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The purpose of this study was to investigate Turkish pre-service teachers’ beliefs about social studies in order to expand upon a debate that has been ongoing for the last few decades. While there always have been various definition since the inception of the field, to date, no single, official definition has been agreed upon among social studies educators. The study indicated that there are a wide variety of beliefs regarding social studies exist among Turkish pre-service teachers. The vast majority of the participants characterized social studies is an integrated field of study, although what they included as tenets of this field varied widely. The majority of the participants cited either “preparing informed citizens” or “improving communication skills” as the sole purpose of social studies.

The purpose of this study is to assess the efficiency of the technology acceptance model (TAM) to explain pre‐service teachers' intention to use technology in Turkey.

A total of 197 pre‐service teachers from a Turkish university completed a survey questionnaire measuring their responses to four constructs which explain their intention to use technology: attitude towards computer use, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use. A structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was employed for modeling and data analysis.

Results revealed that the TAM is an efficient model to explain the intention to use technology of Turkish pre‐service teachers. The proportion of variance explained in pre‐service teachers' intention to use technology by its antecedents was 51 percent. In addition, four out of five hypotheses were supported in this study. Overall, the data in this study provided support that the TAM is a fairly efficient model with a potential to help in understanding technology acceptance pre‐service teachers in Turkey.

The TAM is a well‐tested and validated model to explain the intention to use technology. However, information on its cross‐cultural validity is limited. This study validated the TAM on a sample of pre‐service teachers in Turkey and the results provided initial support for the cross‐cultural validity of the TAM.

This study aims to identify the main motivational factors that led practicing teachers to choose teaching as a profession in the United States and Turkey. Another purpose of this research is to investigate the possible significant difference between male and female teachers from the United States and Turkey considering motivational factors that lead them to choose teaching as a profession.

Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to collect and analyze the data. First, randomly selected middle grades teachers were asked to write personal statements where they explain their main reasons for choosing teaching as a career. Then, qualitative data obtained from personal statements were coded. The coding process allowed the researcher to create factors. Then, cross-tabular representation was produced by descriptive data. Finally, ANOVA was run in order to identify significant differences among groups of participants in terms of all motivational factors.

Results indicated that (1) female teachers are motivated mostly by “Leisure and Comfort”; (2) “Enjoyment of subject” is a big motivator for US male teachers; (3) Turkish male teachers are motivated mostly by “Necessities” (4) male teachers have no strong desire to work with kids; (5) female teachers enjoy teaching more comparing the male teachers; (6) US Female teachers feel more personal fulfillment in teaching.

Motivational factors and reasons for choosing a teaching career can be further investigated by qualitative case studies with selected male and female teachers in order to better understand the reasons that derived both male and female teachers to specific kinds of motivational factors. That may provide a tick description of how motivation for the teaching profession develops over time starting from early memories and experiences in education and schooling. Through the lens of these kinds of qualitative studies, we may better understand how lived experiences are affecting decision-making by developing interest in specific areas.

Although there is a considerable amount of studies conducted to examine preservice teachers' reasons given for joining the teaching profession, limited research has been done with practicing teachers to better understand the factors that motivated them to join the teaching profession.

Mentor–mentee relationships are important for individual wellbeing, mental health, professional agency and confidence. In the context of an initial teacher education (ITE) programme, these relationships become a key factor. Pre-service teachers’ capacity to cope on a professional placement is closely linked to the quality of the mentoring relationship. The purpose of this paper is to identify the negative coping strategies used by pre-service teachers who struggle to cope in a school placement in Melbourne, Australia, highlighting the importance of providing quality mentorship.

A mixed-methods approach was used for the analysis of pre-service teachers’ coping on a teaching practicum and to identify common related beliefs. A total of 177 pre-service teachers, who have completed at least one supervised practicum participated in this study. The Coping Scale for Adults second edition (CSA-2) was administered alongside an open-ended questionnaire to identify frequently used coping styles and associated thoughts and beliefs.

The results show that pre-service teachers who favour non-productive coping strategies were more likely to express feelings of loneliness, pointed at poor communication with their mentor and described thoughts about leaving the teaching profession.

Using the Coping Scale for Adults in the context of practicum provides an insight into individual experiences. The implications of mentor–mentee relationships for individuals’ coping are highlighted. initial teacher education programs and schools have significant roles in supporting mentor–mentee relationships and practical supportive interventions are offered.

To know the digital competence of rural teachers to carry out the tutoring process with members of the educational community through digital resources (teacher-student, teacher-families and teacher-teaching team). As specific objectives, gender, teaching specialties, interaction between gender*teaching speciality, and significant predictors were analysed.

The research was quantitative, with a non-experimental, cross-sectional, descriptive and inferential design.

The results showed an explorer-expert teacher, where the generalist teachers had a superior competence compared to the rest of the specialties. Gender and teaching speciality were significant predictors in the communication that the teacher has with all the agents involved, while the interaction of both predictors was only significant between the teacher-teaching team and teacher-families.

Another issue worth considering relates to the development of the classification tree for the use of digital resources in tutorial action. Due to lack of space, the proposal has focused on gender and particular subjects, but it would be interesting to focus on the dimensions of the instrument with regard to tutorial action with the different agents (students, teaching staff and families).

After reviewing the literature, the authors can conclude that very little quantitative research is focused on the level of self-perception of digital competence of teachers in rural schools. Furthermore, the teaching speciality of teachers has up until now hardly been taken into account as a variable that can determine the levels of digital competence. Not many studies have analysed the use of digital resources to communicate with the different members of the educational community.

Introduction – Bologna’s summit guidelines regarding the Bachelor/Master structure, which is currently used in most Colleges and Universities, were mostly aimed at standardising the educational system in European higher education. Educational institutions use these guidelines as a basis for setting up their educational model.

Aim – This chapter aims to review models of learning management systems (LMSs), the stage of activity of every method applied at Universities, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of these prototypes. The literature review in question identifies and classifies strategic methods of LMS, differentiates method type and categorises common activities.

Results – The results show that higher education institutions are in the preparatory phase regarding the application of e-learning, whereas private institutions have applied this system since their foundation and use it on a daily basis across all services.

Conclusion – However, different educational institutions in our country are at different stages in implementing new learning models. A strategic plan for developing knowledge management systems can be determined by using some of the information system strategic methods.

Originality/Value – This chapter contributes to the literature by providing additional evidence for existing studies in LMS in the Universities of the Republic of Kosovo. Studies suggest the implementation of different models and highlight the impact of technology especially during this pandemic whereby we should mainly focus and implement curricula using these kinds of technology. Also, this study identifies a major weakness in existing Kosovar studies, which have identified concepts but they are not implemented at all.

This study aims to comprehend vocational preservice teachers' recalled experiences with the Cooperative Problem-based Learning (CPBL) pedagogical approach in an entrepreneurship course and to reveal how these experiences will impact their future teaching practice. The course under study intends to improve preservice teachers' entrepreneurial attitudes while equipping them with the skills necessary to create a comparable teaching strategy at school after graduation.

This study used the semi-structured interview data to triangulate the qualitative data collected from the students' reflection journals. The data were thematically analyzed whereas the codes with comparable elements were combined, resulting in themes that describe the relevance of scaffolding used with each component of the MUSIC motivational model.

The results revealed that the student teachers who took part in the research stated in their comments how the scaffolds used in the CPBL sessions impacted their learning. Additionally, they could articulate the experiences that strengthened their perceptions regarding entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship education.

By implementing scaffolded CPBL in entrepreneurship course during the teacher preparation program, the preservice teachers would be able to put a similar approach into the practice of their future teaching profession in guiding students to accomplish instructional outcomes.

This study highlights the importance of providing more innovative practices for entrepreneurship education across teacher preparation curricula to help develop the skills necessary for entering the future profession. The findings also emphasize the value of scaffolding in PBL, including expert, peer and activity design scaffolding. It also completes the body of research indicating that PBL-based entrepreneur education instruction can help students develop their entrepreneurial skills and attitudes while also providing a great chance to improve their teaching abilities.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how sustainable development (SD) is conceptualized by pre-service English language teachers in Turkey and design a specialized course syllabus on SD in English language teaching (ELT) in the light of the research findings.

The study used a mixed-methods sequential explanatory study design and investigated the case of a state university in Turkey with the involvement of 133 pre-service English language teachers.

The findings indicated that most pre-service English language teachers received no training or a course on SD in their whole education life and tended to associate SD mostly with the economic growth of a country, followed by education, social and ecological concepts. It was also found that the majority of the participants had a unidimensional view of SD. No direct links with ELT have been detected from participants’ responses. The findings also pointed to the eagerness of the participants to receive an ELT-specific course on SD providing that the course involves interactive teaching and learning activities with reference to contemporary sources focusing on global and local issues, as well as studying the methods facilitating the incorporation of such issues into teaching practice.

This research is based on the experience of one Turkish university with limited quantitative and qualitative data.

Based on the participants’ knowledge, views and suggestions, this paper contributes to the existing literature by providing empirical evidence obtained from a local context and suggests a practical framework for a field-specific course syllabus aiming to enhance teacher candidates’ knowledge, skills and values related to SD and its incorporation into ELT.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study seeking to explore pre-service ELT teachers’ conceptualization of SD in Turkish higher education, and drawing on the research findings, the authors attempted to design a course syllabus targeted at pre-service teachers in ELT departments.

This study explores the relationships among multiple factors, including growth mindset, lifelong learning and continuous professional development (CPD), influencing teachers’ integration of information and communication technology (ICT) into their teaching methods.

The study involved 1,095 Indonesian vocational high school teachers who participated in in-service or preservice teacher development programs. Data was collected through a survey, and a structural equation model with partial least squares parameter estimation was used to analyze the relationships and mediations.

Structural equation modeling revealed that a growth mindset positively affects both lifelong learning and CPD. Moreover, lifelong learning positively impacts CPD. Furthermore, all of these variables demonstrate a positive effect on teachers’ ICT integration in the classroom. The findings indicate that lifelong learning and CPD partially mediate the relationship between a growth mindset and ICT integration.

This study contributes to the literature on the determinants of teachers’ ICT usage postparticipation in in-service and preservice teacher programs. The findings underscore the significant impact of a growth mindset on teachers’ ICT use in the classroom.

The current study aimed to develop and validate a scale to model factors affecting digital technology access for instructional use. The scale was mainly used to assess the structural model. Besides, tests of difference were addressed regarding digital technology access for instructional use based on gender, teaching experience and school location.

The authors implemented a survey design in this study. A scale based on prior studies was developed, validated and piloted. The pilot study data were computed for an exploratory factor analysis. Further, partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and t-test procedures were used for the main data analysis (n.2677). The authors also included the importance-performance map analysis to extend of the results of the PLS-SEM.

The findings of the study successfully assessed the validity and reliability of the scale. All hypothetical relationships in the structural model were positively significant. The t-test results show that teaching experience and school location were significantly different regarding instructional use access; however, an insignificant difference emerged based on gender.

Failure in technology integration is possible if policies have not been carefully prepared. Therefore, users' perception is an essential factor in determining technology integration, including access to digital technology.

This research has the potential to enhance the understanding of access to digital technology in the context of developing countries by the elaboration of the proposed model's instrument development and validation, path analysis assessment and difference test examination with a large sample size. Also, the current study emphasizes the importance of raising awareness about digital technology access that the model can facilitate a valid and reliable foundation for future researchers interested in conducting similar types of research.