The aim of this study was twofold: firstly, to investigate the grade level (elementary and middle school) and gender effect on students' motivation in science (perceived academic science self-concept and task value) and perceived family involvement, and secondly to examine the relationship among family environment variables (fathers' educational level, mothers' educational level, and perceived family involvement), motivation, gender and science achievement in elementary and middle schools. Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) showed that elementary school students have more positive science self-concept and task value beliefs compared to middle school students. Moreover, elementary school students appeared to perceive more family involvement in their schooling. Path analyses also suggested that family involvement was directly linked to elementary school students' task value and achievement. Also, in elementary school level, significant relationships were found among father educational level, science self-concept, task value and science achievement. On the other hand, in middle school level, family involvement, father educational level, and mother educational level were positively related to students' task value which is directly linked to students' science achievement. Moreover, mother educational level contributed to science achievement through its effect on self-concept.Este estudio tenía dos objetivos: en primer lugar, investigar el efecto del curso (educación primaria y secundaria) y del género en la motivación de los alumnos en ciencias (autoconcepto académico percibido en ciencias y valor de la tarea) y la implicación percibida de la familia; y en segundo lugar, examinar la relación entre las variables del entorno familiar (nivel de estudios del padre y de la madre, implicación percibida de la familia), motivación, género y logro en ciencias en la educación primaria y media). Análisis de varianza multivariada (MANOVA) mostró que los alumnos de primaria tienen un autoconcepto en ciencias y creencias acerca del valor de la tarea más positivos que los alumnos de educación media. Además, los alumnos de primaria parecían percibir más implicación de la familia en su educación. Análisis de ruta (path analysis) también sugirió que la implicación de la familia estaba directamente relacionada con el valor de la tarea y los logros de los alumnos de primaria. Además, en el nivel de primaria, se encontraron relaciones significativas entre el nivel de estudios del padre, el autoconcepto en ciencias, el valor de la tarea y el logro en ciencias. Por otro lado, en el nivel escolar medio, la implicación de la familia y el nivel de estudios del padre y de la madre se relacionaban positivamente con el valor de tarea del alumno, que está directamente relacionado con el logro en ciencias del estudiante. Además, el nivel de estudios de la madre contribuía al logro en ciencias a través de su efecto en el autoconcepto. Palabras clave: implicación de la familia, educación de los padres, autoconcepto, valor de la tarea, logro e...

This study examined the relationships between pre-service science teachers' teaching self-efficacy, locus of control, attitude towards science teaching and teaching anxiety. A conceptual model of these relationships was examined using data collected from 356 pre-service elementary science teachers. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, zero-order correlations and path analysis. Results showed that attitude towards science teaching was linked positively and teaching anxiety negatively to pre-service science teachers' science teaching self-efficacy. Additionally, pre-service science teachers' locus of control was found to be related positively to attitude towards science teaching and related negatively to science teaching anxiety. Finally, pre-service science teachers' attitude towards science teaching had a negative effect on science teaching anxiety. These results point to the importance of positive role modelling and increased teaching practice in pre-service science teacher education to emphasise the effect of teachers' attitudes and efforts on student performance.

The present study aimed at investigating elementary students' academic motivation (intrinsic motivation, external regulation, introjected regulation, identified regulation, and amotivation), achievement goals (mastery approach goals, mastery avoidance goals, performance approach goals, performance avoidance goals), competence expectancies, and classroom environment perceptions in terms of challenge and threat. Self-report instruments were administered to 482 elementary students to assess variables of the study. Results showed that elementary students have significantly higher levels of identified regulation compared to all other types of motivation. The students also appeared to adopt approach goals more than avoidance goals. Both mastery approach goals and performance approach goals were found to be positively linked to intrinsic motivation. Moreover, findings revealed that perceived classroom threat was positively associated with mastery avoidance goals and negatively with performance approach goals. Additionally, it was found that classroom challenge perceptions were positively related to external regulation, introjected regulation, and identified regulation.

Abstract. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship among pre-service science teachers' personality traits, academic self-regulation and teaching self-efficacy by proposing and testing a conceptual model. For the specified purpose, 1794 pre-service science teachers participated in the study. The Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale, the NEO Five-Factor Inventory, and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire were administered to assess pre-service science teachers' teaching self-efficacy, personality, and academic self-regulation respectively. Results showed that agreeableness, neuroticism, performance approach goals, and use of metacognitive strategies are positively linked to different dimensions of teaching self-efficacy, namely self-efficacy for student engagement, instructional strategies, and classroom management. In general, while agreeableness and neuroticism were found to be positively associated with different facets of self-regulation and teaching self-efficacy, openness was found to be negatively linked to these adaptive outcomes.

The present study aimed at investigating Turkish high school students' metacognition and its relation to achievement goals (mastery approach goals, mastery avoidance goals, performance approach goals, performance avoidance goals), perceived competence, and perceived classroom environment (challenge and threat). Metacognition was examined in terms of knowledge of cognition (declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge, and conditional knowledge) and regulation of cognition (planning, information management, monitoring, debugging, and evaluating). Self-report instruments were administered to 141 high school students with a mean age of 15.29 to assess variables of the study. Results reveal that Turkish high school students have more declarative and conditional knowledge than procedural knowledge and mostly use debugging strategies. All motivational variables except threat were found to be positively linked to students' metacognition. The students also appear to adopt approach goals more than avoidance goals. Results were interpreted taking the Turkish educational system into consideration.

The aim of this study was twofold: first, to examine the relationship between use of self-regulation strategies and academic performance; and second, to analyze gender differences in use of self-regulation strategies. For the specified purposes, 1794 senior pre-service science teachers (876 males, 905 females, and 13 no response) participated in the study. Results showed that GPA was significantly but not strongly associated with task value, metacognitive self-regulation, effort regulation, peer learning, mastery approach, performance approach, and mastery avoidance. It was also found that pre-service science teachers' scores of task value, metacognitive self-regulation, effort regulation, mastery approach, and mastery avoidance differ in terms of their gender.

The aim of this study is to examine the 3 rd and 4 th grade students' STEM career interest and attitudes towards STEM in terms of some variables. The study was designed as survey model of quantitative research methods. The sample consisted of 758 students studying in a town in Aegean region. STEM Career Interest Scale was used to determine STEM career interests of primary school students. STEM Attitude Scale was used to determine their attitudes towards STEM. The data obtained from the study were analyzed by independent t-tests and oneway ANOVA tests. As a result of these analyzes, the STEM career interests and attitudes towards STEM of the students differentiated according to their gender, parents' eductaion level and having computer/internet.

Abstract:This study aimed to adapt views about scientific inquiry questionnaire in to Turkish, originally developed by Lederman et al (2014), and to explore preservice teachers' views about scientific inquiry. The questionnaire was translated into Turkish by three researchers and the translation of the items from English to Turkish was compared. The final paper was sent to three experts in the field to get expert opinion. After making the necessary corrections, 30 teacher candidates were interviewed to look at the clarity of the questions on the form. The final form was applied to 314 teacher candidates. Expert opinion supports that the translated items have content validity in terms of measuring eight of the targeted scientific inquiry components in the original scale. Data was analyzed by three researchers independently in order to ensure researcher triangulation. Inter-rater agreement was 95%; however, after raters had the opportunity to "calibrate" their coding scheme with one another, consensus was established virtually assuring nearly full agreement. Results of the investigation showed that preservice teachers generally have transformative views few of them have naive views about scientific inquiry.