Browsing by Subject "Achievement"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5

Open Access
A Confirmatory structural equation model of achievement estimated by dichotomous attitudes, interest, and conceptual understanding
(Eurasia Publishing House, 2010) Kim, M.; Song J.
Many models in science education have tried to clarify the causal relationships of affective variables on student performance, by presenting theoretical models, exploratory SEM (structural equation models), and confirmatory SEM. Based on the literature, the recent AS-TI-CU model scrutinised the most robust stimuli of conceptual understanding (CU): intrinsic attitude towards science (AS) and topic interest (TI). However, the confirmatory model has not been extended to estimate how students achieve in the secondary science or in Korea where student's disengagement in science is prevalent. Sampling 10 th- and 11 th-graders in Korea (N = 219), this study thus aims to clarify how the forth factor "school achievement (SA)" interacts in the structural equation modelling. The multiple-group SEM analysis in AMOS7 reveals that student's intrinsic AS stimulates their school achievement in both graders and that their topic interest abnormally discourages school achievement only in the 11 th-graders. The findings provide explanations for the latent threats of negative attitudes and for the "age 14's dip". Lastly, how to form a theory of persuasion of attitude change is discussed for a further research question.
Open Access
Diagnosing organizational culture
(1997) Karalar, Canan
In today’s dynamic business environment concepts like organizational development, restructuring, and change management has become the most popular subjects. Although it has begun to loose some of its popularity, organizational culture is the basis for all these concepts. Since organizational culture is a concept that can hardly be defined and agreed upon, this study examines the different approaches to the definition and the different approaches on how to diagnose organizational culture. The four dimensional culture model; questionnaire developed by Harrison and Strokes is explained and applied to three companies operating in different sectors in order to obtain a general understanding of their existing and preferred culture orientations. The results indicate that the questionnaire is a valid tool to begin discussions on organizational culture. This study can be taken as the first step of a larger culture change project since it analyzes the differences between the existing and preferred culture orientations.
Open Access
Explaining the factors associated with the likelihood of academic resilience in science and mathematics literacies in PISA 2012
(2017-05) Aydın, Burçak Gönül
This study investigated teacher- and school-related factors which affect science and mathematics achievement of the students who have a socio-economically disadvantaged background in Turkey. A segmentation method was used to find the relationship between teacher-and school-related factors and academic achievement in science and mathematics literacies. The sample consisted of 1200 low-SES students. Seven dimensions of PISA 2012 student questionnaire including 38 items were used to determine the students’ attitudes towards learning activities and their outcomes in school, perceptions of the students for the student-teacher relationship, sense of belonging to school. The analysis showed that being a resilient student or a low-achiever could be explained with investigating some of these items. The study results provide an insight into designing educational policies to enhance resilience of socio-economically disadvantaged students.
Open Access
Gender and student achievement in Turkey : school types and regional differences based on PISA 2012 data
(2017-05) Arga, Bora
Gender inequality has always been a major global issue in all fields. Unfortunately, we are living in a world that is still dealing with this persistent problem, the core of which is primarily education. According to global indexes and surveys, Turkey is almost always well below the world average in ensuring gender equality. In this sense, this study uses PISA 2012 data to explore whether the student achievement differs in Turkey between female and male students. The relationship between student achievement and several variables i.e. Teacher Student Relations, Attitude Towards School: Learning Outcomes, Attitude Towards School: Learning Activities, and Sense of Belonging to School was also examined. Two control variables were included in the analyses conducted: geographical regions and school types, in addition to the above-mentioned school related variables. The results indicate that there are no major gaps between genders; yet, school types equally affect both genders dramatically. Geographical regions only contribute to the between-schools differences; while school related variables, make no difference in Turkish students' achievement levels. The results also show that higher level of variables should be considered as evidenced by the variation between school types before focusing on teaching-level variables. In this context, Turkish educational system should shift its focus from gender as the primary issue to the immense variances between schools in order to ensure a better education that will result in higher averages.
Open Access
What kinds of teacher-related and school-related factors foster student resiliency to socioeconomic status in Turkey?
(2016-09) Demir, Delal Kasımoğlu
This study investigated teacher- and school-related factors that could lead to literacy achievement differences among socioeconomically disadvantaged students in Turkey. Two discriminant analyses were conducted to examine the discriminating power of these factors over whether disadvantaged students become low-achievers or resilient. The sample data of PISA 2012 consisted of 4848 participants. To find out students‟ attitudes towards school regarding the learning activities and their outcomes and, students‟ perceptions about student-teacher relations and sense of belonging to school, four dimensions of PISA student questionnaire comprised of 22 items were utilized. The analyses revealed that becoming a resilient or a low-achieving student could be explained by examining some of these items. The results of this study offer an insight into designing policies to reinforce resilience of socioeconomically disadvantaged students.