This research examines the levels of understanding and misconceptions about the concept of sea among primary school children. The sample was chosen from three primary schools in Giresun, Turkey. Fifty children took part in the study. All the children in the sample have had a direct experience with the sea, rivers, mountain, hills and valleys due to the city's geographical features. Therefore, one of these concepts (sea) was selected and the children's ideas about the concept were examined via interview, picture recognition and picture drawing techniques. Results showed that the children held a number of misconceptions related to the concept. While the stu- dents had enhanced understanding of the common features of sea, they had limited understand- ing of distinctive features of it, which means they mostly confused a sea with a lake. Using the. results of the study, a number of implications have been suggested for primary school teachers.

The concept of variable is one of the most important subjects of mathematics, in general, and of algebra, in particular. It plays a central and fundamental role in algebra. The concept of variable is necessary to understand and learn about high-level mathematical tasks. Otherwise, it would cause serious difficulties to understand about them. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to determine the levels of understanding of 14-15 -year-old students about the concept of vari- able. The subjects of the study were eight-grade middle school students living in urban area in Ankara. All students in the study were preparing to high school entrance examination in a pri- vate preparation school. Data were collected from a 17 open-ended questions (total 26 questions with sub-items) and semi structured interviews about the answers given to these questions. Interviews for each student took about 20-25 minutes. The findings of the study showed that students were not aware of the role and importance of using variables in making generalizations. They did not know about the use of representation of variables in other parts of mathematics. They also made mistakes for transferring previous mathematical knowledge on new ones, and showed deficiencies in using arithmetic procedure and lack of operation ability.

Exploring the relationships among situational coping responses, dispositional coping styles, and personality traits is a necessity to provide effective psychological help. Twohundred and sixtyo- ne students (50.6 % male; mean age 22.13 years) enrolled in the College of Education at Mar- mara University, Istanbul, responded to the Ways of Coping with Stress Scaleand the NEO Five Factor Inventory. Results indicate high correlations between situational and dispositional coping (i.e., Seeking Social Supportsituational and Seeking Social Supportdispositional, r = 70; p < .01; Sub. missivesituational and Submissivedispositional, r = .65; p < .01). In addition, moderate, but statis- tically significant, correlations between personality traits and coping were found (Neuroticism and Optimistic, r = .48, p < .01; Neuroticism Dispositional and Optimistic Situational r = .45, p < .01). Results are discussed in terms of personality and counseling applications..

This research was conducted to determine whether teaching strategies used by teachers had a significant effect on learning strategies used by students, and (if so) to determine the quality and the level of the effect. The research was carried out on 32 students enrolled in the Faculty of Health Education at Ankara University. In order to determine the learning strategies used by the subject. The Overall Learning Strategies Evaluation Scale (OLSES; Öztürk, 1995) was used as a pretest. Throughout the 6 week practices, inquiry and expository teaching strategies were used on two different groups. At the end of the practices the scale was readministired as a post- test. The variations in the type and the number and the way of the learning strategies used by the students were compared by the McNemar-test, Chi Square-test, Mann-Whitney U test and Wicoxon test. Findings indicate that teaching strategies used by the teachers had significant. effects on type, number and way of learning strategies used by the students..

In this research, relationships between the Secondary School Student Selection and Placement Exam (SSSSPT) scores of 2002, general ability scores, primary school grade point averages and the first year grade averages at several high schools have been investigated. This research has been conducted by 298 students who took the 2002 SSSSPT and attended the freshmen classes of six science high schools in Ankara, Turkey during the 20022003 academic year. The study variab- les' power to predict success at the SSSSPT and high school has also been studied. To analyze these relationships, Pearson product moment correlation coefficient and stepwise regression we- re used. After these analyses, the following basic findings have been reached: Correlations bet- ween the SSSSPT scores, general ability scores, primary school grade point averages and the first year grade averages varied between 0.44 and 0.85. The scores obtained from the SSSSPT, primary school grade point averages and general ability scores together explained 62 % of the first year grade averages at high school.

With the philosophy of the natural and supernatural power of all children, multiple intelligences, already important in education, has recently gained a different perspective. In the present study, the project based learning model was compared with the traditional learning model. The study was formed in project based learning model, to understand the reflection of grouping of similar and different intelligence types on student's success. While the influence of areas of intelligence on project production was identified, the importance of students' individual interests, abilities, and intelligence areas have been observed. Pre-test and post-test group activities by considerin. the students' different intellingence areas were performed among 75 6th grade students major- ing in primary education. The results show that the project based learning model has a positive effect on students success and that choosing the proper teaching method suitable to students individual interests and abilities is very important.

The aim of this research was to investigate the resistance behaviors of the students enrolled in the Faculty of Education toward the teaching certificate course (TCC). The study was conducted on 844 (565 female and 279 male) senior students of Uludağ University. The Resistance towards Teaching Certificate Courses Scale (RTTCCS) was used to collect the data. The results were analyzed based on department, gender, and course times (daytime versus evening classes). Results showed that the thoughts of the students were mostly negative toward both the TPK courses and the instructors of those courses. Also, the students showed resistance behaviors as a result of their negative attitudes. When the results were analyzed according to the study vari- ables, it was seen that i) Guidance and Psychological Counseling (GPC), arts, music, physical education and preschool education students, ii) male students, and iii) the students of the evening classes have negative thoughts toward the TCC courses and the instructors of those courses. They resisted to these courses in a more frequent and dense manner. Suggestions on how to cease these problems have also been presented.