International Journal of Contemporary Educational Research

Investigation of Effective Teaching According to Pre-Service Teachers’ Views and Their Teaching Methods

Aysegul Bayraktar — 2024-09-29

The study examined how prospective teachers defined effective teaching; the methods and techniques used by pre-service teachers during their teaching practicum and their reasons to use; and how these instructional techniques fit specific teaching principles. The participants in this study were 18 university seniors registered in the Elementary Education Department at a state-university. The data were obtained from an Information Form completed by participating pre-service teachers, their prepared lesson plans, video recordings of practicum teaching experiences, and observation notes. Collected data were analysed through descriptive analysis. Findings showed that pre-service teachers often mentioned following a student-centred approach. They emphasized the roles of an effective teacher as using different teaching methods, techniques and materials as well as guiding students, making learners more active and paying attention to students’ individual differences. In terms of students’ roles in effective teaching, they mentioned students should actively participate in class, take responsibility for learning, think critically, and transfer their learning to new situations. It was determined that pre-service teachers had sufficient knowledge in the selection of methods and techniques. Pre-service teachers frequently included the 5E learning cycle model, question-answer and drama methods in their lessons. Suggestions were provided based on research findings.

Teacher Education Lecturers' Views of Open Educational Resources: A Case of South African Universities

Justinus R Setshedi — 2024-09-29

Literature reflects that universities freely share their teaching materials as Open Educational Resources (OER). The major objective of this study was to investigate lecturers at faculties of education views of the usefulness of OER for academic purposes at selected South African universities. This study is grounded in the Technology Acceptance Model, TAM (Davis, 1989); and the Unified Theory of Technology Acceptance and Use, UTTAU (Bagozzi, 2007) and Theory of Diffusion of Innovations, TDI (Rogers, 2003). These theories justified this investigation explores lecturers at faculties of education views of the usefulness of OER for academic purposes at selected South African universities. The study was informed by the qualitative research approach, which employed semi-structured interviews. Four lecturers were sampled purposively from each university to participate in the study and the data were analysed thematically. The findings of this study are that although the lecturers had an inadequate understanding and knowledge of OER, they were able to display their disposition toward in the usefulness of OER in applying in their pedagogical practices. What is now needed is for South African universities to ensure greater OER awareness and assist lecturers to acquire knowledge of OER so that they can infuse and utilise it effectively in their daily teaching-and-learning environments.

Chat GPT and Creative Writing: Experiences of Master's Students in Enhancing

Metin Elkatmış — 2024-09-29

Improving writing skills at all levels of education is a fundamental goal of education. ChatGPT, as an artificial intelligence-based language model, is recognized as a significant tool in the development of this skill. The primary objective of this research is to describe the impact of ChatGPT on the creative writing processes, as perceived by master's students. In line with this goal, the research utilizes the semi-structured interview technique as part of qualitative data collection methods. The study group comprises master's students enrolled in a teacher training program at a state university in the Central Anatolia Region during the 2022-2023 academic year. The study group is formed through purposive sampling. Data related to the research are obtained through a semi-structured interview form developed by the researcher. The collected data are analyzed using content analysis, a method frequently employed in qualitative research. Accordingly, the research findings indicate that ChatGPT is an effective tool in enhancing creative writing skills. It accelerates the writing process for students, provides them with new ideas, and boosts their writing motivation.

Experiences of Parents of Children with Special Needs in the Process of Receiving Reports from Guidance and Research Centers

Alper Gülay — 2024-09-29

This qualitative study, using a phenomenological approach, explores parents' experiences in Turkey of obtaining reports from Guidance and Research Centers for their children with special needs. Through semi-structured interviews with 25 parents, findings reveal concerns over the adequacy of assessment tools and the assessment duration. While many parents are satisfied with the outcomes, discrepancies in the accuracy of assessments and placement decisions raise questions. The study underscores the need for improved communication between sectors and informed parental involvement, suggesting enhancements in assessment tool diversity and evaluation periods.

Integrating "Talking Images" in Education: A Case Study

Eleni Mavropoulou — 2024-09-29

The era of innovation in education is well underway. Effective practices demonstrate the power of technology in motivating students and improving learning outcomes. This paper examines the integration of the talking image, a new and innovative technology, into the educational process. It also sets out the methodology and the educational benefits resulting from its use. This technology combines visual and auditory elements and is an effective tool for language education, suitable for students with learning difficulties. It can be applied in various educational contexts, from science and mathematics to art, and can enrich a simple narrative or provide personalized content. This paper is a significant contribution to the field, serving as a valuable resource for educators interested in integrating cutting-edge technologies into their pedagogical practices. New research in this direction should be done on the pedagogical use of talking pictures in education and the new frameworks for their integration.

Teacher Observation Skills Scale: Validity and Reliability

Abdullah Cetin — 2024-09-29

The present research aims to develop a valid and reliable instrument to measure teacher observation skills. The research was conducted during the 2023-2024 academic year with a total of 648 teachers. Data were collected through online survey methods. Expert opinion was consulted for the content and face validity of the scale in the research. Exploratory (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor (CFA) analyses were performed to assess the construct validity of the scale. Based on the results, it was found that the scale had a structure consisting of two dimensions and 18 items. It was determined that the factor loadings of the items in the scale were between .70 and .93. Considering the relevant literature, it was decided to name these dimensions as "natural observation skill" (NOS) and "scientific observation skill" (SOS). The Cronbach Alpha for the scales were both .95. As a result of the research, a valid and reliable scale that can determine the level of teachers' observation skills was developed.

Evaluation of Units Established for Curriculum Support: A Collaborative Action Research

Şükran Tok — 2024-09-29

The curriculum includes educational activities that determine the struggle for survival and sustainability of a university's departments. Approaches that seek more flexible solutions and have a post-positivist understanding are needed to manage this system. One of these approaches is action research, first used by Kurt Lewin (1946) to solve social problems. In this study, four offices were established to make the curriculum at a state university in Turkey more functional, and the contributions of regulating these offices with Collaborative Action Research (CAR) were discussed. The most valuable outcome of the study is that it has presented a model for collaborative teaching in higher education that can be used as a guide to support curriculum studies. On the other hand, CAR has made valuable contributions to office operations, collaboration, consultation, continuous improvement cycle, and problem identification (needs assessment). This research, which lasted for two years, has provided important services to participants in addressing current difficulties in office operations.

The Relationship of Cultural Intelligence and Global Citizenship Levels of Preservice Teachers in the Philippines

Kathleen Kaye Biay — 2024-09-29

With the global developments, educational institutions play a vital role in fostering cultural intelligence and global citizenship among individuals, including preservice teachers. Despite the plethora of research on cultural intelligence and global citizenship in higher education abroad, little is known about these in the Philippines, let alone their correlation. Employing a quantitative descriptive correlational design, this study investigated the relationship between cultural intelligence and global citizenship levels of 316 Philippine preservice teachers using the Cultural Intelligence and Global Citizenship Scales. The results revealed that although their cognitive cultural intelligence necessitates further development, the preservice teachers are highly competent and confident in communicating and functioning effectively in multicultural contexts. However, they exhibit limited global citizenship attributes, particularly in social responsibility. Most ethnic groups they represented were also identified to have high cultural intelligence and average global citizenship levels. Additionally, while the preservice teachers’ specialization, year level, and overseas experience did not play significant roles in their cultural intelligence levels, the study found their year level to be the lone variable that affected their global citizenship levels substantially. Overall, a positive correlation between cultural intelligence and global citizenship was identified. Aside from implications for strengthening internationalization strategies, recommendations for further investigations were discussed.

The Effect of Digital Content on Listenig Skills in Middle School Turkish Teaching

Muhammet Özcan — 2024-09-29

The course of development of technology, its speed in the recent period and the point it has reached have led to the fact that our relationship with technology has become a necessity rather than a choice. In this respect, teaching activities that are not intertwined with technology and do not include digital elements will remain as practices that will not go beyond the interests and expectations of students who are the subjects of educational environments. This study, which examines the effect of digital content on listening skills in secondary school Turkish teaching, is at an important point in terms of showing the effect of digital elements on the listening skill, which is the first learning channel of human beings and will continue until death, and it is an issue that should be emphasized carefully in terms of forming the basis for other language skills. The sample of this study consists of 60 students studying in the seventh grade of a secondary school in Elazığ province. In the study, mixed research method was preferred as the method and sequential exploratory design was preferred as the design. Quasi-experimental design was used in the quantitative part of the study and phenomenology design was used in the qualitative part. There was one control and one experimental group in the quantitative part of the study. In order to obtain quantitative data within the scope of the study, the Listening Skills Scale developed by Yalçın and Özcan (2022) was applied to the control and experimental groups as pre-test and post-test. The experimental and control groups were determined according to the pre-test results of the students participating in the study. In the qualitative part of the study, data were obtained from interviews with the students and these interviews were analyzed by content analysis. The results of the study showed that there was a significant difference between the listening skill scale scores of the students in the experimental and control groups in favor of the experimental group in the post-test application, there was a significant increase between the pre-test and post-test scores of the listening skill scale applied to the control group, and there was a significant difference between the listening skill scale scores of the experimental group before and after the application. Considering the results obtained from the interviews, it was seen that listening practices enriched with digital content facilitated comprehension, digital content practices improved listening skills and created a desire to participate in new activities. At the end of the study, suggestions were made for researchers, educators and related institutions.

The Perceptions Of Educational Administrators Towards Digital Leadership In The Age Of Artificial Intelligence: A Qualitative Study

Gülçin Kurkan — 2024-09-29

Artificial intelligence technologies are used in many fields and have become a part of our lives. The field of artificial intelligence, which has an important place especially in the field of education and for the digital leadership, is constantly developing and is expected to create even greater impacts in the future. The main purpose of this research is to examine the experiences of educational administrators towards digital leadership in the age of artificial intelligence. In the research, phenomenological design, one of the qualitative research methods, was used. The research's study group was comprised of 15 educational administrators. These participants were selected using a convenience sampling design, a type of maximum sampling method, derived from purposive sampling methods. In the study, a semi-structured interview form created by the researchers by analyzing the literature in detail and taking expert opinions was used as a data collection tool. Content analysis was used to analyze the data. According to the results of the research, the themes of general perceptions of educational administrators towards artificial intelligence, perceptions towards the use of artificial intelligence in education, general perceptions of educational administrators towards digital leadership and suggestions of educational administrators towards artificial intelligence and digital leadership emerged.