Browsing by Author "Altan Kurnaz M."
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Scopus An analysis of high school students’ mental models of solid friction in physics(2015-04-01) Altan Kurnaz M.; Eksi C.Students often have difficulties understanding abstract physics concepts, such as solid friction. This study examines high school students’ mental models of solid friction through a case study of 215 high school students in the ninth through twelfth grades. An achievement test with three open-ended questions was created, with questions limited to descriptive and visual responses regarding the concept of solid friction. The gathered data were analyzed in terms of rubrics that were used in related literature. By using the rubrics, the various levels of understanding by students were determined separately by the two researchers. The percentage of case agreement between the researchers was calculated as 90% for description and 84% for visualization. The results showed that students mostly think about solid friction at the macroscopic level and have difficulties making sense of it at the microscopic level (i.e., students’ mental models are not scientific). In the light of these results, it is recommended that instructors endeavor to explain solid friction at macroscopic, mesoscopic, and microscopic levels.Scopus Motivations and expectations for pursuing graduate education in mathematics and science education(2013-01-01) Incikabi L.; Pektas M.; Ozgelen S.; Altan Kurnaz M.The aim of this study was to reveal the reasons behind the decisions of individuals for pursuing graduate education in mathematics and science education. In this paper, candidates were investigated in terms of their explanations for the necessities of graduate education, their motivational factors for pursuing higher education and their expectations from it. Being qualitative in nature this study was a case study and the case being examined was graduate candidates' motivations for and expectations from graduate education. The sample consisted of 49 graduate candidates (teachers and recent college graduates) applying to a university in Turkey. Among the results of the study were that graduate candidates' explanations for necessities for graduate education were mainly gathered under themes of academic development, professional development and social development; that the same themes were also found in their expectations from graduate education; that motivations were consisted of internal and external motivation factors; and that motivations generally caused academic expectations, especially ISCSR and PAS. © Kamla-Raj 2013.