Suchergebnisse

Problem statement: After the implementation of new curricula in 2005, portfolios have become commonplace in teacher training programs in Turkey. Even though the use of portfolios is quite popular, the studies have shown that portfolios are mostly used to assess student learning outcomes, while the effectiveness of the educators and teacher training programs is usually unnoticed. For this reason, this study will focus on the contributions of portfolio utilization to educators and training programs. ; Purpose of Study: This study investigates the use of the portfolios in teacher training programs and analyses the contribution of portfolio utilization to educators, teacher training programs, and students. ; Method: An action research design was adopted involving 25 third grade social studies student teachers, who were randomly chosen from a sample of 128 students by selecting every fifth student on the classroom list of a semester-long course (14 weeks) in the 2012-2013 academic years at a state university in Turkey. This is a qualitative research study based on four open-ended questions and semi-structured interviews that were conducted with eight educators. ; Findings and Results: The findings indicated that portfolio utilization helps educators make modifications in their traditional roles and encourages them to adopt more student-centred approaches. In addition, portfolios assist in clarifying the program scope and goals and makes learning outcomes transparent. Furthermore, portfolios are a viable, effective, and appropriate tool in documenting student teachers' learning and professional development. ; Conclusions and Recommendations: The results of the research show that educators should take the utilization of portfolio into account not just to increase students' learning and assessment but also because of its additional benefits to educators and programs through many factors, such as being informed about the qualities and effectiveness of the program and daily lectures, putting the constructivist philosophy of the program into practice, creating a more democratic environment, ensuring one-to-one interaction with the students, providing individualized learning, and using assessment as an integral part of learning and promoting dialogue with colleagues.

The Turkish Cypriot presidential election of 18 April 2010 attracted extensive international interest because of its expected impact on the prospect for a Cyprus solution. The election of National Unity Party leader and serving Prime Minister, Dervis Eroglu, in the first round was not a surprise. The main factors accounting for Eroglu's victory were the state of play regarding Turkish Cypriot relations with the EU, deadlock in the negotiations on the Cyprus question and debate over domestic concerns. This article argues that the 2010 election meant the normalisation of Turkish Cypriot politics, indicating the need to focus on domestic concerns and ending the CTP/Talat interlude of 2003-10. The results do not support a move in public opinion away from a search for a solution. Adapted from the source document.

This article attempts to shed light on the challenges confronting relevant actors (state and non-state) in countering the threat of terrorism recruitment by focusing on the Boko Haram terrorist organization, whose presence and activities threaten the security of the Lake Chad region. The article uses a qualitative research technique combining key informant interviews with stakeholders familiar with the conflict, academic and non-academic documents, reports, and policy briefs. The findings of the article suggest that despite the various initiatives by stakeholders aimed at containing the strategies of recruitment, the group continues to expand its base by launching coordinated attacks that further destabilize the region. These challenges stem from a lack of a clear-cut counterterrorism strategy, a dearth in technological and mutual trust between actors and locals in the management and utilization of intelligence, and the inability of state institutions to &lsquo ; coerce and convince&rsquo ; citizens in terms of its capacity to counter the danger of terrorism recruitment and expansion. The article, amongst other things, recommends a community policing model similar to the &lsquo ; Nyumba-Kumi security initiative&rsquo ; adopted by most countries in East Africa for the effective assessment and detection of threat forces ; the state and its agencies should show the capacity to coerce and convince in dealing with the (ideological, religious, social, and economic) conditions, drivers, and factors promoting the spread of terrorism as well as other forms of violent extremism in the society ; furthermore, there is a need for stakeholders to adopt a comprehensive and holistic counterterrorism/violent extremism strategy to reflect present-day security challenges as well as to guarantee sustainable peace.

This paper presents findings from a pilot study aiming to strengthen community participation in disaster mitigation and preparedness in a province, Bursa (Turkey), which is located in the first-degree seismic zone. The study was initiated in 1998, right after the Ceyhan-Misis earthquake and a year prior to the devastating 17 August Marmara, Turkey, earthquake. Therefore, the findings will be discussed within the framework of what happened before and after the devastating earthquake in order to analyze possible effects of a major disaster on the momentum and processes of community participation efforts. The initial phase of the pilot study focused on the collection of data through in-depth and focus group interviews aiming to uncover local views on disasters, mitigation, preparedness, and multisectoral collaboration and participation. The results of the initial phase showed an eagerness for local multisectoral participation and favorable attitudes towards community participation. Earthquakes were delineated as the most threatening type of natural disasters in this initial phase. Thus, the study focused solely on earthquakes as a first area to start community involvement and to analyze mechanisms for such involvement. In the second phase of the study, an attempt was made to bring together the local state authorities, municipalities, the private sector, and the nongovernmental organizations, in order to develop an action plan for mitigation and preparedness through the involvement of the local community. This collaboration took place under the initiative of the Local Agenda 21, a local municipal initiative under the U.N. Rio Summit 1992. The most important issue identified by the local multisectoral committee was the need to increase community awareness for earthquakes and to train them on what to do before, during, and after earthquakes. Subsequently, a pamphlet and a training-of-trainers handbook were prepared, and a phase of training of trainees was undertaken. The program had very little momentum due to mainly the hesitancy of the actors from different sectors informing alliances and due to the purely voluntary nature of the work. There were also problems related to the lack of funding for the project. As the study came to its second year, with a further loss of momentum due to local elections and change of the initial municipality, the August 1999 Marmara earthquake occurred. This very devastating earthquake produced a significant momentum for the community participation initiative in Bursa which was considerably slow to develop. The occurrence of a major disaster while a community participation project was underway provided us with valuable insights on what was hindering the project. It was basically the lack of fear/anxiety, lack of acceptance of risks, lack of local ownership, and the lack of an awareness of possible consequences of such a disaster.The Marmara earthquake of August 1999 demonstrated that there were significant shortcomings in earthquake mitigation and preparedness measures. Due to the extensive damage and the fact that the quake affected- a very large area, the response of the government in the immediate postdisaster phase was slow and uncoordinated. However, the Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) were very rapid in their responses, and numerous NGOs were involved in the rescue phase and thereafter. Unfortunately, the NGOs were also not prepared for such a disaster, and thus their efforts were not coordinated. This recent earthquake once again pointed out the necessity of increasing community involvement in disaster management and creating collaborative alliances among local governmental bodies, municipality, the private sector and the NGOs. Due to very extensive media coverage of the Marmara earthquake, the majority of people in Turkey watched the consequences from the TV and got sensitised to the damage and losses. Furthermore, the popular cultural view broadcasted through the interviews with survivors was that "you can not trust and rely on external aid. You have to rely on your own resources. " The progress in the Bursa study will be discussed within the framework of the impacts of the Marmara earthquake. The strengths and the weaknesses of the present disaster management system in Turkey and the mechanisms uncovered in the Bursa study will be presented together with implications and suggestions for the future.

In this study, 403 participants were asked questions to determine the preventive measures being taken and anxiety levels during COVID-19 Pandemic. Participants were almost equally divided between women (55%) and men (45%). The rate of most worried persons about the pandemic was 62%. The risk of anxiety of women compared to men has been calculated as 2.1 times higher (95% CI 1.20–3.84). The Cramer's V value of the change in hand-washing habit before and after COVID-19 outbreak is 0.706, indicates the existence of a strong relationship. The data is analysed by using SPSS 24.0. ODDS Ratio values are calculated to determine the impact levels, and Cramer's V value is calculated to determine the relationship in behavior change in hand-washings habits.

This study aims to map out the opinions and attitudes of the Turkish parliamentary elite regarding Turkey's membership of the European Union in general and the future of Europe in particular. The parliamentary elite group consists of political party representatives present in the current Turkish Grand National Assembly. The study uses the findings of the Turkish Elite Survey 2009 conducted by the Center for European Studies, Middle East Technical University. The article argues that while Turkish parliamentarians support Turkey's entry into the EU, particularly on security grounds, there are significant signs of lack of trust in EU institutions.