Gender, Class, socio-economic variables were used for The students were distributed as 45 (21.4%) 5; 68 this purpose. The relational scanning method has been made use (32.4%) 6; 48 (22.9%) 7; 49 (23.3%) 8th Graders. of in the study. These models determine the existence and level of According to the gender variable, 127 of them were the changes between two or more variables (Karasar, 2015). (60.5%) males, 83 (39.5%) were females. According to the father‟s educational status variable, 65 (31.0%) primary school graduates, 70 (33.3%) secondary school The universe and the sampling of the study graduates, 55 (26.2%) high school graduates, 20 (9.5%) university graduates. According to the mother‟s The universe of this study consists of the 210 Secondary School educational status variable, 60 of them (28.6%) were not Students, whose socio-economic levels are good and who are at 5, literate; 77 (36.7%) primary school graduates, 46 (21.9%) 6, 7, and 8th Grades studying at Turgut Ozal Secondary School, in secondary school graduates; 19 (9.0%) high school Bulanik County of the city of Mus. The sampling consists of 210 graduates; 8 (3.8%) university graduates. According to students studying at 5, 6, 7, and 8th Grades. the socio-economic status variable, 20 of them were (9.5%) very good, 12 (5.7%) good, 139 (66.2%) medium, and 39 (18.6%) were bad (Table 2). Data collection tools and their reliability The “Understanding Behavior during Metacognitive Listening” of the students who participated in the study The Metacognitive Understanding of What is Listened Awareness Scale, which was developed by Katrancı (2012), consisting of 20 was high (2.330 ± 0.517); the “Understanding Behavior items was used as the data collection tool in the study to determine after Metacognitive Listening” levels were high (2.325 ± the Metacognitive Understanding of What is Listened levels of the 0.484); and the “General Understanding in Metacognitive 394 Educ. Res. Rev.
Table 1. Distribution of definitive characteristics of the students.
Variable Groups Frequency(n) % 5 45 21.4 6 68 32.4 Class 7 48 22.9 8 49 23.3 Total 210 100.0
Male 127 60.5 Gender Female 83 39.5 Total 210 100.0
Primary School Graduate 65 31.0 Secondary School Graduate 70 33.3 Father‟s Educational Status High School Graduate 55 26.2 University Graduate 20 9.5 Total 210 100.0
Not Literate 60 28.6 Primary School Graduate 77 36.7 Secondary School Graduate 46 21.9 Mother‟s Educational Status High School Graduate 19 9.0 University Graduate 8 3.8 Total 210 100.0
Very Good 20 9.5 Good 12 5.7 Socio-Economic Level Medium 139 66.2 Bad 39 18.6 Total 210 100.0
Table 2. Metacognitive understanding of what is listened to and metacognitive awareness level.
Variable N Ave. Sd. Min. Max. Understanding Behavior during Metacognitive Listening 210 2.330 0.517 1.000 3.000 Understanding Behavior after Metacognitive Listening 210 2.325 0.484 1.000 3.000 General Understanding in Metacognitive Listening 210 2.326 0.478 1.000 3.000 Metacognitive Awareness 210 3.434 0.996 1.440 5.000
Listening” was high (2.326 ± 0.478); and the Listening (r=0.99; p=0.000<0.05).There is a weak and “Metacognitive Awareness” levels were high (3.434 ± positive significant relation between the (r=0.485; 0.996) (Table 3). p=0,000<0.05). There is a medium level positive There is a high and positive relation between the significant relation between the Metacognitive Awareness Understanding Behavior after Metacognitive Listening and Understanding Behavior after Metacognitive Understanding Behavior during Metacognitive Listening Listening (r=0.512; p=0.000<0.05). There is a medium- (r=0.856; p=0.000<0.05).There is a very high and positive level positive significant relation between the significant relation between the General Understanding in Metacognitive Awareness and General Understanding of Metacognitive Listening and Understanding Behavior what is Listened to (r=0.52; p=0.000<0.05) (Table 4). during Metacognitive Listening (r=0.92; p=0.000<0.05). The regression analysis which was conducted to There is a very high and positive significant relation determine the relation between the Understanding between the General Understanding in Metacognitive Behavior during Metacognitive Listening, the Listening and Understanding Behavior after Metacognitive Understanding Behavior after Metacognitive Listening AKIN 395
Table 3. Relation between metacognitive understanding what is listened to and metacognitive awareness.
Understanding Understanding Metacognitive Behavior during Behavior after general Metacognitive Variable Metacognitive Metacognitive understanding of Awareness Listening Listening What is Listened Understanding Behavior during r 1.000 Metacognitive Listening p 0.000
Understanding Behavior after r 0.856** 1.000 Metacognitive Listening p 0.000 0.000
Metacognitive General r 0.920** 0.990** 1.000 Understanding of What is Listened p 0.000 0.000 0.000
r 0.485** 0.512** 0.520** 1.000 Metacognitive Awareness p 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Table 4. The effect of metacognitive understanding of what is listened to sub-dimensions on metacognitive awareness.
Dependent variable Independent variable ß T p F Model (p) R2 Constant 0.913 3.109 0.002 Metacognitive awareness Understanding Behavior during Metacognitive Listening 0.336 1.519 0.130 38.363 0.000 0.263 Understanding Behavior after Metacognitive Listening 0.747 3.159 0.002
Table 5. The effect of metacognitive understanding of what is listened to on metacognitive awareness.
Dependent variable Independent variable ß T P F Model (p) R2 Constant 0.915 3.121 0.002 Metacognitive awareness 76.973 0.000 0.267 Metacognitive understanding of what is listened to 1.083 8.773 0.000
and the Metacognitive Awareness was found to be strong (R2=0.267). The General Understanding statistically significant (F=38.363; p=0.000<0.05). It was Metacognitive Listening levels of the students increase observed that the relation between the Understanding the Metacognitive Awareness level of the students Behavior during Metacognitive Listening and the (ß=1.083) (Table 6). Understanding Behavior after Metacognitive Listening, as It was observed that there were no significant the determinant of the metacognitive awareness level differences between the Understanding Behavior during (the power of being explanatory) was strong (R2=0.263). Metacognitive Listening, Understanding Behavior after The Understanding Behavior during Metacognitive Metacognitive Listening, General Understanding Listening influences the Metacognitive Awareness of the Metacognitive Listening, and the Metacognitive students (p=0.130>0.05). The Understanding Behavior Awareness levels of the students according to the after Metacognitive Listening levels of the students education level of the fathers (p>0.05) (Table 7). increase the Metacognitive Awareness levels of them It was observed that there were no significant (ß=0.747) (Table 5). differences between the Understanding Behavior during The regression analysis, which was conducted to Metacognitive Listening, Understanding Behavior after determine the relation between the Understanding Metacognitive Listening, General Understanding in Metacognitive Listening General and the Metacognitive Metacognitive Listening, and the Metacognitive Awareness, was found to be statistically significant Awareness levels of the students according to the (F=76.973; p=0.000<0.05). It was observed that the education level of the mothers (p>0.05) (Table 8). relation between the General Understanding It was observed that there were no significant Metacognitive Listening and the Metacognitive differences between the Understanding Behavior during Awareness level, (the power of being explanatory) was Metacognitive Listening, Understanding Behavior after 396 Educ. Res. Rev.
Table 6. The averages of metacognitive understanding what is listened to and metacognitive awareness level according to the mother‟s educational status.
Parameter Group N Ave. Sd. F P Illiterate 60 2.390 0.575 Primary School Graduate 77 2.301 0.527 Understanding Behavior during Secondary School Graduate 46 2.335 0.430 0.449 0.773 Metacognitive Listening High School Graduate 19 2.305 0.567 University Graduate 8 2.175 0.292
Illiterate 60 2.390 0.516 Primary School Graduate 77 2.308 0.517 Understanding Behavior after Secondary School Graduate 46 2.312 0.404 0.583 0.675 Metacognitive Listening High School Graduate 19 2.291 0.437 University Graduate 8 2.150 0.470
Illiterate 60 2.390 0.519 Primary School Graduate 77 2.307 0.505 General Metacognitive Secondary School Graduate 46 2.317 0.394 0.573 0.683 Understanding What is Listened High School Graduate 19 2.295 0.455 University Graduate 8 2.156 0.419
Illiterate 60 3.522 0.987 Primary School Graduate 77 3.466 1.006 Metacognitive Awareness Secondary School Graduate 46 3.285 0.864 0.409 0.802 High School Graduate 19 3.421 1.206 University Graduate 8 3.340 1.282
Metacognitive Listening, General Understanding in Upon the One-Way Variance Analysis (Anova) which Metacognitive Listening, and the Metacognitive was conducted to determine whether the average points Awareness levels of the students according to the socio- of the Understanding Behavior during Metacognitive economic levels of the students (p>0.05) (Table 9). Listening, Understanding Behavior after Metacognitive Upon the One-Way Variance Analysis (Anova), which Listening and the General Understanding in was conducted to determine whether the averages of the Metacognitive Listening points varied according to the Metacognitive Awareness points of the students who Grade variable, and the difference between the averages participated in the study differed according to the grades was not found to be statistically significant (p>0.05) of the students, showed significant difference or not, the (Table 10). difference between the average points was found as The t-test was conducted to determine whether the being statistically significant (F=6.748; p=0.000<0.05). averages of the Understanding Behavior during The post-Hoc analysis was conducted to determine the Metacognitive Listening points of the students showed sources of the differences. The Metacognitive Awareness significant differences according to the gender variable; points of the 5th Graders (3.886 ± 0.926) was found as the difference between the group averages was found to being higher than the Metacognitive Awareness points of be statistically significant (t=-3.492; p=0.001<0.05). The the 6th Graders (3.459 ± 0.896). The Metacognitive Understanding Behavior during Metacognitive Listening Awareness points of the 5th Graders (3.886 ± points of the female students were (x=2.480) higher than 0.926) were found to be higher than those of the 7th those of the males (x=2.232). Graders (3.417 ± 0.990). The Metacognitive Awareness The t-test was conducted to determine whether the points of the 5thGraders (3.886 ± 0.926) were found to be averages of the Understanding Behavior after higher than those of the 8th Graders (2.999 ± 1.032). The Metacognitive Listening points of the students showed Metacognitive Awareness points of the 6th Graders significant differences according to the gender variable, (3.459 ± 0.896) were found as being higher than those of the difference between the group averages was found to the 8th Graders (2.999 ± 1.032). The Metacognitive be statistically significant (t=-3.446; p=0.001<0.05). The Awareness points of the 7th Graders (3.417 ± 0.990) Understanding Behavior after Metacognitive Listening were found to be higher than those of the 8th Graders points of the female students were (x=2.464) higher than (2.999 ± 1.032). those of the males (x=2.234). AKIN 397
Table 7. The averages of metacognitive understanding what is listened to and metacognitive awareness level according to the father‟s educational status.
Variable Group N Ave. Sd. F P Primary School Graduate 65 2.280 0.601 Understanding Behavior during Secondary School Graduate 70 2.354 0.481 0.290 0.832 Metacognitive Listening High School Graduate 55 2.346 0.428 University Graduate 20 2.360 0.590
Primary School Graduate 65 2.260 0.574 Understanding Behavior after Secondary School Graduate 70 2.360 0.457 0.614 0.607 Metacognitive Listening High School Graduate 55 2.337 0.381 University Graduate 20 2.380 0.519
Primary School Graduate 65 2.265 0.570 General Metacognitive Secondary School Graduate 70 2.359 0.447 0.546 0.651 Understanding What is Listened High School Graduate 55 2.339 0.372 University Graduate 20 2.375 0.526
Primary School Graduate 65 3.549 1.010 Secondary School Graduate 70 3.424 0.972 Metacognitive Awareness 0.655 0.580 High School Graduate 55 3.295 0.957 University Graduate 20 3.475 1.157
Table 8. The averages of metacognitive understanding of what is listened to and metacognitive awareness level according to the socio-economic status.
Variable Group N Ave. Sd. F P Very Good 20 2.240 0.648 Understanding Behavior during Good 12 2.433 0.545 0.947 0.419 Metacognitive Listening Medium 139 2.360 0.490 Bad 39 2.236 0.529
Very Good 20 2.293 0.603 Understanding Behavior after Good 12 2.422 0.517 1.222 0.303 Metacognitive Listening Medium 139 2.355 0.455 Bad 39 2.202 0.503
Very Good 20 2.280 0.605 General Metacognitive Good 12 2.425 0.511 1.187 0.316 Understanding What is Listened Medium 139 2.357 0.449 Bad 39 2.210 0.493
Very Good 20 3.172 1.086 Good 12 3.329 0.941 Metacognitive Awareness 1.058 0.368 Medium 139 3.517 0.969 Bad 39 3.302 1.058
The t-test was conducted to determine whether the difference between the group averages was found to be averages of the General Understanding in Metacognitive statistically significant (t=-3.565; p=0.000<0.05). The Listening points of the students showed significant Understanding Behavior after Metacognitive Listening differences according to the gender variable; the points of the female students were (x=2.468) higher than 398 Educ. Res. Rev.
Table 9. The Averages of metacognitive understanding of what is listened to and metacognitive awareness level according to the grades.
Variable Group N Ave. Sd. F p Difference 5 45 2.413 0.540 Understanding Behavior during 6 68 2.400 0.461 1.889 0.132 - Metacognitive Listening 7 48 2.271 0.482 8 49 2.212 0.582
5 45 2.391 0.489 Understanding Behavior after 6 68 2.352 0.466 0.771 0.511 - Metacognitive Listening 7 48 2.299 0.454 8 49 2.252 0.531
5 45 2.397 0.488 General Metacognitive 6 68 2.364 0.453 1.061 0.367 - Understanding What is Listened 7 48 2.292 0.446 8 49 2.242 0.530
5 45 3.886 0.926 1 > 2 6 68 3.459 0.896 1 > 3 Metacognitive Awareness 7 48 3.417 0.990 6.748 0.000 1 > 4 2 > 4 8 49 2.999 1.032 3 > 4
Table 10. The averages of metacognitive understanding what is listened to and metacognitive awareness level according to gender.
Group N Ave. Sd. t p Understanding Behavior during Metacognitive Male 127 2.232 0.513 -3.492 0.001 Listening Female 83 2.480 0.488
Male 127 2.234 0.467 Understanding Behavior after Metacognitive Listening -3.446 0.001 Female 83 2.464 0.478
General Metacognitive Understanding of What is Male 127 2.234 0.465 -3.565 0.000 Listened to Female 83 2.468 0.465
Male 127 3.252 1.031 Metacognitive Awareness -3.348 0.001 Female 83 3.712 0.875
those of the males (x=2.234). levels and to reveal the Metacognitive Awareness levels The t-test was conducted to determine whether the of the students, and the results obtained were put in averages of the Metacognitive Awareness points of the order and discussed. In addition, recommendations have students showed significant differences according to the been made based on the study results. gender variable; the difference between the group It was concluded that the students who participated in averages was found to be statistically significant (t=- the study had all the dimensions of the Metacognitive 3,348; p=0.001<0.05). The Understanding Behavior after Understanding of what is Listened to scale, and had a Metacognitive Listening points of the female students high level in Metacognitive Awareness Scale. This were (x=3.712), higher than those of the males (x=3.252). situation may be interpreted as the students are conscious of the Metacognitive Understanding what is Listened to and the Metacognitive Awareness. It was CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS concluded that there was a high and positive relation between the Understanding Behavior during This study was conducted in order to determine the Metacognitive Listening and the Understanding Behavior Metacognitive Understanding of What is Listened to after Metacognitive Listening; also there was a very high AKIN 399
and positive relation at a significant level between the awareness levels was also high. Sarac (2011) conducted General Understanding in Metacognitive Listening and a study and reported that the metacognitive knowledge the Understanding Behavior during Metacognitive was not influential on understanding what is read; Listening. There was also a very high and positive however, the metacognitive following and the relation at a significant level between the General metacognitive skills were influential at a positive level on Understanding in Metacognitive Listening and the the understanding what is read levels. Understanding Behavior after Metacognitive Listening. It It was concluded that there was not a significant was determined that there was a high and positive difference among the Understanding Behavior during relation between all the dimensions of the Metacognitive Metacognitive Listening, Understanding Behavior after Awareness and Metacognitive Understanding What is Metacognitive Listening, General Understanding in Listened Scale; and that the Metacognitive Metacognitive Listening, and Metacognitive Awareness Understanding What is Listened to levels of the students levels in terms of the educational status of the mothers, increased the Metacognitive Awareness levels. This fathers, and the socio-economic status variables. Clearer situation shows that the Metacognitive Understanding ideas may be obtained by conducting this topic on What is Listened to processes are influenced by each different sampling groups. other, and that there is a positive relation between the It was concluded that there was not a significant Metacognitive Awareness levels. Based on these results, difference among the Understanding Behavior during it is possible to suggest that the awareness levels may Metacognitive Listening, Understanding Behavior after influence all the other skills, specifically the listening Metacognitive Listening, General Understanding in skills. Metacognitive Listening and the grade variables of the When the literature is scanned, it was observed that students. According to the metacognitive awareness Ozbilgin (1993) conducted a study and reported that levels and the Grades of the Students variables, it was using Metacognitive Awareness during listening concluded that the 5 Graders were higher than the 6, 7 influenced the Understanding what is Listened to levels of and 8th Graders; 6 Graders were higher than the 7 the students in a positive way. Imhof (2000) reported that and8th Graders; and 7th Graders were higher than the the awareness status during listening being good made 8thGraders. This situation may be interpreted as there is the understanding of the students become easier and a decrease in the metacognitive awareness levels of the permanent. Muhtar (2006) conducted a study and secondary school students when they move to a higher focused on the influence of metacognitive strategy grade. The upper graders try to take sample tests training on reading skills and student success, and because they are going to take the Entrance Exams for reported that there was a significant difference. Higher Education and they have an anxiety about their Vandergrift (2005) conducted a study and focused on exams, and this situation may be influential on this understanding what is listened to and metacognition, and situation. reported that there was a significant relation between the When the literature is scanned it was observed that understanding what is listened to and metacognition. there are similar results on this topic: Akin and Cecen Abdelhafez (2006) conducted a study and found that (2014) conducted a study and found that the reading metacognition language learning strategies intended to strategies metacognitive reading awareness levels of the develop understanding skills were influential on the 7th Graders were higher than the other graders; Bagceci understanding skills of the students. Ozsoy (2007) et al. (2011) conducted a study and reported that 7th conducted a study and reported that metacognition Graders were at a better level in terms of cognitive way. strategy training was influential on the problem solving It was determined according to the gender variable that skills of the students. Cakiroglu (2007) reported in his the difference was in favor of the female students in study that the use of metacognition strategy was terms of all the sub-dimensions of the Metacognitive influential on the understanding what is read skills of the Understanding what is Listened Scale.When the students. Young and Fry (2008) found out in their studies Metacognitive Awareness levels are examined according that there was a significant and positive relation between to the gender variable it was observed that the the metacognitive awareness and academic success awareness levels of the female students were higher than levels of the students. Gursimsek et al., (2009) conducted those of the male students. This situation may be a study and reported that as the metacognitive interpreted as the Metacognitive Understanding What is awareness levels of the students increased, there was a Listened levels and Metacognitive Awareness levels of positive increase in the problem solving approaches of the female students are at a good level, and the female the students. Yesilbursa (2002) and Coskun (2010) students need to receive education where the female reported after their studies that the training given on the sampling is intense because of the conditions of the listening skills metacognitive strategies had positive regions, and they feel compelled to be successful. When influences on the listening skills of the students. Karatay the literature is scanned it was observed that Ates (2013) (2010) conducted a study and reported that the academic conducted a study and reported that the Metacognitive success levels of the students with high metacognitive Awareness levels of the female students were more than 400 Educ. Res. Rev.
the male students. Akin and Cecen (2014) conducted a 35–50. study and reported that the reading strategies Cross DR, Paris SG (1988). Developmental and ġnstructional analyses of children's metacognition and reading comprehension. J. Educ. metacognitive reading awareness levels were higher than Psychol. 80(2):131-142. those of male students. Bagceci et al. (2011) reported Celenk S (2005). İlk okuma yazma programı ve öğretimi. Ankara: Anı after their studies that the female students were at a Yayınları. better status in terms of cognitive status when compared Dabbagh A, Noshadi M (2014). Crossing metacognitive strategy awareness in listening performance: An emphasis on language with the male students. proficiency. Int. J. Appl. Linguist. English Lit. 3(6):234-242. Based on the findings of the study, the following Demir-Gulsen M (2000). A model to ınvestigate probability and recommendations may be made: the importance of mathematics achievement ın terms of cognitive, metacognitive and metacognitive awareness and its influence on basic affective variables, Boğaziçi University the Institute for Graduate Studies in Science and Engineering, Istanbul. language skills must be investigated. This cognition must Doganay A (1997). Ders dinleme sırasında bilişsel farkındalık ile ilgili be imposed to students and teachers. The metacognitive bilgilerin kullanımı. Çukurova Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, awareness must be the main subject of further studies for 2(15):34-42. all language skills. Dogan Y (2007). İlköğretim ikinci kademede dil becerisi olarak dinlemeyi geliştirme çalışmaları. Yayımlanmamış doktora tezi, Gazi Üniversitesi In order to increase the Metacognitive Awareness Eğitim Bilimleri Enstitüsü, Ankara. levels of the students who have the exam anxiety and Ergin A, Birol C (2000). Eğitimde iletişim. 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Vol. 11(7), pp. 402-410, 10 April, 2016 DOI: 10.5897/ERR2015.2541 Article Number: 1C0665557636 ISSN 1990-3839 Educational Research and Reviews Copyright © 2016 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article http://www.academicjournals.org/ERR
Full Length Research Paper
The relationship between fan identification and moral disengagement of physical education and sports students
Yavuz Yıldız
Celal Bayar University, School of Physical Education and Sports (45040) Manisa, Turkey.
Received 28 October, 2015; Accepted 15 February, 2016
Sport and physical education can play an important role on the development of moral behavior. However, there has been a surge in unethical conducts both in and out of sports fields in recent years. Conducts such as match fixing and incentive payment which fall into the realm of corruption are unacceptable by some fans. For some others, these are deemed as acceptable. Tenacity to win at the expense of anything cripples fair-play principle. This study aims at exploring whether identification of fans with their sports teams has an impact on their attitude to match fixing and incentive payment. The outcomes of the study reveal that fans with high identification are less likely to accept that their teams arrange some match fixing and/or incentive payment and they do not want their teams to be subject to any penalties. Moreover, fans with high moral disengagement are of the opinion that their teams do not get involved in any match fixing and incentive payment. The higher the level of identification gets, the higher moral disengagement becomes.
Key words: Fans, moral education, team identification, match fixing, incentive payment.
INTRODUCTION
Moral is composed of three dimensions; cognitive, breathing exercises etc.) towards managing emotions are emotional and behavioral. Cognitively, when faced with necessities in moral education (Haste, 2009). People problems people tend to decide what to do or not to do, have feelings about the right or wrong and these may or judge or create values or conceptions (Gander and may not suit his or her thoughts or behaviors (Gander Gardiner, 1981). Behavioral concept of moral suggests and Gardiner, 1981). Fans attached to their teams with that people may behave reasonably or not depending on strong emotions may behave in ways that are their morals. Lastly, emotion in moral suggests that unreasonable towards moral decision making. Thus, fan emotion is the basis for cognition and if troubled, it can identification in soccer may affect moral disengagement. create problems. Inter-personal conflicts raise the The ideas about match fixing and incentive payment personal stress which can only be controlled by the ability subjects may change with the fans’ team identification. of stress management. Thus, implications (meditation, This research focuses mainly on the question of whether
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Yıldız 403
fans decide subjectively on match fixing and incentive However, the number of women in the audience of the bonus subjects or not and the reasons lying underneath. game who are the supporters of a soccer team increases. Although various researches (Bartoli et al., 2012; The success of Women Soccer in the last 20 years also Hodge and Lonsdale, 2011; Boardley and Kavussanu, plays a major role in this increase. The relation between 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011; Kavussanu and Roberts, 2001; team identity and moral disengagement and gender is Ntoumanis and Standage, 2008; Traclet et al., 2011) also examined. have focused on moral corruption of athletes, studies Football is a sport that is a part of individuals of all ages focusing on the fans’ concept and evaluation of the and creates strong team-identity and voluntary participa- corruption in sports are not many. On and off the court tion. Researches on soccer fans show that the fans are behaviors of athletes may affect and drive fans into mostly of the young population. Türksoy et al. (2003) behaviors that may sometimes be violent. Thus, stated in a research that 77% of the fan population is evaluations of moral disengagement in sports may between the ages of 16 to 35. In another research about provide useful feedback to literature. soccer fans, Orçun and Demirtaş (2015) showed that the Gilligan (1982) stated that moral judgments between 75% of soccer fans were between 18 and 33. A research men and women vary and gender is an important factor by Commission of the European Communities (2005) on of decision making. Soccer is a sport followed by mostly English Premier League Fans also stated that soccer male fans (New National Fan Survey, 2015; Orçun and fans were mostly male and between the ages 25 and 34. Demirtas, 2015; Premier League Report, 2008). Another research exhibited the fact that the older fans However, the number of women in the audience of the became, the less they supported their team and attended game who are the supporters of a soccer team increases. the games (Orçun and Demirtaş, 2015). The relationship The success of Women Soccer in the last 20 years also between the fan identification and the fan ages was also plays a major role in this increase. The relation between examined. team identity and moral disengagement and gender is also examined. The incomes of football teams and players have risen LITERATURE significantly thanks to the commercial facet of sports. The managers, coaches and players of some sports teams Team identification have the desire to win matches no matter what in order to increase their incomes even more. Thus, corruption in Team identification is defined as the extent to which a sports such as match fixing and incentive payment sports fan feels a psychological attachment to his/her (Maennig, 2005; Gorse and Chadwick, 2009) is favourite team (Wann et al., 2001). Parents and/or family, encountered. Even though there are legal sanctions the area where one is born and/or raised, players, against corruption, the perception of fans on it could differ coaches, tailgating and party atmosphere play a role in as they form identification with different teams. The how one becomes a fan (Greenwood et al., 2006). concept of identification in sports encompasses Psychological commitment to a sports team is one of the commitment to any sports team or a player (Wann and best hints of attendance (Kwon and Trail, 2001; Wann et Branscombe, 1993; Wann et al., 2001). Such commitment al., 2001) and the money spent. According to Donavan et could manifest itself as attitudinal and/or behavioural al. (2005), a sports fan that highly identifies with a team is level. Fans with high identification can deny or even very likely to nurture strong positive feelings for his/her approve of match fixing and incentive payment incidents, team, thus supports the team both through spectatorship which are offences in legal terms and unethical, in case and the purchase of team-related or team-sponsored their own team plots these. The defense of the fair and products. truthful conduct may prove to be more challenging As stated by Cialdini et al. (1976), the attitudes of fans depending on the degree of identification. It is because pertaining to success or failure of their teams can be fans with higher identification may believe that their team examined in two ways. The first of these attitudes is does not commit any offense, hence they may not want called Basking in Reflected Glory (BIRG) where fans their team to be subject to any penalty. The objective of associate themselves with the success of their team and this study is to investigate the effects of team the latter is termed as Cutting of Reflected Failure (CORF) identification of fans on their perception of corruption where fans dissociate themselves from the failure of their (match fixing and incentive payment) their team gets team. These terms have also been accepted in some involved in. other scopes of research (Madrigal, 1995; Campbell et Gilligan (1982) states that moral judgments between al., 2004; Trail et al., 2005; Kwon et al., 2008). Wann and men and women vary and gender is an important factor Branscombe (1993) found that fans with higher team of decision making. Soccer is a sport followed by mostly identification are engaged in more BIRGing and less male fans (New National Fan Survey, 2015; Orçun and CORFing whereas fans with little team identification do
Demirtas, 2015; Premier League Report, 2008). just the reverse. Fans with high identification levels were more
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knowledgeable of their team, specific team players and necessarily assist the development of morals. According team history compared to fans with moderate to low to Kohlberg (1970), moral values have three levels, identification levels (Wann and Branscombe, 1995). preconventional, conventional and postconventional. Team identification is more closely related to social Moral values varies by culture during the first and second well-being than personal well-being, temporary and endu- levels. In the postconventional level, individuals have ring social connections are predicted to have remarkable similar ideas in judging what the accurate and valuable repercussions on social psychological health (Wann, activities are (Kohlberg, 1970; Kohlberg and Hersch, 2006). The postulation of Wann and Polk (2007) lays 1977). Gilligan (1982) evaluates the moral development bare the fact that there is a positive relationship between from the perspective of social learning and suggests that sports team identification and belief in the trustworthiness females are inclined to think different than males. The of others. However, team identification is positively reason is that different norms are attributed to both correlated with expressions of hostile and instrumental gender by the society (Çam et al., 2012; Gilligan, 1982). aggression (Wann et al., 1999). Highly identified fans show more willingness to partake in anonymous acts of aggression (Wann et al., 1999; Wann et al., 2003; Moral education and moral disengagement Türksoy et al., 2003). In parallel to this, Wann et al. (2001) found a positive relationship between identification Moral disengagement occurs when people sometimes and readiness to consider cheating as acceptable. abandon their moral values or responsibilities (Bandura, Individuals with a strong degree of identification to their 1986). Due to the effects of social circumstances team consider the success or failure of the team as their (Milgram, 1974; Bandura, 1991), people may not think own. Such individuals support their teams persistently that their conduct is unethical even if the conduct itself is (Gencer, 2011). of violent nature to others. What is regarded as ethical and moral is indeed to be decided upon by people. Still, the person committing acts of physical or psychological Moral development violence against others may not feel guilty. Moral disengagement which can stem from religious principles, Many theories explain moral development and behavior righteous ideologies, nationalistic imperatives and ruthless (Kavussanu, 2007). According to Freud (1923), moral social policies (Bandura, 2007) manifests itself as military development covers the balancing activities between id, and political violence in its most extreme form (Bandura, ego and superego. Id consist of the basic biological 2002). motives, such as eating-drinking, evacuation, avoiding Boardley and Kavussanu (2011) defines moral pain. Ego superintends the id and force the inharmonic disengagement as a way for individuals to choose to activities of human’s biological structure into sub- morally disengage or not and suggests that education for conscious. Superego decides the correctness or falsity of discouraging moral disengagement may lead to coherent activities with respect to the values of society. Superego behavior. Moral education involves the teaching and incorporates values and morals which are learned from learning of qualities consistent with the moral life. This parents and other people. According to Freud (1923), involves not only acting in the right way, but also for the moral development is a function of superego and right reasons, and with the right attitude. Moral virtues are contributes to the conscience (Çam et al., 2012). Moral acquired, in sport and life in general, through both formal development is dependent on the accordance of id, ego and informal educational means (Hochstetler, 2006). and superego. Piaget (1932) evaluates moral development through cognitive development and claims that the maturation and environment have an effect on Match fixing and incentive payment in sports moral develeopment. According to Piaget (1932), moral development can be separated into two stages; Match fixing, illegal betting, bribery and doping allegations “heteronomous stage” and “autonomous stage”. In the prove to be important problems for sports industry. These heteronomous stage, rules described by authority, are issues are not peculiar to one specific country or confined absolute and cannot be altered. It argues that breaking to sports only, but they constitute a global problem. or changing the rules is false and compliance with the Corruption in sports is not a new phenomenon (Gorse rules is correct. Individuals in the autonomous stage does and Chadwick, 2009). The first recorded case of match not treat the rules as absolute and react differently fixing in history of sports occurred in 338 B.C during the according to situations. In order to adjudicate whether or Olympic Games. The boxer Eupolos of Thessaly bribed not the activity is accurate, situational and personal three of his opponents and became the champion factors are evaluated in addition to the essential intent of (Maennig, 2005; Özen and Yılmaz, 2012). Another case individual which is more crucial (Kağıtçıbaşı, 1999). of match fixing took place when the father of Olympic Kohlberg (1970) suggests that the cognitive skills do not wrestler Polyktor bribed his son’s rival to manipulate the
Yıldız 405
results (Maennig, 2005). There are also bribery group of this research is composed of 1024 fans who were students allegations with regards to choosing the host city of the enrolled at Sports Education Departments of various Universities. Olympic Games which is the greatest sporting event in The minimum and the maximum age of fans are found to be 18 is 30, respectively. The year of engagement with sports minimum, the world (Mason et al., 2006). Billions of dollars is spent maximum and the average values are 1, 24 and 8, respectively. in football industry which has taken on more commercial The males in the research correspond to 636 (62.1%) and females value recently. Sports clubs are hailed as very precious are 388 (37.9%). Of the fans examined, Galatasaray (41.3%), investment instruments. Astronomical transfer fees and Fenerbahçe (27.3%), Beşiktaş (21.9%), Trabzonspor (3.9%) and salaries are paid to football players. According to Gorse other teams (5.46 %) prevailed. and Chadwick (2010), 57 match fixing cases (betting and non-betting related) were scrutinized and it was found Data instruments that 52.63% of these occurred in Europe whereas 33.33% occurred in Asia. Most match fixing cases in In this study, data is collected through a questionnaire en- Europe took place in football (70% of all in football). compassing a demographic form and two scales. Demographic According to Union of European Football Associations variables described are gender, age, supported team and the number of years in sports. In order to measure fan identification, (UEFA) (2014), a soaring number of incidents has been The Sport Spectator Identification Scale (SSIS) (Wann and confronted in football in Europe recently to manipulate Branscombe, 1993) was used. The seven-item Sport Spectator the results (referred to as match fixing). UEFA has Identification Scale is a Likert-scale and measures the identification adopted a very sensitive approach to corruption in with a sport team. Example items on SSIS are “How important to football across Europe. UEFA has been following a strict you is it that your favorite team wins? (1 = Not important, 8 = Very zero-tolerance policy and imposing severe sanctions important)”, “How much do you dislike your favorite team’s greatest rivals? (1 = Do not dislike, 8 = Dislike very much). SSIS which was (including lifetime bans from football) when it comes to originally developed by Wann and Branscombe (1993) and whose match fixing. Football drawing the utmost attention of the reliability and validity study in Turkish population was conducted by society and the media is the most popular sports in Günay and Tiryaki (2003) and is utilized in order to measure team Turkey (Berument and Yucel, 2005; Berument et al., identification. The Sport Spectator Identification Scale has a good 2009). The four football clubs dominating football league internal consistency of Cronbach alpha coefficient of .91 (Wann and Branscombe, 1993). Günay and Tiryaki (2003) have found of Turkey are Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray and Cronbach alpha coefficient of .87 for the Turkish form of this scale. Trabzonspor. As a result of an investigation which In this study, Cronbach alpha coefficient for SSIS is found as 0.91. commenced in 2011 and concluded in 2013, Fenerbahçe Moral Disengagement Scale in Sport-Short (MDSS-S) developed Sports Club was banned from UEFA club competitions by Boardley and Kavussanu (2008) was used to measure the moral due to match fixing and incentive payment. So was disengagement. MDSS-S is a Likert-scale measure which consists Beşiktaş Sports Club because of match fixing. of eight items and couple of its example items are “It is okay for players to lie to officials if it helps their team” and “Players who are Fenerbahçe was excluded from participating in the next mistreated have usually done something to deserve it”. MDSS has three UEFA club competitions for which they would have a good internal consistency of alpha coefficients of 0.80 and 0.85 qualified, including the 2013/14 UEFA Champions for two different samples (Boardley and Kavussanu, 2008). In this League. The ban for the third season is deferred for a study, Cronbach alpha coefficient for MDSS-S is found as 0.87. probationary period of five years. Beşiktaş was not Cronbach alpha coefficient of SPSS 20.0 was used to test the eligible to participate in the 2013/14 UEFA Europa reliability of data collected via scales. The cut-off value for reliability was accepted as 0.70 (Nunnally and Bernstein, 1994; De Vaus, League. However, the penalty for Fenerbahçe was 2002: p. 127-128). Both reliability and validity of the data was tested affirmed as 2 years and as 1 year for Beşiktaş by Court of with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in Lisrel 8.80. CFA Arbitration for Sport (CAS). determines the reliability of the scales by calculating the composite reliability which is composed of average variance extracted (AVE) and construct reliability. Fornell and Larcker (1981) reported that METHODOLOGY the calculated AVE value should be greater than 0.50. Hair et al. (1998) and Hatcher (1994) proposed that construct reliability values Participants should exceed 0.70 and AVE values should be more than 0.50. The fact that the relevant factor load of each scale item has a A convenience sampling method is employed in this study. 86% of statistically meaningful t-value and that each of these factors loads the Turkish population are soccer fans. Amongst these, 36% is greater than the square of its own standard error attest to the supports Galatasaray (GS), 30% Fenerbahçe (FB), 17% Beşiktaş achievement of convergent validity (Anderson and Gerbing, 1988). (BJK), 7% Trabzonspor (TS) and 10% is ratio for the total of fans for Hair et al. (1998) accentuated that factor loads of scale items the remaining of the clubs (GENAR, 2004). Similar results have should be more than 0.50 and above. been found in other researches; a research by A&G (2009) exhibited Frequency analysis was used to calculate the frequency, the soccer team fans per population ratio as 35% GS fans, 34% FB minimum, maximum and mean scores of data. Linear and logistic fans, 21% BJK fans, 5% TS fans and 5% the remaining clubs’ fans. regression analysis was used to determine the effects between As shown in the aforementioned researches, 4 teams (FB, GS, BJK dependent and independent variables. Independent samples t-test and TS) hold nearly 90% of the fan population; thus are called the 4 was used in order to evaluate the difference between gender and biggest teams of Turkey. This research concentrates on the four fan identification. Independent samples t-test was also used football teams’ fans, the emphasis being on the perspectives on between gender and moral disengagement. Linear regression match fixing, incentive payment and the fan identification. The study analysis was used to determine the effect of fan identification on the
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moral disengagement (dependent variable) and to determine the NFI = 0.98, NNFI = 0.99. It can be suggested that the effect of age on the fan identification and moral disengagement scale fulfills all criteria depending on these findings (dependent variable). Logistic regression analysis was used to (Schermelleh-Engel and Moosbrugger, 2003). As a result examine the effects of age, fan identification and moral dis- engagement on fan opinions (dependent variable). of CFA performed for MDSS-S as shown in Table 1, the As much as world football, there were also allegations in Turkish factor loadings of items are found to range between 0.65 football concerning match-fixing and incentive payments. However, and 0.80, the AVE value of the scale is 0.53 and the a concrete match-fixing and incentive payment case in 2011-2013 construct reliability (CR) is 0.90, which testifies the which was under investigation by the UEFA was completed. Two reliability of the measurement tool (Fornell and Larcker, Turkish teams were found guilty. Despite accepting that there is match-fixing and incentive payment in Turkish football, some fans 1981; Hair et al., 1998; Hatcher, 1994). Factor loadings think these crimes are not executed by their team. In order to greater than 0.50 are accepted as good for Hair et al. explain the differences in the moral values of fans, a three-item (1998: p 385). The factor loadings of MDSS-S are questionnaire was prepared with three academicians working in the detected to vacillate between 0.65 and 0.80 in this field of sports and moral education. The three questions were about research. The factor loadings of all SSIS items surpass this specific case which was in the years between 2011 and 2013 0.50 and their t-values are between 11.22 and 17.36. and focused on fan identification and moral disengagement. The questions are as follows: Therefore, MDSS-S can be said to be a valid measurement instrument according to the aforementioned 1. Do you think match fixing or incentive payment could have findings (Anderson and Gerbing, 1988). occured in Turkish football? 2. Do you think that your team has ever got involved in match fixing or incentive payment? Effects of age, team identification and moral 3. Would you want your team to be penalized if it has got engaged disengagement in match fixing or incentive payment?
Answers to the questions are coded as 0 (Yes) and 1 (No). In relation to gender variable, male fans are found to foster higher levels of identification compared to female fans (t= -4.31, p=0.00). When it comes to moral RESULTS disengagement, there is no statistically meaningful difference between males and females (t= -1.14, p=0.25). Reliability and validity of SSIS in line with Fan identification has been recognized to be positively confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) correlated with moral disengagement (β=0.27, t=8.93, p=0.00), which indicates that fans with higher team According to results of CFA performed for SSIS, the identification will have enhanced moral disengagement. following has been found: RMSEA = 0.044, SRMR = The results of linear regression analysis confirm that the 0.016, X2/SD (10.53/7) = 1.50, CFI = 1.00, GFI = 0.99, age of fans is negatively correlated with the level of AGFI = 0.96, NFI = 0.99, NNFI = 0.99. It can be put identification and moral disengagement. As the age of forward that the scale meets the criteria based on the fans increases, their level of identification drops findings (Schermelleh-Engel and Moosbrugger, 2003). As substantially (β= -0.12, t= -3.41, p= 0.00). In a similar a result of CFA results carried out for SSIS, factor vein, as the age of fans soars, their degree of moral loadings of items are found to range between 0.58 and disengagement declines remarkably (β= -0.13, t= -3.91, 0.91, the the average variance extracted (AVE) of the p= 0.00). As the number of years fans are engaged with scale is 0.62 and the construct reliability (CR) is 0.92. sports ascends, their identification level (β= 0.13, t= 3.69, These findings attest to the fact that the measurement p= 0.00) and moral disengagement level (β= 0.13, t= tool is a reliable one (Fornell and Larcker, 1981; Hair et 3.71, p= 0.00) rise. The effects of variables such as al., 1998; Hatcher, 1994). Factor loadings exceeding 0.50 gender, team identification and moral disengagement on are deemed as pretty good for Hair et al. (1998: p 385). the viewpoint of fans with respect to match fixing and The factor loadings of all SSIS items are greater than incentive payment are depicted in Table 1. 0.50 and their t-values are between 13.36 and 18.32, In compliance with the findings of Table 1, gender and which warrant the validity of SSIS as a measurement team identification affect views on match fixing/incentive instrument (Anderson and Gerbing, 1988). payment in Turkish football, however moral dis- engagement has no impact on these. Male fans are more likely to think that there are occurrences of match fixing Reliability and validity of MDSS-S in the light of CFA and incentive payments in Turkish football in comparison to female fans (β= 0.77, βp=2.16). As the level of team In the light of results obtained from confirmatory factor identification rises, fans are more likely to think that there analysis conducted for MDSS-S, the following has been are match fixing and incentive payment incidents in observed: RMSEA = 0.050, SRMR = 0.027, Turkish football (β= 0.20, βp=1.22). 2 X /SD(34.71/18) = 1.50, CFI = 0.99, GFI = 0.98 AGFI = 0.95, Age, team identification and moral disengagement
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Table 1. Logistic regression results for variables predicting fan opinions about match-fixing and incentive payments.
Independent Std. Dependent variable β Wald p Exp(βp) variable error Do you think match fixing or incentive Gender 0.77 0.18 18.28 0.00 2.16 payment could have occurred in Turkish Fan identification 0.20 0.06 12.06 0.00 1.22 football? Moral disengagement -0.03 0.07 0.22 0.64 0.97
Do you think that your team has ever Gender 0.99 0.15 43.13 0.00 2.70 got involved in match fixing or incentive Fan identification -0.22 0.04 23.80 0.00 0.80 payment? Moral disengagement 0.11 0.05 4.15 0.04 1.12
Would you want your team to be Gender 0.52 0.15 11.66 0.00 1.68 penalized if it has got engaged in match Fan identification -0.34 0.05 37.09 0.00 0.71 fixing or incentive payment? Moral disengagement 0.00 0.06 0.02 0.88 1.00
influence fans’ thinking of match fixing and incentive has been found between male and female fans in terms payment of their favourite teams. Male fans are more of moral disengagement. likely to assume that match fixing and incentive payment This research also explains that the degree of team take place compared to female fans (β= 0.99, βp=2.70). identification dwindles as the age of fans soars. It is As the degree of team identification ascends, fans are because as fans age, they are less in need of adventure less likely to think that their favourite team is involved in and excitement, allocate more time to social, cultural match fixing and incentive payment (β= -0.22, βp=0.80). events and family time and shy away from crowded and Fans with high identification deny the match fixing and risky atmospheres. Besides, as fans get older, they tend incentive payment of their teams even if these have been to cement more reasonable, realistic and fair sports recorded. As the degree of moral disengagement of fans spectatorship. Thus, their degree of moral disengagement increases, fans tend to think that their teams resort to falls. We can infer that when it comes to fans, moral match fixing and incentive payment (β= 0.11, βp= 1.12). disengagement plummets as age rises, but Commensurate with the findings of this research, age unsportsmanlike conducts enhance in line with age and team identification have an impact on what fans think increase when it comes to players. about the prospective penalties of their favourite teams. Another outcome of our research elucidates the fact Male fans want their favourite team to be penalized more that there is a positive correlation between fans’ team than female fans want if their team has undergone match identification and moral disengagement. The higher the fixing and incentive payment (β=0.52 βp=1.68). A striking identification of fans, the greater their moral finding has been found in fans’ identification with their disengagement. This finding reinforces the fact that fans teams. It has been observed that fans do not want their with high identification are more conducive to accepting favourite team to get penalized as their extent of team unethical conducts or conducts that violate rules. Based identification increases (β= -0.34, βp=0.71). Fans with on these findings of the research, one can conclude that high identification do not want their team to be subject to unethical conducts, deception and manipulation of any penalty even though the match fixing and incentive referees can be acceptable for highly identified fans so as payment of their team are confirmed. to win a match, tournament or a championship. The research outcomes indicate that gender and fan identification affect opinions of fans with regards to match DISCUSSION fixing and incentive payment in Turkish football. Male fans believe in the occurrence of match fixing and The outcomes of the research have substantiated that incentive payment in Turkish football 2.13 times more male fans forge more team identification in comparison to than female fans. Another outcome unearths the fact that female fans. In line with the global picture, male fans in the degree of identification results in a 1.12 increase in Turkey show more interest in football and follow it more the belief that there occurs match fixing and incentive closely when compared to female fans. The fact that the payment in Turkish football, which signifies that as fans most favourite sports in Turkey is football paves the way get to be more identified, they follow their team and the for developing team identification of fans. Although male league more closely and develop more concrete ideas on fans tend to form more team identification, no difference the current situation.
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Highly identified fans do not accept their team’s getting (Arnold, 1994). Sport and physical education offer an involved in any match fixing or incentive payment even if effective area fort the practicing of moral behavior (Park, these cases have been proven and they do not want their 2010), such as fairness, impartiality, justice, honesty, team to be penalized because of these. As the level of compassion generosity and magnanimity (Arnold, 1997). identification increases, fans are less inclined to accept This research has clearly shown the importance of any penalty for their team, which arises out of an internal ethic and moral values on the physical education and denial reaction to any sort of penalty. Such reaction of sports. It must be recognized that athletes gain ethical fans, even if it is unfair or untruthful in such behaviors by moral values, administered in circulum of circumstances, proves to be very significant in terms of sport education. Hence, it will be beneficial to plan more demonstrating the commitment of fans to their team. efficient and productive courses related to ethic and Such an attitude of fans can be taken as their own moral values on sport education. internal reaction, but can also be interpreted as a result of the need to belong to a social group or to sustain relation- ship with other fans (Bandura, 2001). As mentioned Conflict of interest earlier, fans do resort to BIRGing and CORFing when it comes to success and failure of their team (BIRGing- The author has not declared any conflict of interest CORFing, Cialdini et al., 1976; Trail et al., 2012). It is a very important ethical issue in sports that fans with higher moral disengagement think that their team can deviate REFERENCESS from ethical and moral rules in order to attain success. FIFA and UEFA arrange regulations so as to take A&G Research Company (2009). 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Vol. 11(7), pp. 411-419, 10 April, 2016 DOI: 10.5897/ERR2015.2619 Article Number: 2BB70D857640 ISSN 1990-3839 Educational Research and Reviews Copyright © 2016 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article http://www.academicjournals.org/ERR
Full Length Research Paper
Effects of doctorate program on a novice teacher’s conceptualization of an effective teacher: A case study
Gülden İlin
Department of English Language Teaching, Faculty of Education, Cukurova University, Turkey.
Received 29 December, 2015; Accepted 02 March, 2016
This case study, the framework of which is provided by Kelly’s Personal Construct Theory, investigates how a female novice ELT teacher structures her constructs on the qualities of an effective teacher. Repertory grid, a cognitive mapping approach, based on Kelly’s theory was used as an elicitation technique in the study. The study focused on four main questions. These are how the participant conceptualized an effective teacher, the meanings she attached to the constructs through which she portrayed an effective teacher, the participant’s view of “Self” as a teacher, to what she attributed the evolution of these constructs and finally the probable role the program played on these changes, if any. The findings of the study reveal that although the participant’s educational repertoire played a major role on the evolution of her theories, we find that theoretical knowledge does suffice to make a teacher an effective one. The study results indicate a need for improvement and change in teacher education at graduate and undergraduate teacher education programs.
Key words: Teacher education, teacher thinking, personal theories, professional development, change.
INTRODUCTION
Teachers’ professional learning, development and the currently present systems in three countries; contexts conceptual change have long been the focus of research with defined standards for teacher educators in U. S. and at global level. These studies shed light to various Australia and less defined standards in Turkey. Semerci aspects of pre and in-service teacher education in and Kara (2004) evaluated the ways teaching profession various contexts. For example, with the results they courses showed themselves in the doctorate students’ reached Labone and Long (2014) validated the attitudes towards the teaching profession. Hsiao et al. importance of focus, learning components, feedback, (2015), on the other hand, conducted their study in a collaborative practices, temporal elements and secondary school context and investigated the coherence in teacher learning activities. Celik (2011) effectiveness of peer tutors trained through two different explored the consequences of putting explicit standards approaches. Cheatham et al. (2014) examined pre- for teacher educators by means of a comparison between service teachers’ presumptions about language learners.
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From another perspective, Hökkä, and Eteläpelto (2014) METHODS attempted to find novel ways to overcome the obstacles According to Kelly, each person has a unique system of personal to developing teacher education in Finland. Similar to the constructs through which he experiences life, categorizes and variety in the approaches utilized for these studies, the makes use of his experiences. As he suggests, similar events lead theories that underlie them vary from one study to to different behaviours in different people (in Shaw, 1980, p. 9), another. which implies the need for research on an individual basis. Moved Kelly (1955)’s personal construct psychology by Kelly’s personal construct theory, in this study, we set off to propounds that we experience, organize and describe our explore how the lesson phase of the doctoral program lead to changes, if any, in the case of an individual’s inner representations environment in terms of cognitive personal constructs regarding the qualities of an effective teacher. that can be transformed into bipolar verbal labels (in To go in more detail, in general terms this case study Roberts, 1999, p. 118). Repertory Grid technique based investigates how a PhD candidate working as a research assistant on Kelly’s Personal Construct Theory has been a at the ELT department, namely Sinem, (pseudonym) structures her cohesive elicitation technique to serve the purpose of the constructs on the qualities of an effective teacher at the beginning studies aimed to shed light on the ways people construed and end of the lesson phase of the doctoral program. The study further explores how she evaluates herself as a teacher within this their environment in all fields including education. Several period and, the probable impact of this program on these changes, studies benefitted from this technique to explore the if any. personal constructs as Clark (1986) and Sendan (1995) Repertory-grid as defined in Shaw (1980) is “one of the best in teacher development, Christie and Menmuir (1997) in attempts to examine and bring into awareness the conceptual early education, Rayment (2000) in teachers’ views system built in and held by an individual”. The technique, originally utilized for understanding how individuals construe the objects and toward the curriculum, Hoogveld et al. (2002)’s in people in their environment, functioned as the main data collection instructional design practices, Ilin (2003) in teacher tool in the study. It served to identify the patterns of how Sinem education, and Bayat (2010) in childhood teacher conceptualized an effective teacher without directing her to any education, among others. expected answers. As Fransella et al. (2004) warns, grids are about constructs and construing and thus, more data collection instruments are needed in repertory grid studies. Similarly, Green (2004) draws our attention to the depth the content analysis of the Context of the study constructs would bring to studies. In the same vein, in this study, while focus analysis of the grids revealed Sinem’s personal theories In this case study, a professional development program, at the beginning and at the end of the study, the content analysis of that is, a six year doctoral program the first year of which the constructs cited displayed the variety of themes in the grids. In is devoted to the lesson phase at the English Language addition, the follow up interviews served to expose the meanings Teaching (ELT) department of a Turkish university Sinem attached to her constructs and her epistemological explanations for her theories as she perceived. The exchange constituted the research context. The objectives of this analysis of the two grids, on the other hand, displayed the change program are to equip the PhD candidates with adequate in her views. In addition, due to the nature of repertory grid knowledge and skills to conduct independent research, technique, Sinem evaluated herself as a teacher on the basis of her provide the candidates with opportunities to adopt a constructs. The following research questions guided this study: deeper and broader perspective to scrutinize issues and 1. How does Sinem conceptualize an effective teacher at the finally, help the candidates to gain the ability to comment beginning and end of a professional development process, that is, on, analyze and reach new syntheses on educational the first academic year of the doctoral program at the ELT issues (Official Journal, Sep. 2013). In the first year of Department? the program, according to their area of interest students 2. What meanings does she attach to the constructs by means of select among a variety of courses offered in the which she portrays an effective teacher? department. These courses uniformly require reading, 3. What is her view of “Self” as a teacher at the beginning and end of period under question? reflection, discussion, researching, project preparation, 4. Can any statistically significant changes be observed in her giving seminars, making presentations, and pair and views at the end of the study? group work activities. 5. What does she attribute the evolution of and change, if any, in Taking into account the aims and nature of the her personal constructs to? program, the study within this ELT context aims to 6. What is the role of the program, if any, on the change, if any, of Sinem’s conceptualization of herself as a teacher as she explore a PhD candidate conceptualization of the qualities perceives? of an effective teacher. Then, it proceeds by looking for changes in the participant’s views in the course of the PhD program, if any, and finally tries to find out what the Repertory grid procedure participant attributes these probable changes to. Thus, the study serves as a tool to draw a picture of the In a repertory grid elicitation procedure, the participants are invited to write about their constructs on the qualities of a specific group of intellectual path the participant proceeded to comment people (teachers in our case). To begin with, they are asked to on, analyze and reach new syntheses on educational think about the qualities of three (the number may vary depending issues as mentioned in the Official Journal above. on the nature of the study) Effective, three Typical and three
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Figure 1. Qualities of an effective teacher Time 1.
Ineffective elements (teachers) from their own repertoire without cannot handle classroom management. giving names. In order to trigger the participants’ minds to fill in the In addition, an effective teacher should also be bipolar grid, triads such as E1, E2 and T1are formed randomly by “communicative”. However; Sinem cannot yet the researcher and the participants are asked to think about the similarities and differences between the elements (teachers) in the accommodate this construct within any of the clusters triad. Such an implementation enables the researcher to elicit showing that she needs more time to construe over this answers from the participants without directing them to any construct. In the first cluster “provides feedback” and expected answers as may be the case in questionnaire and “facilitator of learning” associate at about 95% match interviews procedures (Taggard and Wilson, 2000). The triads are level while “is fair”, though still above 90% level forming a given until the participants come to a point that they cannot produce any more constructs. Following this, the participants rate each of looser cluster with these two. This means that Sinem is these constructs on a 1 to 5 scale, 1 being the closest and 5 sure that a facilitator teacher will certainly provide farthest to the construct. They also rate themself as teachers and feedback to the students and thus, become a fair person. their ideal teacher (role model). Finally, the participants select five The second cluster consists of five constructs. An high priority constructs and list them in the order of importance. effective teacher thinks that “the context for teaching is Then, the data gathered are computed and each grid is subjected the world” rather than the classroom only, and considers to focus analysis to picture the way thoughts are organized in the participants’ mind. In order to find changes between two grids “lifelong learning” while teaching. These two constructs exchange analysis is used. associate highly at almost 100% match level and another construct, “scientific minded” is similarly tied to these two at the same level. Sinem’s voice may be more FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION enlightening:
Figure 1 displays how Sinem’s constructs are Excerpt 2: Starting the M.A. program, I realized that represented in her mind at the beginning of the study. In knowledge is not static and there is not an end to the grid, we observe three clusters and five pairs on the learning. A teacher who does not follow the qualities of an effective teacher. The first pair is a tight developments in her field cannot be said to be an match at 90% level and reveals that Sinem believes that effective teacher. a teacher who is “good at classroom management” is Within the same cluster, we see the construct “believes “efficacious”. She elaborates the meaning: in change in student’s behaviours”. The quotation better Excerpt 1: By being efficacious, I mean one's beliefs in explains her understanding: his personal efficacy as defined in the literature. Classroom management is the skill that requires this kind Excerpt 3: Education aims to realize intended changes in of efficacy. As an inexperienced teacher, I know that I a person. However, first of all a person needs to go
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through a change in their beliefs. Only then, can we Table 1. High priority constructs at Time 1. observe behavioural change. An effective teacher who bears all these qualities S/N High priority constructs coalesced in this cluster will “benefit from formative 1 Is student centered assessment techniques” rather than summative 2 Believes in change in students’ behaviors assessment. This last construct appears to be a super- 3 Is a facilitator ordinate to the remaining four in the cluster. Constructs 4 Is humanistic “reflective” and “disciplined” constitute a pair at 90% 5 Has a scientific perspective match level. To Sinem, a disciplined teacher has a well- established repertoire of interrelated rules and is able to reflect upon and revise them when necessary. Within the last cluster, there are four constructs two of which does not have self-efficacy which means that she has associate above 95% match level. Based upon this, we poorer cognitive judgments of her capacity as a teacher infer that Sinem strongly believes that if a teacher is (in Dinther et al., 2010: 96). Thus, she appears to need humanistic, s/he conducts student-centered classes. In practice to become an effective, if not, an ideal teacher. addition, s/he is “open to criticism” is loosely tied to these When she finished her grid, Sinem rank ordered her two constructs. She views criticism to be directly constructs in terms of the priority she gave each one of influential on an effective teacher’s professional them. Table 1 displays the first five constructs that bear development: the highest priorities.
Excerpt 4: A teacher who is able to think analytically When we have a closer look at Sinem’s constructs she about the criticism he receives will question his beliefs attributes more importance to, we find that these are and go through changes and consequently become an related with the teacher’s perspectives only. We effective teacher. encounter no constructs on classroom practices or any The last construct of this cluster “is not a dominant kind of teacher student interaction. The content of the figure” which means to be a democratic, egalitarian and constructs Sinem cites in her first grid is rather inward - humanistic person appears to associate with the others at looking and limited to what a teacher thinks, what a a lower level, 80% showing that Sinem needs more time teacher believes, and what a teacher expects from the to accommodate it in her mind in a more determined way. teaching learning environment. When it comes to how she views and accommodates Regarding how Sinem construes over the qualities of herself among the Effective Typical and Ineffective an effective teacher at the end of the study, that is the teacher groups, we see the composition that although end of the lesson phase, Focus analysis of Sinem’s grid she appears to be slightly undecided about the typical displays two sub- clusters in one main cluster as seen in teachers all of which are isolates, she courageously Figure 2. places herself within the cluster where effective and ideal In the first cluster, a pair of constructs associates at teachers are positioned. She associates Effective teacher above 90% level. These are “is well planned for the 1 and Ideal teacher at above 95% match level which lesson” and “knows that each student is an individual”. As suggests that her Effective teacher 1 bears considerable also verified during the interview, this association shows similarities with her Ideal teacher portrait. Her Effective us that Sinem holds the belief that a teacher who views teacher 2 and Effective teacher 3 qualities correspond to her students as unique individuals rather than as a group each other at below 90% match level. When it comes to bearing similar preferences, styles, expectations and how Sinem construes over her own qualities as a needs is a teacher who makes better lesson preparation. teacher, although she associates with the effective group, Within this cluster, there are three loose matches; she gives room for herself for professional development “maintains authority by being emphatic with students”, and ties herself with the others in this cluster at 80% “sets attainable goals” and “shares his experience, match level, closer to Effective teacher 3 but farther from knowledge and materials with students”. These give us the Ideal. The excerpt below displays her views through the impression that Sinem has been going through an her own words: assimilation accommodation stage (Piaget, 1952). In the manner that Piaget explains the situation, she has been Excerpt 5: I learnt a lot during my undergraduate, M.A. trying to integrate new elements into the already existing and Ph.D. studies. Regarding literature and content structures in her mind (assimilation) which will be knowledge, I have confidence in myself. However, I have followed by the phase that modification of elements of an not had the chance to put my knowledge into practice. assimilatory scheme by the elements it assimilates That is why I cannot say that I am an effective teacher. (accommodation) will be realized (Piaget, 1970 in Block, To sum, in the way Zimmerman and Cleary (2006) 1982: 284). To put more simply, these constructs have distinguish from each other, Sinem has self- esteem, and newly occurred in Sinem’s mind and although she placed in other words, she feels herself worthy. However, she them close to the ones in the first cluster, she has not yet
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Figure 2. Qualities of an effective teacher Time 2.
made a clear association with the others. Thus, she concerned with the students’ self –assessment, that is, needs more time to construe over and accommodate “encourages students to monitor their own learning”. The these new constructs within her schema. last construct tied to this cluster is “thinks about the In the second cluster, Sinem accommodates two pairs lesson outside the classroom”. Sinem tells the difference and two loose matches. Both pairs are tightly matched at between “reflects on his own practices” and “thinks about above 90% level. In the first pair, “has a rich repertoire of the lesson outside the classroom” as in the following: activities which can be alternatively used in the classroom” associates with “is equipped with effective Excerpt 7: I think what I really wanted to mean by “thinks pedagogical tools”. Sinem clarifies the meaning she about the lesson outside the classroom” was related with attaches to “pedagogical tools as follows: the preparation phase of the lesson. “Reflects on his practices” however, was to do with the post lesson stage. Excerpt 6: By “pedagogical tools” I refer to anything a On the other hand, “is good at content knowledge” teacher uses to conduct his lesson. For example the appears as a super-ordinate construct that embraces all methods, techniques, adaptations, and any kind of the mentioned so far. This finding demonstrates that actions he does in the light of his pedagogical knowledge. Sinem deems this quality as a pre-requisite for all the The second pair is formed by constructs “assesses other remaining qualities. In the follow-up interview, she students properly” and “is aware of students’ needs”. By uncovers the reason: means of this pair, we anticipate that a teacher who is aware of his students’ needs is also able to benefit from Excerpt 8: Teachers’ possessing content knowledge for appropriate assessment techniques. When we consider me is a priority. I know that a teacher should possess all the constructs in this cluster, we find that Sinem views content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and individual differences of students as of utmost importance pedagogical content knowledge. However, without to be taken into account by effective teachers. Within this content knowledge you cannot talk about the rest. It is cluster, we also see two loose matches which, in fact, like teaching English without knowing English. have the same concept “assessment”. One of them deals Finally, constructs that “sustains her professional with teacher’s reflection and self- evaluation, namely, development” and “has an effective instruction style” are “reflects on his own practices” while the second one is two isolates which requires an accommodation phase to
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Table 2. High priority constructs at time 2.
S/N High priority constructs 1 Reflects on his practices 2 Sets attainable goals to motivate students 3 Has a rich repertoire of constructs to be alternatively used in the classroom 4 Encourages students to monitor their own learning 5 Shares his knowledge and experience with students
be placed more tightly in the structure of her personal themselves by the way Sinem gives more credit to theories. student related issues rather than being teacher focused. In the second grid administered ten months after the To put in a nutshell, the Focus analyses of the Time 1 first, we detect that Sinem gives herself poorer and Time 2 grids reveal that Sinem has been evaluations as a teacher than she did at the beginning of experiencing changes though this professional the lesson phase of the program. She associates herself development process. The Exchange analysis of the two with Typical teacher 2 at slightly below 80% match level Focus grids demonstrates whether these changes are although she still places herself close to the cluster statistically significant or not. consisting of Effective teachers 1,2,3 and the Ideal The exchange analysis of Sinem’s grids at Time 1 and teacher. By means of this finding, we may suggest that Time 2 reveals hierarchical and structural changes in the the learning experiences she had may have given her an way she construes an effective teacher. Although these idea that she needs to learn more to become an effective have not been concretely accommodated in Sinem’s teacher. That is, she leaves even more room than before mind and all, other than one, not yet matured enough to for herself to develop professionally. Regarding the other appear statistically significant, we find that even the elements, she puts together the Ineffective teacher 2 and number of constructs cited at Time 1 and 2 has gone Typical teachers 1 and 3 in the same cluster and leaves through a change. To illustrate, at the beginning of the Ineffective teacher 1 and 3 as isolates. Sinem interprets study she cited seventeen constructs almost all of which this composition in the interview: (13) were on academic qualities. She also used four constructs on personal qualities to make a teacher an Excerpt 9: I do not have adequate teaching experience. effective one. In the second grid, however, she deleted That may be because I viewed myself further from my these personal qualities and shifted the focus to teachers’ role model. In general terms, what I talk about teaching awareness on individual learner differences as well as related issues are limited to “If I were the teacher…” self- assessment procedures on behalf of teachers and However, if I really were the teacher, I cannot imagine learners alike. The structure of her thoughts, that is, the how successful I really would be. way constructs are organized and associated to one As for the ones bearing high priority among the another, has also undergone a process of change. For constructs in her second grid, Sinem made a selection as example, in the first grid construct “reflective” associates seen in Table 2. with the construct “disciplined”. However, in the second Regarding the high priority constructs of the second grid, it is one of the loose matches of the second sub- grid, we see that “reflects on his practices” bears the cluster together with “encourages students to monitor highest priority. The second highest priority construct their own learning”. “sets attainable goals to motivate students” is followed by In addition to Sinem’s constructs on the qualities of an the third high priority construct “has a rich repertoire of effective teacher, the consequences of the professional activities which can be alternatively used in class”. The development process show themselves on the way she last two constructs with priorities are “encourages viewed her Typical teacher 3. In the first grid, we found students to monitor their own learning” and “shares his this teacher was an isolate like all the other Typical knowledge and experience with students”. teachers. However, in the second grid, Sinem’s views As compared to the high priority constructs in Time 1, about Typical teacher 3 went through a change and we in the second grid, we realize that Sinem adopts a more observed that Typical teacher 2 and 3 associated at % 90 outward looking approach and cites constructs taking into match level. The exchange analysis of the two grids consideration the consequences of her own teaching on (Figure 3) serves to finding out whether the changes students, ways to encourage and motivate students, detected in the study are significant or not at individual giving way to students to take the responsibility of their level. In this study, the exchange analysis revealed only own learning. Thus, at the end of the study, we can easily one significant change in the participant’s views. The suggest that the outcomes of the program show computer analysis places the constructs that show
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Figure 3. Exchange grid.
significant changes below a horizontal line in the figures. nature (Sendan, 1998) we find that the academic In the exchange analysis, we find that the change in experiences Sinem accumulated played visibly an Sinem’s views about Typical teacher 3 bears the only influential role on the way she conceptualized an effective significant change in the study and is placed below the teacher. The answer to the second question, that is, the horizontal line. fact that all the meanings she attached to her constructs As also seen in Figure 2, the analysis displays a had their roots from her educational repertoire also change in Sinem’s construction of Self as a teacher atthe concretizes this finding. Moving back on with the first end of the study. Based on this finding and as also inquiry of the study, namely the changes detected revealed in the interviews, we can say that the readings between the beginning and the end of the study, in her Sinem made, the academic discussions she involved in, first grid, Sinem cited only four constructs on personal the research she did, projects she completed, and qualities while none on teaching behaviors. Similarly, four general speaking, the knowledge she acquired during this out of her five high priority constructs were again related ten month period led her to reconsidering her with teachers’ academic qualities. This, as also Sinem conceptualization of Self as a teacher. Shortly, the more voiced, emphasizes her perceived need for more actual she learnt the more aware she became about her classroom practice as a teacher. To conclude, in the first weaknesses and strengths and consequently the more grid we find that Sinem relates effectiveness in teaching open did she become for more professional development. with inward-looking and teacher-focused issues. In those, she thinks that she lacks pedagogical content knowledge leaving room for more professional development. Conclusion On the other hand, when we consider the findings obtained by the second grid, Sinem cited totally 15 As the answer to our first research question, the findings constructs. These are ten academic qualities and unlike of the study revealed that the participant’s the first one, she cited three constructs related with conceptualization of the qualities of an effective teacher teachers awareness on individual differences (Gardner, and her view of Self as a teacher went through changes. 2001). This shows that Sinem had adopted a more At the beginning of the study, Sinem cited totally 17 outward-looking manner directing her attention to constructs 13 of which were associated with teachers’ student-related issues rather than teacher-focused academic qualities. Regarding this finding, although concerns and consequently, she cites constructs on both personal theories are often common sense and tacit in teachers’ and students’ self-assessment. Another
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difference was detected in the way she viewed learning. with a shift in the content of the constructs by means of In her first grid, Sinem cited the role of life-long learning which the teacher portrayed an effective teacher. to become an effective teacher attributing it to her raised awareness that knowledge was not static but continually changing. When compared to her understanding of IMPLICATIONS assessment in her first grid, we see that Sinem cited a construct on assessment. However, it was related with The findings draw our attention to the necessity for pre- the teachers’ use of formative and summative service teacher education programs to accommodate assessment techniques. In the second grid, we detect more classroom experience opportunities for prospective another change and observe constructs both on students’ teachers. Building upon such experiences, professional and teachers’ self- assessment which relate to life-long development programs as M.A.s or PhDs. may lead to learning. Thus, we suggest that at the end of the ten more fruitful results triggering self-efficacy and giving way month period Sinem’s thoughts have matured and even to human development, adaptation and change at both started to ramify. individual and collective levels (Bandura, 2012). A more The findings we obtained through the exchange courageous implication that emerges from this study may analysis of the two grids administered at the beginning be the restructuring of the doctorate programs according and end of the study enabled us to find answers to the to the working fields of the applicants. Similar to Kumar third research question. The findings revealed a change and Dawson (2012) distinctions can be made in the in the way the teacher conceptualized herself as a terminal degrees in the field of education as doctor of teacher. Contrary to how she evaluated herself at the philosophy and doctor of education (Ed.D). The beginning of the study, we found that Sinem made poorer applicants who work or wish to work in research focused self-evaluations becoming more open to change and fields may take PhDs. while the ones “who are likely to leaving more room for professional development at the apply research-based knowledge and to generate end of the study. contextually based knowledge to improve and advance As for the answers to the fourth and fifth questions, all practice” may take Ed.Ds (Shulman, 2005 in Kumar and the changes, only one being significant, as to Sinem, Dawson: 1). were the consequences of the doctoral program. In her To conclude, we further suggest studies that exploring opinion, teachers gain confidence through actual teachers’ thinking at individual level will, in time, build the teaching experiences. The academic qualities you gain whole picture like the pieces of a puzzle and lead to a by means of professional development programs may deeper awareness on teaching related issues, illuminate make you more knowledgeable in your field. However, as teachers’ personal theories and constitute a sound she put it, if not accompanied by adequate hands-on ground for more realistic discussions and decisions. teaching experience, theory remains as theory and those qualities do not suffice to make you an effective teacher. We have to note that this study focuses on the Conflict of Interests development of a case and the above opinions and explanations are not generalizable but specific to the The author has not declared any conflict of interests. participant of this study only. Similar studies may end up with contradictory conclusions. Finally, when it comes to her comments on these REFERENCES changes, Sinem attributes the evolution of her theories to the pedagogical content knowledge (Schulman, 1986; Bandura A (2012). On the functional properties of perceived self- efficacy revisited. J. Manage. 38(1):9-4 Lee and Luft, 2008) she acquired as a result of her doi:10.1177/0149206311410606 involvement in the professional development process and Bayat M (2010). Use of dialogue journals and video recording in early the layers of educational experiences she compiled. This childhood education. J. Early Childhood Educ. 31:159-172 doı: is due to the fact that Sinem does not have a long 10.1080/10901021003781247 Block J (1982). Assimilation accommodation and the dynamics of teaching history to accumulate experiences but rather, at personal development. Child Dev. 53(2):281-295 least for now, what she adds to her repertoire of Celik S (2011). Characteristics and Competencies for Teacher knowledge comes from her on-going education. Educators: Addressing the Need for Improved Professional To put in a nutshell, in our case we found that going Standards in Turkey. Austral. J. Teacher Educ. 36(4). Cheatham GA, Silva MJ, Wodrich DL, Kasai M (2014). Disclosure of through professional development experiences led to information about English proficiency: Preservice teachers’ observable changes in the content and structure of a presumptions about English language learners. J. Teacher Educ. teacher’s personal theories. In addition, the hierarchy of 65(1):53–62. the constructs and all those rated as the highest priority Clark CM (1986). Ten years of conceptual development in research on teacher thinking, in M. Peretz-Ben et al. (Eds) Advances of research underwent changes. The experience triggered the on teacher thinking. 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Vol. 11(7), pp. 420-425, 10 April, 2016 DOI: 10.5897/ERR2015.2620 Article Number: 980C40B57644 ISSN 1990-3839 Educational Research and Reviews Copyright © 2016 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article http://www.academicjournals.org/ERR
Full Length Research Paper
Ethnomathematics in Arfak (West Papua –Indonesia): Hidden Mathematics on knot of Rumah Kaki Seribu
Haryanto1*, Toto Nusantara2, Subanji2 and Abadyo2
1University of Papua, Indonesia. 2University of Malang, Indonesia.
Received 29 December, 2015; Accepted 24 February, 2016
This ethnomathematics article focused on the models of knot which is used in the frame of Rumah Kaki Seribu. The knot model itself was studied mathematically. The results of this study revealed the way Arfak tribal communities think mathematically. This article uses exploration, documentation, interview, experiments and literature studies method. The result showed that Arfak tribal communities used the characteristics of a triangle. It can be proofed by looking at their consideration of the strengths, endurance, and the stability of their Rumah Kaki Seribu.
Key word: Ethnomathematics, Hidden Mathematics, Rumah Kaki Seribu, Arfak Tribal community.
INTRODUCTION
Ethnomathematics is a mathematics science that is used ethnomathematics is very effective. It can be proved by by humans in their own culture (D'Ambrosio, 1989). many studies, such as Orey and Rosa (2012), Muzangwa Whether consciously or unconsciously, all of human (2014), Fyhn (2009), Narayanan (2011), andAchor (2009). activities in the world are done based on appropriate Papua consists of 319 tribes and 263 local languages. calculation that is suitable to the condition of the nature Among these tribes every tribe has their own uniqueness. where they live. The research is related to ethno- One of the uniqueness is the traditional houses; for mathematics such as, mathematics in patterned creation example honai house, a tree house and rumah kaki in Congo (Seaquist, 2005), Mathematics in traditional seribu. games in Nigeria (Yusuf, 2010); calendar system of Rumah Kaki Seribu (in English: one thousand feet Indian also has mathematics science that is similar with house) is a stage house on Arfak in Pegunungan Arfak Mayan ethnic (Kak, 2011); African mathematics facilitates Province of West Papua-Indonesia. This house has many mathematical concepts (Horsthemke and Schäfer, 2007). poles: it is called Rumah Kaki Seribu. This house looks The relation of art and symmetry of geometry in Africa so unique because of these poles; it is made without (Marchis, 2009), Mathematics science in basket using any spikes. It is assembled using ropes. handicraft of muzambi in Southern Africa (Gerdes, 2011), The problem of education in Arfak Tribal is students’ and Mathematics science in a puzzle game in Nigeria absenteeism, shortage of teachers and school (Shuaibu, 2014). mathematics books are difficult to understand by
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected].
Authors agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License HARYANTO et al. 421
Figure 1. Rumah Kaki Seribu (thousand feet house).
Associated with mathematics learning, the study of students. Students are often absent because of work in the garden or in their homes. A teacher teaches 2-3 classes at the same time. Math books are obtained from Java, making them not to reflect Arfak culture. Therefore, extracting ethnomatematics is required of Arfak tribe. Ethnomathematics can be used as teaching materials for teachers and students. The students can learn math in their culture. This study discussed ethnomathematics of Rumah Kaki Seribu. This study focuses on the strap knot model that is Figure 2. Wall knot frame. used on the frame of the floor, and the frame of the walls is very strong. The knot models are studied mathematically. From the results of this study, it is building of this house is very simple; it is made from small revealed how the Arfak tribes think mathematically. In pieces of wood that are tied on each other by using a addition the results of this mathematical model can be rope or rattan. The way to tie the wood is matched with used as a media in the teaching- learning process of the function of the knot itself. For the floor knot the mathematics in formal schools of Arfak tribal communities. function is to hold the floor up, while the wall knot is used to straighten the wall and smooth the walls to keep them straight. METHODS
The methods used in this research are exploration, documentation, interview, experiments and literature studies. Exploration and Wall knot frame and floor knot frame of rumah kaki documentation is done to determine a knot forms in the floors and seribu. walls of the rumah kaki seribu. Interviews were conducted to reveal the use of knot forms. Experiment is done by making a knot that Wall knot frame aims to identify the geometric shapes. After having the geometric shapes, then conducted the literature and analyzed the studies The knot that is used in the wall framework has two related to geometry. This method is hidden or frozen Geometri types; there are primary knot and secondary knot. These Thinking (Gerdes, 1986, 2003). two kinds of knot can be seen in Figure 2. Geometry model two knots can be seen in Figures 3 and 4. RESULT Both types have some similarities: there are ropes that are tied to the mast in the top and bottom side in a The results of documentation and the observation of knot vertical line. On the primary knot is located at point A and frame of rumah kaki seribu have several forms. In this D. Whereas the secondary points A and D are very close discussion is presented the shape of the knot, the and almost coincide. This knot function is to straighten magnitude of movement due to the heavy load or the pull the frame on the wall in order to form a flat plane. In line of wood tied. From the magnitude of movement it will be with the function, the framework of the wall knot will pull correlated with the reason of the usage. and hold the wood up horizontally.
The shape of the rumah kaki seribu Knot floor frame
Figure 1 shows the picture of Rumah Kaki Seribu. The The knot and the model that is used in the framework of 422 Educ. Res. Rev.
E E C E C C D D D
Figure 3. Primary knot and geometric models.
Figure 3. Primary knot and geometric models.
E E C C D D
Figure 4. Secondary knot image and geometric models.
Figure 4. Secondary knot image and geometric models. the floor can be seen in Figure 5.Take a look of the p = (E’C-EC) –(C’D-CD) shape, the type of this knot is complicated if it is = (E’C – EH) –(C’D-CD) compared with node wall frame knot. The function of this =HC’–(C’D-CD) knot is to pull the load up. In accordance with these q = (A’C-AC) –(C’D-CD) functions, this knot will pull the wood up vertically. = (A’C – AI) –(C’D-CD) This knot can be modeled geometrically as in Figure 5 =IC’–(C’D-CD) in the right side. The differences of knot model with a wall frame are point A and point D as the fulcrum on the mast Furthermore, triangle CAI is an isosceles triangle where in one line vertically. Point D is on the outer side of the CA = AI. pole to the node and point A is located on the side of Suppose I in that is in triangle CAI’ pillar of the knot. Point A is due to the circular bond on mast top. ACI’ <ECH (#)
DATA ANALYSIS CI’A = AC’E+C’HI’ CI’A = AC’E+EHC Analysis of wall frame CI’A = AC’E+ECH CI’A > C’HI’ (##) Arfak Tribe community in binding Framework of the wall uses a knot model through point E, C and D. Point D and Because (#) and (##) are obtained ACI’ <AI’C, E is the outer side of the pole and point C is located on consequently triangle ACI' is not an isosceles triangle. the outer side of the horizontal timber. The purpose of (###) this knot is to flatten and straighten the wall in order to Suppose I to AI' that is triangle CAI" form a flat surface to a vertical position. The purpose of AI”C =CI’A+I’CI” this knot is made to withstand the pressure of the AI”C >CI’A (*) movement from point C to C' horizontally. The following ACI”<ACI’ (**) will be analyzed –the movement of the knot then compared with the knot models of the floor framework Because ACI’ <AI’Cand (*) (**), then through A, C, and D (Figure 6). ACI” <AI”C, Triangle CEH is an isosceles triangle where EH = EC as the length, the result showed the changes of rope p. since CAI"is not an isosceles triangle. (***) HARYANTO et al. 423
Figure 5. Knot floor frame and geometric models.
O’ O A E
I” I’ I H J
C’ C
D
Figure 6. Wall frame model.
Based on (###) and (***), the point I is located on the C’I’ So IC’ < C’J. Cause C’J < C’H, then IC’ < C’H
Furthermore, we will found out the differences Furthermore, we will found out the differences between length C’I and C’H between p and q.
Made from point J coordination between C’I and C’H is Because obtained: p =HC’–(C’D-CD) q =IC’–(C’D-CD) C’JI=1800-JC’C-C’CI C’IC=1800-IC’C-C’CI and JC’C = IC’C- IC’J IC’< C’H
Then then JC’C <IC’C p>q D-C’D)
424 Educ. Res. Rev.
A E Determined point D on the AC' with AD = AC. O Consequently will be obtained
m = C’D –(CD-C’D)
For the length n We will find out point G so that EG = EC. If point G on the is G'in Figure 7, by paying attention on triangle CEG',
C ECG’ < ACD F G” ACD= ADC G’ ADC =C’DG’ G CG’E = C’DG’ + AC’E
Then C’ CG’E > C’DG’
Consequently ECG’ < CG’E. Therefore, the triangle D CEG' is not isosceles triangle, so
Figure 7. Floor frame model. EG' If G is located between EG'for example G". it obviously Furthermore, if it is determined p = q, the obtained CC'> shows that EG" As a conclusion the position of point G is between C'G' is Analysis of floor frame point G. If point A and E is the point-the fulcrum of the top pole, n = C’G-(CD-C’D) points C and C' is the outer point of the wooden framework of the floor, and D is the fulcrum point on the Furthermore we will found out the difference between bottom of the pole. Point O is the point that forms the length m and n. corner of O = 900. From the data the community string is a rope that passes through the point A, C, and D. This If the intersection of the CG and C'F is point H, because knot is used for the framework floor knot, while the CGE is acute, then CGC’ is blunt. As a result, for the framework wall knot is used a knot through point E, C, triangle C'GH is obtained C’H>C’G, then C’F>C’G. then: and D. Framework floor knot is used to hold the floor not to fall. m >n This knot is designed so that it can withstand heavy loads strongly. Point C 'is the movement points of the point C. If m = n, then CC'> CC” where C’ and C” is the movement The following will be analyzed by comparing with models of the rope AC'D to ACD and ECD to EC"D. frame wall knot if it is used as the floor. The movement from C to C' viewed from points A and E DISCUSSION as follows: In point A need addition to the length of rope m as follows From the analysis of the modeling knot strap used in the m = (AC’-AC) –(CD-C’D) frame of the floor, the walls were very strong. If the node Point E requires the addition of a rope as follows or floor used for walls or vice versa, then the node is not (Figure 7) strong. Arfak tribal society in building a house does mathematical calculations. The concepts used in these n = (EC’-EC)-(CD-C’D) nodes is the concept of a triangle, the concept of transformation, the concept of angle, the concept of Furthermore, we will look for the difference between distance and line concepts. m and n. The concept of the triangle can be seen on each node using a minimum of three points. Two points on one For the length m frame and one point to the other frame. If the three points HARYANTO et al. 425 are connected by lines, the result will form a triangle. This Gerdes P (2003). Awakening of Geometrical Thought in Early Culture, concept can be seen in Figures 3 – 5). MEP Publications, University of Minnesota. Gerdes P (2011). African basketry: interweaving art and mathematics in The concept of transformation is used to determine the Mozambique, Bridges: Mathematics, Music, Art, Architecture, shifting frame. The community can minimize the shift of Culture. the frame. The smaller the shift in frame, then the house Horsthemke K, Schäfer M (2007). Does ‘African mathematics’ facilitate is becoming stronger. access to mathematics? Towards an ongoing critical analysis of ethnomathematics in a South African context. Pythagoras65, June, The concept of angle, distance concept, and the pp. 2-9. concept of the line are also available on knot of rumah Kak S (2011). Guáman Poma’s Yupana and Inca Astronomy Oklahoma kaki seribu. State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA The mathematical model can be used as an ingredient Marchis I (2009). Symmetry and interculturality, Acta Didactica Napocensia Vol. 2. in the learning of mathematics, especially geometry in a Muzangwa J (2014). In-service teachers’ views and conceptions on formal school in Arfak tribal communities, namely, on the culture and mathematics education in rural schools. Int. J. Res. Educ. topic of the triangle, transformation, angles and lines. Methodol. 6:2. From that, teachers should not teach Maths in the Narayanan A (2011). Ethno-mathema-tics of Basotho. Afr. J. Res. MST Educ. Special Issue. 15(3):56-67 classroom. For students such as the Arfak tribal ones Orey DC, dan Rosa M (2012), Ethnomathematics and cultural who are often absent, teachers should give them representations: Teaching in highly diverse contexts, J. Res. Math. assignments. Educ. 43(1):75-113 Seaquist CR, Seshaiyer P, dan Crowley D (2005), Calculation across cultures and history. Texas College Mathe. J. 1(1):15-31. Shuaibu G (2014). Mathematics in Hausa culture: some examples from Conclusion Kano State-Nigeria.IOSR J. Math. (IOSR-JM) 10(2):167-171 Yusuf MW, Saidu I, Halliru A (2010). Ethnomathematics A case of From this study, we can conclude that the method of Wasakwakwalwa (Hausa culture puzzles) in Northern Nigeria. Int. J. Basic Appl. Sci. IJBAS-IJENS 10:01 11. determining the knot model in frame of the floor and walls knot in rumah kaki seribu by Arfak people has triangular characteristics. They consider the strengthen, endurance, and the stability of their house. Therefore, the thought process of the people, according to Gerdes (1986, 2003, 2014), is geometrically oriented. In line with learning process in public schools tribe of Papua, a knot in the framework of the wall can be used for learning materials, especially for the topic of triangular geometry, alignment and transformation. Conflict of Interests The authors have not declared any conflicts of interest. REFERENCES Achor EE (2009). Effect of ethnomathematics teaching approach on senior secondary students’ achievement and retention in locus. Educ. Res. Rev. 4(8):385-390, D'Ambrosio U (1989). On ethnomathematics. Philosophica Mathematica 2(41):3-14.. Fyhn AB (2009), Sámi culture and algebra in the curriculum, Proceedings of CERME 6, Lyon France. Gerdes P (1985). Three Alternate Methods of Obtaining the Ancient Egyptian Formula for the Area of a Circle. Historia Mathematica 12:261-68. Vol. 11(7), pp. 426-436, 10 April, 2016 DOI: 10.5897/ERR2016.2682 Article Number: D64AC0057816 ISSN 1990-3839 Educational Research and Reviews Copyright © 2016 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article http://www.academicjournals.org/ERR Full Length Research Paper The use of “ask, write, throw” technique as a writing skill practice when teaching Turkish as a foreign language Nazife Burcu TAKIL Department of Turkish Education, Gazi University, Gazi Faculty of Education, Türkey. Received 02 February, 2016; Accepted 10 March, 2016 This investigation was done to explore the effectiveness of “Ask, write, throw” (AWT) technique in improving the writing skills of B2 level learners of Turkish as a foreign language compared to traditional teaching technique. To this end, 35 learners at similar levels were recruited. There were 18 learners in the AWT (experimental) group and 17 learners in the traditional technique (control) group. The investigation lasted for 8 weeks. Results clearly showed that the AWT technique significantly improved the learners’ writing skills compared to traditional techniques and principles. Learners in the AWT group were more successful in vocabulary, punctuation, relevancy in writing, form of constructed sentences and vocabulary error count. These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of “ask, write, throw” (AWT) technique in teaching Turkish as a foreign language compared to the traditional technique. Key words: Turkish as a foreign language, writing skills, “Ask, write, throw” technique. INTRODUCTION Studies concerning teaching of Turkish as a foreign education, as it has copious amounts of oral culture language date back to 11th century, when Mahmut of oriented literature such as lullabies and poetry (Akalın, Kashgar wrote Compendium of the languages of the 2008; Göçer and Moğul, 2011). Another important work Turks to teach Turkish to Arab people of the age. The on teaching Turkish as a foreign language is from 14th work contains grammar works, Turkish poetry and century by Italians and Germans of the age, Codex proverbs and it set its importance by implementing a Cumanicus. This book mainly contains Latin to Kipchak methodological approach to teaching Turkish and having language and Persian dictionary. It was originally no similar source in the field at its time (Gülensoy, 2000). designed to teach Kipchak language and spread No rules or formulations can be observed in the work, as Christianity to Kipchak people. It focuses on mostly the it aims to teach by exemplifying everything and the spoken language of Kipchak Turks rather than the written learner is expected to deduce the underlying structure. literature (Ercilesun, 2010). In 15th century, to prove the Thus, the book approaches language teaching as cultural superiority of Turkish language over Persian, Ali Şîr E-mail: [email protected]. Authors agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License TAKIL 427 Nevâyî wrote Muhâkemetü‟l-Lügateyn, which included Oxford (1990:18-21) states that every language learning vital information about Turkish grammar and culture strategy is to have a communicational intelligibility and (Berber, 2010). lists these features of language learning strategies: It European works on teaching Turkish are generally contributes towards the main goal of communication, based on grammar (Yeşilyurt, 2015). These works helps learners to be more independent, expands include mainly grammatical points rather than methods, teacher‟s role, is problem-oriented, is a collection of techniques or approaches. However, considering the actions by the learners, not only involves cognitive teaching of Turkish as a foreign language dates, there functions but several aspects, supports learning directly has not been much development and research in the last or indirectly, is not always observable, is generally a set century. As Memiş and Erdem (2013) state: “ There are of conscious acts, is teachable and expandable, is various sources published in Turkish about methods of affected by various factors (Oxford, 1990: 9). Taking teaching foreign languages, but the methods and these principals as a starting point, “ask, write, throw” approaches within these sources usually differ, provide technique was designed and developed to improve incomplete or conflicting information with other sources. “ writing skills of the learners of Turkish as a foreign The studies concerning teaching Turkish as a foreign language. In this method, rather than writing complete language gained the spotlight with the increased financial essays with introductions and conclusions, the focus was and political interactions of Turkey in recent years on simple set of sentences used to mainly communicate (Yağmur, 2013). Although today there are various in daily interactions. Rico (2000) states that just by sources like books, theses and articles on teaching knowing the alphabet, arranging the letters to produce Turkish as a foreign language, it is hard to say that they words in a correct punctuation and grammar or creating are enough or efficient. This is because teaching Turkish words that have static meanings are not enough for as a foreign language is a relatively new in academic writing. Murcia (1991: 233) defines writing as a person‟s field. The theoretical literature of the field is scarce, and ability to most strongly express their main purpose and applied research is far harder to be found (Hamaratli, thoughts in their mother tongue or a different language, 2015). Previous works are mostly on the approaches, and adds “even most people whose mother tongue is techniques and principles in teaching English as a foreign English do not possess this skill” to shed light on how language translated to Turkish, but Turkish and English arduous it is to write and how a problematic situation are two completely different languages structurally and exists in the minds of people. Judging from Murcia‟s also culturally. From these standpoints, it can be seen statements, it would be beneficial to take writing skills that original and new approaches to Turkish language teaching when teaching a foreign language in a functional teaching are needed desperately in the field. basis would be a correct course. The current techniques used in teaching Turkish as a Flower (1996: 62) states that writing is a cognitive foreign language are translated from foreign sources and activity and rains information to the short term memory. are as follows: grammar translation method, direct Doğan (2012: 176) suggests rather than memorization or method, audio-lingual method, cognitive-code method, mechanical activities, learning takes place with active communicative approach, eclectic method, suggestopedia, memory building techniques and imitation. These findings community language learning, the silent way and total point that improving writing skills in a foreign language physical response (Hengirmen, 1993; Yayli and Bayyurt, should be a cognitive experience as well as being an 2011; Demircan, 2013; Güzel and Barın, 2013). Most of active memory building or imitation-allowing activity to them were developed in order to teach western build up learning. “Ask, write, throw” technique allows languages, thus creating a ground for developing newer students to see their peers‟ sentences to imitate, approaches and dedicated techniques to teach languages dynamically interact, and receive feedback to improve on other than only Indo-European languages. Every their writing skills, thus creating an effective and language has its own syntactic, morphological and permanent learning environment. phonetic structures so each need a dedicated Learners are given freedom in “ask, write, throw” methodology to be taught (Memiş and Erdem, 2013). For technique to write whatever they want to whomever they this purpose in the current investigation, having want. They are involved in the activity utilizing their “language is for communication” as a basis, “ask, write, cognitive, sensual and psychomotor skills. Its sensual throw” technique was used for teaching Turkish as a aspects are the learners‟ self-confidence, not being afraid foreign language. This method aims to create a to write, and to socialize with their friends; whereas the communicational environment to improve writing skills of psychomotor skills that are involved are writing their the learners. sentences and questions and folding them into snowballs Communication is considered to be a vital necessity for and throwing them to their friends can be listed. human nature. Humans of 21st century feel the need to In foreign language learning, in order for the cognitive express themselves and their needs in various different skills to be improved, sensual readiness is required, as scenarios and environments, and that leads to foreign hesitancy and anxiety negatively affect the process of language learning to be a must for communication. learning. Allwright and Bailey (1991: 175) suggest that 428 Educ. Res. Rev. foreign language learners find themselves in a completely for 6 h a week across 8 weeks and at the end of each lesson, 20 different situation with the language they learn, and they min of the proposed activity was performed. The procedure for the have a tendency to process this environment as a threat activity is as follows: It started with students writing random sentences to a piece of paper, folding the paper like a snowball and to them and to their identity, making foreign language throwing it to a random student in the class. The sentences within learning a horror show rather than an excitement. Horwitz the papers were general questions. Every student picked the paper (1986:560) and Horwitz and Cope (1986: 125) found that they got and answered the question, then proceeded to write a lot of people had mental blocks when it comes to another question to throw the paper to another student. This learning a new language. Their study suggests that even generated a non-specific and non-individualistic generalized conversational atmosphere in the classroom. Students used people who are highly motivated on other subjects such cognitive, sensual and psychomotor skills to participate in the as mathematics, science and music found it hard to be activity. At the end of the lesson, the teacher gathered the papers motivated when it comes to learning a new language, and listed the errors and mistakes in the conversations written on stating that it is a stressful experience to learn in a the papers. In the next lesson, the teachers required students to classroom. This makes creating and developing correct the mistakes which were then written on the board. This techniques to reduce the anxiety levels in a foreign style helped the students to be actively involved in the improvement of their own writing skills. After the course of 8 weeks, the language learning environment a vital necessity. “Ask, experiment group was given an open ended questionnaire about write, throw” technique was developed in light of these “ask, write, throw” technique to gather data, which got categorized points. “Ask, write, throw”(AWT) technique was designed afterwards. to implement an environment where learners can interact via writing, come across new sentences and vocabulary, Group description feel free and relaxed, not under pressure and socialize through the dynamic environment in the learning process. This research was conducted with B2 level students of Gazi This method starts with learners writing questions on a University Turkish Research and Education Center, with a total of piece of paper (e.g How are you? Do you want to go to 35 learners of 2015-2016 academic year. Learners had similar level the cinema? What‟s your favorite book?) to be asked to of Turkish. The learners were divided into two groups based on their score from the placement test executed by the center. The their friends. Then throw the piece of paper where the exam consisted of 2 written and 2 oral levels testing speaking, recipient answers the question and writes a new one. writing and reading. After the written exam, the learners were This accommodates the circulation of asking questions, interviewed and put into two different groups of similar Turkish level. writing and throwing. This method was designed to lower The exam was executed and rated by three scholars specialized in the affective filter thus allowing learners to overcome their teaching Turkish as a foreign language. Skills of the learners were anxiety, prejudice, and difficulties in learning. This way rated in accordance with CEFR ruling on B2 level. The fact that two groups had the same writing skills instructor was a key point as learners improve both cognitively (asking questions, well. The control group consisted of 17 and the experimental group writing, responding) and sensually (interacting with their consisted of 18 learners, of which 18 were females and 17 were friends, being actively involved in the lesson). male learners. METHODS Collection of data In this section, the research method, participants, tools of The writing skills of the students were evaluated upon the passages measurement and analysis, and information of the detailed analysis and essays they wrote. To this end, a writing skills progressive of the data are elaborated. scoring key was prepared. Initially, the key consisted of 10 different criteria such as “headline, style, vocabulary, exemplification”. About this initial draft, 2 different accomplished scholars in the line of field Research model and a measurement and evaluation specialist who were going to be the evaluators were consulted. After the final thoughts, the key was In this research, “ask, write, throw” technique is handled in teaching redesigned into 5 categories; adequacy of the word count, form of Turkish as a foreign language, and its effect on writing skills is constructed sentences, punctuation, relevancy in writing and error determined upon 8 weeks of application. In this regard, the count. Essays were evaluated on a scale of 1 to 5 points in these research is an example of quasi-experimental design in the categories. It was decided between the three evaluators not to write experimental design sorts within multi-subject research designs. down specific notes below the scores (Table 1). Experimental researches were done to test the effect of the In the beginning of the research, essays from both experimental dependent variable on the subject with the changes and differences group and the control group were evaluated by the criteria on this created. The purpose of experimental designs was to determine the key by the predetermined evaluators. In addition to this, vocabulary causality between variables (Büyüköztürk et al., 2012). In mistake count was also depicted. Also the specialists counted the experimental research, the causal link between the variables was vocabulary errors in the texts, which are in accordance with the investigated and the variables were held in check to observe the Turkish Language Institution Spelling Guide (2015).After the eight effects and changes. Experimental research not only allowed the week process, same procedure was repeated. relationship between the variables to be explained and interpreted, Before the application and afterwards, to determine the but also surfaced the different outcomes upon factoring in different consistency of the evaluators‟ judgments, the scores given by the variables (Fraenkel and Wallen, 1990; Karakaya, 2009). In this evaluators were calculated with the Pearson correlation coefficient. investigation, in accordance with the experimental research criteria, (Table 2) TDK Yazım Kılavuzu (2015) a control group and an experimental group were formed. In the The evaluators‟ relative scoring on each predetermined criteria experiment group, lessons based on writing skills were managed were positively correlated. In other words, the specialists scored the TAKIL 429 Table 1. The scoring key for evaluating learners‟ writing skills. Criteria 1 2 3 4 5 Adequacy of the word count Form of constructed sentences Punctuation Relevancy in writing Error count ...... Table 2. Correlation coefficients calculated from the evaluators‟ scores. Criteria Specialist 1-Specialist 2 Specialist 1-Specialist 3 Specialist 2-Specialist 3 Adequacy of the word count 0.823 0.836 0.883 Form of constructed sentences 0.857 0.804 0.858 Punctuation 0.835 0.889 0.886 Relevancy in writing 0.872 0.907 0.948 Error count 0.829 0.848 0.879 writing skills of the learners similarly. Furthermore, to determine the FINDINGS consistency of the individual scores given by individual specialists, Cronbach‟s alpha was calculated as a coefficient. For the first Did the writing skills of the control group and the evaluator Cronbach‟s alpha coefficient was 0.897, for the second specialist 0.916 and the third specialist 0,908. This concludes that experimental group differ before the procedure? scores given by individual specialists were reliable, excluding the vocabulary error count score, and that the criteria created for the Before the application process, writing skills of the purpose of evaluating writing skills were valid and credible. students in both groups were evaluated by the specialists At the end, learners were given an open ended questionnaire and shown in Table 3. Afterwards the relative writing without a time limit (40 min) and they were asked four different questions about the research. Afterwards the answers were skills of the separate groups were evaluated to show the collected and categorized by two different scholars specialized in independent difference between the groups with Mann the area. Among these categories the Cohen‟s Kappa coefficient Whitney U test. was calculated and for the first question (In what aspect “Ask, write, It can be observed from Table 4 that before the throw” benefited you the most?) it was found to be 0.812 (p<0.05). application of the technique, the relevant writing skills of The coefficient for the second question (What did it contribute to both groups were at similar levels (p>0.05). your writing and how much?) was calculated to be 0,890 (p<0.05). The coefficient for the third question (What do you think of “ask, write, throw” method?) was calculated to be 0,918 (p<0.05). The Cohen‟s Kappa coefficient for the fourth question (Was “ask, write, Did the writing skills of the control group and the throw” helpful for you?) was calculated to be 0.836 (p<0.05). experimental group differ in a meaningful way after the application of the technique? Analysis of the data In this process, learners in the experimental group were The fact that the subject of the research was on learners of the involved in the “ask, write, throw” activity for six hours a Turkish language as a foreign language negatively affected the week, over the course of eight weeks. For the control number of the participants, which led to the data being unstable and group, lessons were performed in conventional ways in of abnormal distribution. To examine the gathered data, the same time period. After the application of the nonparametric statistical techniques were utilized. technique over the course of eight weeks, the difference In relation to the high correlation between the scores given by the between the two groups regarding the writing skills and three specialists, each student was given the average score they received from the evaluators. These figures were first used to the results of the Mann Whitney U test for that purpose designate the descriptive statistical analysis of the data, then the are shown in Tables 5 and 6. evaluation scores from both the control group and the experiment It can be deduced from Table 6 that a meaningful group, before and after the application of the technique, were distinction between the writing skills of the control group compared and calculated within Mann Whitney U test. In order for and the experimental group has occurred over the the improvement within the groups to be tracked, Wilcoxon signed- rank test was applied. In these comparisons (p<0.05) significance chosen criteria after the application of the technique level was exercised. The results were put into a chart to be (p<0.05). If the rank figures are inspected, it can be examined and interpreted. deduced that in all categories of evaluation, the 430 Educ. Res. Rev. Table 3. Writing skills evaluated by the specialists of the control and experimental group before the application. Group Criteria N Minimum Maximum ̅ SD Adequacy of the word count 18 1.33 3.67 2.35 0.61 Form of constructed sentences 18 1.33 4.00 2.63 0.70 Punctuation 18 1.33 3.67 2.57 0.66 Experimental Relevancy in writing 18 1.00 4.00 2.56 0.77 Error count 18 5.00 13.00 8.72 2.35 Adequacy of the word count 17 1.33 3.67 2.47 0.63 Form of constructed sentences 17 1.67 4.00 2.92 0.73 Punctuation 17 1.00 3.67 2.77 0.79 Control Relevancy in writing 17 1.67 4.00 3.04 0.75 Error count 17 5.00 12.00 8.94 2.14 Table 4. Mann Whitney U test results on the writing skills of both groups before the application. Criteria Gruops N Rank ̅ Rank total U z p Adequacy of the word Experimental 18 16.86 303.50 132.500 0.692 0.503 count Control 17 19.21 326.50 Form of constructed Experimental 18 16.14 290.50 119.500 1.118 0.273 sentences Control 17 19.97 339.50 Experimental 18 16.42 295.50 Punctuation 124.500 0.955 0.351 Control 17 19.68 334.50 Experimental 18 14.94 269.00 Relevancy in writing 98.000 1.832 0.072 Control 17 21.24 361.00 Experimental 18 17.58 316.50 Error count 145.500 0.251 0.807 Control 17 18.44 313.50 Table 5. Statistics as to the writing skills of the both control and the experimental group after the application of the technique. Group Criteria N Minimum Maximum SD Adequacy of the word count 18 3.00 4.67 3.83 0.56 Form of constructed sentences 18 3.33 5.00 4.24 0.55 Experimental Punctuation 18 3.33 5.00 4.21 0.49 Relevancy in writing 18 3.00 5.00 4.26 0.58 Error count 18 1.00 9.00 5.39 2.30 Adequacy of the word count 17 2.00 4.00 3.18 0.61 Form of constructed sentences 17 2.33 5.00 3.63 0.81 Control Punctuation 17 2.00 4.67 3.47 0.82 Relevancy in writing 17 1.67 5.00 3.51 0.91 Error count 17 4.00 12.00 7.88 2.09 experimental group scored higher than the control group; also the error count went down. TAKIL 431 Table 6. Mann Whitney U test results of the writing skills of both the control and the experimental group after the application of the technique. Criteria Groups N Rank ̅ Rank total U z p Experimental 18 22.58 406.50 Adequacy of the word count 70.500 2.762 0.005 Control 17 13.15 223.50 Experimental 18 22.03 396.50 Form of constructed sentences 80.500 2.414 0.015 Control 17 13.74 233.50 Experimental 18 22.61 407.00 Punctuation 70.000 2.788 0.005 Control 17 13.12 223.00 Experimental 18 22.31 401.50 Relevancy in writing 75.500 2.581 0.009 Control 17 13.44 228.50 Experimental 18 13.17 237.00 Error count 66.000 2.903 0.003 Control 17 23.12 393.00 Table 7. Wilcoxon signed-rank test results on writing skills of the experimental group before and after the application of the technique. Criteria Time of application Rank N Rank average Rank total p Negative rank 0 0.00 0.00 Final test-Preliminary Adequacy of the word count Positive rank 18 3.740 0.000 test 9.50 171.00 Equal 0 Negative rank 0 0.00 0.00 Form of constructed Final test-Preliminary Positive rank 18 3.731 0.000 sentences test 9.50 171.00 Equal 0 Negative rank 0 0.00 0.00 Final test-Preliminary Punctuation Positive rank 18 3.728 .000 test 9.50 171.00 Equal 0 Negative rank 1 1.00 1.00 Final test-Preliminary Relevancy in writing Positive rank 17 3.686 0.000 test 10.00 170.00 Equal 0 Negative rank 18 9.50 171.00 Final test-Preliminary Error count Positive rank 0 3.741 0.000 test 0.00 0.00 Equal 0 Did the writing skills of the experimental group only be said that a meaningful improvement is observed on differ in a meaningful way after the application of the the writing skills of the experimental group after the technique? application of the technique (p<0.05). Across all the criteria, average rank and total points show that the Wilcoxon signed-rank test was applied to see if the average writing skills of the experimental group before writing skills of the learners in the experimental group the experiment were elevated to higher levels after the differed in a meaningful way before and after the eight technique was applied and performed. Moreover, the week period of applying the method. The results can be average error count of 8.72 before the experiment seen in Table 7. dropped down as low as 5.39 afterwards, which allows Judging from the information unveiled in Table 7, it can the interpretation that “ask, write, throw” technique helped 432 Educ. Res. Rev. Table 8. Wilcoxon signed-rank test results of the writing skills of the control group before and after the procedure. Criteria Time of application Rank N Average rank Total rank p Negative rank 1 6.00 6.00 Adequacy of the word Final test-Preliminary Positive rank 15 3.238 0.001 count test 8.67 130.00 Equal 1 Negative rank 0 0.00 0.00 Form of constructed Final test-Preliminary Positive rank 14 3.309 0.001 sentences test 7.50 105.00 Equal 3 Negative rank 2 3.00 6.00 Final test-Preliminary Punctuation Positive rank 11 2.771 0.006 test 7.73 85.00 Equal 4 Negative rank 3 10.17 30.50 Final test-Preliminary Relevancy in writing Positive rank 14 2.188 0.029 test 8.75 122.50 Equal 0 Negative rank 11 6.73 74.00 Final test-Preliminary Error count Positive rank 1 2.811 0.005 test 4.00 4.00 Equal 5 Table 9. Opinions gathered from the students for question 1. Categories N Sample answers “We‟re corresponding with each other. It‟s like texting but better.” “I had a correspondence with all my classmates. I got to know more about my friends.” Socialization 11 “I got to meet my friends. Normally I am shy when it comes to talk but I can write and ask whatever I want in class.” “I had correspondence with everyone I don‟t talk in recess time.” Psychological 5 “I feel more free and relaxed when writing.” “I don‟t get nervous when I‟m writing.” “We‟re using daily language.” Daily life 2 “It is like a real life simulation.” learners‟ writing skills improve in a meaningful way. process and the course of eight weeks (p<0,05). Average rank and total points state that across all criteria, the average writing skills of the control group have been Do the writing skills of the control group show a elevated to higher levels. Also, the error count shows a quantifiable change before and after the experiment? decreasing value. In order to determine if the writing skills of the control group, who were taught in the conventional ways during Findings and results from the open ended the experiment, changed or not, Wilcoxon signed-rank questionnaires distributed to learners about their test was applied and the results can be examined in opinions of the experience Table 8. Upon inspecting Table 9, it can be observed that writing The forms were distributed to the students of the skills of the learners in the control group has a experimental group after the 8 weeks of application meaningful difference before and after the experimental process. It contains these four questions: TAKIL 433 Table 10. Answers for the second question. Categories N Sample answers Vocabulary boost “Everybody uses different words. We‟re learning by looking them up.” 10 “I learn new vocabulary when my friends use them.” “Questions like „Shall we go drink coffee together?‟ come up and we go for a coffee as a class. “ Social 8 “Very funny dialogues occur, we laugh in class” “Weeks later after the activity, I can write more comfortably.” Psychological 4 “I don‟t get bored when I‟m writing.” “I don‟t see writing as a lecture.” 1. In what aspect “Ask, write, throw” benefited you the Among the answers to this question, learners most? expressed educational aspect more prominently (n=9), 2. What did it contribute to your writing and how much? and learners stated that they learned new words and new 3. What do you think of “ask, write, throw” method? grammatical structures during the writing process. It is of 4. Was “ask, write, throw” helpful for you? significant importance that learners find the “ask, write, throw” technique to be fun (n=5), creative (n=3) and enjoyable (n=3). Findings for question 1 After the eight week application process, learners were Answers and data gathered for the 4th question asked the question to determine which area the method affected them the most. The answers and the findings Answers for the question “Was “ask, write, throw” helpful can be observed in Table 9. for you?” are categorized in Table 12. It can be seen from Table 9 that social aspect of “ask, write, throw” affected the learners of Turkish as a foreign language the most. Students stated thanks to this activity DISCUSSION (n=11) they socialized and felt comfortable saying what they wanted to say. Thanks to the activity, learners This research investigated the effectiveness of AWT experienced a boost not only academically but also technique on writing skills of B2 level learners of Turkish socially. Learners (n=5) felt more relaxed through the as a foreign language. It has been found that writing skills process, contradicting with what normally is observed as of the control and experimental group showed no a stressful experience to improve writing skills. They significant or meaningful difference before the research. worked freely and in a relaxed way. The effectiveness of This meant that the two groups were at the same level in the activity can be seen from the statements of learners terms of adequacy of the word count, form of constructed (n=2) that they are able to use what they have learned in sentences, punctuation, relevancy in writing and the daily life. vocabulary spelling errors in the beginning. However, after the eight week process, a difference in writing skill levels was detected between the subject and control Findings for question 2 group. Relative to the control group, experimental group showed more improvement in writing skills over the The answers gathered from the students to the question course of eight weeks. The improvement of the control “What did it contribute to your writing and how much?” group indicates the success of traditional methods also, are given in Table 10. yet the surpassing achievement in writing skills of the Learners stated that this method benefits learning new experimental group shows the superior success of AWT. vocabulary the most (n=10). Learners also stated that the Across all criteria, experimental group showed significant technique contributed to their social life as well (n=8). improvement relative to the control group. The vocabulary Another aspect of contribution from the activity was in spelling errors of the experimental group being low is psychological point of view (n=4). another important finding, as the feedback the learners get from what they have written wrong on the papers and Findings and answers for question 3 corrections they made to their own mistakes helped them learn both actively and in a more permanent way, Answers and data gathered from the third question on the improving their vocabulary along with their writing skills. questionnaire can be found in Table 11. There is no known method to improve learners‟ writing 434 Educ. Res. Rev. Table 11. Categories collected from answers given to third question. Categories N Sample answers “We learn new words and new rules.” Educational and instructive 9 “I learned a lot of new rules and vocabulary from my friends.” “I can learn about my classmates‟ lives without asking them directly. “Sometimes really funny things are written. We share a laugh.” Funny 5 “We laughed so much as a class about a paper last week.” “I read sentences that would never cross my mind.” Creative 3 “Sometimes we write really advanced dialogues, and I wonder how we write them.” “I corresponded with every one of my classmates. I know my friends better now.” “Classes are really enjoyable.” Enjoyable 3 “Writing used to be boring, not it‟s amusing.” Table 12. Table of answers regarding the fourth question Categories N Sample answers “Yes, because my foreign language has improved a lot.” “Yes; I no longer feel nervous when I‟m talking to or writing to a friend.” “Yes, I can exchange jokes with my friends in Turkish” Yes 18 “When I come across a sentence that I do not understand, I ask my friend and sometimes another friend tells me the answer. We became a socialized class.” “I loved, had fun with, played with, learned Turkish.” No 0 All participants in the eight week process of the study found the AWT technique useful and helpful for them (n=18). skills when teaching Turkish as a foreign language, and the language users accumulated the motivation and the no similar techniques to “ask, write, throw”. This environment to learn new words. Learners were motivated prevented the comparison to a similar or different method to learn the new words their friends use and these being used in the field, but the success of an original applied usages of the words support the idea of language devised method means an important addition to the field. should be utilized, otherwise would be forgotten. It was Judging by the answers to the open ended questionnaire, clear that the learners used the language effectively, along with the academic skills of the learners, their social socialized within their group, improved their writing skills skills have also improved with AWT. The burden and the and learned new words in the process. These findings anxiety of writing and improving writing skills in traditional suggest that the technique should be considered a ways have ceased to exist within the activity, and necessity for teaching Turkish as a foreign language. learners were able to express themselves in a more Also the vocabulary is learned in a naturally motivated relaxed and free way which contributed to their daily life. environment, thus accumulating new vocabulary that is Because of the friendly atmosphere created by the more permanent and useful in day to day interactions. method, learners were naturally motivated to learn the AWT creates a feedback loop among the learners, about new words they hear from their friends. It can even be which Schunk (1985, 2001) says: “learner to learner said that the traditional ways of teaching vocabulary may feedback is more efficient than instructor to learner fall inferior to the natural, social interaction environment feedback.” Schunk points out peer idolizing as an created by the activity. Learning and teaching new important aspect of learning. In AWT, learners point out vocabulary are a crucial aspect of foreign language the new words they see from their peers and how they education. Generally, a specific planned time is set for are motivated to learn them, thus improving upon their vocabulary practice and there are various techniques and vocabulary, as well as writing skills. Learners point out methods that can be used to create the learning that they learned new grammatical rules and vocabulary, environment, but with AWT, which was originally designed and socialized with their friends and got to know each to improve writing skills, the natural interaction among other better, indicating the cognitive and sensual aspects TAKIL 435 of the technique. Rauch and Whittaker (1999), Ballantyne and throw their snowballs to one another. Teachers et al. (2002) and Gemmel (2003)‟s studies show that as should collect the papers learners write at the end of well as the learner to learner feedback loop, observing every lesson and write the mistakes on the board for each other improves the learning process. From these them to rectify their own mistakes. Teachers can points, AWT technique having both the feedback loop intervene if the students cannot find the mistakes, helping and the observation in a package is important. them not directly but with guided discovery. Teacher Learners stated being free and relaxed when writing. should always keep in mind that the language is for This is caused by not having to interact with the instructor communication. all the time and interacting with their peers and friends instead during the activity. Wynn and Kromrey (1999) suggest that learners are more relaxed when interacting Suggestions for further research with their peers and it builds cooperation in the class. The technique allows students to have the choice of writing This research constitutes learning a foreign language in whatever they want on the piece of paper and throwing it general terms, specifically it is based upon teaching to their friends, creating a free, relaxed interaction writing skills in Turkish as a foreign language. In environment, and helping them socialize. conclusion, it is blatantly obvious that “ask, write, throw” Learners stated that the AWT technique contributed to technique helps learners improve both cognitively and their social life as well. They could ask the questions they sensually. This method is thought to be useful for would otherwise be too shy to ask with the technique, teaching different languages as well. It is considered as a and the randomization of the patterns within the step forward for teaching and learning new languages for classroom allowed differences outside the classroom this method to be improved upon and used for teaching activities to emerge. Another aspect of the technique is different languages, when teaching a foreign language. the lowering of the affective filter, stated within the Also it is recommended to increase the usage of the Natural Way. The anxiety of writing misspelled words or technique in teaching Turkish as a foreign language. wrong clauses is reduced when writing to their peers, allowing learners to express themselves more freely and be more concentrated when correcting their own Conflict of Interests mistakes as a group. Participants also stated that the technique is educational. The authors have not declared any conflict of interests. They indicated that the AWT is both fun and creative. It is important to consider that the learners are having fun REFERENCES while learning. As Buzan (2006) says, „the learning which takes place in a free and happy environment is always Akalin ŞH (2008). “Bin Yıl Önce Bin Yıl Sonra Kaşgarlı Mahmud ve more permanent‟. This finding is vital to understanding Divanü Lugati‟t-Türk”. Türk Dil Kurumu Yayınları. the technique‟s success. Allwright D, Bailey KM (1991). Focus on the Language Classroom. An Introduction to Classroom Research for Language Teachers. 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Received 8 January, 2016; Accepted 22 February, 2016 This study traces evidence of reflection in teacher education and teaching practice by measuring reflection of preservice teachers and experienced teachers and clarifying reflection-oriented reactions to possible confusions or problematic situations considering whether or not they are reflective practitioners. The data were collected from 514 volunteer preservice teachers and 466 experienced teachers teaching science, math, English, Turkish, and primary classes. Teacher Reflection Scale (TRS) (Kayapinar and Erkus, 2009) was used to collect data. In order to analyze the data and obtain descriptive statistics for the item results, SPSS 16.0 was employed. Statistical analyses gave evidence that preservice primary teachers had a high mean of reflection. Under the light of the results gathered from data, experienced teachers did not attain higher reflection scores when compared to preservice teachers. There is evidence that math teachers’ experiences in school settings might lead them to reflect on their practices in time. Experienced teachers of English, science, Turkish, and primary education did not attain higher TRS scores when compared to preservice teachers of the same subject areas. There was no statistically significant and meaningful difference between the rank averages of the mentioned groups’ reflection scores. Besides, preservice and experienced primary teachers’ reflection scores seem higher than the ones obtained from other subject areas, and there is no significant difference between these two groups. Preservice and experienced math teachers’ results demonstrate that the scores of experienced math teachers revealed a statistically significant difference at a meaningful level (p=.000). Key words: Reflection, preservice, teacher, teaching, teacher development. INTRODUCTION Reflection can be defined as “an active, persistent, and Zeichner (1994) believes that reflection is essential for careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of bringing understanding to the complex nature of knowledge in light of the grounds supporting it and future classrooms, and states that teachers should be trained to conclusions, to which it tends” (Dewey, 1933: 43). reflect on the subject matter and the thoughtful application E-mail: [email protected]. Authors agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License 438 Educ. Res. Rev. of particular teaching strategies. He further states that cthat most writers are concerned with the complete- teachers need to reflect on their learners’ thinking, cycle of professional doing coupled with reflection which understandings, interests and developmental thinking. then leads to modified action (Noffke and Brennan, In other words, teachers need to look at teaching from 1988). It may be useful to contrast this cyclical idea with other perspectives to become more reflective routine action, which derives from impulse, tradition, or practitioners. authority. Reflective action is bound up with persistent Reflection is to be aware of what we are doing. and careful consideration of practice in the light of According to Rowntree (1992), reflection is studying knowledge and beliefs, showing attitudes of open- one's own study methods as seriously as one studies mindedness, responsibility, and wholeheartedness the subject and thinking about a learning task after you (Noffke and Brennan, 1988). have done it. Moreover, reflection is a key concept and Reflection is, in this sense, a beneficial practice to essential for teachers since it makes teachers aware of support professional development of teachers and their what they are doing and how well they teach. efforts to improve students’ learning (Fendler, 2003; Reflection, also, increases critical thinking (Korthagen, Hoffman et al., 2003). “The reflective practice movement 2004), provides a source of knowledge construction in involves a recognition that teachers should be active in teaching (Conway, 2001), and promotes self-regulation formulating the purposes and ends of their work” in teachers (Boud, 2000). (Zeichner and Liston, 1996: 5). As Zeichner and Liston According to Wenzlaff (1994), the more teacher (1996) indicate, a reflective teacher makes the effort to reflectivity occurs, the better the quality of education is solve the challenges of classroom instruction and takes (cited in Tok and Doğan-Dolapçıoğlu, 2013). Al-Issa responsibility for his or her own professional develop- (2002: 44) states “reflection enables teachers and ment. According to Bengtsson (1995), reflective student teachers to diagnose and understand their teaching encourages teachers to create a distance classroom contexts and students’ learning better, put between themselves and their practices. Therefore, their students’ learning at the heart of the teaching-lear- teachers find themselves in a questioning process of ning process, develop a rationale for their teaching, and their practices which will lead to professional take informed specific actions and make sound development. decisions in the classroom”. Wilson and Jan (1993) Moreover, reflective teaching is a consideration of describe reflection as a process of individual’s thought, a process of disciplined intellectual criticism evaluation of self, experience, and learning. Reflection combining research; knowledge of context, and is also claimed as a goal in many teacher preparation balanced judgment about previous, present, and future programs, but its definition and how it might be fostered actions, events or decisions (Minott, 2009). Therefore, in student teachers are problematic issues. Four key reflective teaching is an approach to teaching, learning, issues with regard to reflection emerge from Dewey's and problem solving that uses reflection as a main tool original work and its subsequent interpretation. The first (Minott, 2009). Reflective teaching is an active, is whether reflection is limited to thought process about consistent, and careful way of thinking (Dewey, 1957); action, or is more inextricably bound up in action (Grant directly relevant and meaningful to Schön’s (1987) and Zeichner, 1984; Noffke and Brennan, 1988). The construct of “reflection-in-action second relates to the time frames within which reflection There are many studies, as follows, which contributed takes place, and whether it is relatively immediate and to the field of reflective teaching and practices such as short term, or rather more extended and systematic, as the prevalence of reflective teaching practices (Tok and Dewey (1933) seems to imply (Schön, 1983). The third Doğan-Dolapçıoğlu, 2013), preservice teachers’ has to do with whether reflection is by its very nature reflective thinking tendencies (Poyraz and Usta, 2013), problem-centered or not (Adler, 1991; Calderhead, the evidences and the promotion of teacher reflection 1989; Schön, 1987). Finally, the fourth is concerned (Mena et al., 2010), understanding the perceptions of with how consciously the one reflecting takes account the ELT student teachers and their trainers (Al-Issa and of wider historic, cultural, and political values or beliefs Al-Bulushi, 2010), ELT preservice teachers’ teacher in framing and refraining practical problems to which reflection both at the beginnings of practicum and solutions are being sought, a process which has been through the end of it (Yaman and Armutçu, 2010), identified as "critical reflection" (Gore and Zeichner, preservice English teachers’ reflections on their teaching 1991; Smyth, 1989). In relation to reflective thinking performance (Akcan, 2010), a standard reflection scale versus reflective action, there seems to be wide agree- to help elementary and secondary school teachers with ment that reflection is a special form of thought (Sparks- their classroom activities and professional growth, Langer and Colton, 1991; Waxman et al., 1988). But expatriate reflective practitioners (Kayapınar, 2013), a Dewey himself also spoke of reflective action self-study (Williams, 2008), reflective teachers’ presumably addressing the implementation of solutions development and use of self-directed critical thinking once problems have been thought through, and it is clear and ongoing critical inquiry in their practice (Calderhead, Yaman 439 1992; Cole, 1997), and identifying personal meaning volunteers teaching at curricula of Ministry of National Education and/or significance of a classroom or school situation, in different fıelds including science, math, primary education, and this would include the disclosure and examination English, and Turkish; they were randomly chosen from different schools in Turkey. They averaged 14 years of teaching of personal feelings (Reiman, 1999). Preservice experience. None of them possessed post graduate degrees. teachers theorize about their practices cognitively and The data were available for 82 science teachers, 104 primary affectively by gaining insights into the complexities of teachers, 91 math teachers, 96 English language teachers, and the teaching and learning process and of themselves as 93 teachers. teachers (Ditchburn, 2015). Kayapınar and Erkuş (2009) point out that reflection is Data collection an attribute which can be gained by experience, and it can be developed via education and experience Teacher Reflection Scale (Kayapınar, 2013; Kayapınar and although it is a process of self-observation and self- Erkuş, 2009) was employed to capture participants’ reflective evaluation. Besides, teacher reflection refers to responses in different settings. Teacher Reflection Scale is a spontaneous critical scrutiny of teachers’ thoughts and standardized scale which was developed in order to measure teacher reflection including 22 items. It covers two settings of behavior in terms of teaching and learning including problematic scenarios which are reflection for classroom settings their’ beliefs and knowledge as well as practice and (RCS) and reflection for colleagues and management settings effects elicited by those beliefs and knowledge (Sung et (RCMS) (see below for sample items). The respondents are al., 2009). In this respect, this study tries to reveal asked to choose the best option referring to their reaction/s when preservice and experienced teachers’ thoughts and they face such problematic situations in the teaching environment behavior in terms of reflective teaching and makes a from the given scenarios as seen in the following items: comparison between the two groups. Therefore, the Sample items for RCS: purpose of this study is to measure reflection of preservice teachers (freshman-senior) and experienced Item15. One of your students distracts the others: teachers in school and classroom settings and to clarify their reflection-oriented reactions to possible confusions a. I intervene. b. Everyone is responsible for himself. or problematic situations in teaching environments by c. I make him sit down in the front alone. using quantitative data considering whether or not they Sample item for RCMS: are reflective practitioners. The study also tries to find out any possible significant differences between Item 21. The management do not consider the teachers’ opinions: reflective behavior of the two groups using total a. I often express my annoyance about it. reflection scores of preservice teachers and experienced b. I don’t want to deal with that. teachers. In this way, any existing evidence of reflective c. I wonder if we are partly responsible. teaching practice in different subject areas will also be revealed. Considering the validity of the scale, the internal consistency coefficient of the scale was reported as 0.868. In addition, the reliability of the scale was reported as 0.835.Moreover, the METHOD correlation between RCS scores and RCMS scores is .634 (p0.01). The correlation between RCS/RCMS scores and the Participants total scores is .953 for RCS and .838 for RCMS. The correlation coefficients between total sub-scale scores and total scale scores Preservice teachers prove that the scale may be used and commented as a whole and/or as independent parts for determining reflection levels The study group of preservice teachers, randomly chosen from according to the settings. Further examinations demonstrated that volunteers (with a consent statement approved under the the reflection scores do not differ according to gender (t=1.494; authority of the university) in different departments of the same df=130; p>0.05) and subject areas, math and social sciences (t=- college of education in Turkey, comprised 514 volunteer 1.881; df=126; p>0.05). preservice teachers who were studying different majors including science, math, primary, English language, and Turkish language at a four-year undergraduate level . The data for preservice Data analyses teachers were available for 85 science preservice teachers (50 freshmen-Year 1, 35 seniors-Year 4), 121 primary preservice Apart from descriptive statistics, validity, and reliability of the teachers (53 freshmen-Year 1, 68 seniors-Year 4), 80 math scale, because the population of participants did not seem to preservice teachers (49 freshmen-Year 1, 31 seniors-Year 4), 100 meet the requirements of normal distribution, a nonparametric English language preservice teachers (36 freshmen-Year 1, 64 correlation technique called Mann-Whitney U Test was used to seniors-Year 4), and 128 Turkish language preservice teachers compare the reflection scores of Year 1 and Year 4 preservice (54 freshmen-Year 1, 74 seniors-Year 4) in total. teachers and reflection scores of preservice teachers and experienced teachers and to investigate the relationship between RCS and RCMS scores. As the participants included more than Experienced teachers 30 subjects, the z-approximation was also calculated. In order to analyze the data and obtain descriptive statistics for the item The study group of experienced teachers comprised 466 results, SPSS 16.0 was employed. 440 Educ. Res. Rev. Table 1. Preservice and experienced science teachers’ reflection. Pre-service Year 1-Year 4 Pre-service total and experienced Group N Mean rank Sum of ranks Group N Mean rank Sum of ranks Year 4 35 55.41 1939.50 Pre. 85 79.01 6716.00 Reflection Year 1 50 34.31 1715.50 Exp. 82 89.17 7312.00 Total 85 Total 167 Table 2. Preservice and experienced science teachers’ scale statistics. Preservice Year 1-Year 4 Preservice Total and Experienced Reflection Reflection Mann-Whitney U 440.500 3.061E3 Wilcoxon W 1.716E3 6.716E3 Z -3.895 -1.361 Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000 0.173 a. Grouping Variable: Preservice b. Grouping Variable: Preservice and Science teachers experienced Science teachers Table 3. Preservice science teachers’ reflection in classroom experienced teachers’ reflection scores is higher than settings. the one that preservice teachers had. From this data, reflection in Year 4 is statistically Group N Mean Rank Sum of Ranks significantly higher than Year 1 (U = 440.500, Z = - Year 4 35 56.21 1967.50 3.895, p = .000). In other words, Mann-Whitney U Test Reflection Year 1 50 33.75 1687.50 showed that Year 4 might have elicited a statistically Total 85 significant change in preservice science teachers’ reflective behaviour in favor of Year 4. Considering the results, there might be a positive change in reflective behaviour of preservice teachers. Still, this might be FINDINGS insufficient when the mean scores are taken into consideration. Statistical results of the study were presented in tables, Table 2 reveals that the results of Mann-Whitney U ranks, scale statistics, and reports to interpret the test for preservice math teachers’ scores and results of the research. Table 1 present the data on the experienced math teachers’ scores did not show any calculated z-values and the approximately calculated statistical difference (Z=.518; p=.604>.05) although the statistical significance of differences between the rank average of experienced science teachers’ reflection reflection scores. scores is higher than preservice science teachers’. In Table 1 gives valuable information about preservice other words, it can be stated that reflection in Year 4 is science teachers’ reflection because it indicates which statistically not significantly higher than Year 1 (U = group can be considered as having the higher mean 3.061E3, Z = -1.361, p = .173). rank, namely, the group with the highest reflection Table 3 indicates the group with the highest mean scores. In this case, the mean score of Year 4 group is rank has the higher reflection scores in classroom 55.41 and the group had higher reflection scores. Still, settings. In this case, Year 4 had the highest reflection the mean scores do not seem sufficient for preservice scores in classroom settings. teachers to be reflective. In this sense, they can be An examination of the findings shows that the results called partly reflective. of the Mann-Whitney U test applied to the reflection The rank average of experienced teachers’ reflection scores of the students in Year 4 and Year 1 revealed a scores was 89.17, while the scores of preservice statistically significant difference. It can be inferred that teachers had a rank average of 79.01. The rank Year 4 students’ reflection in classroom settings is averages of the scores of experienced teachers and statistically significantly higher than Year 1 (U = preservice teachers indicate that the rank average of 412.500, Z = -4.161, p = 0.000). Based on these results, Yaman 441 Table 4. Preservice science teachers’ RCS higher than Year 1 (U = 593.500, Z = -2.586, p = 0.010). sub-scale statistics. Still, an inference can be made that there is no emphasis on reflection in colleagues and management Parameter Reflection settings in the curriculum on purpose. Mann-Whitney U 412.500 Table 7 indicates which group can be considered as Wilcoxon W 1687.500 having the higher mean rank; in other words, the group Z -4.161 with the highest reflection scores. In this case, Year 4 Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000 scored 76.84 in average and had the highest reflection Grouping Variable: Preservice Science teachers. scores. The mean scores indicate that there is a meaningful difference in reflection scores. This might mean that preservice primary teachers are not aware of reflective practice consciously or subconsciously in their Table 5. Preservice science teachers’ reflection in colleagues first year of education. However, the learning environ- and management settings. ment gives them a considerable amount of awareness directly or indirectly until they reach Year 4. Group N Mean rank Sum of ranks The rank average of experienced teachers’ reflection Year 4 35 51.04 1786.50 scores was 112.74, while the scores of preservice Reflection Year 1 50 37.37 1868.50 teachers had a rank average of 114.16. The rank Total 85 averages of the scores of experienced teachers and preservice teachers indicate that they had somewhat similar reflection levels. From this data, it can be concluded that reflection in Table 6. Preservice science teachers’ Year 4 is statistically significantly higher than Year 1 RCMS sub-scale statistics. (U = 725.000, Z = -5.648, p = 0.000). The Mann- Whitney U test showed that Year 4 might have elicited a Parameter Reflection statistically significant change in preservice teachers’ Mann-Whitney U 593.500 reflective behaviour. The mean score of Year 4 Wilcoxon W 1868.500 preservice teachers seem pretty high and meaningful Z -2.586 when total scale scores are taken into consideration. Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) 0.010 Table 8 reveals that the results of Mann-Whitney U test for preservice math teachers’ scores and Grouping Variable: Preservice Science teachers. experienced math teachers’ scores did not show any statistical difference (Z=0.518; p=.604>0.05). In other words, it can be stated that reflection in Year 4 is statistically not significantly higher than Year 1 (U = an implication can be stated as the curriculum or 6273.000, Z = -.163, p = 0.871). learning environment might be prompting for reflective Table 9 indicates Year 4 had higher reflection scores practice in classroom teaching settings indirectly (Table in classroom settings. This might mean that Year 4 4). students think more reflectively in classroom practices. Table 5 is very useful because it indicates which The score is slightly higher for Year 4 preservice group can be considered as having the higher reflection teachers in classroom settings whereas the score stays scores in colleagues and management settings, overall; almost the same for Year 1 preservice teachers. This namely, the group with the highest mean rank. In this result supports the results of the total scale scores. case, Year 4 had the highest reflection scores in The findings in Table 10 show that the results of the colleagues and management settings. However, when Mann-Whitney U test applied to the reflection scores of the mean scores are examined, it can be stated that the students in Year 4 and Year 1 revealed a statistically there is no such practice to emphasize reflection in significant difference. It can be inferred that the level of colleagues and management settings in the curriculum. Year 4 students’ reflection in classroom practices is Table 6 presents data on the calculated z-value and statistically significantly higher than Year 1 (U = the approximately calculated statistical significance of 708.000, Z = -5.750, p = 0.000). From the results for differences between Year 4 and Year 1 students. The classroom practices, learning environment and/or the results have shown that a Mann-Whitney U Test showed curriculum applications might be helpful for preservice that Year 4 might have revealed a statistically significant teachers to be more reflective. change in preservice teachers’ reflective behaviour in Table 11 indicates Year 4 students can be considered colleagues and management settings. It can be con- as having considerably the higher reflection scores in cluded that reflection in Year 4 is statistically significantly colleagues and management settings. It might be 442 Educ. Res. Rev. Table 7. Preservice and experienced primary teachers’ reflection. Preservice Year 1-Year 4 Preservice Total and Experienced Group N Mean Rank Sum of Ranks Group N Mean Rank Sum of Ranks Year 4 68 76.84 5225.00 Pre. 121 114.16 13813.00 Reflection Year 1 53 40.68 2156.00 Exp. 105 112.74 11838.00 Total 121 Total 226 Table 8. Preservice and experienced primary teachers’ scale statistics. Preservice year 1-Year 4 Preservice total and Experienced Parameter Reflection Reflection Mann-Whitney U 725.000 6273.000 Wilcoxon W 2156.000 1.184E4 Z -5.648 -.163 Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000 0.871 a. Grouping Variable: Preservice b. Grouping Variable: Preservice and experienced Primary teachers Primary teachers Table 9. Preservice primary teachers’ reflection in classroom Table 12. Preservice primary teachers’ RCMS sub-scale settings. statistics. Group N Mean Rank Sum of Ranks Parameter Reflection Year 4 68 77.09 5242.00 Mann-Whitney U 1128.500 Reflection Year 1 53 40.36 2139.00 Wilcoxon W 2559.500 Total 121 Z -3.636 Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000 Grouping Variable: Preservice primary teachers. Table 10. Preservice primary teachers’ RCS sub-scale statistics. Reflection reflectively. Table 12 presents data which were on the calculated Mann-Whitney U 708.000 z-value and the approximately calculated statistical Wilcoxon W 2139.000 significance of differences between Year 4 and Year 1 Z -5.750 students. It can be concluded that reflection in Year 4 is Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000 statistically significantly higher than Year 1 (U = Grouping Variable: Preservice primary teachers. 1128.500, Z = -3.636, p = 0.000). This might refer to the idea that curriculum applications or the learning environment until Year 4 might have revealed a statistically significant change in preservice teachers’ Table 11. Preservice primary teachers’ reflection in colleagues and management settings. reflective behaviour in colleagues and management settings. Group N Mean rank Sum of ranks The rank average of reflection scores of Year 4 was Year 4 68 70.90 4821.50 37.34, while the scores in Year 1 had a rank average of 42.50. The rank averages of the scores of Year 4 and Reflection Year 1 53 48.29 2559.50 Year 1 indicate that they had somewhat similar and Total 121 very low reflection levels. The mean scores might mean that there is reflective practice or any curriculum applications leading to reflection or reflective behaviour inferred that they look into possible problematic in math education (Table 13). situations at collegial or management level more The rank average of experienced teachers’ reflection Yaman 443 Table 13. Preservice and experienced math teachers’ reflection. Preservice Year 1-Year 4 Preservice Total and Experienced Group N Mean Rank Sum of Ranks Group N Mean Rank Sum of Ranks Year 4 31 37.34 1157.50 Pre. 80 53.33 4266.50 Reflection Year 1 49 42.50 2082.50 Exp. 56 90.17 5049.50 Total 80 Total 136 Table 14. Preservice and experienced math teachers’ scale statistics. Preservice year 1-Year 4 Preservice total and experienced Parameter Reflection Reflection Mann-Whitney U 661.500 1026.500 Wilcoxon W 1157.500 4266.500 Z -.971 -5.379 Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) 0.331 0.000 a. Grouping Variable: Preservice math b. Grouping Variable: Preservice and teachers experienced math teachers Table 15. Preservice math teachers’ reflection in classroom Table 16. Preservice math teachers’ RCS settings. sub-scale statistics. Group N Mean rank Sum of ranks Parameter Reflection Year 4 31 35.97 1115.00 Mann-Whitney U 619.000 Reflection Year 1 49 43.37 2125.00 Wilcoxon W 1115.000 Total 80 Z -1.394 Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) 0.163 Grouping Variable: Preservice math teachers. scores was 90.17, while the scores of preservice teachers had a rank average of 53.33. The rank averages of the scores of experienced teachers and preservice teachers indicate that they had somewhat 0.000). similar reflection levels. The table indicates the group Table 15 indicates the group with the highest mean with the highest mean rank has the higher reflection rank has no higher reflection scores in classroom scores. In this case, experienced teachers obviously settings. In this case, Year 4 did not have a significant had higher reflection scores. difference in reflection scores in classroom settings. Table 14 reveals that the results of Mann-Whitney U This might be a cumulative result of a variety of factors test for preservice math teachers’ scores in Year 4 and including curriculum itself or curriculum applications Year 1 did not show any statistical difference (Z=0.971; during math teaching education. p=0.331>.05). In other words, it can be stated that An examination of the findings shows that the results reflection in Year 4 is not statistically significantly higher of the Mann-Whitney U test applied to the reflection than Year 1 (U = 661.500, Z = -.971, p = 0.331). The scores of the students in Year 4 and Year 1 did not results support the idea that preservice math teachers reveal a statistically significant difference. It can be do not achieve any reflective behaviour during their inferred that reflection of Year 4 students in classroom education of math teaching. settings is statistically significantly not higher than Year Table 14 reveals that the results of Mann-Whitney U 1 (U = 619.000, Z = -1.394, p = .163). The results might test for preservice math teachers’ scores and refer to a gap between reflective practice and the math experienced math teachers’ scores did elicit a teaching curriculum (Table 16). considerable statistical difference (Z=-5.379; p=0.000). Table 17 indicates Year 4 did not have higher In other words, it can be stated that experienced reflection scores in colleagues and management teachers’ reflection is statistically significantly higher settings than reflection scores of Year 1. Similarly, there than preservice teachers (U = 1026.500, Z = -5.379, p = is no indication reflective practice in colleagues and 444 Educ. Res. Rev. Table 17. Preservice math teachers’ reflection in colleagues practice. and management settings. Table 20 reveals that the results of Mann-Whitney U test for preservice English teachers’ scores and Group N Mean rank Sum of ranks experienced English teachers’ scores did not show any Year 4 31 42.74 1325.00 statistical difference (Z=.518; p=.604>.05). In other Reflection Year 1 49 39.08 1915.00 words, it can be stated that experienced English Total 80 teachers’ reflection is not statistically and significantly higher than preservice English teachers’ reflection (U = 4.595E3, Z = -.518, p = .604). This might mean that in professional life, teachers’ reflective behaviour do not Table 18. Preservice math teachers’ RCMS change significantly in a positive way. sub-scale statistics. Table 21 indicates the group with the highest mean rank has the higher reflection scores in classroom Parameter Reflection settings. In this case, Year 4 had the highest reflection Mann-Whitney U 690.000 scores in classroom settings. However, the mean score Wilcoxon W 1915.000 is pretty low to state a reflective behaviour is being Z -0.729 practiced during the education of English teaching. Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) 0.466 The findings might not be a proof of reflective Grouping Variable: Preservice math teachers behaviour which is directly taught when the mean scores are taken into consideration. Still, the results of the Mann-Whitney U test applied to the reflection scores of the students in Year 4 and Year 1 revealed a management settings for preservice math teachers. statistically significant difference (Table 22). It can be Table 18 presents data on the calculated z-value and inferred that reflection of Year 4 students in classroom the approximately calculated statistical significance of settings is statistically significantly higher than Year 1 differences between Year 4 and Year 1 students. The (U = 826.500, Z = -2.350, p = .019). legend of the table shows that reflection in Year 4 is not Table 23 indicates the group with the highest statistically higher than Year 1 (U = 690.000, Z = -.729, reflection scores is Year 4. Again, the mean scores for p = .466). The results have shown that A Mann-Whitney both groups of preservice teachers are pretty low even U Test showed that Year 4 might have not revealed a though a slight increase is seen for Year 4 preservice statistically significant change in preservice teachers’ English teachers. reflective behaviour in colleagues and management Table 24 presents data on the calculated z-value and settings. the approximately calculated statistical significance of The table gives valuable information because it differences between Year 4 and Year 1 students. The indicates which group can be considered as having the legend of the table shows that reflection in Year 4 is not higher mean rank, namely, the group with the highest statistically higher than Year 1 (U = 1020.000, Z = - reflection scores. In this case, Year 4 had the higher .984, p = .325). The results based on Mann-Whitney U reflection scores. Still, the scores show that there might Test showed that Year 4 might have not revealed a not be a reflection-oriented practice of English teaching statistically significant change in preservice teachers’ education during the process. reflective behaviour in colleagues and management The rank average of experienced teachers’ reflection settings although the mean rank of Year 4 preservice scores was 100.64, while the scores of preservice teachers’ scores is higher than Year 1 preservice teachers had a rank average of 96.45. The rank teachers. This might mean that preservice teachers of averages of the scores of experienced teachers and English are not educated throughout their university life preservice teachers indicate that they had somewhat as reflective practitioners and/or there is no application similar reflection levels. The mean scores do not show or prompts referring to reflective practice in the higher a huge difference between preservice teachers and education English teaching curriculum. experienced teachers. Table 19 gives the statistical The rank average of reflection scores of Year 4 was analysis of the results. 65.03, while the scores in Year 1 had a rank average of From this data, it can be concluded that reflection in 63.78. The rank averages of the scores of Year 4 and Year 4 is statistically significantly higher than Year 1 Year 1 indicate that they had somewhat similar (U = 816.000, Z = -2.422, p = .015). In other words, reflection levels. Preservice Turkish language teachers’ Mann-Whitney U Test showed that Year 4 might have mean scores seem slightly higher than preservice elicited a statistically significant change in preservice English language and Math teachers’ mean scores. English teachers’ reflective behaviour, which might still Additionally, the mean scores between Year 1 and Year not be sufficient (55.75) for an effective reflective 4 preservice teachers seem close to each other. Yaman 445 Table 19. Preservice and experienced English language teachers’ reflection. Preservice Year 1-Year 4 Preservice Total and Experienced Group N Mean Rank Sum of Ranks Group N Mean Rank Sum of Ranks Year 4 64 55.75 3568.00 Pre. 100 96.45 9645.00 Reflection Year 1 36 41.17 1482.00 Exp. 96 100.64 9661.00 Total 100 Total 196 Table 20. Preservice and experienced English language teachers’ scale statistics. Preservice Year 1-Year 4 Preservice Total and Experienced Parameter Reflection Reflection Mann-Whitney U 816.000 4.595E3 Wilcoxon W 1.482E3 9.645E3 Z -2.422 -0.518 Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) 0.015 0.604 a. Grouping Variable: Preservice b. Grouping Variable: Preservice and English language teachers experienced English language teachers Table 21. Preservice English teachers’ reflection in classroom Table 24. Preservice English teachers’ RCMS settings. sub-scale statistics. Group N Mean Rank Sum of Ranks Parameter Reflection Year 4 64 55.59 3557.50 Mann-Whitney U 1020.000 Reflection Year 1 36 41.46 1492.50 Wilcoxon W 1686.000 Total 100 Z -0.984 Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) 0.325 Grouping Variable: Preservice English teachers. Table 22. Preservice English teachers’ RCS sub-scale statistics. Parameter Reflection averages of the scores of experienced teachers and Mann-Whitney U 826.500 preservice teachers indicate that they had similar Wilcoxon W 1492.500 reflection levels (Table 25). Z -2.350 Table 26 reveals that the results of Mann-Whitney U Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .019 test for preservice Turkish language teachers’ scores in Grouping Variable: Preservice English teachers. Year 4 and Year 1 did not show any statistical difference (Z=.189; p=.850>.05). In other words, it can be stated that reflection in Year 4 is statistically not significantly higher than Year 1 (U = 1.959E3, Z = -.189, Table 23. Preservice English teachers’ reflection in p = .850). As might be inferred from the mean scores, colleagues and management settings. the scores indicate that there is no or little evidence of Group N Mean Rank Sum of Ranks applications through reflective practice or behaviour in higher education Turkish language teaching curriculum. Year 4 64 52.56 3364 Table 26 reveals that the results of Mann-Whitney U Reflection Year 1 36 46.83 1686 test for preservice math teachers’ scores in Year 4 and Total 100 Year 1 did not show any statistical difference (Z=.087; p=.931>.05). In other words, it can be stated that reflection in Year 4 is statistically not significantly higher The rank average of experienced teachers’ reflection than Year 1 (U = 5.575E3, Z = -.087, p = .931). scores was 111.94, while the scores of preservice Table 27 indicates that the mean scores for classroom teachers had a rank average of 111.18. The rank settings are very similar to the ones for total reflection 446 Educ. Res. Rev. Table 25. Preservice and experienced Turkish language teachers’ reflection. Preservice Year 1-Year 4 Preservice Total and Experienced Group N Mean Rank Sum of Ranks Group N Mean Rank Sum of Ranks Year 4 74 65.03 4812.00 Pre. 128 111.18 14231.00 Reflection Year 1 54 63.78 3444.00 Exp. 94 111.94 10522.00 Total 128 Total 222 Table 26. Preservice and experienced English language teachers’ scale statistics. Preservice year 1-Year 4 Preservice total and experienced Parameter Reflection Reflection Mann-Whitney U 1.959E3 5.575E3 Wilcoxon W 3444E3 1.423E4 Z -.189 -.087 Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) 0.850 0.931 a. Grouping Variable: Preservice Turkish b. Grouping Variable: Preservice and language teachers experienced Turkish language teachers Table 27. Preservice Turkish teachers’ reflection in classroom settings. Group N Mean Rank Sum of Ranks Year 4 74 65.58 4853.00 Reflection Year 1 54 63.02 3403.00 Total 128 Table 28. Preservice Turkish teachers’ RCS sub- difference in reflection scores in classroom settings. scale statistics. This result supports the idea that there is no or little evidence of applications through reflective practice or Parameter Reflection behaviour in higher education Turkish teaching Mann-Whitney U 1918.000 curriculum. Wilcoxon W 3403.000 It can be inferred that reflection of Year 4 students in Z -.388 classroom settings is statistically significantly not higher Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .698 than Year 1 (U = 1918.000, Z = -.388, p = .698). An Grouping Variable: Preservice Turkish teachers. examination of the findings shows that the results of the Mann-Whitney U test applied to the reflection scores of the students in Year 4 and Year 1 did not reveal a statistically significant difference. This result also proves Table 29. Pre-service Turkish teachers’ reflection in colleagues and management settings. that there is no change in reflective behaviour of preservice Turkish teachers (Table 28). Group N Mean Rank Sum of Ranks Table 29 indicates Year 4 did not have higher reflection scores in colleagues and management Year 4 74 63.75 4717.50 settings than reflection scores of Year 1. An inference Reflection Year 1 54 65.53 3538.050 might be made on higher education curriculum that the Total 128 curriculum does not focus on any settings of colleagues and management. Table 30 presents data on the calculated z-value and scores. They show that the group with the highest mean the approximately calculated statistical significance of rank has no higher reflection scores in classroom differences between Year 4 and Year 1 students. The settings. In this case, Year 4 did not have a significant legend of the table shows that reflection in Year 4 is not Yaman 447 Table 30. Pre-service Turkish teachers’ RCMS ongoing discussion/s about the constituents of teacher sub-scale statistics. education process. Teacher education institutions should employ reflective practices; the teacher Parameter Reflection candidates should be guided on how to reflect on their Mann-Whitney U 1942.500 experiences-simply with Schön’s construct of “reflection- Wilcoxon W 4717.500 in-action” (Schön, 1983). Z -.274 Next, preservice and experienced primary teachers’ Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .784 reflection scores seem higher than the ones from other Grouping Variable: Preservice Turkish teachers subject areas (mean=112.74 for preservice teachers and 114.16 for experienced teachers), and there is no significant difference between these two groups. This might mean that these two groups keep their reflective statistically higher than Year 1 (U = 1942.500, Z = - attitude and practice reflection-oriented teaching in 0.274, p = 0.784). The results based on Mann-Whitney time. Preservice and experienced math teachers’ results U Test showed that Year 4 might have not revealed a demonstrate that the scores of experienced math statistically significant change in preservice teachers’ teachers revealed a statistically significant difference at reflective behaviour in colleagues and management a meaningful level (p=000). This result might mean that settings. math teachers’ experiences in classroom settings and The comparisons made between Year 1 and Year 4 colleague, and management settings might lead them preservice teachers lead the way to see evidence of to develop reflective skills in their practices in time even reflective behaviour in actual teaching practices after if the mean score of preservice math teachers’ reflection graduation. A comparison between preservice teachers seems too low (mean=37.34) while experienced and experienced teachers would be an indicative of teachers of English, science, Turkish, and primary reflective practice, which might be developed in natural education do not reflect on their practices, or their level teaching environments of teaching with the help of the of reflection does not show any significant difference in nature of teaching environments and other extraneous time. almost no indication of reflective teaching in higher Further studies might be held on reflection for larger education practices. In order to see evidence of samples in an experimental design to produce more reflective practice, a comparison between preservice knowledge on reflection, the effect of reflective and experienced teachers’ scores could be found in the teaching, and the change in teacher behavior and/or following tables based on the subject areas. It can be beliefs. This might lead decision makers to conclusive seen that the total scores were analyzed and the long-term organizational decisions on putting reflection comparisons between the total scores were made and and reflective teaching into curricula of undergraduate examined for the study. Reflection scores for classroom studies and disciplines of teacher education. settings and reflection scores for colleague and management settings were not included in analyses because of the data loss. Conflict of interests The author has not declared any conflicts of interest. Conclusion The findings and results give interesting evidence that REFERENCES experienced teachers of English language, science, Adler S (1991). The reflective practitioner and the curriculum of Turkish language, and primary education did not attain teacher education. J. Educ. Teach. 17(2):139-150. higher reflection when compared to preservice teachers Akcan S (2010). 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Received 08 February, 2016; Accepted 10 March, 2016 The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of using dynamic geometry software on pre- service mathematics teachers’ spatial visualization skills and to determine whether spatial visualization skills can be a predictor of success in learning analytic geometry of space. The study used a quasi- experimental design with a control group. There were 46 students in the experimental group and 48 students in the control group. The Purdue Spatial Visualization Test (PSVT) was applied as both pre- and post-test to measure the students’ spatial visualization skills. Furthermore, the Prior Knowledge Test (PKT) was administered at the beginning of the study to measure their prior knowledge, and the Academic Achievement Test (AAT) was used to evaluate their ability in analytic geometry of space. The results of the study showed that using dynamic geometry software was effective for improving students’ spatial visualization skills. It was also found that spatial visualization skills are a significant predictor of success in spatial analytic geometry. Key words: Spatial visualization, dynamic geometry software, spatial analytic geometry, success. INTRODUCTION Geometry is the branch of mathematics that deals with However, the physical world cannot be explained by two- point, line, plane, space, spatial figures and the dimensional geometry alone, because everything around relationships among these. Baki (2008) summarizes the us has a three-dimensional geometric shape. Therefore, general objectives of geometry education as recognizing it is considerably important to study three-dimensional the properties of geometric shapes in plane and space, geometry to achieve this aim. exploring the relationships among them, defining the The field of geometry consists of several sub-branches. locus, explaining their transformations and proving One of these branches is analytic geometry, which unites geometrical propositions. These are the key objectives of algebra and geometric concepts. Descartes, who is both two-dimensional and three-dimensional geometry. In known as the founder of analytic geometry, argued that fact, within these general objectives, the main purpose is the concept of coordinates in geometry, which are based to understand and explain the physical world around us. on the idea of a point, can be represented by numbers. E-mail: [email protected]. Authors agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License 450 Educ. Res. Rev. Since the time of Descartes, analysis proper and consists of the comprehension of the arrangement of geometry have continued to develop side by side (Young, elements within a visual stimulus pattern and the aptitude 1909). Today, various sub-branches of analytic geometry to keep track of the changing orientation in which a are also recognized. spatial configuration may be presented (p. 893). On the Analytic geometry dealing with both the algebraic and other hand, Linn and Petersen (1985) examined spatial geometric forms of geometric shapes in coordinate ability according to three main factors: spatial perception, systems can be conceptually studied according to two mental rotation and spatial visualization. In their view, main categories: planar and spatial analytic geometry spatial perception comprises an individual’s ability to (Ertekin, 2014). While the analytical examination of point, determine spatial relationships with respect to the line and planar shapes is discussed in terms of planar orientation of his or her own body in spite of distracting analytic geometry, spatial analytic geometry deals with information. Mental rotation, moreover, consists of the point, line, plane and three-dimensional shapes in space. capacity to rapidly and accurately rotate an object on a The main topics in spatial analytic geometry include plane or in space; while spatial visualization involves coordinate systems, vectors, planes and lines in space, complicated and multi-step manipulations of spatial and surfaces. Understanding all of these complex con- information. Thus, spatial visualization tasks may include cepts requires well-developed three-dimensional thinking the use of spatial perception and mental rotation skills. skills. Maier (1996)’s description of spatial ability goes further, Namely, three-dimensional thinking is required in order defining five distinct elements: spatial perception, to visualize three-dimensional objects in the mind and visualization, mental rotation, spatial relations and spatial perform mathematical operations on them. As such, this orientation. The skill of spatial perception is required to skill is especially important for the teaching of three- determine the location of the horizontal or the vertical in dimensional geometry, because understanding and spite of distracting information, while visualization refers interpreting the two-dimensional views of three to the ability to visualize a configuration in which there is dimensional objects found in textbooks necessitates movement or displacement among its parts. Furthermore, three-dimensional thinking ability. In this respect, Ertekin Maier’s view of mental rotation involves rotating a two- or (2014) points out that three-dimensional thinking has three-dimensional figure rapidly and accurately in the special significance in spatial reasoning, which involves mind; and the term spatial relations refers to the ability to the location and movement of objects and ourselves, comprehend the spatial configuration of objects or parts either mentally or physically, in space (National Research of objects and their relation to each other. Finally, spatial Council, 2006). In other words, visualizing the movement orientation means the ability to orient oneself physically of objects and manipulating them mentally requires well- or mentally in space. Among all of these differing developed spatial ability. interpretations, the element of spatial ability that they The literature on spatial ability has introduced various have in common is spatial visualization; this skill involves terms for this skill, including spatial sense, spatial insight, mental visualization of the manipulations of objects by and spatial reasoning; but there is little consensus on the means of the translation, rotation, opening and reversing definitions of these (Bishop, 1980; Pellegrino et al., 1984; of an object. Grande, 1990; Bennie and Smit, 1999). Moreover, the Spatial visualization skills are critical for many different definition of spatial ability itself varies according to disciplines such as science, technology, engineering and different scholars. Linn and Petersen (1985), for instance, mathematics (Uttal and Cohen, 2012). Well-developed defined spatial ability in terms of the mental processes spatial visualization skills are needed for to be successful used in perceiving, storing, recalling, creating, arranging in those domains. Numerous researches showed that and relating spatial images. On the other hand, Lohman spatial visualization skills are related with success in (1993) defined spatial ability as the capacity to generate, mathematics and geometry (Panaoura et al., 2007; retain, retrieve, and transform well-structured visual Rohde, 2007; Meyer et al., 2010; Turgut and Yılmaz, images. Smith (2009), furthermore, in stressing that there 2012). Moreover, some researches stated that spatial are numerous definitions for spatial ability, characterized visualization is more related to geometry more than it as being able to view, conceive, and manipulate objects mathematics (Battista, 1990; Grande, 1990; Karaman, or ideas within the mind’s eye. 2000). Spatial visualization plays an important role in Given this disparity in the definitions of spatial ability, learning geometry because of requiring the interpretation no standardized classification of its components has of visual information. Yenilmez and Kakmaci (2015) been agreed upon; however, researchers from a range of stated that the forming of a geometrical shape in space in disciplines have defined several elements that make up two or three dimensions mentally and look from different this skill. According to McGee (1979), for instance, there points of view, spatial visualization is the most important are two main factors: spatial visualization and spatial part of geometrical thinking. orientation. In this respect, spatial visualization refers to Spatial visualization involves mental visualization of the the ability to mentally manipulate, rotate, twist or invert a manipulations of objects by means of the translation, pictorially presented stimulus; while spatial orientation rotation, opening and reversing of an object. These skills Kösa 451 are integral to the study of geometry; and in this sense, dimensional software may help to enhance students’ traditional geometry instruction has experienced a ability to understand and interpret three-dimensional revolution through the use of technology in mathematics dynamic geometric structures in the study of analytic education. In traditional geometry teaching, static geometry of space. Earlier studies related to three- drawings of three-dimensional objects on two- dimensional dynamic geometry software have generally dimensional paper may be incomplete, thus causing focused on their use in teaching analytic geometry (Kösa erroneous perceptions; and even if the drawings are and Karakuş, 2010; Ertekin, 2014; Baltacı et al., 2015) perfectly executed, it is impossible to see the and developing spatial visualization skills (Chirstou et al., configurations of objects from different angles, due to the 2007; Oldknow and Tetlow, 2008; Güven and Kösa, static nature of a drawing (Kösa, 2011). Several studies 2008; Baki et al., 2011). For instance, Kösa and Karakuş have revealed that students have difficulties in interpreting used Cabri 3D for teaching line equations in space and static diagrams representing three-dimensional geometric found that the program is potentially very useful for objects as a result of these limitations (Parzysz, 1988; teaching spatial analytic geometry. Similarly, Ertekin Bako, 2003; Accassina and Rogaro, 2006; Baki et al., (2014) investigated whether Cabri 3D was effective for 2008). the teaching of special planes in analytic geometry and The emergence of dynamic geometry software (DGS) demonstrated that Cabri 3D is an effective tool for has brought about a significant change in the way that identifying the equations of special planes and their geometry subjects are taught. The term DGS refers to normal vectors and for drawing their graphs. In addition, specialized geometry software such as Cabri 2D and 3D; Baltacı et al. (2015) explored the potential of GeoGebra Geometer’s Sketchpad; GeoGebra; and so on. This for teaching analytic geometry concepts and found that software provides an environment in which students can using dynamic mathematics software while studying explore geometric relationships and make and test analytic geometry offered convenience for prospective conjectures (Baki et al., 2011). Because of this feature, mathematics teachers. using three-dimensional DGS in teaching three- Some researchers have also implemented training dimensional geometry could facilitate dynamic programs using 3D dynamic geometry software to visualization of three-dimensional shapes; and thus, improve spatial visualization skills and found that such according to De Villiers (1996), DGS has been the most programs were successful in developing spatial significant innovation in geometry instruction since the visualization skills (Chirstou et al., 2007; Oldknow and time of Euclid. Tetlow, 2008). Furthermore, Kösa and Güven (2008) One of the most notable three-dimensional dynamic used Cabri 3D to teach solid geometry and showed that geometry software programs is known as GeoGebra. using Cabri 3D developed prospective mathematics This program offers a combination of both algebraic and teachers’ spatial visualization skills. Arıcı and Aslan- graphic representations of geometric structure through Tutak (2015) examined the effect of origami-based 2D or 3D graphics interfaces, as well as an algebra geometry instruction on spatial visualization, geometry interface. The 2D graphic interface allows for the achievement, and geometric reasoning of tenth-grade construction of planar figures, in addition to performing students. measurements such as angle, length and area associated The results of their study showed that origami-based with these figures. Furthermore, the 3D graphic interface instruction had a significant effect on spatial visualization, allows to users to construct lines, vectors, planes and geometry achievement and geometric reasoning. solids such as prisms, pyramids and cones on the Karaman and Toğrol (2009) investigated the relationship screen; these can be viewed from different rotations by between gender, spatial visualization, spatial orientation, dragging them on-screen. Moreover, users can perform flexibility or speed of closure abilities and the vector operations such as vector sum, cross product and performances related to the plane geometry subject of dot product. The coordinates of a point or vector and the the sixth grade students. equations of a line, plane or sphere in space can also be Their results demonstrated that the three predictor represented on the screen (Kösa and Karakuş, 2010); yet variables explained the 35 percent of the variance in the most distinctive feature of GeoGebra that plane geometry test scores. Abu-Mustafa (2010) differentiates it from other 3D software programs is the examined the relationship between spatial ability and input bar. For example, if the algebraic equation of a 2D mathematics achievement of sixth grade students. The or 3D shape is entered in the input bar, the geometric results showed that there was a positive correlation representation of the shape can be seen in the 2D or 3D between mathematics achievement and students’ spatial graphic interfaces. Thus, any algebraic expression’s ability. Although there were many studies about spatial geometric representation can be seen easily. As an visualization and plane geometry, spatial analytic additional feature, GeoGebra users can observe how geometry and spatial visualization skills together was less geometric shapes are affected when the parameters of studied. Moreover, there is no evidence of any research algebraic expressions are changed. intended for revealing whether spatial visualization skills Because of the benefits previously described, three- can be a predictor of success in analytic geometry of space. 452 Educ. Res. Rev. Figure 1. The examples of PKT and AAT test items The purpose and research problems of the study There are 57 students in Class A and 59 students in Class B. Random assignment was used to determine the experimental and The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of control groups. Thus, Class A is assigned as control group and Class B is assigned as experimental group. However, nine students using the three-dimensional dynamic geometry software from control group (Class A) and thirteen students from program GeoGebra on the spatial visualization skills of experimental group (Class B) were eliminated from the sample pre-service mathematics teachers who were studying because they did not take either the pre-test or the post-test. Thus, analytic geometry of space. Another aim was to reveal 46 students were placed in the experimental group, and the control whether spatial visualization skills could be a predictor of group consisted of 48 students. success in analytic geometry of space. Thus, the following research questions were addressed: Data collection 1. Does using the dynamic geometry software program The data were obtained from three different tests. The first two – GeoGebra help students to develop their spatial the Prior Knowledge Test (PKT) and the Academic Achievement visualization skills? Test (AAT) – were developed by the researcher. The PKT is a 2. Could spatial visualization skills be a predictor of multiple choice test that measures students’ prior knowledge related to analytic geometry of space. The test consists of 20 success in analytic geometry of space? multiple-choice items relating to coordinate systems and transformations in the plane, vectors and vector operations in the plane, and equations of line in the plane. The AAT is also a 20-item METHODOLOGY multiple choice test that includes questions related to analytic geometry of space. The PKT and AAT were administered with 94 A quasi-experimental research design was used in this study, which students; the reliability of the tests in terms of the Cronbach alpha was carried out with one experimental and one control group. internal consistency coefficient were 0.86 for the PKT and 0.82 for Quasi-experimental methods that involve the creation of a the AAT. In addition, two colleagues examined the PKT and AAT comparison group are most often used when it is not possible to for content validity and reported that the test items were suitable for randomize individuals or groups into treatment and control groups measuring the objectives. The first problem provides an example of (White and Sabarwal, 2014). the PKT test items, and the second one illustrates an example of New teaching strategies can be effective practices in studies that the AAT test items in Figure 1. measure one group with a pre-test, implement a treatment Aside from these two instruments, the Purdue Spatial manipulation, and then measure the same variable with a post-test Visualization Test (PSVT) was used to measure the participants’ (Cohen et al., 2007). The author of this study chose this method in spatial visualization skills. The test was developed by Guay (1980) order to determine the effects of using dynamic mathematics and consists of 36 multiple choice items in three sections software on pre-service mathematics teachers’ spatial visualization (Developments, Rotations and Views). The questions in the skills within the context of a course in analytic geometry. Developments section require the identification of a closed shape that is given as the open view of a solid. In the Rotations section, students are asked to determine the position of a solid after rotation Participants on a given axis and angling. The questions in the Views section require defining the view of a solid from a given viewpoint. The The participants were 116 pre-service mathematics teachers in the PSVT, which is commonly used to determine spatial visualization second year of the undergraduate programme in the Department of skills, was reported by Guay (1980) to have an internal consistency Elementary Mathematics Education at the Karadeniz Technical coefficient (KR-20) of 0.89. On the other hand, Sorby and University. Each participant was enrolled in Analytic Geometry Baartmans (1996) calculated an internal consistency coefficient of course in the fall semester of the 2015-2016 academic year. All 0.80. Figure 2 provides examples from each section of the test. participants took the Euclidean Geometry course in the first year of their undergraduate program. The Department of Elementary Mathematics Education at the Procedure Karadeniz Technical University has two branches: Class A and Class B. The academic achievement of both classes is equivalent. At the beginning of the study, the students in both groups took the Kösa 453 Figure 2. (a) shows a Development section question; (b) shows a Rotation section question; (c) shows a View section question. Figure 3. A view of students in the experimental group engaged in learning. PSVT and the PKT. Then, following the pre-tests, the experimental them (Figure 3). group received instruction in a computer laboratory. Before the Meanwhile, the students in the control group took the course in a treatment, the students in the experimental group received a three- standard classroom according to a teacher-centered instructional hour training on using GeoGebra’s basic commands and menu format. The teacher drew figures related to spatial analytic functions. During the instructional period, computers were shared geometry on a blackboard and gave explanations about them, by pairs of students. The students in experimental group studied occasionally asking the students questions. The students in the spatial analytic geometry using the GeoGebra program, along with control group solved problems individually. guidance from the researcher, who was also the course instructor. Throughout the course, which consisted of 3 hours per week over During the treatment, the students constructed some basic a 10-week period, the same topics in spatial analytic geometry were geometric forms on their computers and made observations about taught in both the experimental and the control group by the same 454 Educ. Res. Rev. Table 1. The content of the course. Week Course content 1st week Coordinate systems in space (Cartesian and Cylindrical coordinate systems) 2nd week Coordinate systems in space (Spherical and Polar coordinate systems) 3rd week Vectors in space and basic operations with vectors 4th week The dot product, the cross product and the volume of a parallelepiped 5th week Forms of the equation of a line, angle between two lines, distance from a point to a line 6th week The positions of two lines in relation to each other, the distance between two non-intersecting lines th Symmetries according to a line (Symmetry of a point according to a line in space, symmetry of a line according to 7 week another line in space) th Equation of a plane, intercept form of the equation of a plane, reduction of the equation of a plane to the normal form, 8 week special plane equations th Angle between two planes, distance to a point from a plane, the positions of a line and a plane in space, the positions 9 week of two planes to each other 10th week Symmetries according to a plane (Symmetry of a point according to a plane, symmetry of a line according to a plane) Table 2. Descriptive statistics and independent t-test between the experimental and control group for the PKT results of the students’ PKT scores before the treatment. (t=.53, p>.05). This means that the groups were similar in ability at the beginning of the study. According to Table 3, N Mean SD t p moreover, the independent t-test results indicated no Experimental 46 73.91 10.26 0.53 0.59 significant difference in the mean scores of each group Control 48 72.60 13.28 for the Developments section of the PSVT (t=.38, p>.05), the Rotation section of the PSVT (t=-.49, p>.05), the Views section of the PSVT (t=-.18, p>.05) and the overall PSVT (t=-.10, p<.05). This shows that there were no teacher. The content of the course is presented in Table 1. After the treatment, all of the students took the AAT in order to statistically significant differences between the spatial determine whether there was a difference between the achievement visualization skills of the students in either group at the levels of the experimental and control group. At the end of the beginning of the study. course, the students also took the PSVT. After the treatment, the students took the academic achievement test (AAT) related to the course content. Table 4 shows the descriptive statistics and independent Data analysis t-test results for the data obtained from the AAT. Before the data analysis, it was examined whether the data are According to Table 4, the independent t-test results normally distributed. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov normality test showed no significant difference in the mean scores showed that the data was in accordance with the normal distribution. between the experimental and control groups for the AAT Independent sample t-tests were used to determine whether there (t=.75, p>.05). This means that the method applied in the were differences between the experimental and control group in terms of the PKT and PSVT administered at the beginning of the experimental group was not more effective in terms of study. Additionally, analysis of covariance and a paired sample t- students’ understanding of the course content. test were used to determine whether the intervention had a positive The students in both groups also took the same PSVT effect on students’ spatial visualization skills. After the treatment, an test following the treatment. The descriptive statistics for independent t-test was used to determine whether there was a the data obtained from the post-treatment PSVT are significant difference between the students’ academic achievement, presented in Table 5. and multiple linear regression analysis was used to predict the impact of academic achievement (dependent variable) on spatial As Table 5 demonstrates, the means of both groups’ analytic geometry using preliminary knowledge and spatial test scores increased after the treatment. In order to visualization skills (independent variables). determine whether there was a significant difference in the post-test PSVT scores for the experimental and control groups, while controlling for their pre-test scores RESULTS on the same test, an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was performed. Table 6 presents the results of the At the beginning of the study, the PKT and PSVT were ANCOVA related to the subsections of PSVT and the administered to both groups as a pre-test. Tables 2 and 3 overall PSVT. illustrate the descriptive statistics and independent t-test The ANCOVA results showed that there is was no results for the data obtained from the pretests. significant mean difference in the gain scores of the As seen in Table 2, the independent t-test results students in experimental and control group with respect showed no significant difference in the mean scores to the Developments section of the PSVT (F[1.93]=0.935, Kösa 455 Table 3. Descriptive statistics and independent t-test results of the students’ PSVT scores before the treatment. Groups Experimental Group Control Group Measures N Mean SD N Mean SD t p Developments 46 7.13 1.61 48 6.97 2.20 0.38 0.705 Rotations 5.80 1.37 5.97 2.01 -.49 0.623 Views 5.63 1.16 5.70 2.60 -.18 0.851 Total PSVT 18.56 2.87 18.66 6.02 -.10 0.917 Table 4. Descriptive statistics and independent t-test results of the students’ AAT scores after the treatment. N Mean SD t p Experimental 46 78.04 11.37 0.75 0.45 Control 48 75.93 15.42 Table 5. Descriptive statistics of students’ PSVT scores after the intervention. Groups Experimental Group Control Group Measures N Mean SD N Mean SD Developments 46 7.43 2.07 48 7.16 2.43 Rotations 7.89 1.56 6.14 2.31 Views 7.15 1.42 5.83 2.87 Total PSVT 22.47 3.43 19.14 6.81 Table 6. Covariance analysis results for each section of PSVT for groups. Measures F Df p Partial Eta Squared Developments 0.935 1 0.336 0.010 Rotations 6.048 1 0.016 0.063 Views 9.048 1 0.003 0.091 Total PSVT 3.439 1 0.037 0.047 p=0.336), where the Developments section of the PSVT partial eta square, was 0.091; this would again be pre-test was used as a covariate. However, there was a considered as an important effect. In addition, the significant mean difference in the gain scores of the ANCOVA results revealed a significant mean difference students in the experimental group and control group with in the gain scores of the students in the experimental respect to the Rotations section of the PSVT group and control group with respect to the total PSVT (F[1.93]=6.048, p=0.016), where the Rotations section of (F[1.93]=3.439, p=0.037). The effect size, which was the pre-test was used as covariate. The effect size, which 0.047, would be considered as moderate in this instance. was calculated using partial eta square as 0.063, would Given the eta squared values for the experimental be considered important according to the guidelines group, we can conclude that there was a moderate effect proposed by Cohen (1988) (small effects = .01; moderate in the Rotations and Views sections, as well as the effects =.06; moderate effects; large effects = .14). The overall PSVT scores, that were obtained before and after ANCOVA results also indicated a significant mean the treatment. difference in the gain scores of the students in the Multiple regression Table 7 shows the results of this experimental group and control group with respect to the analysis was then employed to disclose whether spatial Views section of the PSVT (F[1.93]=9.048, p=0.003), visualization skills and preliminary knowledge related to where the Views section of the pre-test was used as plane analytic geometry were effective in predicting covariate. The effect size, which was calculated using achievement in spatial analytic geometry. 456 Educ. Res. Rev. Table 7. Regression analysis results related to prediction of academic achievement in analytic geometry. Variable B Standard Error t p Binary r Partial r Constant 19.745 3.885 5.083 0.000 PKT 1.589 0.174 0.662 9.125 0.000 0.894 0.691 PSVT 0.331 0.083 0.289 3.984 0.000 0.820 0.385 R=0.911, R2=0.829. p<0.01. As a result of the regression analysis, it can be said skills (Olkun, 2003; Chirstou et al., 2007; Oldknow and that preliminary knowledge related to plane analytic Tetlow, 2008). However, the instruction used in the geometry (PKT) and spatial visualization skill (PSVT) present study was not directly designed to improve variables had an effect on success in spatial analytic spatial visualization skills. geometry. The preliminary knowledge and spatial Some studies showed that spatial visualization skills visualization skill variables together explain 82% of can be developed by proper instructions by using success in spatial analytic geometry. According to the different types of concrete materials (Arıcı and Aslan- standardized regression coefficients, the predictor Tutak, 2015; Baki et al., 2011). Folding paper exercises variables’ order of importance is PKT ( =0.662) and (such as origami) related with geometry or physical manipulatives (such as models of geometric objects) PSVT ( =0.289) respectively. On examining the provide students a direct experience to develop their significance of the tests’ regression coefficients, it can be spatial skills by manipulating, rotating, twisting or seen that the predictor variables of PKT and PSVT inverting the objects. Several studies have also shown variables, with a level of p<0.01, are significant predictors that spatial visualization skills can be developed using of success in spatial analytic geometry. computer software (Sorby and Baartmans, 1996; Olkun, 2003; Christou et al., 2007). However, the software used in these studies was two-dimensional or these studies DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION focused on two-dimensional Euclidean geometry. There are some studies which used three-dimensional software One of the main purposes of this study was to investigate to develop spatial visualization (Accassina and Rogaro, whether using the three-dimensional dynamic geometry 2006; Kurtulus and Uygan, 2010; Güven and Kösa, software program GeoGebra in teaching analytic 2008). But none of these studies were related with spatial geometry of space could promote pre-service analytic geometry. In the present study, it was found that mathematics teachers’ spatial visualization skills. The spatial visualization skills can be improved using 3D descriptive statistics for the PSVT pre- and post-tests dynamic geometry software specifically in the context of showed an increase in both groups. Furthermore, to studying analytic geometry of space. This is the most determine whether there was a significant difference in important contribution to the literature. the PSVT post-test scores for the experimental and In the relevant literature, a number of other studies control groups, while controlling for their pre-test scores have shown that three-dimensional dynamic geometry on the same test, an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) software can help to develop spatial ability (Oldknow and was performed. The ANCOVA results indicated that while Tetlow, 2008; Güven and Kösa, 2009; Baki et al., 2011). there is no significant mean difference in the gain scores In this respect, the feature that enables the construction of the students in the experimental and control groups and animation of three-dimensional shapes on a two- with respect to the Developments section of the PSVT, dimensional screen could be a key factor in the there were significant mean differences in their gain development of spatial visualization skills. This possibility scores with respect to the Rotations and the Views is supported by the frequent use of implementations such sections, as well as the overall PSVT. as rotating and imagining views from different While studying spatial analytic geometry in the perspectives in training programs that are directly treatment, the experimental group students performed designed to improve spatial skills. However, the students implementations such as rotating planes in space and in the present study developed spatial visualization skills observing the geometric structures from the different in the process of studying analytic geometry of space viewpoints using GeoGebra. The differences in their using GeoGebra software. This means that spatial scores may stem from these implementations. In this visualization skills can be developed using dynamic sense, a number of previous studies have demonstrated geometry software in the context of a geometry course. that instruction using computer-based 3D visualizations Many mathematics educators have asserted that prior can assist learners in developing spatial visualization knowledge is extremely important to success in learning Kösa 457 any topic in mathematics. The importance of prior spatial visualisation skills of pre-service mathematics teachers. Brit. knowledge cannot be denied, of course; however, the J. Educ. Tech. 42(2):291-310. Bako M (2003). Different projecting methods in teaching spatial results of this study suggest that success in spatial geometry. In: Mariotti, M. A. (Ed.) Proceedings of the Third analytic geometry cannot be explained by this factor Conference of the European Society for Research in Mathematics alone. Namely, the multi-regression analysis that was Education, Department of Mathematics of the University of Pisa, Italy. implemented in this case showed that both prior Available at: http://www.dm.unipi.it/~didattica/CERME3/proceedings/Groups/TG7/ knowledge and spatial visualization skills together TG7_Bako_cerme3.pdf. explained 82% of success in spatial analytic geometry. In Baltacı S, Yıldız A, Kösa T (2015). Analitik Geometri Öğretiminde other words, in addition to prior knowledge, spatial GeoGebra Yazılımının Potansiyeli: Öğretmen Adaylarının Görüşleri. visualization skills are also a significant predictor for Turkish J. Com. Math. Educ. 6(3):483-505. Battista MT (1990). Spatial visualization and gender differences in high success in spatial analytic geometry. On the other hand, school geometry. J. Res. Math. 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Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Utah State University, Utah. Available at: http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1256&cont ext=etd. Vol. 11(7), pp. 459-465, 10 April, 2016 DOI: 10.5897/ERR2016.2691 Article Number: A440DDD57827 ISSN 1990-3839 Educational Research and Reviews Copyright © 2016 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article http://www.academicjournals.org/ERR Full Length Research Paper High school students’ attitudes towards smart board use in Biology classes İ. Ümit YAPICI1 and Ferit KARAKOYUN2 1Department of Biology Education, Dicle University Faculty of Education, Diyarbakır, Turkey 2Department of Computer and Instructional Technology Education, Dicle University Faculty of Education,Diyarbakır, Turkey. Received 09 February, 2016; Accepted 9 March, 2016 The present study aimed at determining high school students’ attitudes towards smart board use in biology classes. The study was carried out using the survey model. The study group was made up of 200 high school students. As the data collection tool, the “Student Attitude Scale for Smart Board Use” developed by Elaziz was used. The reliability coefficient of the scale was 0.78, and it was calculated as 0.87 in the present study. The results of data analyses revealed that the students demonstrated positive attitudes in general. Consequently, it could be stated that smart board use in biology classes allows understanding of subjects more easily and rapidly, avoiding time consumption and increasing students’ motivation and interest via visual elements. The students’ attitude scores did not differ statistically with respect to the variables of “gender” and “smart board use time”. Key words: Biology, smart board, attitude. INTRODUCTION Today, ways of accessing information have changed and England. Between 2003 and 2005, smart boards were varied in line with technological developments. This rapid used in classrooms in England thanks to a budget of 50 change has not only influenced all areas of life but million pounds. A study carried out in 2007 revealed that affected and transformed the education system as well. the smart board system was used in all the elementary Adaptation of our education system to the changes will schools and 98% of the secondary schools in England be possible if it meets the expectations and fits the (Lai, 2010). This change also attracted attention in other developing and changing technology. Traditional class countries in Europe. In our country, “FATIH Project environments are being replaced gradually by new (Movement of Enhancing Opportunities and Improving learning environments. In other words, instead of the Technology)” could be given as an example. Within the chalk and black board used previously, today white scope of this project, the Ministry of National Education boards and smart boards are in use (Elmas et al., 2012; tries to equip all classrooms with a smart board, projector, Tarman, 2011). wired Internet connection and a tablet computer for all Among the countries leading the use of smart board is students and teachers and aims at accomplishing this in *Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]. Authors agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License 460 Educ. Res. Rev. a five-year period oftime. With this project, it will instructional technologies in biology lessons. Well- eventually be possible for a total of 40 thousands of prepared pictures, three-dimensional models, animations schools and 620 thousands of classrooms to access and interactive environments all help understand the information technologies, and the necessary trainings for target information easily (Çömlekçioğlu and Bayraktaroğlu, effective use of these technologies will be given (Ministry 2001). Schut (2007), in her study, reported that the use of of National Education, 2011). the smart board increases the students’ understanding of Although there are many types of interactive boards biology. Therefore, smart board use could be said to be (smart boards) with different hardware features, they can, quite important for effective teaching of biology. in their nature, be defined as tools that present the Review of the related literature revealed that there is no educational content with its multimedia features to research conducted to examine students’ attitudes students thanks to the computer, software and a project. towards smart board use in biology lessons. It is thought The concept of interaction found in its name refers to the that the present study will contribute to the related physical activity of students using the hardware as well literature in the field. In this respect, the purpose of this as to cooperative learning opportunities (Higgins et al., study was to determine students’ attitudes towards smart 2007). board use in high school biology lessons. For this The fact that the board screen is touch-sensitive with its purpose, the following research questions were directed interactive features allows the teacher and students to in the study: interact with the screen, to make changes on anything seen on the screen and to save them. Audios, videos, 1. What are high school students’ attitudes towards smart animations, colors, images and zooming make lessons board use in biology lessons? more visual and entertaining. Such capabilities of the 2. Do high school students’ attitudes towards smart board smart board as instantly recognizing a mistake or use in biology lessons differ with respect to their gender? common misconceptions and undoing to correct them 3. Do high school students’ attitudes towards smart board could possibly be regarded as one of the most important use in biology lessons differ with respect to the smart advantages of the smart board. A smart board is just like board use time? a moderator for the interaction between the teacher and students when it is used in a long period of time (Lewin et al., 2008). METHODS The basic benefits of the smart board include providing more varied, creative and attractive instructional Research model materials, increasing the pleasure and motivation, and facilitating students’ participation in class by having them In the study, the survey model was used. The survey model aims at describing a past or present situation as it was or as it is. interact with the activities on the smart board (Becta, Individuals, objects or events that constitute the research subject 2003; Elaziz, 2008). In addition, it is also reported that the are defined as they are in their own conditions and situations smart board increases students’ success (López, 2010) (Karasar, 2002). and permanent learning (Smith et al., 2005). Besides all these benefits of the smart board, it also brings about some disadvantages. Especially technical problems, Study group teachers’ failure to use the smart board, students’ lack of th necessary knowledge, lack of the necessary software- The study was carried out with 200 randomly-selected 10 -grade hardware and other similar problems are among common students attending a high school used as a pilot school within the scope of FATIH Project in the city of Diyarbakır in Turkey in 2014 problems experienced in relation to smart board use academic year. The school was selected by purposive sampling. (Elaziz, 2008; Erduran and Tataroğlu, 2009¸ Glover et al., Also the students were selected on voluntary basis. Due to the 2007; Türel, 2012). greater number of the biology classes, 10th grades were preferred. If the smart board is to be used effectively in teaching Of all these students, 115 of them were females (58%), and 85 of and learning, it should be used with all its potential. The them were males (42%). In addition, among the students, 127 of teacher should be able to adapt this tool to his or her own them reported that they used the smart board in class for one or two class hours a week (63%) and 73 of them said they used it in teaching approach and to learn how to use the class for three or four class hours a week (37%). opportunities provided by the smart board for learning. New tools allow creating a variety of new activities, but these activities are created by users as they improve their Data collection related skills not by the tools themselves (Lewin et al., 2008). In the study, the “Student Attitude Scale for Smart Board Use” The fact that the concepts in biology education are developed by Elaziz (2008) was used. The scale was made up of abstract and complex makes it difficult for students to 21 five-point Likert-type items, seven of which included negative statements. The scale was administered by paper. In addition, there learn certain subjects and to memorize them without were six sub-dimensions in the scale: learning (D1), technical (D2), understanding them (Kılıç and Sağlam, 2004). In order to affective (D3), motivation (D4), time management-organization (D5) overcome this problem, it is fairly important to use and difference from the black board (D6). The Cronbach Alpha YAPICI and KARAKOYUN 461 Table 1. Descriptive statistics for the whole scale. N Min Max Mean SD 200 1.42 5.00 3.60 0.64 Table 2. Findings regarding the dimension of learning. Statements Mean Med. SD 1. I learn more when the teacher uses the smart board. 3.9 4 1.21 2. It is easier to understand the subject when the teacher uses the smart board. 3.9 4 1.16 3. What the teacher writes and draws is more comprehensible thanks to the smart board. 3.9 4 1.22 4. Audio-visual materials presented with the smart board make it easier for me to understand the subject. 4.2 4 1.08 5. The smart board provides me with the opportunity to learn a subject from different sources. 3.7 4 1.19 14. The smart board makes learning more entertaining and interesting. 3.9 4 1.17 5.00-4.20 I completely agree, 4.19-3.40 I agree, 3.39-2.60 I am neutral, 2.59-1.80 I disagree, 1.79-1.00 I completely disagree. Table 3. Findings regarding the technical dimension. Statements Mean Med. SD 6. Deficiencies in videos or images and failure to hinder the sun light sometimes prevent me from seeing those 2.4 2 1.30 presented on the smart board. 7. The smart board frequently breaks down, and its repairment or adjustment results in waste of time. 3.4 4 1.28 5.00-4.20 I Completely agree, 4.19-3.40 I agree, 3.39-2.60 I am neutral, 2.59-1.80 I disagree, 1.79-1.00 I completely disagree reliability coefficient of the scale was 0.78, and it was calculated as agree with the statement of “Deficiencies in videos or 0.87 for the present study. As for the sub-dimensions, the images and failure to hinder the sun light sometimes coefficients were calculated as 0.87, 0.70, 0.74, 0.87, 0.72, and prevent me from seeing those presented on the smart 0.77, respectively. The results of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov Z test analysis showed that the data comply with the parametric tests (Z= board” (2.4) but agreed with the statement of “The smart ,646; p= ,797). For the analysis of the research data, SPSS 16.0 board frequently breaks down, and its repairment or was used, and the frequencies, percentages and t-test results are adjustment results in waste of time”. presented. Table 4 presents the findings regarding the affective dimension of the scale. Table 4 demonstrates that the students were neutral regarding the affective dimension FINDINGS in relation to the statement of “I like using the smart board in class” (3.1) and that they agreed with all the other Table 1 demonstrates the descriptive statistics regarding statements. Table 5 presents the findings regarding the the whole scale. When Table 1 is examined, it is seen motivation dimension of the scale. that the overall mean score for the scale was found to be When Table 5 is examined, it is seen that the students 3.60 and that the students generally had positive agreed with all the statements regarding the motivation attitudes. Table 2 presents the findings regarding the dimension of the scale and that the highest mean score learning dimension of the scale. belonged to the statement of “I can concentrate more on According to Table 2, the students agreed with all the lessons when the smart board is used” (3.7). statements in the learning dimension of the scale. The Table 6 presents the findings regarding the scale highest mean score (4,2), at the level of “I completely dimension of time management-organization. agree”, belonged to the statement of “Audio-visual When Table 6 is examined, it is seen that the students materials presented with the smart board make it easier agreed with the negative statement of “when my teacher for me to understand the subject”. Table 3 presents the uses the smart board, I cannot keep up with the lesson findings regarding the technical dimension of the scale. as the pace of the lesson is much faster” (3.7) as well as When Table 3 is examined, it is seen regarding the with all the other positive statements. The highest mean technical dimension of the scale that the students did not score was found to belong to the statement of “Use of the 462 Educ. Res. Rev. Table 4. Findings regarding the affective dimension. Statements Mean Med. SD 8. I like using the smart board in class. 3.1 3 1.38 9. It is difficult for me to use the smart board. 4.1 4 1.21 10. I prefer the classes in which the smart board is used. 3.4 4 1.21 11. It bothers me if my homework or assignment is presented to whole class with the smart board. 3.7 4 1.28 5.00-4.20 I completely agree, 4.19-3.40 I agree, 3.39-2.60 I am neutral, 2.59-1.80 I disagree, 1.79-1.00 I completely disagree. Table 5. Findings regarding the motivation dimension. Statements Mean Med. SD 12. I can concentrate more on lessons when the smart board is used. 3.7 4 1.15 13. I participate more in lessons when the teacher uses the smart board. 3.5 4 1.12 15. I can draw my attention to lessons more easily and stay interested in lessons longer when the smart board is 3.5 4 1.10 used. 16. Use of the smart board contributes to my motivation in lessons. 3.5 4 1.20 5.00-4.20 I completely agree, 4.19-3.40 I agree, 3.39-2.60 I am neutral, 2.59-1.80 I disagree, 1.79-1.00 I completely disagree Table 6. Findings regarding the scale dimension of time management-organization. Statements Mean Med. SD 17. When my teacher uses the smart board, I cannot keep up with the lesson as the pace of the lesson is 3.7 4 1.25 much faster. 18. Use of the smart board makes lessons more planned and organized. 3.7 4 1.09 19. Use of the smart board saves time, and the teacher can teach lessons faster. 3.9 4 1.15 5.00-4.20 I completely agree, 4.19-3.40 I agree, 3.39-2.60 I am neutral, 2.59-1.80 I disagree, 1.79-1.00 I completely disagree. smart board saves time, and the teacher can teach DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION lessons faster” (3.9). Table 7 presents the findings regarding the dimension The results of the present study carried out to determine of difference from the black board. When Table 7 is high school students’ attitudes towards smart board use examined, it is seen the students did not agree with the in biology lessons revealed that the students generally negative statements regarding the dimension of had positive attitudes ( X = 3.6). The findings regarding difference from the black board. the learning dimension of the scale demonstrated that Tables 8 and 9 present the results of the independent thanks to the positive effects of audio-visual elements, groups t-test conducted to determine whether the the smart board use in biology lessons made important students’ scores differed depending on the variable of contributions to the learning process such as helping gender. understand subjects more easily, making the teacher’s When Tables 8 and 9 are examined, it is seen that the writing and drawing more comprehensible, providing the students’ attitude scores did not differ significantly in opportunity to learn the subjects from different sources terms of gender for the whole scale and the sub- and making learning more entertaining. In related dimensions (p >.05). literature, there are a number of studies reporting similar The results of independent groups t-test conducted to findings. According to the results of a study on smart reveal whether there was a significant difference between boards published by University of Newcastle, students the students’ attitude scores with respect to smart board learn better with the help of lessons involving a use time can be seen in Tables 10 and 11. multimedia content (Higgins et al., 2007). In another When Tables 10 and 11 are examined, it is seen that the study conducted by Erduran and Tataroğlu (2009) to students’ attitude scores did not differ significantly with investigate smart board use in the courses of science and respect to smart board use time for the whole scale and mathematics, it was found that the smart board had the sub-dimensions (p >0.05). positive influence on the learning environment and YAPICI and KARAKOYUN 463 Table 7. Findings regarding the dimension of difference from the black board. Statements Mean Med. SD 20. Our teachers apply the same methods and teaching styles when they use the smart board and when they 2.4 3 1.39 teach with the black board. 21. To me, there is not much difference between the smart board and the black board. 2.5 4 1.39 5.00-4.20 I completely agree, 4.19-3.40 I agree, 3.39-2.60 I am neutral, 2.59-1.80 I disagree, 1.79-1.00 I completely disagree. Table 8. Independent groups t-test results regarding the attitude scores with respect to gender. Group N X SD dF t p Male 85 3.53 0.64 198 1.803 0.073 Female 115 3.69 0.64 Table 9. Independent groups t-test results for the sub-dimensions regarding the attitude scores with respect to gender. Dimensions Group N X SD df t p Male 85 4.01 0.86 D1 198 1.369 0.173 Female 115 3.84 0.94 Male 85 3.07 1.01 D2 198 2.546 0.072 Female 115 2.90 1.01 Male 85 3.64 0.80 D3 198 0.433 0.154 Female 115 3.47 0.78 Male 85 3.62 0.93 D4 198 1.032 0.303 Female 115 3.48 1.05 Male 85 3.78 0.80 D5 198 0.349 0.727 Female 115 3.73 0.85 Male 85 3.48 1.15 198 1.056 0.292 D6 Female 115 3.30 1.21 Table 10. Independent groups t-test results for the attitude scores with respect to smart board use time. Group n SD dF t p 1-2 h 127 3.65 0.67 198 1.169 0.244 3-4 h 73 3.54 0.60 increased students’ participation in classes by attracting environments full of unprocessed information allow their attention to lessons. According to Altınçelik (2009), students to structure their own knowledge. videos, animations and virtual environments provide The findings regarding the motivation dimension of the students quite authentic contexts and make it possible to scale were striking. It was found that smart board use convey totally real phenomena into class. These increased the students’ motivation, helped them 464 Educ. Res. Rev. Table 11. Independent groups t-test results for the sub-dimensions regarding the attitude scores with respect to smart board use time. Dimensions Group N X SD df t p 1-2 h 127 3.90 0.91 D1 198 -0.452 0.652 3-4 h 73 3.96 0.89 1-2 h 127 3.03 1.05 D2 198 2.603 0.550 3-4 h 73 2.95 0.92 1-2 h 127 3.63 0.82 D3 198 1.818 0.071 3-4 h 73 3.43 0.73 1-2 h 127 3.54 1.04 D4 198 -0.141 0.888 3-4 h 73 3.56 0.91 1-2 h 127 3.80 0.79 D5 198 0.896 0.372 3-4 h 73 3.68 0.88 1-2 h 127 3.25 1.18 198 2.531 0.252 D6 3-4 h 73 3.13 1.14 avoid concentration problems and contributed to their complaints about such technical problems. Smith and participation in lessons. In related literature, the colleagues (2005), in their study, reported that the advantage of smart boards claimed to be among the students mentioning technical difficulties complained most important ones was that smart board use motivates about the amount of time wasted while waiting for the students more (Smith et al., 2005). In a study carried out turn-on and shut-down of the smart board. Erduran and with 35 teachers using smart board in the course of Tataroğlu (2009) point out that technical problems science and mathematics, it was reported that smart experienced during lessons distract students’ attention board use increased students’ interest, motivation and and has negative influence on the teacher’s willingness to participation. Audios, animations, videos and images use the smart board. used in a learning environment make classes more The findings obtained revealed that apart from entertaining (Erduran and Tataroğlu, 2009). Similarly, technical problems, the students found smart board use Elaziz (2008) and Lewis (2009), in their research on smart difficult and were reluctant to use it. Lewis (2009) claims board use, point out that smart boards have positive this situation to be due to lack of competency and influence on students and increase their motivation and experience in smart board use. According to the that teachers find smart board use exciting. researcher, teachers’ lack of competency and experience The findings regarding the dimension of time in smart board use cause students to find this technology management-organization revealed that lessons are difficult to use. taught in a more planned and organized way thanks to Besides these disadvantages of smart board use, the the smart board and that it helped save time. According students reported that smart boards helped save time to Gillen et al. (2007), the smart board has more positive and that they, however, experienced difficulty following influence on the pace and fluency of teaching when the lessons especially when the teacher taught fast. compared to other previous technologies. When viewed According to the results of a study on physics lesson from the perspective of pedagogical interaction, smart carried out by Olgun (2012), as lessons are taught faster board use provides the teacher with the opportunity to with the smart board when compared to other boards, observe their students better and to respond to their students are reported to have difficulty structuring the questions. subjects taught. For this reason, it was thought that some Despite all these advantages of the smart board, it also students have difficulty understanding the subjects and brings about certain disadvantages in biology lessons. that they have the necessary time to structure the Especially such technical problems as occasional break information as lessons are not taught with other boards down of smart boards have negative influence on its as fast as they are with the smart board. time-saving advantages. Although students hold the belief All these findings revealed that the students’ attitudes that it helps save time during lessons, they have towards smart board use in biology lessons did not differ YAPICI and KARAKOYUN 465 significantly with respect to the variables of gender and Çömlekçioğlu U, Bayraktaroğlu E (2001). Biyoloji ve Bilişim Teknolojileri. smart board use time. In one study carried out by Koçak Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi Fen ve Mühendislik Dergisi, 4(1). (2013) to examine the relationship between individuals’ Elaziz F (2008). Attitudes of students and teachers towards the use of demographical backgrounds and their attitudes towards Interactive whiteboards in EFL classrooms. Unpublished MA thesis. the interactive board, it was found that the participants’ Bilkent University. Ankara. attitudes did not cause any significant difference in terms Elmas R, Demirdöğen B, Geban Ö (2011). Preservice chemistry teachers’ images about science teaching in their future classrooms. of gender. Similarly, other studies conducted by Zengin et Hacettepe University J. Educ. 40:164-175. al. (2011) (on science and technology course), Muhanna Erduran A, Tataroğlu, B (2009). Eğitimde akıllı tahta kullanımına ilişkin and Nejem (2013) and Çelik and Gündüz (2015) (on fen ve matematik öğretmen görüşlerinin karşılaştırılması. 9th. mathematics course) demonstrated that the participants’ International Educational Technology Conference, Ankara. Gillen J, Kleine SJ, Littleton K, Mercer N, Twiner A (2007). A“learning attitudes towards the smart board did not differ revolution”? Investigating pedagogic practices around ınteractive depending on their gender. whiteboards in British primary classrooms. Learning, Media Technol. Consequently, the biology course could be said to be 32(3):243-256. the one most suitable for smart board use in terms of its Glover D, Miller D, Averis D, Door V (2007). The evolution of an effective pedagogy for teachers using the interactive whiteboard in fields and scope. Therefore, it is quite important to mathematics and modern languages: an empirical analysis from the maintain students’ positive attitudes and to overcome the secondary sector. Learning, Media Technol. 32(1):5-20. disadvantages of smart board use. In order to achieve Higgins S, Beauchamp G, Miller D (2007). Reviewing the literature on this, teachers have important duties. Both at the level of interactive whiteboards. Learning, Media, Technol. 32:213-225. Karasar N (2002). Bilimsel Araştırma Yöntemi. Ankara: Nobel Yayın university education and with the help of in-service Dağıtım. trainings, teachers’ competencies in smart board use Kılıç D, Sağlam N (2004). Biyoloji eğitiminde kavram haritalarının should be developed. With the help of the attractive öğrenme başarısına ve kalıcılığına etkisi. Hacettepe Üniversitesi features of the smart board, students should be Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 27:155-164. Koçak Ö (2013). Fatih Projesi Kapsamındaki LCD Panel Etkileşimli encouraged to use it. For this purpose, the techniques of Tahta Uygulamalarına Yönelik Öğretmen Tutumları (Erzincan İli drag-and-drop and other entertaining applications can be Örneği). MA thesis, Institute of Educational Sciencs, Atatürk used. Students should be given time necessary to University, Erzurum. internalize the subjects. Otherwise, such advantages as Lai HJ (2010). Secondary school teachers’ perceptions of interactive whiteboard training workshops: A case study from Taiwan. fast flow of teaching and time saving will become Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 26(4):511-522. unimportant. The precautions necessary to minimize the Lewin C, Somekh B, Steadman S (2008). Embedding interactive technical problems should be taken (for instance, carrying whiteboards in teaching and learning: the process of change in out maintenance of the smart board and updating the pedagogic practice. Educ. Infor. Technol. 13:291-303. Lewis AC (2009). The integration of interactive whiteboards into related software). By conducting qualitative studies on classrooms at a well-resourced high school in South Africa. Doctoral smart board use in biology lessons, more detailed results dissertation, University of Pretoria. could be obtained. Besides equipping classrooms with López OS (2010). The digital learning classroom: Improving english smart board systems thanks to FATIH Project, table language learners’ academic success in mathematics and reading using interactive whiteboard technology. Computers Educ. 54(4):901- computes have been distributed to students. On the other 915. hand, there is a need for new studies on the adaptation of Ministry of National Education (2011). Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı FATİH tablet computers to smart boards as well as on mobile Projesi. [FATİH Project by Ministry of National Education].Retrieved applications that can be used on tablet computers. Also, from http://fatihprojesi.meb.gov.tr. Muhanna W, Nejem KM (2013). Attitudes of mathematics teachers the study could be carried out with more participants to toward using smart board in teaching mathematics. Contemporary increase the generalizability of the results. Issues in Educ. Res. 6(4):373-380. Olgun H (2012). 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Vol. 11(7), pp. 466-473, 10 April, 2016 DOI: 10.5897/ERR2016.2638 Article Number: AA00A2457832 ISSN 1990-3839 Educational Research and Reviews Copyright © 2016 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article http://www.academicjournals.org/ERR Full Length Research Paper Evaluation of the curriculum of English preparatory classes at Yildiz Technical University using CIPP model Uğur Akpur1, Bülent Alcı2 and Hakan Karataş2 1School of Foreign Languages, Yıldız Technical University, Turkey. 2Faculty of Education, Yıldız Technical University, Turkey. Received 11 January, 2016; Accepted 10 March, 2016 The purpose of this study is to evaluate the instruction program of preparatory classes at Yıldız Technical University using CIPP model. A total of 54 teachers and 753 university students attending preparatory classes in the Academic Year of 2014-2015 formed the study group. The research is based on a questionnaire applied to teachers and students. For the analysis of the data, the means and the standard deviation scores were determined separately. Furthermore, in order to figure out the differences between teachers’ and students’ responses, independent samples t-test technique was applied. The findings have indicated that although the teachers and students have some apprehensions on a few items such as balancing of skills, lacking of audio-visual materials, not acquiring the habit of studying in groups and the knowledge of English for different areas, they generally hold positive ideas towards the curriculum. It has also been revealed from the responses that, except for the context factor of the instruction program, the difference between the teachers’ and students’ opinions about the other factors of the instruction program are not significant. Key words: Curriculum evaluation based on CIPP model, English language teaching, curriculum. INTRODUCTION The fact that the number of bilinguals outnumber the preparatory schools which offer students intensive amount of monolinguals (Gardner, 2010) and the demand programs to improve the language ability and to be able for English to find a convenient career and to catch up to follow their courses in their department (Coşkun, with the latest innovations as well as new technologies 2013). Nevertheless, as stated in some studies (Karataş (Kocaman and Balcıoğlu, 2013) have made English and Fer, 2011; Tunç, 2010; Gökdemir, 2005; Vural, 2004; language learning almost a mandatory matter. Thus, Alıcı, 2004), despite the cost (time, efforts, money, etc.) ranging from elementary schools to universities, all spent on preparatory classes, the results gained from educational institutions have been endeavoring to teach those programs are not noteworthy. Even after or improve foreign language skills (Gomez and Vicente, completing the preparatory classes or graduating from 2011). In Turkey, universities’ ultimate end to promote the universities, students are still in pursuit of improving language skills paved the way for the emergence of their language skills (Karataş and Fer, 2011). Ranking *Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] 0532 401 57 73 Authors agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License Akpur et al. 467 rd Turkey 43 place among 63 countries with level of the opportunities as a ground for determining the objectives. lowest proficiency in English, the data, which the English In other words, it is essentially related to the program’s Proficiency Index (EPI) reveal, support the same thesis environment and setting goals. Input evaluation is about (EPI, 2015). Therefore, it is of great importance to sources usage and concentrates on suitability. analyze the reasons behind this inadequacy and to Assessment of the strategies to obtain the objectives is scrutinize the factors which lead to the failure. specified in this step. Evaluators may also assess the To this end, analyzing and evaluation of the curriculums alternative designs. When the strategy has been certain, applied in these institutions can contribute to reaching a there comes process evaluation. Process evaluation precise judgement over the matter. In this way, not only observes the convenience and parallelism between the the weaknesses and insufficiencies of the curriculum can planned and actual activities. It also monitors the be determined, but the way to react to these matters can program performance, that is, it provides feedback about be ascertained and regular evaluation criteria can be set, the weaknesses or shortcomings of the implementation. as well. After all, evaluation is an evolving facility from Finally, product evaluation provides data to determine planning to implementation (Marsh and Willis, 2007); a whether the ultimate curriculum product is meeting what means whereby the value and efficiency of a certain was hoped in the beginning (Stufflebeam, 2005; educational facility is measured (Kelly, 1999, 138); ‘a Stufflebeam, 2003; Stufflebeam, 1980; Stufflebeam, 1971; process of determining to what extent the educational Stufflebeam, 1967; McNeil, 2009; Worthen and Sanders, objectives are being realized’ (Tyler, 1950, 69); a course 1987; Ornstein and Hunkins, 2009; Nevo, 1983; to examine the value of an object systemically (Sanders, Nicholson, 1989). 1994, 3). More recent and modern theories of evaluation According to the principle of the CIPP model, the hold the idea of ‘the systematic investigation of the worth evaluation should provide appropriate and valid which refers to importance of a work or merit which refers information of the curriculum for decision-makers, to quality of some object (program, project or materials)’ administrators, teachers, policy boards and other (Pinar et al., 2008, 732; Marsh and Willis, 2007, 251). stakeholders of an organization (Stufflebeam, 2005). It is Briefly, in its extensive definition, evaluation activity can oriented to improvement rather than proving and it has a be described as a process by means of which ‘the worth functional aim to analyze the factors which affect success of or to fix a value on some object’ can be determined or failure (Stufflebeam, 2003). The model itself claims (Rossi et al., 2004, 2). that ‘the society and its agents cannot make their Consequently, evaluation is a complicated process and programs unless they learn where they are weak or it aims to determine the strengths and weaknesses of a strong’ (Stufflebeam, 2005, 62). Thus, the CIPP Model curriculum. The results gained through this process serves as a guide for a comprehensive as well as for a enable the decision-makers to revise, to improve or to practical evaluation and it gives way to improve the continue the curriculum (Ornstein and Hunkins, 2009). At curriculum. As an overall conclusion, given that evaluation this stage, since the practitioners have to search for a is an indispensable part of designing and implementation model that would serve as a guidebook (Chyung, 2015), of the curriculum, following methodical steps in this the suitability of the evaluation model with the curriculum process is a requisite matter. In this study, it is the aimed planning comes to be important (Kelly, 1999). Otherwise, to evaluate the instruction program of preparatory classes a defect in matching may lead to a misinterpretation and at Yıldız Technical University through the CIPP Model. inconsistency. The reason for utilizing this model lies in its feasibility in It is asserted that recent evaluation concept focuses on foreign languages programs and its variety of evaluation pluralistic and consensus models. In this aspect, forms such as context, input, process and product pluralistic view of evaluation is based on the principles of evaluation (Karataş and Fer, 2009). What is more, the humanistic and social reconstructionists and evaluators CIPP Model enables practitioners to comprehend the should be sensitive to the different values of program curriculum better by focusing on simplification of participants (McNeil, 2009, 226). On the other hand, ascertaining program constituents (Ruhe and Boudreau, consensus models, which can be named as traditional 2012). Since preparatory classes are facing major and technical evaluations refer to systematists who difficulties in achieving their objectives, it is thought that, consider the practice of evaluation as a technical evaluating the preparatory school curriculum through process. Royse et al. (2014, 2) hold the idea that the CIPP model will provide decision-makers as well as most rational way to follow in evaluation process is the practitioners with adequate data in order to determine the ‘conservative methods’ since they enhance the effectivity merit and the worth of the program which is being carried of the practice. out. An example of consensus models is the CIPP model which was first introduced by Stufflebeam in 1966. The METHOD name CIPP includes the evaluation of context, input, process and product (Stufflebeam, 2005). Context Within the framework mentioned above, the purpose of this study evaluation contains focuses on needs, problems, and emerged as to evaluate the instruction program of preparatory 468 Educ. Res. Rev. classes at Yıldız Technical University through CIPP Model. In this ‘I completely agree’. These figures were calculated through the sense, the following research question formed the starting point of formula of 5-1=4 and 4/5=0.80 (Karataş and Fer, 2009, 53). the present study: Furthermore, the findings were displayed in tables and analyzed. In order to find out the differences between teachers’ and students’ What are the opinions of teachers and students about the instruction responses, independent samples t-test technique was applied. program implemented in preparatory classes at Yıldız Technical University? RESULTS Research model In Table 1, the students’ opinions in terms of context The quantitative research model is utilized. The descriptive model factor of the instruction program are mentioned. was put into practice which simply supplies reviews about the study As it is displayed in Table 1, students’ and teachers’ group and describes the situation which the data show (Trochim, opinions regarding context factor of the instruction 2002). According to Karasar (2003) in this kind of model, the program range from ‘I disagree’ to ‘I agree’. It is observed existing situation is depicted in its original condition without any intervention to the state. Furthermore, together with the situation, that the students, together with the teachers, are not an event, an individual or an object can be defined under their contented with the improvement of their language skills. unique circumstances. The students also have apprehensions about balancing of skills in the curriculum. As opposed to the students’ responses, the teachers are discontented the level of Participants difficulty in terms of duration. The content of the A total of 54 lecturers and 753 university students attending Coursebook make both the teachers and the students preparatory classes at Yıldız Technical University in the Academic gratified. Year of 2014-2015 during the Spring Term formed the study group. Table 2 shows that the students’ and the teachers’ The data received from 54 lecturers, 47 (87 %) being females and 7 responses in terms of input factor range from ‘I disagree’ being males (13 %) and 753 students, 322 being females (42.8 %) to ‘I agree’. It can be noted that both the students and the and 431 being males (57.2 %) were analyzed through the SPSS teachers are dissatisfied with the lack and inconvenience 21.00 program. Since the data gained from the subjects are meant to be unbiased and each member of the population has an equal of audio-visual materials of the curriculum. On the other chance of being selected, all the participants in this research were hand, responses to the items about the effects of determined through simple random sampling (Arık, 1998). classwork and the classwork itself are positive. As it is seen in Table 3, the students’ and teachers’ responses in terms of process factor range from ‘I Instrument disagree’ to ‘I agree’. It is observed that the students feel the lack of activities which can be applied to all skills The scale which was used in the study was developed by Karataş concern the students. However, the teachers are not and Fer (2007) in order to evaluate the syllabus of English II instruction program which was implemented in Yıldız Technical pleased with the number of exercises, the amount of University, School of Foreign Languages, Modern Languages homework and sufficiency of participation. The number of Department. The scale itself consists of 46 items in total. There are formative tests is considered to be adequate by both the ten questions about the context, six questions about the input, eight students and teachers. questions about the process and twenty-two questions about the As it is presented in Table 4, the students’ and the product evaluation of the instruction program. The questions in the scale were in the form of five-point Likert scale: (1) I definitely teachers’ responses regarding product factor range from disagree, (2) I disagree, (3) I partly agree, (4) I agree, (5) I ‘I disagree’ to ‘I agree’. It can be noted that the students completely agree. The reliability coefficients of four components of are contented with the improvement of their vocabulary the scale ranged from 0.81 to 0.94 Cronbach Alpha and the knowledge. Nevertheless, they, together with the reliability coefficient of the whole questionnaire was found to be teachers, think that the curriculum does not meet their 0.95. After varimax rotation, the covariance of the items was found individual interests and it does not help them acquire the to be between 0.24 and 0.68 and their factor loadings ranged from 0.46 to 0.82. The total variance explained by four factors was knowledge of English for their fields and for their future %52.44 (%19.54 by the first factor, %12.08 by the second factor, needs. In contrast with the students, the teachers do %10.62 by the third factor and %10.19 by the fourth factor) (Karataş argue that the curriculum makes the students have the and Fer, 2011). habit of studying in groups. In addition, the teachers do not support the idea that the curriculum improves students’ speaking skills meets students’ characteristics Data analysis needs. In order to determine whether there were significant The total point of the scale is 230 (context 50; input 30; process 40 differences between the teachers’ and the students’ and product 110). For the analysis of the data also, the means and the standard deviation scores were determined. In the scale, the opinions regarding the instruction program, the data were intervals were found out as: 1-1.79 ‘I definitely disagree’; 1.80-2.59 analyzed using the technique of independent samples t- ‘I disagree’; 2.60-3.39 ‘I partly agree’; 3.40-4.19 ‘I agree’ and 4.20-5 test. Table 5 presents the analysis of the teachers’ and Akpur et al. 469 Table 1. The means and the standard deviation results of students’ and teachers’ opinions concerning context. Context evaluation Student Teacher Item X sd X sd The curriculum is appropriate for the improvement of the students’ language skills. 2.43 1.03 2.11 0.92 The reading, writing, listening and speaking skills are balanced well in the curriculum. 2.41 1.03 3.44 0.74 The objectives of the curriculum meet the needs of the students regarding English. 3.04 0.84 3.24 0.77 The objectives of the curriculum are appropriate for the students’ preliminary knowledge of English. 3.40 0.88 3.50 0.82 The level of the difficulty of the topics in the curriculum complies with their duration. 3.01 0.96 2.12 0.75 The total duration of the curriculum is adequate. 3.32 0.99 3.12 1.09 The Coursebook of the curriculum is appropriate for the students’ level. 3.52 0.85 3.61 0.68 The Coursebook attracts the students’ attention. 2.80 0.99 3.38 0.76 The content of the Coursebook is consistent with the objectives of the curriculum. 3.13 0.83 3.51 0.88 The content of the Coursebook is comprehensible. 3.51 0.75 4.00 0.55 Table 2. The Means and the Standard Deviation Results of Students’ and Teachers’ Opinions Concerning Input. Context evaluation Student Teacher Item X sd X sd The audio visual materials of the curriculum help the students learn easily. 2.78 0.94 1.96 0.89 The audio visual materials of the curriculum attract the students’ attention. 2.56 0.91 2.01 0.92 The audio visual materials of the curriculum have positive effects on the students’ language skills. 3.20 0.90 3.72 0.87 The classwork of the curriculum helps the students learn easily. 3.58 0.95 3.51 1.16 The classwork of the curriculum attracts the students’ attention. 3.02 0.95 3.37 0.92 The classwork of the curriculum has positive effects on the students’ language skills. 3.46 0.89 3.56 0.96 Table 3. The means and the standard deviation results of students’ and teachers’ opinions concerning process. Context evaluation Student Teacher Item X sd X sd Sufficient exercises are done about each new topic in the curriculum. 2.87 0.90 2.03 0.93 When necessary, revision is included in the curriculum. 3.13 0.95 3.18 0.95 The consolidating homework is given to the students about the newly learned topics. 3.05 0.93 2.05 0.86 The curriculum enables the students to participate in the course actively. 2.66 0.97 2.09 0.83 The number of the formative tests applied during the curriculum is enough. 3.76 1.01 4.17 0.75 The program has activities suitable for pair and group work. 3.62 0.91 3.70 0.77 The curriculum has activities in which all language skills can be applied. 2.35 0.96 3.40 0.71 During the curriculum, the time spent on solving the students’ problems about English is enough. 2.76 0.90 3.00 0.85 the students’ opinions in terms of context factor of the In Table 6, the analysis of the teachers’ and the instruction program. students’ opinions in terms of input factor of the instruction As it can be observed in Table 5, the arithmetic mean program are displayed. scores of the teachers’ opinions about the context factor As it is displayed in Table 6, the arithmetic mean of the instruction program is X=32.07 and the arithmetic scores of the teachers’ opinions about the input factor of mean scores of the students’ opinions about the program the instruction program is X=18.14 and the arithmetic is X=30.58. According to the data, it can be observed mean scores of the students’ opinions about the program that, there is a significant difference between the is X=18.64. The data show that the difference between teachers’ and the students’ opinions in terms of context the teachers’ and the students’ opinions in terms of input factor of the instruction program (t=-2.35, p< 0.05). factor of the instruction program is not significant 470 Educ. Res. Rev. Table 4. The means and the standard deviation results of students’ and teachers’ opinions concerning product. Context evaluation Student Teacher Item X sd X sd The curriculum meets the students’ individual needs. 2.78 0.75 2.88 0.77 The curriculum meets the students’ individual interests. 2.45 0.87 2.20 0.85 The curriculum meets the students’ characteristics needs. 2.72 0.77 2.05 0.87 The curriculum meets the students’ existing needs related with English. 2.97 0.71 3.31 0.77 The curriculum forms a basis for the students’ future needs related with English. 3.25 0.87 3.64 0.80 The curriculum contributes to the students’ work related with their fields. 2.74 0.97 3.00 0.85 The curriculum motivates the students to learn English. 3.09 0.92 3.01 0.90 The projects assigned according to the curriculum affect the students’ language skills positively. 3.08 0.93 3.39 0.92 The curriculum increases the students’ vocabulary knowledge in English. 3.83 0.86 3.91 0.52 The curriculum helps the students to acquire the habit of studying English. 2.78 1.05 2.00 0.97 The curriculum helps the students to acquire the habit of studying in groups. 2.35 0.99 3.35 1.01 The curriculum gives the students the opportunity to use their knowledge. 2.90 0.80 3.07 0.72 The students’ improvement of English reading skills is satisfactory. 3.12 0.86 3.00 0.89 The students’ improvement of English writing skills is satisfactory. 3.29 0.91 3.31 0.86 The students’ improvement of English listening skills is satisfactory. 2.92 0.94 2.74 0.81 The students’ improvement of English speaking skills is satisfactory. 2.78 0.95 2.31 0.82 The students’ improvement of English grammar is satisfactory. 3.19 0.82 3.20 0.92 The knowledge of English the students acquire at the end of the curriculum is satisfactory. 3.11 0.70 2.81 0.87 The English skills the students acquire at the end of the curriculum are satisfactory. 3.00 0.62 2.80 0.81 The curriculum complies with the students’ courses in their fields of study. 2.52 0.87 2.48 0.88 The curriculum helps the students to acquire the knowledge of English they need for their fields of study. 2.06 0.96 2.64 0.83 The curriculum helps the students to acquire the knowledge of English they need for various business areas. 2.41 0.97 1.98 0.88 Table 5. The arithmetic mean, standard deviation and the t-test results concerning context factor. Group N X sd t df p Teacher 54 32.07 3.54 -2.35 805 0.01 Student 753 30.58 4.53 p< .05. Table 6. The arithmetic mean, standard deviation and the t-test results concerning input factor. Group N X sd t df p Teacher 54 18.14 2.94 1.09 805 .27 Student 753 18.64 3.21 p< .05. (t=1.09, p< .05). factor of the instruction program is X=23.64 and the Table 7 displays the analysis of the teachers’ and the arithmetic mean scores of the students’ opinions about students’ opinions concerning process factor of the the program is X=24.74. According to the data, there is instruction program. not a significant difference between the teachers’ and the From Table 7, it can be deduced that the arithmetic students’ opinions in terms of process factor of the mean scores of the teachers’ opinions about the process instruction program (t=1.07, p< 0.05). Akpur et al. 471 Table 7. The Arithmetic mean, standard deviation and the t-test results concerning process factor. Group N X sd t df p Teacher 54 23.64 2.93 1.07 805 0.28 Student 753 24.24 4.03 p< .05. Table 8. The arithmetic mean, standard deviation and the t-test results concerning product factor. Group N X sd t df p Teacher 54 63.14 10.71 0.22 805 0.82 Student 753 63.43 9.08 p< .05. Table 9. The arithmetic mean, standard deviation and the t-test results concerning context, input, process and product factors. Group N X sd t df P Teacher 54 137.01 15.63 -0.04 805 0.96 Student 753 136.91 16.33 p< .05. Table 8 shows the analysis of the teachers’ and the University. The data gained from the study indicated the students’ opinions concerning product factor of the fact that the students’ responses ranged from ‘I disagree’ instruction program. to ‘I agree’. In context component of the instruction In Table 8, it can be seen that the arithmetic mean program, it is apparent that the curriculum does not meet scores of the teachers’ opinions about the product factor the students’ needs in terms of improving their language of the instruction program is X=63.14 and the arithmetic skills. Likewise, students do not have positive ideas about mean scores of the students’ opinions about the program the balance of the reading, writing, listening and speaking is X=63.43. The results show that, difference between the skills in the curriculum. On the other hand, although teachers’ and the students’ opinions in terms of product teachers stated the same opinion about the curriculum’s factor of the instruction program is not significant (t=0.22, performance of improving the students’ language skills p< 0.05). with the students, they expressed the idea that the four As it is displayed in Table 9, the arithmetic mean skills are well balanced in the curriculum. One of the most scores of the teachers’ opinions about all the factors of remarkable differences between the teachers’ and the instruction program is X=137.01 and the arithmetic students’ opinions is about the duration allocated to the mean scores of the students’ opinions about the program difficult topics. Even though students responded that the is X=136.91. The data show that the difference between duration is adequate for the difficult topics, the teachers the teachers’ and the students’ opinions about all the expressed the opposite idea. Another difference is about factors of the instruction program is not significant (t=- the attraction of the Coursebook. According to the data, 0.04, p< 0.05). the students are not attracted by the Coursebook while the teachers claim the opposite. The comprehensibility of the Coursebook was the item on which the both sides DISCUSSION agreed. As for the results of the input factor, the items about The present research study focused on the teachers’ and audio-visual materials of the curriculum were rated the students’ opinions about the instruction program lowest. Especially, the teachers drew attention that the implemented in preparatory classes at Yıldız Technical lack of audio-visual materials is an important matter that 472 Educ. Res. Rev. has to be dealt with. On the other hand, in-class activities recommended that, over the course of designing the that are performed in classes were considered beneficial curriculum, all the stakeholders should participate in by the two sides. setting goals, learning experiences, learning methods Analyzing the findings of process factor, it can be seen and assessment criteria. (3) It can be advised that, the that, the teachers are not content with supplementary four skills of the language should be emphasized in the exercises done in the classes, homework about the newly curriculum in such a way that there could be a balance learned topics and students’ participation in the class. among them. To do this, in-class activities and group- However, their responses about pair work activities and work exercises can be arranged. Furthermore, applying the number of formative tests are positive. Nevertheless, the principles of project-assisted learning can contribute the students do not agree with the idea that curriculum’s to focusing on all the skills. (4) It is also recommended activities enable students to use their language skills. that diversity of the audio visual materials should be Sufficiency of the number of tests is expressed by the increased and the utilizing of them should be encouraged students, as well. Moreover, both sides agreed on revision (5) Knowledge of English needed in real-life situations done when necessary. and required fields of study should be the focal point of Taking the product factor of the instruction program into the curriculum and this has to be considered in the consideration, it is thought-provoking to see that mostly process of design. (6) It is recommended that the codes the teachers and the students responded to same items of peer learning should be emphasized and the students negatively. Both sides stated that the curriculum has should be encouraged to acquire habit of learning in problems to meet students’ needs; it does not enable groups by designing learning atmospheres which students to have studying habits in groups; it does not stimulate group work. (7) Interviewing with the teachers meet their needs to follow their courses in their fields of and the students regarding their priorities, concerns, study and it does not provide knowledge for different wishes and recommendations is thought to be helpful in business areas. Apart from this, it is clear that, the developing the curriculum. teachers are satisfied with the students’ improvement of speaking English. On the other hand, according to the teachers, the curriculum constitutes a basic step for the Conflict of Interests students’ future needs, on which the students also agree. What is more, both sides have positive ideas about the The authors have not declared any conflicts of interest. four skills’ performance in the curriculum. As an overall conclusion, analyzing the arithmetic mean, standard deviation and the t-test results concerning all the factors, ACKNOWLEDGEMENT it is clearly seen that, although in some items they vary, except for the context factor, the difference between the This research was conducted as a project aiming to teachers’ and the students’ opinions about the other evaluate the instruction program of preparatory classes at factors of the instruction program is not significant in total. Yıldız Technical University, Turkey. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS REFERENCES Alıcı SS (2004). 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Vol. 11(7), pp. 474-481, 10 April, 2016 DOI: 10.5897/ERR2015.2605 Article Number: 5A17CEB57836 ISSN 1990-3839 Educational Research and Reviews Copyright © 2016 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article http://www.academicjournals.org/ERR Full Length Research Paper Interpersonal problem solving, self-compassion and personality traits in university students Coskun Arslan Department of Psychological Counseling and Guidance, Faculty of Ahmet Kelesoglu Education, Necmettin Erbakan University, 42090 Meram Konya, Turkey. Received 11 December, 2015; Accepted 22 February, 2016 The aim of this study was to investigate interpersonal problem solving in terms of self-compassion and personality traits. The participants were 570 (274 females and 296 males) who participated in the research voluntarily. The mean age of the participants was 21.54 years (between 17-32 years old) with a standard deviation of 2.68 years. Data were collected using Interpersonal Problem Solving Inventory, Adjective Based Personality Scale, Self-compassion Scale and personal information form. To analyze the data, Pearson conduct moment correlations, and multiple hierarchical regression analysis technique were used. As a result of the study, it was found that there was a significant negative relationship between approaching problems in a negative way and self-compassion, extraversion, openness to experiences, agreeableness and responsibility. It was found that there was a significant negative relationship between lack of self-confidence and self-compassion, extraversion, openness to experiences, agreeableness and responsibility. It was found that there was a significant negative relationship between unwillingness to take responsibility and self-compassion, extraversion, openness to experiences, agreeableness and responsibility. Also it was found that there was a positive relationship between constructive problem solving and self-compassion, extraversion, openness to experiences, agreeableness and responsibility. Besides, it was found that some approaches of self- compassion and some approaches of personality traits significantly explain interpersonal problem solving. Key words: Interpersonal problem solving, self-compassion and personality traits. INTRODUCTION In their daily lives, individuals encounter many problems D’Zurilla and Nezu (1990) stand out. Social problem that they need to solve. Whether individuals can solve solving refers to the process of coping with stressful these problems and how they do that is an important situations with an effective coping skill, based on issue. Among the approaches to problem solving, purposefulness, awareness, rationality and paying effort cognitive problem-solving model by Heppner and (D’zurilla and Chang, 1995). Krauskopf (1987); and social problem-solving model by Social problem solving model involves two dimensions; E-mail: [email protected]. Authors agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License Arslan 475 a-problem orientation, and b-problem solving proper. self-compassion means that primarily protecting oneself Problem orientation refers to the general attitude of from painful situations whenever possible. Therefore, individuals towards problems. Problem orientation is preventive behaviors should be maximized in order to affected from the problems, individuals experienced in develop self-compassion (Neff, 2003a). Individuals with the past, and the way they coped with these problems. high self-compassion fully understand their problems, Problem orientation is the affective and cognitive schemas weak-nesses, but approach themselves with compassion including what individuals think and how they feel about and understanding rather than a rough criticizing attitude. the problems in life in general terms. This dimension This way, self-compassion can serve as a buffer against defines individuals’ perceptions of control over the negative situations, and individuals can develop positive problems, and also effects the time and effort paid to feelings towards themselves when thing go wrong (Leary solve the problem (D’Zurilla and Nezu, 1990; D’Zurilla et al., 2007). and Chang, 1995; Maydeu-Olivares and D’Zurilla, 1996; Three elements of self-compassion develop when D’Zurilla, Maydeu-Olivares and Kant, 1998; Maydeu- individuals encounter painful or negative situations; these Olivares et al., 2000; D’Zurilla et al., 2004). are self-affection, being aware of sharing, and conscious Problem solving proper and the implementation of awareness. Self-affection refers to being understanding problem solving skills refers to coping with a problematic towards oneself instead of criticizing. Being aware of situation and thinking rationally to find the best solution sharing is perception of the experiences of oneself as by implementing problem solving skills or techniques experiences of all people, not as individuals. Conscious (D’zurilla and Chang, 1995; Belzer et al., 2002). Çam and awareness is avoiding over identification, and balancing Tümkaya (2007) discovered a five-factor structure in their feelings (Neff, 2003a). study conducted to develop an inter-personal problem- Another concept affecting individuals’ many behaviors solving inventory based on social problem solving model. is personality. Personality is defined as the consistent These factors are; negative approach to the problem, behavioral structures, and inner personality processes insistent-persevering approach, lack of self-confidence, resulting from the individuals themselves (Burger, 2006). constructive problem solving, and unwillingness to take The most well-known approach to personality traits is the responsibility. five-factor personality traits approach (McCrae and Negative approach to the problem is about intense Costa, 1987). Five dimensions of personality are; negative feeling and ideas, such as despair, pessimism, neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experiences, and sadness, when encountered with an interpersonal agreeableness and responsibility (self-discipline) (McCrae problem. Constructive problem solving is related to and Costa, 1987; McCrae and John, 1992). feelings, ideas, and behaviors that contribute to solving an interpersonal problem in an effective and constructive 1. Neuroticism Dimension: Neuroticism dimension is way. Insistent-persevering approach refers to persistently defined with individuals’ anxious, worried, nervous and paying effort on solving an interpersonal problem. Lack of unconfident traits (Bacanlı et al., 2009). Primary indicators self-confidence is the lack of confidence individuals of neuroticism are anxiety, anger, hostility, depression, experience in solving a problem, and unwillingness to impulsivity, and defenselessness (Chamorro-Premuzic, take responsibility indicates that individuals do not take 2008; McCrae and Costa, 1987). Neurotic individuals are responsibility in solving a problem (Çam and Tümkaya, prone to experience long-term negative feelings and 2007). Interpersonal problem solving has been related to develop some behavioral pathology. They have difficulty such phenomena as attachment styles (Arslan et al., in establishing relation-ships with people, and carrying 2012), aggression (McMurran et al., 2002; Arslan et al., these relationships in a healthy way (Bruck and Allen, 2010), communication skills (Arslan, 2011), social anxiety 2003). Individuals with high neuroticism dimension scores (Hamarta, 2009), coping with stress (Arslan, 2010) and are anxious, insecure, self-pitying, and emotional people; life satisfaction (Hamarta, 2009; Bedel and Isık, 2015). and they are more prone to stress-related psychological Individuals may experience negative feelings such as disorders. Individuals with low neuroticism dimension sorrow, pain, burnout, and failure in certain periods of life. scores are calm, well-adapted, and they are not prone to In order to cope with these negative feelings, individuals extreme and discordant emotional reactions (Burger, need to calm down, and relax themselves, and most 2006; McCrae and Costa, 1987). importantly get rid of these negative feelings without 2. Extraversion Dimension: Extravert individuals are harming themselves (Deniz et al., 2008). One of the social, lively, cheerful, enthusiastic, optimistic, and important concepts related to coping with these feelings sociable (Bacanlı et al., 2009). Individuals with high is called self-compassion. Self-compassion is defined as extraversion scores are people who love fun, are talkative, behaving oneself caringly and under-standingly rather and jokester, loving and social. The opposite end of than criticizing oneself negatively; considering the extraversion is introversion; and introvert individuals are negative experiences as a part of human life, and dealing shy, distant, discreet, tight-lipped people who like being with negative feelings and thoughts in a rational way alone (Burger, 2006; Chamorro-Premuzic, 2008; McCrae rather than making much of them (Neff, 2003a). Having and Costa, 1987). 476 Educ. Res. Rev. 3. Openness to Experiences Dimension: A strong disagree) and 5 (strongly agree). High scores obtained for each imagination, willingness to accept new ideas, multi- sub-scale indicates that the characteristic about interpersonal directional thinking, and intelligent curiosity are the problem solving is high. In factor analysis study of the inventory, a total of five factors which explained a total of 38.38% of the features of openness to experience dimension (Bacanlı et variance related with interpersonal problem solving were obtained. al., 2009). It is about experiencing new feelings and These factors were approaching problems in a negative way, ideas, and being interested in intellectual activities. Constructive Problem Solving, Lack of Self Confidence, Openness to experiences cover fantasizing, aesthetical Unwillingness to take Responsibility, and Insistent-preserving feelings and activities. Individuals with high openness to approach sub-scales. The number of items in each sub-scale was 16, 16, 7, 5 and 6 respectively. The correlation value calculated experiences scores are prone to be creative, stargazer, with total scores of the sub-scales varied between 0.22 and 0.740. and not conservative in ideas and thinking (Chamorro- Internal consistency Cronbach’s alpha coefficients of the sub-scale Premuzic, 2008; McCrae and Costa, 1987). scores of the inventory were approaching problems in a negative 4. Agreeableness Dimension: Agreeableness refers to way =0.91, Constructive Problem Solving =0.88, Lack of Self friendly, respecting, and modest behaviors. Agree- Confidence =0.67, Unwillingness to take Responsibility =0.74 and Insistent-preserving approach =0.70. Test re-tests correlation ableness includes honesty, sacrifice, adaptation, modesty, values were calculated as a result of double application of the over sensitivity, trust and friendship basic characteristics. inventory to 60 students in four week intervals. Test re-test It is related to intention to physical and emotional caring. correlation values for the sub-scales were found to be 89, 0.82, Accordingly, agreeable individuals can be defined as 0.69, 0.76 and 0.70 respectively (Çam and Tümkaya, 2007). sincere, close, friendly, and tolerant, and they are prone to pro-social behaviors. The opposite end of this Adjective Based Personality Scale. This scale was developed by dimension involves skeptical, criticizing, angry, mean, Bacanlı et al. (2009). The scale is composed of 40 adjective pairs that are compatible with the concept of personality suggested by and hostile individuals (Chamorro-Premuzic, 2008; the Five-Factor Personality Theory. It is designed in the form of McCrae and Costa, 1987; McCrae and John, 1992). seven-point Likert items and is composed of 5 dimensions; that is, 5. Responsibility Dimension: Responsibility dimension neuroticism, extroversion, openness to experience, agree-ableness, includes tidiness, responsibility, ambitiousness, care- and responsibility. Higher scores in a subscale mean that the fulness, and being self-disciplined characteristics personal characteristic in that subscale is dominant. It is seen that the internal reliability coefficients of the dimensions of Adjective (Bacanlı et al., 2009). Responsibility is related with Based Personality Scale (ABPT) range between 0.73 and 0.89. effectiveness and self-discipline. This factor involves Based on the results of results of the factor analysis carried out to management, effort for achievement, self-discipline, test the validity of the ABPT, 40 out of 50 pairs of adjectives were negotiation, and competence basic features. Individuals identified, and the results revealed that the five dimensions with high responsibility scores are hard-working, punctual, explained 52.6% of the variance in the ABPT (Bacanlı et al., 2009). well-organized, ambitious, and determined (Burger, 2006; Self-Compassion Scale. Self-compassion Scale, developed by Neff McCrae and Costa, 1987; McCrae and John, 1992). The (2003b), was validated and adapted into Turkish by Deniz et al. purpose of the present research is investigating (2008). In the original scale, which was prepared to measure the interpersonal problem solving in terms of self-compassion properties of self-compassion, the respondents are asked to rate and personality traits. how often they acted about a given situation by using five-point Likert scale with labels ranging from “Almost never=1” to “Almost always=5. Higher scores in the scale indicate higher levels of self- compassion. The Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient calculated in METHOD line with analysis of the scale was found to be 0.89. In addition, internal reliability coefficient on the scale was found to be .89, and The study is a quantitative research based on descriptive- test retest reliability coefficient was calculated to be 0.83 (Deniz et correlational design which used self-administered questionnaires. al., 2008). Participants Data analysis The sample set of the research was taken from several faculties SPSS 18.0 was used in order to evaluate the data which were (education, science and social sciences and humanities) of collected from scales employed in the research. The Pearson Necmettin Erbakan University in Konya/Turkey by random set correlation coefficient technique was used to determine the sampling method. The participants were 570 (274 female and 296 relationship between self-compassion with interpersonal problem male) who participated in the research voluntarily. The mean age of solving, personality traits with interpersonal problem solving. the participants was 21.54 years (between 17-32 years old) with a Multiple hierarchical regression analysis was used to search standard deviation of 2.68 years. whether self-compassion and personality traits significantly explain interpersonal problem solving. Instruments RESULTS Interpersonal Problem Solving Inventory (IPSI). This inventory was developed by Çam and Tümkaya (2007) as a tool for measuring problem solving approach and skills among university students Table 1 shows the means, standard deviations, inter- between the ages of 18-30. The inventory consists of five sub- correlations, and internal consistency coefficients of the scales and a total of 50 items. The items vary between 1 (strongly variables used. Table 1 shows descriptive statistics and Arslan 477 Table 1. Descriptive statistics, alphas, and inter-correlations of the variables. Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1. Self-compassion - 2. Neuroticism -0.51** - 3. Extraversion 0.26** 0.05 - 4. Openness to experiences 0.32** -01 0.80** - 5. Agreeableness 0.26** -0.08 0.54** 0.67** - 6. Responsibility 0.17** 0.07 0.59** 0.67** 0.62** - . . 7. Approaching problems in a negative way -0.63** 0.40** -0.28** -0.31** -0.27** -0.22** - 8. Constructive Problem Solving 0.44** -0.26** 0.24** 0.34** 0.32** 0.26** -0.10* - 9. Lack of Self Confidence -0.34** 0.19** -0.35** -0.40** -0.45** -0.37** 0.58** -0.12** - 10. Unwillingness to take Responsibility -0.34** 0.26** -0.11** -0.18** -0.37** -0.14** 0.52** -0.18** 0.55** - 11. Insistent-persevering approach .21** -0.09* 0.29** 0.32** 0.25** 26** 0.04 0.60** 0.10* 0.10* - Mean 77.81 23.46 45.15 41.52 48.63 37.14 40.04 53.91 13.36 12.53 20.94 Standard deviation 15.17 7.09 10.45 8.36 10.02 8.14 12.20 9.79 4.94 4.25 4.16 Cronbach Alpha .78 .68 .73 .74 .76 .78 .84 .81 .64 .71 .67 **p < .01,* p < .05. correlations among the variables. Approaching problems responsibility. There were also significant correlations in a negative way (r =-.63, p<0.01), lack of self-confidence between dimensions of personality traits. (r = -0.34, p<0.01), unwillingness to take responsibility (r When Table 2 is examined, it was seen that self- = -0.34, p<0.01) were found negatively and constructive compassion entered the model, developed to explain problem solving (r = 0.44, p<0.01), insistent-persevering approaching problems in a negative way, in first was approach (r = 0.21, p<0.01) were found positively seen to be significant in the model (R2=0.40, p<0.01 ). associated with self-compassion. Approaching problems Personality traits entered the model in second step was in a negative way (r =0.40, p<0.01), lack of self- found to be significant in the model, (R2=0.43, p<0.01). confidence (r = 0.19, p<0.01), unwillingness to take The sub dimension of personality traits; neuroticism responsibility (r = 0.19, p<0.01) were found positively and (β=0.15, p<0.01) was assumed to be significant. constructive problem solving (r = -0.26, p<0.01), insistent- When Table 3 is examined, it is observed that self- persevering approach (r = -0.09, p<0.05) were found compassion entered the model in first was found to be negatively associated with Neuroticism. Approaching significant in the model (R2=0.20, p<0.01). Personality problems in a negative way (r =-0.24, p<0.01), lack of traits entered the model in second step was found to be self-confidence (r = -0.35, p<0.01), unwillingness to take significant in the model, (R2=43, p>0.01). The sub responsibility (r = -0.11, p<0.01) were found negatively dimension of personality traits; neuroticism (β=-0.10, and constructive problem solving (r = 0.24, p<0.01), p<0.01) and openness to experiences (β=-0.20, p<0.01) insistent-persevering approach (r = 0.29, p<0.01) were were assumed to be significant. found positively associated with extraversion. When Table 4 is examined, it was seen that self- Approaching problems in a negative way (r =-0.31, compassion entered the model, developed to explain lack p<0.01), lack of self-confidence (r = -0.40, p<0.01), of self-confidence, in first was seen to be significant in the unwillingness to take responsibility (r = -0.18, p<0.01) model (R2=0.11, p<0.01 ). Personality traits entered the were found negatively and constructive problem solving (r model in second step was found to be significant in the = 0.34, p<0.01), insistent-persevering approach (r = 0.32, model, (R2=0.28, p<0.01). The sub dimension of p<0.01) were found positively associated with openness personality traits; neuroticism (β=0.10, p<0.01) to experiences. Approaching problems in a negative way responsibility (β=-0.12, p<0.01) and agreeableness (β=- (r =-0.27, p<0.01), lack of self-confidence (r = -0.45, 0.27, p<0.01) were assumed to be significant. p<0.01), unwillingness to take responsibility (r = -0.37, When Table 5 is examined, it is observed that self- p<0.01) were found negatively and constructive problem compassion entered the model in first was found to be solving (r = 0.32, p<0.01), insistent-persevering approach significant in the model (R2=0.11, p<0.01). Personality (r = 0.25, p<0.01) were found positively associated with traits entered to the model in second step was found to agreeableness. Approaching problems in a negative way be significant in the model, (R2=24, p<0.01). The sub (r =-0.22, p<0.01), lack of self-confidence (r = -0.37, dimension of personality traits; neuroticism (β=0.10, p<0.01), unwillingness to take responsibility (r = -0.14, p<0.01) and agreeableness (β=-0.44, p<0.01) were p<0.01) were found negatively and constructive problem assumed to be significant. solving (r = 0.26, p<0.01), insistent-persevering approach When Table 6 is examined, it was seen that self- (r = 0.26, p<0.01) were found positively associated with compassion entered the model, developed to explain 478 Educ. Res. Rev. Table 2. Multiple hierarchical regression analysis on approaching problems in a negative way. 2 2 R R R ch B t p 1 Constant 79.40 38.10 0.00 63 40 40 Self-compassion -0.50 -0.63 -19.28 0.00 Constant 76.93 21.47 0.00 Self-compassion -0.41 -0.51 -12.81 0.00 Neuroticism 0.25 0.15 3.82 0.00 2 Extraversion 66 43 42 -0.12 -0.10 -1.86 0.06 Openness to experiences -0.01 -0.01 -0.16 0.88 Agreeableness -0.04 -0.03 -0.63 0.53 Responsibility -0.09 -0.06 -1.32 0.19 Table 3. Multiple hierarchical regression analysis on constructive problem solving. 2 2 R R R ch B t p 1 Constant 31.75 16.49 0.00 0.44 0.20 0.19 Self-compassion 0.29 0.44 11.72 0.00 Constant 27.51 8.40 0.00 Self-compassion 0.20 0.31 6.92 0.00 Neuroticism -0.14 -0.10 -2.25 0.03 Extraversion 0.51 0.26 0.25 -0.08 -0.09 -1.44 0.15 2 Openness to experiences 0.24 0.20 2.85 0.01 Agreeableness 0.09 0.10 1.86 0.06 Responsibility 0.08 0.07 1.31 0.19 Table 4. Multiple hierarchical regression analysis on lack of self-confidence. 2 2 R R R ch B t p 1 Constant 21.89 21.43 0.00 0.34 0.11 0.11 Self-compassion -0.11 -.37 0.00 Constant 27.47 16.78 0.00 Self-compassion -0.06 -0.17 -3.82 0.00 Neuroticism 0.07 0.10 2.25 0.03 Extraversion 0.53 0.28 27 -0.04 -0.09 -1.50 0.14 2 Openness to experiences -0.01 -0.02 -0.23 0.81 Agreeableness -0.13 -0.27 -5.23 0.00 Responsibility -0.07 -0.12 -2.22 0.03 insistent-persevering approach, in first was seen to be research, there are negative correlations between insignificant in the model (R2=0.04, p<0.01). Personality negative approach to the problem and self-compassion, traits entered the model in second step was found to be extraversion, openness to experiences, agreeableness, significant in the model, (R2=0.12, p<0.01). The sub and responsibility; and there is a positive correlation dimension of personality traits; openness to experiences between negative approach and neuroticism. (β=0.15, p<0.01) was assumed to be significant. Additionally, self-compassion and neuroticism explain negative approach at a significant level. Negative approach to the problem is related to intense negative DISCUSSION feelings and ideas, such as despair, pessimism and sorrow, when encountered an interpersonal problem According to the findings obtained in the present (Çam and Tümkaya, 2007). Accordingly, it was an Arslan 479 Table 5. Multiple hierarchical regression analysis on unwillingness to take responsibility. 2 2 R R R ch B t p 1 Constant 19.92 22.71 0.00 0.34 0.11 0.11 Self-compassion -0.10 -0.34 -8.59 0.00 Constant 20.99 14.51 0.00 Self-compassion -0.07 -0.23 -5.08 0.00 Neuroticism 0.06 0.10 2.17 0.03 Extraversion 0.49 0.24 0.23 0.03 0.08 1.23 0.22 2 Openness to experiences 0.04 0.08 1.15 0.25 Agreeableness -0.19 -0.44 -8.38 0.00 Responsibility 0.03 0.06 1.21 0.23 Table 6. Multiple hierarchical regression analysis on insistent-persevering approach. 2 2 R R R ch B t p 1 Constant 16.52 18.52 0.00 0.21 0.04 0.04 Self-compassion .06 .20 5.04 Constant 13.01 8.58 0.00 Self-compassion .03 .09 1.85 0.07 Neuroticism -.03 -.05 -1.06 0.29 Extraversion 0.35 0.12 0.11 .04 .09 1.32 0.19 2 Openness to experiences .07 .15 1.91 0.05 Agreeableness .02 .04 0.63 0.53 Responsibility .04 .07 1.23 0.22 expected result that positive personality traits; self- with negative feelings and thoughts in a rational way compassion, extraversion, openness to experiences, and rather than making much of them (Neff, 2003a). responsibility are positively correlated. Neuroticism Extraversion includes being social, lively, cheerful, defines anxious, and insecure individuals (Burger, 2006; enthusiastic, optimistic, and sociable. Openness to McCrae and Costa, 1987). Anxious and insecure experiences is defined with a strong imagination, willing individuals are expected to present a negative approach to accept new ideas, multi-directional thinking, and to problems, considering that negative approach to intelligent curiosity (Bacanlı et al., 2009). Agreeableness problems involves pessimism, lack of confidence in defines negotiating, sincere, friendly and tolerant problem solving skills, getting easily angry or worried individuals (Chamorro-Premuzic, 2008; McCrae and when encountered problems (D Zurilla and Chang, 1995) Costa, 1987; McCrae and John, 1992). Individuals with Another finding of the present research that, there are high neuroticism dimension scores are anxious and positive correlations between constructivist problem insecure people (Burger, 2006; McCrae and Costa, solving and self-compassion, extraversion, openness to 1987). Considering all these, individuals with high self- experiences, agreeableness, and responsibility; and a compassion, extraversion, openness to experiences, negative correlation between constructivist problem agreeableness, and responsibility are expected to prefer solving and neuroticism. In addition, self-compassion, constructivist problem solving behaviors in case of a neuroticism, and openness to experiences explain problem-solving situation. Considering that neurotic constructivist problem solving at a significant level. individuals have difficulty in establishing relationships Constructive problem solving refers to feelings, ideas, with people, and maintaining these relationships in a and behaviours that contribute to solving an interpersonal healthy way (Bruck and Allen, 2003), neurotic individuals problem in an effective and constructive way (Çam and are expected to exhibit less constructivist problem solving Tümkaya, 2007). On the other hand, compassion is behaviors, which can explain this finding of the present defined as behaving oneself caringly and understandingly research. rather than criticizing oneself negatively; considering the According to the findings obtained in the present negative experiences as a part of human life, and dealing research, there are negative correlations between lack of 480 Educ. Res. Rev. self-confidence and self-compassion, extraversion, open- McCrae and John, 1992). Considering all these, ness to experiences and agreeableness; and a positive individuals, who exhibit insistent-persevering approach in correlation between lack of self-confidence and problem solving, are expected to have high self- neuroticism. Additionally, self-compassion and neuroticism compassion, extraversion, and openness to experiences, explain lack of self-confidence at a significant level. Some agree-ableness, and responsibility. previous researches (Sarıcaoğlu and Arslan, 2013) found The present research is limited to revealing the that, individuals with a positive self-perception had more interaction between personality traits, self-compassion self-compassion. An insecure approach refers to and interpersonal problem solving, through investigation individuals’ lack of self-confidence in solving a problem the relationships between these concepts. The present (Çam and Tümkaya, 2007). Accordingly, insecure research does not cover how individuals solve their individuals are expected to have less positive personality interpersonal problems. To offer a general evaluation of traits, such as self-compassion, openness to experiences, the findings of the present research; we can say that extraversion, agreeableness, and responsibility. there are positive relationships between positive Another finding of the present research is that, there dimension of interpersonal problem solving and positive are negative correlations between unwillingness to take personality traits, and self-compassion. Additionally, responsibility in problem solving and self-compassion, negative interpersonal problem solving approaches are extraversion, openness to experiences, agreeableness, related with negative personality traits and low self- and responsibility; and a positive correlation between compassion. These findings indicate that, having positive unwillingness to take responsibility and neuroticism. self-compassion and personality traits can contribute to Additionally, self-compassion, neuroticism, agree- individuals’ solving the problems they encounter in a ableness, and responsibility explain unwillingness to take more positive manner. In accordance with these findings, responsibility in problem solving at a significant level. we can suggest that trainings to develop self-compassion Unwillingness to take responsibility refers to not taking and positive personality traits and investigation the responsibilities in problem solving (Çam and Tümkaya, effects of these on interpersonal problem solving can 2007). Individuals with high self-compassion exhibit provide more explanatory results. Finally, including responsible behaviors when they encounter problems approaches and implementation that take self- (Neff, 2001; Neff and Harter, 2002a; Neff and Harter, compassion and personality traits into consideration in 2002b). Responsible individuals are neat, tidy, ambitious, psychological counseling and guidance studies on careful, and disciplined (Bacanlı et al., 2009). Therefore, interpersonal problems solving can be useful. individuals, who are unwilling to take responsibility in problem solving, are expected to have less self- compassion, be introvert, not open to experiences, have Conflict of Interests less agreeableness and responsibility, and more neurotic The author has not declared any conflicts of interest. characteristics. Likewise, Schmutte and Ryff (1997) found in their study that environmental authority and life purpose were strongly correlated with responsibility at a ACKNOWLEDGMENTS significant level. The last finding of the present research is that, there This study was supported by a grant from scientific are positive correlations between insistent-persevering research projects unit of Necmettin Erbakan University approach and self-compassion, extraversion, openness (Project Number: 152518001-355). to experiences, agreeableness and responsibility; and a negative correlation between insistent-persevering approach and neuroticism. In addition, self-compassion, REFERENCES and openness to experiences explain insistent- Arslan C (2010). An investigation of anger and anger expression in persevering approach at a significant level. Insistent- terms of coping with stress and interpersonal problem solving. Educ. persevering approach refers to persistently paying effort Sci.: Theory Pract. 10(1):25-43. on solving an interpersonal problem (Çam and Tümkaya, Arslan E (2011). Analysis of communication skill and interpersonal 2007). 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Vol. 11(7), pp. 482-490, 10 April, 2016 DOI: 10.5897/ERR2016.2645 Article Number: 095BF6B57841 ISSN 1990-3839 Educational Research and Reviews Copyright © 2016 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article http://www.academicjournals.org/ERR Full Length Research Paper Predictors of academic procrastination and university life satisfaction among Turkish sport schools students Kubilay Ocal Faculty of Sport Sciences, Mugla Sitki Kocman University, Mugla, Turkey. Received 16 January, 2016; Accepted 14 March, 2016 The purpose of this study was to examine the role of burnout, academic self-efficacy and academic success in predicting procrastination and university life satisfaction among sports schools students. The study sample comprised of 224 participants aged from 18 to 30 years with a mean age of 21.71 (SD=1.94) who were attending various departments of sport school in a public university. A quantitative research survey method was used in the study. Clustered sampling procedure was utilized in order to get a more representative sample. Pearson’s product moment’s correlation coefficient, hierarchical regression analysis, the independent t- test and one-way ANOVA were used for data analysis. Significance was set at a minimum of 0.05. Results indicate that academic burnout, academic self- efficacy and academic success are significant predictors of procrastination. According to these results, burnout seems to be the strongest predictor which explains 32.3% of the variance in procrastination. On the other hand, efficacy dimension of burnout was the only significant predictor of university life satisfaction among Turkish sports schools students. Key words: Procrastination, university life satisfaction, sport school students, academic self-efficacy, student burnout. INTRODUCTION University education is known as a critical transitional hard but important responsibilities as well. period in the process of development for every adult. One of the main responsibilities of higher education is During this period, number of developmental challenges to coach qualified human resources to meet the needs of in fluctuant level and variety were experienced (Choate major organizations, business and companies (Besette and Smith, 2003). These years are full of instability, and Burton, 2014). Thus, higher education institutions exploration, and adjustment which in turn contribute to should regularly observe and define the needs of society, identity and self-concept (Arnett, 2004). Understanding and satisfy these needs by generating high levels of how to balance academic and personal elements of life in knowledge with collaborative learning (Garrison and university provide students not only new opportunities for Arbaugh, 2007). Additionally, higher education institutions growth but also various constraints in the way of success must be aware of the resposibities in accelerating the (Ottenwriter, 2004). For that reason, universities have readiness of professionals in all areas (for example, E-mail:[email protected]. Authors agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License Ocal 483 health, education, science etc.) of the society. That is research has focused mainly on the negative why university life is a very important part of life journey consequences of academic procrastination, on academic and career development of students and sustainability of performance (Balkis and Duru, 2010, 2012; Fritzsche et public benefits. al., 2003; Schouwenburg et al., 2004) and college Transforming an adolescent into a professional is a students‟ psychological well being (Lee, 2005; Balkis, highly critical matter which has numerous dimensions. 2013; Dewitte and Schouwenburg, 2002; Ferrari and According to Duru (2008) college life is not only the vital Scher, 2000; Fritzsche et al., 2003; Lee, 2005; Midgley part of students‟ academic development, but also the and Urdan, 2001), with research into the factors affecting important elements of their social integration to the procrastination of university students very limited. society. During the period, students face various adverse Life satisfaction on the other hand is a level of plessure experiences which may inhibit their academic and social ones own life is condition to after a comparison development. The perceptions, responses, behaviors and predetermined criteria is defined by the individual (Akın strategies of students in this period have been the focus and Yalnız, 2015; Ülker et al., 2013). Different from of a considerable amount of research studies in the happiness which defines postive feelings about future related literature. and more notional (Keser, 2003), life satisfaction matters This study focuses on the experiences of sports to current condition (Gülcan, 2014). Every individual tend schools students. Physical education teachers, sports to reach the highest level of life satisfaction, although it managers, recreation leaders and coaches are among depends on personal criteria and perceptions. Academic the most needed professionals in the Turkish society. satisfaction is the part of general life satisfaction which When the study compare the statistic provided by represents the unique positive estimation related to the Bottenburg (2011) and Turkish Ministy of Health (2013); university life and related outcomes (Oliver and DeSarbo, participation of leisure time physical activity ratio in 1989). According to Karatekin (2013), there are many Turkey is only 3.5% which is 16 times lower than Holland variables related to life satisfaction. Zhai (2012) put forth (53%), 12 times lower than England (41%) and 10 times the same arguments for student satisfaction. The lower than Italy (35%) although there are 54 educational variables related to the student satisfaction can be listed institutions in Turkey training sport related professionals as students‟ characteristics (Mooney, 2010), institutional (Yıldız, 2008). According to Yıldız et al. (2007) 5120 characteristics (Mavondo et al., 2004), gender, academic students were educated by 131 different departments of performance, grade level, services and facilities, sport schools. Other statistics indicate that more than attendance, social relations, and academic programs 40.000 university graduates were unemployed (Ziyagil, (Burbach et al., 2010). 2014). This contradiction constitutes a huge problem to Increasing student populations and rising competitive be dealt with. environment in higher education require focusing on There might be three main dimensions of this problem. better management practices (Arslan and Akkas, 2014). The first one is managerial level problems that Limited resources put pressure on universities to improve universities fail to provide sufficient and contemporary their performance and develop measurable outcomes education to the students. The second one is; individual (Decramer et al., 2013; Veld et al., 2010). It is clear that level problems that students fail to utilize sufficiently the understanding factors related to procrastination and provided education and facilities at the universities. The university life satisfaction provide important information third one is overall system level problems that cover for creating better educational environment for students students, society and educational institutions together. and academic staff (Balkis, 2013). According to This study considers the individual level dimensions of Pehlivan‟s (2010) study; sport school students‟ positive academic and social development of students (that is, attitutes toward their job decrease during their university academic success, academic self-efficacy burnout years. This reduction is a barrier for them to contribute to university life satisfaction and procrastination) at once. Turkish sport settings and sport education effectively. With the support of existing literature, procrastination and Moreover, this reduction also results in negative image of university life satisfaction are determined as outcome sports schools which have important responsibilities and variables hypothised to be effected by academic success, roles to increase exhilaration and mobility in campus academic self-efficacy and burnout. settings. Procrastination is defined as the voluntary yet irrational According to the study of Uzun et al. (2010) little delay of an intended course of action (Steel, 2007). empirical research has been conducted to determine the Academic procrastination has been a barrier that college levels of academic procrastination and the causal factors students have to deal with as a main issue, and contributing to the procrastination experience among considerable attention has been given to procrastination Turkish university students. For that reason, this study in university settings (Ferrari et al., 2005; Haghbin et al., primarily aims to investigate the role of student burnout, 2012; Howell et al., 2006; Klassen et al., 2008; Lee, academic self-efficacy and academic success in 2005; Schraw et al., 2007; Schraw et al., 2007). Previous predicting procrastination and life satisfaction in university 484 Educ. Res. Rev. Table 1. Demographic characteristics of the participants. Variable Frequency Percentage PES teacher education 161 71.9 Area Sports management 29 12.9 Coaching 33 14.8 First 66 29.5 Second 9 4.0 Grade Third 56 25.0 Forth 93 41.5 Working 57 25.4 Meeting education Scholarship 133 59.4 expenses by Family Support 30 13.4 Other 4 1.8 Participated 60 26.8 Team participation Non-participated 164 73.2 settings with the sample of physical education and sport questionnaire sheet. school students. Additionally, differences in the level of student burnout, academic self-efficacy, academic Student burnout success, procrastination and university life satisfaction according to the certain demographic characteristic (for The original form of Maslach Burnout Inventory–Student Survey example, age, gender, area, and grade) of participants (MBI-SS) was developed by Schaufeli et al. (2002) to assess were also researched. students' sense of perceived burnout in academic setting. A reliability and validity study of the Turkish version of the MBI-SS carried out by Capri et al. (2011) confirmed the 3-factor structure with 13 items of the original instrument, with 5 items for exhaustion, METHODOLOGY 4 items for cynicism, and 4 items for efficacy. Each item is rated using a 7-point rating scale from 1 („Never‟) to 7 („Always‟). The Research model current study found Cronbach alpha coefficients for the dimensions of exhaustion, cynicism and efficacy to be 0.71, 0.85 and 0.65, In this quantitative research, a survey method was used. Through respectively. this way, more participants were reached in order to increase the possibility of generating results to the related population. Additionally, clustered sampling procedure, a commonly used University life satisfaction method when groups rather than individuals are randomly selected and when it is difficult or impossible to select individuals randomly, Life satisfaction was measured with the Satisfaction with Life (Fraenkel and Wallen, 2008) was used in order to get more Scale (SWLS), (Diener et al.,1985), consisting of 5 items designed representative sample. to measure global cognitive judgments of satisfaction with one's life (for example, the conditions of my life are excellent). The reliability of the scale (Cronbach's α) was 0.81. For this study, “my life” was Participants modified to “my university life” inorder to direct the student focus on university life. The alpha coefficient for the current sample was Participants of this research were 224 university students selected 0.82. from a Sports School in Turkey. In terms of gender, 80 (35.7%) of the participants were female and 144 (64.3%) of the participants were male. The ages of participants range from 18 to 30 with a Procrastination mean of 21.71 (SD=1.94). Further information about participants is given in Table 1. The Tuckman Procrastination Scale (TPS) was developed to assess college students' procrastination tendencies (Tuckman, 1991). The English version of the instrument included 16 items Measures rated on a four point scale (1: Strongly disagree, 4: Strongly agree) and had a single factor structure with a loading of 0.40 or higher. In Four different types of measures were used in order to obtain data. the original study, Cronbach's α was 0.86 (Tuckman, 1991), and in Additionaly, various demographic questions were included in the a more recent study, Tuckman (2007) reported Cronbach's α to be Ocal 485 Table 2. Correlation matrix and descriptive statistics. Variable M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 Procrastination 35.48 9.56 ------University life satisfaction 14.83 4.38 -0.122 - - - - - Exhaustion 14.13 4.32 0 .436** -0.227** - - - - Cynicism 11.13 3.67 0.477** -0.281** 0.645** - - - Efficacy 14.84 2.94 0.439** -0.401** 0.338** 0.377** - - Academic self-efficacy 26.78 4.28 -0.356** 0.071 -0.199** -0.160* -0.296** - Academic success 2.68 0.45 -0.227* -0.039 -0.046 0.031 -0.106 0.165 0.89. Turkish version of the TPS was carried out by Uzun et al. to quit participation in any time they want. (2013). Cronbach's α for the 14-item scale was α = 0.90 for the first sample and 0.85 for the second sample, indicating high internal consistency. The alpha coefficient calculated in the current study is Data analysis 0.85 Data analysis was carried out by means of SPSS 22.0. First, descriptive statistics were used for scanning data and missing Academic self-efficacy variables. Expectation of maximization was conducted in order to complete missing parts. Then Pearson‟s product moment‟s correlation coefficient was administered to find the level and the Academic self-efficacy (ASES) originally developed by Jerusalem directions of associations between predictors and dependent and Schwarzer (1981) in German language was used in this study. variables. Besides, a hierarchical regression analysis was They obtained a 0.87 reliability coefficient for 7 items measuring conducted in order to see how well procrastination and university one factor. ASES are rated by each participant on a 4 – item Likert life satisfaction are predicted by academic burnout, academic self- scale as: very appropriate, appropriate, and not appropriate and not efficacy and academic success. Finaly, independent t-test and one- appropriate at all. The scale has only one negative item (7). Turkish way ANOVA were used for determining the differences in the level version of ASES was developed by Yılmaz et al. (2007) applying of student burnout, academic self-efficacy, academic success, the scale to 672 undergraduate students. They found a 0.79 procrastination and university life satisfaction according to the Cronbach – alpha value with the same 7 items, which is acceptable. demographic characteristic of participants. Significance was set at a Recent studies also confirmed its reliability. For instance, minimum of 0.05, while other significance levels (0.01 and 0.001) Fettahlıoğlu and Ekici (2010) had 0.78 and Shams et al. (2011) were also shown. found 0.75 Cronbach – alpha coefficient. Minimum score of the ASES is 7, the maximum score is 28. Alpha coefficient for current study is 0.71. RESULTS Academic success Prior to the main analysis, data were examined in terms of the assumptions for hierarchical regression analysis, t- Grades and GPA are the most commonly used measure of test, ANOVA and the main assumptions were evidenced. academic success (York et al., 2015). Academic achievement of Table 2 gives the intercorrelations among predictors (that students was gathered on an open-ended question (for example, is, exhaustion, cynicism and efficacy, academic self- what is your GPA score?) in this study. efficacy and academic success) and dependent variables (that is, procrastination and academic life satisfaction). Demographic information sheet Results indicated that all correlations between predictors and procrastination were statistically significant, with Demographics information sheet, prepared for this study, includes correlations ranging from 0.23 to 0.48. On the other hand, personal information such as gender, age and academic university life satisfaction is significantly correlated with achievement. Academic achievement was represented by students‟ report of their GPA in the semester just before the questionnaire only exhaustion, cynicism and efficacy which are the was filled out. dimensions of burnout ranging from 0.23 to 0.40. A hierarchical regression analysis was employed to determine the relative effect of the predictor variables on Data collection procedures dependent variables ((a) Procrastination; (b) University Life Satisfaction). A survey instruments were administered in the campus setting The relationship between predictor variables and the during fall semester. Participant was given information related to the study, and their written consent was obtained. No inducement scores of dependent variables was examined using a 3- or no reward was given for participation. Completing the scale took step hierarchical regression analysis conducted with 6 approximately 15 min and participants were aware of the possibility predictors (Table 3): 486 Educ. Res. Rev. Table 3. Summary of hierarchical regression analysis for procrastination and university life satisfaction. Procrastination B β t R2 ΔR2 Academic burnout - - - 0.323** 0.323** Exhaustion 0.39 0.17 2.38* - - Cynicism 0.67 0.26 3.47** - - (In)Efficacy 0.92 0.28 4.67** - - Academic self-efficacy - 0.49 -0.22 -3.85** 0.366** 0.043** Academic Success -3.55 -0.17 -3.04** 0.392** 0.026** University life satisfaction Academic burnout - - - 0.181** 0.181** Exhaustion -0.02 -0.02 -0.29 - - Cynicism -0.16 -0.14 -1.60 - - (In)Efficacy -0.51 -0.34 -5.10** - - Academic self-efficacy - 0.07 -0.06 -0.98 0.185 0.004 Academic success -0.83 -0.09 -1.34 0.191 0.007 *p<.05, **p<.01. Table 4. Result of the independent samples T-test. Source Gender n Mean SD T p 80 2.81 0.44 GPA Female male 3.15 0.002** 144 2.61 0.45 80 8.44 2.72 (In)Efficacy Female male 2.75 0.006** 144 9.56 3.01 *p<.05, **p<.01 (Result indicates that there is a significant difference between male and female participants in terms of GPA [t (224) =3.15; p<.01] and efficacy level [t (224) =2.75; p<.01]). 1. Student burnout (Exhaustion; Cynicism; Efficacy) 220) =16.218, p<.01, R²=.181, R²adj=.170. In this 2. Academic self-efficacy model, efficacy dimension of student burnout was the 3. Academic success. significant predictor of the university life satisfaction, but cynicism and exhaustion were not. Academic self-efficacy The specific order of variable entry was selected so that entered in Step 2 were not significant predictor, F (4, 219) each predictor contributed to the explanatory variance of =31.591, p>0.05, R²=0.185, R²adj=0.170. Academic outcome variable scores after controlling for the variance success entered in Step 3 were also not significant explained by the previous variables and also in order of predictor, F (5, 218) =28.079, p > 0.05, R²=0.191, presumed causality. R²adj=0.173. In sum, the overall model explained 19.1% As seen in the Table 3, student burnout was a of the variance in University Life Satisfaction. significant predictor of procrastination, F (3, 220) Result Table 5 indicates that there are statically =34.973, p<0.01, R² =0.323, R²adj=.314. Academic self- significant difference (p<0.05) in students‟ life satisfaction efficacy entered in Step 2 were also significant predictor levels in terms of their grades (F (3, 220) = 3.55, p of procrastination, F (4, 219) =31.591, p<0.01, R =0.366, =0.015). Post hoc comparisons using the Tukey HSD, which is R²adj=0.354. Academic success entered in Step 3 were more appropriate test when the sample sizes are not also significant predictor of procrastination, F (5, 218) equal and all pairwise comparisons are desired =28.079, p< .01, R =.392, R²adj=.378. In sum, the overall (Tabachnick and Fidell, 2013), indicated that the mean model explained 39.2% of the variance in procrastination. score for the life satisfaction levels of 1st grade students As seen in the Table 4 Academic Burnout was a (M = 3.30, SD= 0.92) is significantly higher than the life significant predictor of University Life Satisfaction, F (3, satisfaction levels of 4th grades (M = 2.27, SD = .75) and Ocal 487 Table 5. Result of the One-way ANOVA. Dimension Grades n Mean SD df F p 1 66 3.30 0.92 3-220 3.55 0.015* University 2 9 3.48 0.60 - - - life 3 56 2.27 0.75 - - - satisfaction 4 93 2.92 0.89 - - - *p<.05, **p<.01. life satisfaction levels of 3rd grades (M = 2.92, SD = dimension of burnout (Exhaustion, Cynicism and 0.89). Efficacy) are related with procrastination. In addition, academic burnout academic self-efficacy and academic success are significant predictors of procrastination. DISCUSSION According to these results, burnout seems to be the strongest predictor which explains 32.3% of the variance The main aim of this study was to examine the role of in procrastination. This suggests that as the burnout student burnout, academic self-efficacy and academic levels of student increase they tend to procrastinate success in predicting procrastination and life satisfaction more. of students of sport schools at higher education. These findings provide further evidence for the findings Additionally, it was also aimed to investigate whether on the relationships of student burnout with negative there were significant differences in study variables in student behaviors and outcomes in university settings terms of age, gender, grade, part time working, being a such as student resistance behaviors (Cakir, 2015), lower member of a team and having financial support. As a levels of academic performance (Schaufeli et al., 2002) member of a sport school, my own experiences on and lower levels of academic achievement (Yang, 2004). students‟ absenteeism, failures, low GPAs, unfinished There are several possible explanations for academic duties, unfair complains about time, contents, and works procrastination being positively related with burnout. loads motivate the study to choose these variables with Student burnout is reluctance to do study related the help of previous studies in the literature. Beside activities and willing to escape school environment these, choosing sports school students as a study group (Schaufeli et al., 2002). Therefore, procrastination is a have additional important reasons. First of all, sports consequent response that comes after burnout by schools generally become ineffective to provide avoiding participating school related work load. Similarly professionals to change sports habits of Turkish society. in a recent study conducted with university students, it is The second one is that sport schools are generally reported that cynicism had a positive correlation, and considered as an easier way to be a university student efficacy had a negative correlation with student (Ocal, 2016). resistance (Cakir, 2015). As a result, higher rates of absenteeism, delays at Academic self-efficacy and academic success were delivering homeworks, and relatively lower performance other predictors of procrastination in the study. These at lessons are common characteristics of sports school finding suggest that as the actual academic success and students. All these reasons can be considered as academic self-efficacy increases, the procrastination evidence for a chaos in sports education. These chaotic levels of students tend to decreases. These findings are conditions have economic, social and individual level consistent with previous findings that high level of effects. It has economic effects that the government academic procrastination is associated with poor devotes huge amounts of investments on sports facilities academic performance (Balkis and Duru, 2009; Balkis at universities (Erkan, 2014) but not effectively used. and Duru, 2010). This is a clockwise interaction. Students There is a social effect that graduates fail to increase who were more organized and self-determined in their physical activity levels of people in the society. There is motivation were less likely to procrastinate (Burnam et an also individual level effect that most students can not al., 2014). According to Park and Kerr (1990) a student‟s find job after graduation. Therefore, result of this study cumulative grade point average is a common indicator of intends to shed light on the individual factors that academic success. Grade point average will be contribute to this problem. conceptualized as the determinant of ones‟ past The results from correlation analyses show that except performances. High grade point is a result of regular from university life satisfaction, all other variables, study, participation in class activities and self-leadership. academic self-efficacy, academic success, and all three The concept behind the scene of these skills is moti- 488 Educ. Res. Rev. vation to success. (Kuh et al., 2006). In the first years in sport schools, Therefore, high GPA is not only performance curriculums are generally designed for evaluation in sport schools but also it sets a standard for students‟orientation to university environments. Thus, students‟ perception of academic life. Additionally, high students have more leisure time, and they are highly GPA results in self-confident students who are less likely motivated to making social links with others. Many to procrastinate (Katz et al., 2013). There are significant students experience independence from their families for relationships between the college students‟ feeling of the first time in their life, which provide them more academic success and academic procrastination (Zhu, freedom. With the increase of grades, responsibilities of 2014). the students increase and they need to spend more time Another outcome variable of this study is university life for school base works. satisfaction. Student burnout, academic self-efficacy and They also realize the competitions exist between academic success were hypothesized to predict schoolmates, and difficulties to actualize career university life satisfaction. It is found that efficacy objectives. For that reason 3 and 4th grade students dimension of student burnout was the only significant have lower scores in satisfaction level. The study of predictor of university life satisfaction. According to this Yıldırım et al. (2015) provided consistent results. In their result, the more students feel incompetent as a student, study, they suggested that fourth grade students tend to the less they are satisfied with their university life. A have less satisfaction than first grade students because study on the relations among life satisfaction, burnout, of career anxiety and boredom in campus life. engagement and hopelessness of high school students was conducted by Capri et al. (2013) and the authors found that high school students‟ life satisfaction scores Conflict of interests have a negative relation with burnout. According to Azizli et al. (2015), life satisfaction was The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with most strongly correlated with general self-efficacy. respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of Results from Luszczynska et al. (2005) cross-cultural this article. study demonstrated a positive relationship between general self-efficacy and academic, vocational and social satisfaction. 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Vol. 11(7), pp. 491-498, 10 April, 2016 DOI: 10.5897/ERR2016.2677 Article Number: 90EC7A257846 ISSN 1990-3839 Educational Research and Reviews Copyright © 2016 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article http://www.academicjournals.org/ERR Full Length Research Paper A study of democratic school culture perceptions of sport high school students Enes IŞIKGÖZ Batman University, College of Physical Education and Sport, Physical Education Department, Turkey. Received 29 January, 2016; Accepted 10 March, 2016 In this study; the perceptions of the students studying at sport high schools about democratic school culture were analysed in accordance with different variables. Participants of the research consisted of 216 students studying at Sport High Schools in Sakarya and Batman Provinces of Turkey. The data were collected with the Democratic School Culture Perception Scale (DSCPS). The estimated Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient of the scale was .92. For the analysis of data, Mann Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis H tests from non-parametrical tests as well as descriptive statistical techniques were benefited from. According to the results of the research, the students’ perceptions about democratic school culture did not vary in gender and number of sibling but varied in the relevant grade level. Key words: Democracy education, democratic education, democratic school culture, sport high shool, student. INTRODUCTION For bringing individuals democratic attitudes and the whole society is a function of education, furthermore; behaviours, schools come first in organizations both education and the relavant society need a functionally important. Because school is the most democratic system in order to meet the functional recognizable institution which comes in individuals‟ requirements of education completely (Baklavacı and socialization after family, sometimes comes even before Deniz, 2015). family. That is, the most outstanding characteristics of It is possible to adopt a democratic life style in each school as an organization is that the raw material it deals field of life to create this system. When democracy is with is human beings who come from society and come transferred to life, it takes significance. This is also to society (Bursalıoğlu, 1994). Schools are not only possible with involving individuals with suitable institutions which provide students certain information democratic experiences beginning from small ages. and skills, but also democratic powers which help them Anyway, democracy is a share of fully-combined and socialize and participate in each field of democratic life concurrent experiences rather than being a management actively (Koliba, 2008). In this way, education makes a sytle (Dewey, 1996). According to Dottrens (1963), society to take part in democratic life by creating maybe information not acquired by practising or consciousness for living in a free society democratically experiencing, knowledge and opinions not beneficial for (Gözütok, 1995). But spreading democracy conscience to practising and performing are the worst and most terrible E-mail: [email protected]. Tel: 0(90) 5326312040. Authors agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License 492 Educ. Res. Rev. gifts of a scholar hostile to us. Therefore, democracy moral values citizens are given to students to have a culture may exist by not only adding courses or topics strong, stable, free and democratic social order. But the related with democracy into curriculums in schools but provision “Political and ideological suggestions against also performing similar processes to democratic Atatürk nationalism included in the Constitution and processes in real life by students (Genç and Güner, interferences in daily political events and discussion 2012). similar to these are never permitted in education Given that democracy only develops in appropriate institutions” was mentioned (Milli et al., 1973). environments, transferring democratic characteristics in Again, within the Article 5 of “Instructions of schools to the dimension of acts is seen to be an Democracy Education and School Councils of the important necessity (Ural and Sağlam, 2011). Anyway, if National Education Ministry” prepared given the National school environments have democratic characteristics, Education Basic Law numbered 1739, “the UN Child this one substantially affects teachers and students‟ Rights Charter”, “the European Charter Concerning success and such an environment will provide teachers Usage of Child Rights and the protocol “Democracy and students to have democratic attitudes and behaviors Education and School Councils Project” held between the (Gömleksiz and Çetintaş, 2011). Presidency of Turkish Grand National Assembly and the In order to give democracy education in schools, Ministry of National Education put into effect in 2004; it is education environments must let participants experience aimed to strengthen Our Republic with democracy; create democracy (Zencirci, 2003). For this, schools must be a permanent democracy culture, promote tolerance and managed with democratic values, democractic schools pluralistic conscience, bring generations who internalise and class environments must be prepared, and their own culture, have national and moral values and democratic education must be given in schools. But such adopt universal values; make students acquire cultures an education represents individuals who are independent about electing, being elected and voting; introduce skills and free, interrogate and analyze viewpoints in the world, about communicating, adopting democratic leadership think critically, have responsibility and know the rules and and molding public opinion for being participants (Millî et practices of democracy (Karakütük, 2001; Şişman et al., al., 2004). 2010). Training individuals with democratic culture keeps Within the Article 5 of the Regulation of MEB High going for all their lives. Because, voting process which School Institutions which regulates procedures and individuals use to choose their class president as of principles regarding training, teaching, managing and primary school period, goes on determining executives in proceeding formal and private high school instutitons local and general elections when they become older (Gill depending on MEB; saying that the high school and Gainous, 2002). institutions fulfill their functions in conformity with the In making democracy as a lifestyle, any emphasis of universal law, democracy and human rights towards the the importance of education is available in many general and special objectives, fundamental principles of international texts, from all of these; within the Article 13 Turkish national education; with student-centered and of International Covenant on Economical, Social and active learning, and a democratic institution Cultural Rights [ICESCR] of the United Nations [UN], understanding, high school institutions are required to “The States Parties of this Covenant, each one is entitled have democratic institution culture. Furthermore, in the to education. The Covenant States have a consensus Article 7 of the same regulation; it is aimed for high that education must be given for developing human school institutions to develop students in terms of personality and honour, and strengthening respect to physical, mental, moral, spiritual, social and cultural human rights and basic freedoms. The States also agree aspects, be respectful to democracy and human rights, that education must be given which will make each one guiding them for future by furnishing them with take part in the liberal society effectively, develop knowledge and skills necessary for our age. understanding, tolerance and friendship between all Sport high schools organized as a high school institution racial, ethnical and religional groups, among all nations, in our country started to serve as High Schools of Fine and promote the activities for keeping peace by the Art and Sport dating from the 2009-2010 academic year United Nations”. after high schools of fine art and sport were combined in order to reduce school variety and increase program Education at an international level was emphasised to variety in 2008 by MEB. have an important role in developing human rights and In the process of restructuring MEB, towards activities democracy (UN, 1976). In our country, the issue of such as developing education system and raising democracy in education was included with the principle contemporary standarts, in the 18th National Education “Democracy Education” within the Article 11 of the Meeting, high schools of fine art and sport which had an National Education Basic Law Numbered 1739. In this understanding of two different disciplines, were divided principle, a conscience of democracy, information, into two different school types including sport high school understanding and behaviors associated with home and fine arts high school to continue training and management, a sense of responsibility and respect to teaching activities. Furthermore, sport high schools have IŞIKGÖZ 493 served as separate high schools dating from the 2013- METHODOLOGY 2014 academic year. This research is a descriptive study with a screening model to determine the democratic school culture perceptions of the students studying at sport high schools (Karasar, 2008). LİTERATURE Contributions of schools to democratic life at both Participants primary-secondary and high schools under the general The participants of the research consisted of 216 students including education are based on democratic school culture in their 81 male and 63 female students from Batman Sport High School own bodies. In a democratic education, the rules and and 53 male and 19 female students from Sakarya Sport High principles of democracy and human rights are only taught School in the first term of 2015-2016 academic year. These two by experience. At schools and at education institutions cities were selected to reflect the democratic school culture except for schools the relevant education may be perceptions of two geographically different cities in Turkey. democratic; also, democracy education may be given during this training. So both democratic education and Data collection tools democracy education may be given together in this education process (Şişman et al., 2010). Data concerning the democratic school culture perceptions in Sport Studies on the perceptions about democratic school High School students were obtained using Lykert type “The culture are limited in literature, studies have mostly Perception Scale of Democratic School Culture (DSCPS)” focused on democracy education (Koutselini, 2008; developed by Kabasakal et al. (2015). A scale of total 26 items was made up of the choices “never”(1), “rarely”(2), “sometimes”(3), Duze, 2011; Gyamera, 2014; Akpınar and Turan, 2004; “always”(4), “usually”(5). The Cronbach‟s Alpha coefficient Emir and Kaya, 2004; Işıkgöz, 1999; Gürbüz, 2006), estimated for the scale reliability was .94; the Cronbach‟s Alpha attitudes and behaviours regarding democratic education coefficient for the scale reliability was found to be .92 in the current (Gözütok, 1995; Büyükkaragöz and Kesici, 1996; study. Karahan et al., 2006; Erdem and Sarıtaş, 2006; Saracaloğlu et al., 2004; Ektem and Sünbül, 2011; Gömleksiz and Kan, 2008; Yanardağ, 2000; Genç and Data analysis Kalafat, 2007), democratic education and democratic The research data were analyzed using the SPSS 22.0 package values (Kıncal and Işık, 2003; Yeşil and Aydın, 2007; program. To determine the students‟ democratic school culture Yılmaz, 2011; Gürşimşek and Göregenli, 2004; Kolaç and perceptions, descriptive statistics were done. In the analysis of Karadağ, 2012; Güven and Akkuş, 2004; Zencirci, 2003; data, normality test was firstly performed to see whether data Demirbolat, 1999) and these studies have been mostly showed a normal distribution (Table 1); as a result of tests, it was done with the samples of teacher candidates, teachers seen that data did not show a normal distribution. Since these did and executives. not present any normal distribution, Mann Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis H tests from non-parametrical tests were benefited from in On democratic school culture, the studies such as the analysis. “Framework of Qualifications for A Democratic School Culture” by Şişman et al. (2010), “Evaluation of Teacher Candidates‟ Behaviours in terms of a Democratic Class RESULTS Environment” by Kayabaşı (2011), “Analysis of Factors Affecting High School Students‟ Citizenship Perceptions” The students‟ personal information was given in Table 1. by Doğanay and Sarı (2009), “Democratic Education in The descriptive analysis results from their democratic The Classroom: An Education Law Perspective” by school culture perceptions are given in Table 2. Moswela (2010) are available. However, a study titled Of 216 students involved in the research group, 134 with “A Study of Democratic School Culture Perceptions (62.0%) were male students and 82 (38.0%) were female th in High School Students” by Kabasakal et al. (2015) students. 150(69.4%) were in 9 grade class, and th aimed at the assessment of students‟ perceptions about 66(30.6%) were in 10 grade class. 3(1.4%) students had democratic school culture is only found among the one sibling; 39(18.1%), two siblings; 29(13.4%), three samples of high school students in literature, “The siblings; 28 (13.0%), four siblings; 18(8.3%), five siblings; Perception Scale of Democratic School Culture” which 99(45.8%), more than five siblings. was developed before and also used as a data collection By examining Table 3, it can be said that the general tool in this study, makes contributions to the field. This average of democratic school culture perceptions in the study is the first one dealing with Sport High School students was positive (3.81 ±1.23). Looking at the point students‟ perceptions about democratic school culture. averages of the students‟ responses to the perception That is why, the research is of great importance. Studying scale items about democratic school culture; the items democratic school culture perceptions of students having “our teachers respect others‟ rights (4.18±1.02) and our education at Sport High Schools in terms of different teachers pay attention to respect others‟ rights variables set the objective of this study. (4.14±1.11)” had the highest point average. The student 494 Educ. Res. Rev. Table 1. Results of Kolmogorov-Smirnov test to check normality of distribution in points concerning democratic school culture perceptions. Values Perception scale of democratic school culture N 216 M 99.00 Normal parameters ss 18.57 Kolmogorov-Smirnov Z 0.074 p 0.00* p<0.05*. Table 2. Distribution of students ınvolved in research in accordance with variables of gender, class and number of sibling. Gender f % Male 134 62.0 Female 82 38.0 Class f % 9th Class 150 69.4 10th Class 66 30.6 Number of sibling f % Only A Child 3 1.4 Two Siblings 39 18.1 Three Siblings 29 13.4 Four Siblings 28 13.0 Five Siblings 18 8,3 More than Five 99 45.8 Total 216 100.0 perceptions about both items are at similar direction. This (p=0.18>0.05). shows clearity and consistency. In Table 5, a significant difference was found in favour In Table 3, with the average point from the items “our of the students studying at 10th grade as a result of non- teachers allow our friends having different opinions say parametrical Mann Whitney-U test used to determine their thoughts exactly, our school executives pay whether the students‟ points from democratic school attention to be respectful to others’ rights, our teachers culture scale significantly varied in their relevant class support us to be researcher and interrogative in courses variable. There was not any meaningful difference and our school executives respect to others’ rights”, they between the groups (p=.00<.05). The democratic school were mostly observed to have a positive approach. culture perceptions of the students studying at 10th grade However, the students sometimes showed different were more positive than the 8th class students. It is behaviours to their friends in accordance with their school considered to result from more school life experiences in executives and their teachers‟ gender. Their teachers and 10th class students rather than the 9th grade students. school executives sometimes supported them when they In Table 6, there was not a statistically significant objected to the decisions in their class and they defended difference resulting from Kruskal Wallis-H test to see their rights. whether the students‟ democratic school culture In Table 4, as a result of non-parametrical Mann perceptions differed in a number of sibling (X²=3.528; Whitney-U test used to determine whether the students‟ sd=5, p=.61>.05). The students having five siblings, had points from the democratic school culture scale the highest point on democratic school culture significantly varied in the gender variable, there was not perceptions, the students with only one sibling, that is, any meaningful difference between the groups without any siblings, had the lowest point. IŞIKGÖZ 495 Table 3. Descriptive statistical results concerning students‟ democratic school culture perceptions. Items N M SD Our teachers encourage us to defend our rights. 216 3.67 1.12 Our school executives support us to defend our rights. 216 3.54 1.26 Each student is given an opportunity of expressing one‟s strong characteristics in our school. 216 3.71 1.24 Our teachers pay attention to behave individuals from different ethnic origins tolerantly. 216 3.85 1.19 Students‟ needs and requests are taken ino consideration while making decisions 216 3.90 1.23 about them in our school. School management gives importance to students‟ opinions and suggestions. 216 3.85 1.21 Our teachers guide us to investigate the question in various aspects when a problem occurs in class. 216 3.85 1.11 Our school executives pay attention to behave individuals from different religions and beliefs tolerantly. 216 3.86 1.25 Our teachers respect to others‟ rights. 216 4.18 1.02 Our school executives pay attention to be respectful to others‟ rights. 216 4.04 1.15 Our school executives pay attention to behave individuals from different ethnic origins tolerantly. 216 3.85 1.20 Our teachers allow our friends having different opinions say their thoughts exactly. 216 4.08 1.08 Objections to decisions in class are taken into consideration. 216 3.38 1.31 Our teachers support us when we defend our rights. 216 3.58 1.28 Different opinions in our class are regarded as richness. 216 3.58 1.27 Rules regarding courses in class are determined with our participation. 216 3.75 1.30 It is important that decisions in our class be appropriate for the opinion of majority. 216 3.99 1.15 Our teachers pay attention to be respectful to others‟ rights. 216 4.14 1.11 Our school executives respect to others‟ rights. 216 4.00 1.12 An opportunity of strengthening each student‟s weak characteristics is given without making any discrimination. 216 3.87 1.18 Our teachers support us to research and interrogate in courses. 216 4.00 1.16 In class environment all students are equal to each other in front of teachers‟ eyes. 216 3.82 1.42 School management takes requests and complaints conveyed by our class representative. 216 3.80 1.24 Our teachers pay attention to behave individuals from different religions and beliefs tolerantly. 216 3.93 1.27 Our teachers show different behaviours in accordance with our friends‟ genders. 216 3.45 1.59 School executives show different behaviours in accordance with our friends‟ genders. 216 3.31 1.58 Total 216 3.81 1.23 (1.00:Never, 2.00:Rarely, 3.00:Sometimes, 4.00:Always, 5.00:Usually). Table 4. Results of Mann Whitney-U test to check significance of difference in students‟ democratic school culture perceptions in accordance with gender variable. Gender N SS MS U z p Female 82 9491.00 115.74 4900.000 -1.333 0.18 Male 134 13945.00 104.07 Total 216 - - Table 5. Results of Mann Whitney-U test used to check whether there is significant difference in students‟ democratic school culture perceptions in accordance with their relevant class variable. Class N SS MS U z p 9th grade 150 15089.50 100.60 3764.500 -2.803 0.00 10th grade 66 8346.50 126.46 Total 216 496 Educ. Res. Rev. Table 6. Results of Kruskal Wallis-H test used to determine students‟ democratic school culture perceptions in accordance with their number of sibling. Number of sibling N SS SD X² p Only a child 3 92.67 Two siblings 39 114.32 Three siblings 29 99.34 5 3.528 0.61 Four siblings 28 94.77 Five siblings 18 116.03 More than five 99 112.39 Total 216 - DİSCUSSİON economic level and students considered life quality in their high schools as more positive ones when class level The research concluded that the general perceptions of increased. Within a research called “Level Determination the students studying at sport high schools about of Democratic Values in Final Class Students of Primary- democratic school culture were positive. According to Secondary School” by Yüksel et al. (2013); any another result of the study, the students‟ democratic significant differences were not seen in the level of school culture perceptions did not differ in gender and democratic values adopted by the final class students of number of sibling but differed in their relevant class. primary-secondary school in accordance with a number Towards these results, the democratic school culture of individuals in their families. perceptions of the students studying at 10th class were Democratic school environments affect both teachers more positive than the students studying at 9th class. and students in positive ways and contribute them to When examining the researches related with this topic, have democratic attitudes and behaviours (Duman and similar results were obtained. Kabasakal et al. (2015)‟s Koç, 2004). The rooted transformation process which study titled “A Study of High School Students‟ Democratic Turkey started in the first quarter of 21st century and has School Culture Perceptions” showed that the students‟ still been going on, has made paradigmatic changes in democratic perception levels concerning culture in their the youth field like in many fields, “passive and inactive schools did not vary in gender and number of sibling but youth” policies started to replace “active and efficient significantly varied in their class level. Demir et al. youth” policies. This makes clear that changes are in (2012)„s study “A Study of School Life Quality question and democratic characteristics are adopted as Perceptions as an Element of School Culture in High parallel to trends in the modern world (Kızılkaya et al., School Students” claimed that there was no significant 2013). difference in having positive feelings about teachers and As atmosphere given by school environment and school in favour of 12nd grade students. culture may provide positive social experiences to Morhayim (2008)‟s study title “Evaluation of Student students, difficulties and pressures from school Tendencies Concerning Democratic School as an atmosphere, a functioning system of a non-democratic Alternative School Type” used democratic school-based, school may negatively affect students, may even lead to five, basic criteria with sub-dimensions, indicated that passive, fearful or aggressive individuals (İnal, 2009). classes of small age groups attributed to sub-dimensions Schools may be examples of democratic culture by less, when classes became upper, these attributions making schools environments where students learn increased. This situation resulted from increases in democratic life with their experiences (Harrison 2003). awareness related with their lives and environments Because democratic schools are ones which locate when students grew up and became adults, also students on center, introduce them freedom and benefit increases in their fiction levels related with democracy, from democratic principles and practices in management democratic school and democratic education being of schools (Morhayim, 2008) . researched, attributions were more in classes of older When evaluating the results of the research, age groups, the reason for that the awareness level democratic school culture is a dynamical process, and increased in this period. students‟ perception styles concerning this process have Sarı et al. (2007) stated that students generally importance in democracy education. To create a perceived life quality in their schools at a medium level; democratic school culture, school executives and there were not differences about school life quality teachers‟ efforts are important. These efforts are reflected perceptions between female and male students, school on students as elements of democratic culture; they can life quality was higher in high schools at upper socio- determine their perceptions about a democratic school. IŞIKGÖZ 497 When making any research on a large sample group, Gömleksiz MN, Kan A.Ü (2008). Eğitim fakültesi ve tezsiz yüksek lisans studying students‟ democratic school culture perceptions programlarına kayıtlı öğretmen adaylarının demokratik tutumlarının değerlendirilmesi (Fırat Üniversitesi örneği). Milli Eğitim Dergisi. in accordance with different variables will make 178:44-63. contributions to the field. Gözütok FD (1995). Öğretmenlerin Demokratik Tutumları. Ankara: Türk Demokrasi Vakfı Yayınları. Gürbüz G (2006). İlköğretim 7. ve 8. 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