The aim of this study is to reveal the opinions of teachers and students about the distance education applications carried out in the COVID-19 pandemic, which was identified in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and has spread around the globe in no time. The population of the research consists of 16 teachers and 20 students. The data were analyzed by content analysis technique and divided into themes, sub-themes and codes. It was concluded that students and teachers have positive and negative opinions about distance education activities. The fact that education can be carried out in a planned and scheduled manner even under extraordinary conditions is frequently expressed in positive opinions. Issues such as restricted interaction, infrastructure problems and lack of equipment are among the remarkable negative opinions regarding distance education activities. In addition, opinions have been put forward that distance education will be used more effectively in the future along with necessary improvement and in-service training.

This research determines the trends of academic articles on distance education in the COVID-19 epidemic and provides a roadmap for possible future studies on this topic. In this context, bibliometric and content analysis methods were used. Research data were collected through the Web of Science (WOS) database. As a result of the filtering process on WOS, 767 scientific articles were included in the research. In the data analysis process, the articles were reviewed in terms of the year, country, journal, publication language, citation, co-authorship, co-occurrence, and co-citation. Research results indicate that the articles were published between 2020 and 2021 and generally in English. “Journal of Chemical Education” is the journal with the most publications and the most cited and co-cited journals. The USA draws attention as the country that publishes the most, has the most citations, and cooperates the most. The most cited article was conducted by Chick et al. According to the co-occurrence analysis, it is seen that the terms “COVID-19” and “distance learning” are frequently used by the authors. The findings were discussed within the framework of the literature, and other studies and suggestions were made.

Today, the need for individuals who follow scientific and technological developments closely and who can adapt to these changes rapidly is increasing. These needs have made it necessary for countries to try various changes, reforms and current approaches required by the age in their education systems. One of these approaches is STEM education, which has frequently been encountered in the national and international literature in recent years. STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education is an approach that emphasizes the 21st century skills, integrates science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines, and covers formal and informal education at all education levels. In addition, the number of studies on STEM education is increasing daily. This research aims to integrate the 8th-grade science curriculum with STEM education practices and examine the effects of these practices on students’ problem-solving (PS) skills, scientific creativity, and critical thinking dispositions. In this study conducted with quantitative methods, the pretest-posttest control group design of the quasi-experimental method was used. The study group of the research consists of students who took the 8th-grade science course at a private school. Research data were collected from both the classes before and after the experimental study. Descriptive statistics and covariance analysis (ANCOVA) were used in the data analysis. The research results revealed that integrated STEM education applications positively affect students’ problem-solving skills, scientific creativity, and critical thinking dispositions. The collected results were discussed with the studies in the literature, and suggestions were made accordingly.

Öz: Oyun tasarım unsurlarının oyun bağlamı dışındaki durumlarda kullanılması olarak tanımlanan oyunlaştırma; dinamikler, mekanikler ve bileşenlerden oluşmaktadır. Oyunlaştırma, bir piramit olarak ele alındığında bileşenler bu piramidin temelinde yer almaktadır. En etkili oyunlaştırma bileşenlerinden bir tanesi dijital rozetlerdir. Dijital rozetler, öğrenenlerin çeşitli yeterliliklerini yansıtan bir araç olarak değerlendirilebilir. Bu araştırmanın amacı eğitim ortamlarında dijital rozet kullanımına yönelik öğretmen görüşlerini incelemektir. Araştırma aynı eğitim kurumunda çalışmakta olan, farklı branşlardaki 15 öğretmen ile gerçekleştirilmiştir. Araştırmada veri toplama aracı olarak yapılandırılmış görüşme formundan yararlanılmıştır. Daha sonra toplanan veriler içerik analizi yöntemi kullanılarak analiz edilmiştir. Yapılan incelemeler sonucunda öğretmenlerin eğitim ortamlarında dijital rozet kullanımına ilişkin genellikle olumlu görüşlere sahip oldukları görülmektedir. Araştırma sonucunda, dijital rozet kullanımının öğrencilere olumlu davranış kazandırma, derse yönelik motivasyon, derse aktif katılım ve ilgi gibi birtakım avantajlara sahip olmasının yanı sıra öğrenciler arası rekabet ve altyapı sorunları sebebiyle bazı dezavantajları da beraberinde getirdiği ortaya çıkmıştır. Ayrıca katılımcıların büyük bir kısmı dijital rozet kullanımının yapılan bazı değişikliklerle birlikte daha da yaygın bir şekilde kullanılacağını ifade etmiştir.

Ertuğrul USTA  Öz Bu araştırmanın amacı, harmanlanmış öğrenme ile ilgili YÖK Ulusal Tez