Eray Eğmir

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between teachers’ educational beliefs and their creative thinking tendencies, and to determine the extent to which educational beliefs predict creative thinking. The study was designed using a correlational survey model and conducted with data collected from 404 teachers working at different school levels and subject areas during the 2023–2024 academic year. During the data collection process, the Educational Beliefs Scale and the Marmara Creative Thinking Dispositions Scale were used; descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple linear regression techniques were applied in the analyses. The findings revealed that teachers highly adopted contemporary educational approaches such as progressivism, existentialism, and reconstructionism, and that their creative thinking tendencies were generally high. Moderate positive relationships were found between educational beliefs and creative thinking, and the level at which teachers worked was identified as a significant differentiating variable. Regression analysis showed that educational beliefs explained approximately 35% of the variance in creative thinking tendencies. Overall, the results suggest that teachers’ student-centered and contemporary philosophical orientations function as a cognitive–pedagogical framework that supports creative thinking, highlighting the theoretical importance of educational beliefs in understanding creativity in teaching and offering implications for teacher training and instructional practice.

Understanding how pre-service teachers’ curriculum belief orientations relate to their professional preparedness is important for teacher education. This study examined the structural relationships among curriculum design orientations, democratic tendency, and teaching preparedness. Data were collected from 287 teacher candidates enrolled in a faculty of education in Türkiye. Participants completed measures of subject-centered curriculum orientation, constructivist curriculum orientation (combining learner-centered and problem-centered orientations), democratic tendency, and teaching preparedness. Structural equation modeling was conducted using Jamovi (Version 2.6.44) to examine the structural relationships among the variables. The results showed that constructivist curriculum orientation positively predicted democratic tendency, whereas subject-centered orientation negatively predicted democratic tendency. Democratic tendency showed a limited and non-significant association with teaching preparedness. Neither constructivist nor subject-centered orientation demonstrated a significant direct effect on preparedness, and democratic tendency did not function as a mediating mechanism. The model explained substantial variance in democratic tendency but relatively limited variance in teaching preparedness. Overall, the findings suggest that constructivist curriculum beliefs are closely aligned with democratic dispositions, while democratic values appear to be associated with broader professional orientations rather than with immediate perceptions of teaching preparedness. The study contributes to the literature by clarifying the distinct roles of curriculum belief orientations and democratic tendency in pre-service teacher development. Practically, the findings suggest that teacher education programs may benefit from integrating democratic participation, reflective dialogue, and learner-centered experiences alongside curriculum-related coursework in order to support broader aspects of professional readiness.

Öz Bu araştırma, 2018 yılında yürürlüğe giren ortaokul 7. sınıf Din Kültürü ve Ahlak Bilgisi (DKAB) öğretim programını öğretmen deneyimleri temelinde Stufflebeam’in Bağlam–Girdi–Süreç–Ürün (CIPP) modeli çerçevesinde değerlendirmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Program değerlendirme çalışmaları, yalnızca mevcut uygulamaların niteliğini belirlemekle kalmayıp, eğitim politikalarındaki dönüşümleri anlamaya da katkı sunmaktadır. Ancak alanyazında 7. sınıf DKAB öğretim programının öğretmen görüşlerine dayalı ve CIPP modeli temelinde bütüncül biçimde incelendiği çalışmaların sınırlı olduğu görülmektedir. Araştırma nitel durum çalışması deseninde yürütülmüş; veriler Afyonkarahisar ilinde görev yapan 30 DKAB öğretmeniyle gerçekleştirilen yarı yapılandırılmış görüşmeler ve program dokümanlarının analizi yoluyla toplanmıştır. Veriler, CIPP modelinin boyutları çerçevesinde betimsel analizle yapılandırılmış, ardından içerik analizi ile tematik olarak çözümlenmiştir. Bulgular, bağlam boyutunda programın felsefi temeller ve genel amaçlar açısından tutarlı bir çerçeve sunduğunu; ancak bu yaklaşımın sınıf içi uygulamalara sınırlı ölçüde yansıdığını göstermektedir. Girdi boyutunda kazanımların bireysel ve toplumsal ihtiyaçlarla genel olarak uyumlu olduğu, ancak bilişsel alanın baskınlığı nedeniyle duyuşsal ve davranışsal boyutların görece zayıf kaldığı belirlenmiştir. Süreç boyutunda öğretmenlerin çoğunlukla geleneksel öğretim stratejilerine yöneldiği; materyal eksikliği ve sınıf mevcudu gibi yapısal faktörlerin uygulamayı etkilediği görülmüştür. Ürün boyutunda ise mevcut ölçme-değerlendirme uygulamalarının programın hedeflediği yetkinlikleri tam olarak yansıtmadığı tespit edilmiştir. Sonuç olarak, araştırma 2018 programının güçlü yönlerini ortaya koymakla birlikte, özellikle içerik yoğunluğu, bireysel farklılıklara duyarlılık ve değerlendirme uygulamaları bakımından geliştirilmesi gereken alanlara işaret etmektedir. 2024 yılında yürürlüğe giren yeni program bağlamında bulgular, program değişiminin gerekçelerini anlamaya yönelik tarihsel bir perspektif sunmaktadır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Program değerlendirme, CIPP modeli, Din Kültürü ve Ahlak Bilgisi, öğretim programı, öğretmen görüşleri

Introduction: This study examines the socio-emotional and interactional dynamics shaping young learners’ engagement with the 5th-grade English curriculum in public secondary school contexts in Türkiye. Drawing on a responsive curriculum evaluation approach and grounded in classroom ecology and socio-cultural learning perspectives, the study focuses on how socio-emotional readiness, instructional mediation, and contextual demands shape communicative language learning. Methods: A qualitative case study design was employed. Data sources included curriculum document and textbook analysis, classroom observations, semi-structured interviews with seven English teachers, one teacher focus group, and a separate focus group with seven 5th-grade students. Data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Results: Findings indicate that students’ participation in spoken English activities was closely associated with emotional security, peer-related evaluative concerns, and a sense of classroom belonging. Teachers reported experiencing significant pressures related to curriculum pacing and assessment expectations, which constrained opportunities for communicative interaction and intensified emotional labor. The analysis also revealed context-bound misalignments between intended communicative outcomes and enacted classroom practices, shaped by limited instructional time and the emphasis of instructional materials on vocabulary recall rather than contextualized use. Discussion: The findings highlight the importance of attending to emotional safety, interactional support, equitable material conditions, and adaptive instructional pacing within specific classroom contexts. From a responsive evaluation perspective, the study demonstrates how socio-emotional and ecological constraints influencing curriculum enactment can be made visible beyond outcome-based indicators, offering implications for curriculum support, teacher development, and communicative language pedagogy.

Siber-bilgi güvenliği, günümüzde kurumlar için kritik bir öneme sahiptir ve üniversiteler de bu konuda büyük risklerle karşı karşıyadır. Üniversite personeli, eğitim-öğretim faaliyetlerinin yanı sıra çeşitli dijital platformlar üzerinden araştırma, yönetim ve iletişim süreçlerini yürütmektedir. Bu bağlamda, personelin siber güvenlik farkındalığının ve bilgi güvenliği konusundaki yetkinliklerinin artırılması gerekmektedir. Üniversite personelinin siber güvenlik bilgi düzeylerinin, farkındalıklarının ve bu konudaki eğitim ihtiyaçlarının belirlenmesi, bilgi güvenliği açıklarını tespit etmek ve bu doğrultuda etkili eğitim programları planlamak için temel bir adımdır. Araştırma, üniversite personelinin siber-bilgi güvenliği konusundaki mevcut bilgi düzeylerini, risk algılarını ve eğitim ihtiyaçlarını incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Çalışmada, nitel araştırma yöntemlerinden olgu bilim deseni kullanılarak bireysel görüşme türlerinden yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme yöntemi ile veriler toplanmıştır. Çalışmadan elde edilen veriler, içerik analizi yöntemiyle incelenmiş ve hizmet içi eğitimin ‘güvenlik’, ‘tehditler’ ve ‘korunma’ olmak üzere üç modülden oluşmasının uygun olacağı belirlenmiştir. Araştırmanın sonuçlarının, üniversite personelinin siber güvenlik farkındalığını artıracak ve bilgi güvenliği uygulamalarını güçlendirecek stratejik eğitim programlarının geliştirilmesine katkı sağlaması hedeflenmektedir.

This study investigates the relationship between secondary school students’ mathematics-focused epistemological beliefs and their metacognitive awareness. Employing a correlational survey design, the sample comprises 494 students in Türkiye. Data were collected using the Mathematics-Focused Epistemological Belief Scale and the Metacognitive Awareness Scale for Children. The findings indicate that students’ belief that learning depends on effort (BLDE) is at a high level, while the belief that learning depends on ability (BLDA) and the belief in a single truth (BST) are at moderate levels. Metacognitive awareness was also found to be high. A moderate, positive correlation was observed between BLDE and metacognitive awareness, whereas the correlation between BST and metacognitive awareness was negative and weak. No significant relationship was found between BLDA and metacognitive awareness. Regression analysis revealed that the BLDE dimension significantly predicted metacognitive awareness. Additionally, variables such as gender, grade level, parental education level, and average daily study time were analyzed in relation to the sub-dimensions. The results highlighted that increased effort belief was consistently associated with higher metacognitive awareness across subgroups, while belief in a single truth tended to relate negatively. These findings underscore the importance of fostering epistemological beliefs centered on effort to enhance students’ metacognitive skills, which are crucial for effective mathematical learning and problem-solving.

This study examines the relationship between secondary school students' reflective thinking skills toward problem solving and their metacognitive awareness. Using the correlational survey method, this study selected a sample of 571 secondary school students from Afyonkarahisar province during the 2022-2023 academic year using the convenient sampling method. The study used the 'Reflective Thinking Skills Scale for Problem Solving' and the 'Metacognitive Awareness Scale for Children' as data collection tools. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and simple linear regression analysis were used to analyze the collected data. According to the findings of the study, secondary school students' reflective thinking skills for problem solving and their metacognitive awareness are positively and highly related. Furthermore, the study determined that the reflective thinking skills of secondary school students for problem solving significantly predict their metacognitive awareness.

This study aims to determine the contribution of the use of cooperative learning method in the 7th grade mathematics course on students' academic achievement in mathematics, attitudes towards mathematics and critical thinking dispositions. This study was conducted with 40 students in Anamur district of Mersin province in Türkiye in the 2020-2021 academic year. The study was conducted with a quasi-experimental design and collaborative teaching methods (Student Teams-Achievement Divisions and Team-Game-Tournament technique) were applied in the experimental group, and the activities in the Ministry of National Education middle school mathematics curriculum were applied in the control group. The data collection tools used in the study were the "Achievement Test" developed by the researchers, the "Attitude Towards Mathematics Scale" developed by Önal (2013), and the "Critical Thinking Disposition Scale" adapted into Turkish by Kılıç and Şen (2014). The study revealed that the academic achievement of the students in both groups increased significantly, attitude towards mathematics scores decreased significantly in the experimental group students and increased insignificantly in the control group students, and critical thinking disposition scores decreased insignificantly in the experimental group and increased significantly in the control group.