Mesut Saçkes

Amaç: Bu araştırmanın amacı, Balıkesir İl Halk Kütüphanesi’nde yer alan, 3-8 yaş arası fen temalı resimli çocuk kitaplarının fiziksel ve içerik özellikleri açısından incelemesidir.Yöntem: Bu çalışmada doküman analizi yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Araştırmanın örneklemini, Balıkesir İl Halk Kütüphanesi’nde bulunan 3-8 yaş arası 87 fen temalı resimli çocuk kitabı oluşturmaktadır. Veri toplama aracı olarak, araştırmacılar tarafından geliştirilen Fen Kitaplarını Değerlendirme Formu kullanılmıştır. Verilerin analizinde içerik analiz tekniği kullanılmıştır.Bulgular: Kitapların; 31 tanesi kurgusal, 31 tanesi bilgi veren ve 25 tanesi de karma türde resimli çocuk fen kitabıdır. Kitapların en çok 24-32 sayfa aralığında olduğu belirlenmiştir. Etkinliklerin, en çok bilgi veren kitaplarda, fen materyallerinin en çok karma kitaplarda ve ek bilgilerin en çok bilgi veren kitaplarda bulunduğu tespit edilmiştir. Her üç kitap türünde de uzman bilgisi ve sözlük içerme sayısının sınırlı olduğu gözlenmiştir. Kitaplarda en sık geçen değer kelimesinin duyarlılık olduğu, yaşam bilimlerinin en sık ele alınan alan olduğu gözlenmiştir. Kapak konu uyumu, kitap planının tutarlı olması, resimlerin estetik ve sanatsal açıdan nitelikli olması ve resimlerin ilgi çekici olması bakımından kurgusal kitapların ve bilgi veren kitapların karma kitaplara göre daha yetkin olduğu görülmüştür. Her üç kitap türünde de en fazla hayvanlar ve çevre konuları yer almaktadır. Hayvanlar daha çok bilgi veren kitaplarda (16) ve karma kitaplarda (6) geçmesine rağmen, çevre ise daha çok kurgusal kitaplarda (11) geçmektedir. Çok az kitapta yazım hatasına rastlanmıştır. Ayrıca, incelenen kitaplarda bazı kavram yanılgıları, hatalı ve eksik bilgi, resimleme hatası ve antropomorfizm bulunmuştur. Bazı kitaplar çocukların yaş ve gelişimine uygun bulunmamıştır.Sonuç: Tüm kitap türlerinin fiziksel ve içerik özellikler bakımından üstünlükleri ve sınırlılıkları bulunmaktadır. İncelenen kitaplarda bazı kavram yanılgıları, hatalı ve eksik bilgi, resimleme hatası, antropomorfizm içeren kelimeler bulunmuştur. Bazı kitaplar ise, çocukların yaş ve gelişimine uygun bulunmamıştır. Özgünlük: Bu çalışmanın bulguları; eğitimcilere, yazarlara, öğretmenlere, ebeveynlere, kütüphane uzmanları ve yayınevlerine fen temalı resimli çocuk kitaplarının kullanımı ve üretilmesine yönelik önemli ipuçları sunmaktadır.

Recent studies suggest that Turkish preschoolers exhibit a different pattern of theory of mind development than Western samples, particularly with respect to understanding the diversity of beliefs and knowledge acquisition. The present study posits that such differences extend to distinctions between understanding others' false belief and one's own representational change. Across two experiments, we found that preschoolers in Türkiye ( n = 493; 249 Girls and 244 Boys) showed superior performance when asked a question about their own representational change compared with their understanding of another's false belief. These findings support the hypothesis that Turkish children attend to different facets of their own mental states, which might influence reasoning about their own representational change differently from others' false belief.

Previous studies have shown relations between the emergence of theory of mind capacities and children's scientific reasoning in Western samples. Previous studies have also shown that Turkish preschoolers have a different trajectory for theory of mind development than their Western counterparts. This study extends these previous findings to examine relations between the emergence of false belief understanding and different facets of scientific reasoning in Turkish preschoolers (aged 3 to 5), particularly focused on the difference between understanding others' false belief and one's own representational change. Study 1 revealed a positive relation between preschoolers' capacity to infer another's false belief and their experimentation skills when unconfounded interventions were presented to them. This finding did not extend to children's ability to report their own representational change. Study 2, however, showed that this relation with false belief did not extend to a case in which children had to design their own interventions to implement the control of variables strategy. The results suggest links between children's understanding of false belief and their nascent scientific reasoning among Turkish preschoolers.

The aim of this study is to develop a teacher self-efficacy scale for inclusion in elementary education. In the study descriptive survey model was used. The sample of the study consisted of teacher candidates studying in the field of pre-school and classroom education in Turkey and teachers working in kindergartens, preschools and primary schools affiliated to the Ministry of National Education. A total of 332 people, 229 from the field of pre-school and 103 from the field of classroom education, participated in the study. Within the scope of the study, the 46-item tool named “Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale for Inclusiveness in Basic Education (TEKÖZ)” was created by obtaining expert opinion. “Principal Components Analysis” and “Confirmatory Factor Analysis” were conducted for the developed scale. As a result of the analyzes, it was determined that the “Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale for Inclusiveness in Basic Education (TEKÖZ)” consisted of three factors named “Collaboration, Classroom Management, and Teaching” and 22 items. The reliability coefficient for the entire scale is α=0.87. It has been determined that the developed tool is suitable for measuring the self-efficacy of teachers and teacher candidates at the basic education level regarding inclusiveness.

This study examined parents’ beliefs and potential links with their children’s (1) interest in science, (2) competence in learning science, and (3) science learning opportunities offered to their children. The study included a sample of 1,490 parents who had young children enrolled in U.S. preschool (3 years old, 55.9%) and pre-kindergarten (4 years old, 44.1%) classes. Data were collected via online surveys, which included three components: Perceived Science Motivation for Children-Parents Form, Parental Expectation and Support for Learning Science Questionnaire, and socio-demographic questions about parents and their children. Based on rankings of science and other curricular areas, parents’ responses were classified into three groups: Low, Moderate, and High Preference for Science. Few parents prioritized science over other curricular areas in early learning classrooms, and parents’ preferences for science were not associated with their incomes, levels of education, or the children’s ages or sex. Parents’ gender, however, was related to their preferences for science. Their beliefs about children’s interest in science and competence to learn science were associated with home science resources, science-related conversations, and parental preferences for learning science in early childhood classrooms. Results from this study suggest that parents’ beliefs about children’s interest in science and competence to learn science predict the science learning opportunities provided to their children.

Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second-most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder, often resulting in blood pressure abnormalities due to autonomic dysfunction. The early morning rise in blood pressure, referred to as the morning surge, has been associated with various cardiovascular diseases when exaggerated. This study aims to investigate the relationship between morning blood pressure surge (MBPS) and inflammatory markers in patients with PD. Methods: In this retrospective study, we employed 24 h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring alongside the fibrinogen-to-albumin ratio and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) as inflammatory markers. The study included fifty idiopathic PD patients and fifty age- and sex-matched control subjects. MBPS was defined as the difference between morning blood pressure (measured two hours after awakening) and the lowest recorded nighttime blood pressure. Body mass index (BMI) was considered as an independent variable. Results: Our study found that morning blood pressure surge (MBPS) levels were significantly higher in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients compared to the control group, suggesting possible autonomic involvement. Conclusions: MBPS may indicate autonomic involvement, potentially contributing to cardiovascular and cerebral morbidity and mortality in PD patients. Longitudinal studies with larger sample sizes are warranted to further elucidate this relationship.

This study provides evidence that what happens in preschool (i.e., preschool curriculum) can have long-term consequences years later. In the current study, we seek to answer the question of whether the inclusion of science in the preschool curriculum is associated with fourth- and eighth grade science achievement scores. Based on science achievement data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS 2015 and 2019 cycles), the quality of preschool science learning opportunities showed long-term impacts on science achievement at the fourth grade level. Even after controlling for enrollment rates, the quality of the preschool curricula was a statistically significant predictor of fourth grade science scores with a high effect size (d=0.74). The observed impacts, however, appeared to diminish by eighth grade. Results from this study suggest that science concepts and skills should be an integral part of preschool curricula and curricular frameworks, and policy makers should allocate resources to provide well-designed preschool education programs with high quality curricula.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common degenerative disease which may cause blood pressure abnormalities due to autonomic dysfunction. Early morning rise of blood pressure which is called morning surge is found to be related with some cardiovascular diseases when it is exaggerated. We wanted to search the relation of Morning blood pressure surge (MBPS) and inflammation in PD. Method: Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring for 24 hours, fibrinogen to albumin ratio, hs-CRP are used in this retrospective study. Fifty idiopathic PD patients and 50 age and sex matched control cases were included. MBPS, it has been defined as the difference between morning BP (measured 2 hours after awakening) and the lowest night-time BP. Body mass index (BMI) is used as an independent variable. Results: Median value of MBPS for PD group (21,63) was significantly different from the control group values (18,63) (p