The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between metacognitive awareness, mathematical literacy self-efficacy beliefs and problem solving skills, and the effects of metacognitive awareness and mathematical literacy self-efficacy beliefs on problem solving skills. This study used a correlational survey design, and was conducted in the Faculty of Education of Ondokuz Mayıs University in the 2014/15 spring semester. The sample group, selected used convenience sampling, consisted of a total of 171 prospective teachers. Data were collected using Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (Akın, Abacı & Çetin, 2007), the Problem Solving Inventory (Şahin, Şahin & Heppner, 1993) and Math Literacy Self-Efficacy Measurement (Özgen & Bindak, 2008). For the data analysis, descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and regression analysis were used. Significant relationships were found to exist between the problem solving scores on the one hand and metacognitive awareness and math literacy selfefficacy scores on the other. In addition, the first stage of the regression analysis showed that metacognitive awareness scores are a significant predictor of problem solving skills, explaining 15% of the variation. In the second stage, it was found that metacognitive awareness and math literacy self-efficacy scores are both significant predictors of problem solving skills, together explaining 18% of the variation. This study shows that significant relationships and interactions exist between metacognitive awareness, mathematical literacy self-efficacy, and problem solving skills.

In this study, the perceptions of prospective classroom teachers on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education approaches have been examined through metaphors. The participants in this qualitative research project included 138 prospective teachers studying between the 2016-2017 academic year in the department of elementary education from the faculty of education at a public university in Turkey. In order to determine the perceptions of STEM teachers selected from different class levels, the prospective teachers were first educated about STEM education. Next, a form, on which the statement, "STEM Education (Science-Technology-Engineering-Mathematics) is like ...because ... " was presented to the prospective teachers, and they were asked to write a metaphor for STEM education, as well as to explain the reason. The data obtained from the forms were analyzed through content analysis. From the data analysis, the valid metaphors on STEM education created by the prospective classroom teachers were collected under 9 different conceptual categories, which were developed on the basis of common characteristics. These categories reveal that the prospective teachers regard STEM as a useful, necessary and highly appreciated approach that involved complementary fields. In some categories, it was found that there were significant differences in the rate of participants according to gender and class level.

Özet: Eğitim kurumlarındaki eğitim-öğretim faaliyetlerinin gözden geçirilmesi ve yeniden yapılanması sürecinde öğrencilerin memnuniyet düzeyleri ve görüşleri önem taşımaktadır. Bu çalışmada eğitim fakültesinde öğrenim gören öğretmen adaylarının eğitim hizmetlerinden duydukları memnuniyet düzeyleri çeşitli değişkenler açısından belirlenmeye çalışılmıştır. Araştırma 2012-2013 öğretim yılında Ondokuz Mayıs Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesinde gerçekleştirilmiştir. Araştırmada öğretmen adaylarının memnuniyet düzeylerini belirlemek amacıyla "Eğitim Fakültesi-Öğrenci Memnuniyet Ölçeği" (Şahin, 2009) kullanılmıştır. Ölçek, Eğitim Fakültesi İlköğretim Bölümündeki farklı anabilim dallarında öğrenim gören 685 öğrenciye uygulanmış ancak doldurulmasındaki eksiklikler nedeniyle 13 anket analiz dışı bırakılmış, 672 anket değerlendirmeye alınmıştır. Ayrıca öğretmen adaylarının hayal ettikleri eğitim ortamını belirlemeye yönelik açık uçlu sorular sorulmuş ve öğretmen adaylarının yazılı görüşleri alınmıştır. Araştırma sonucunda öğretmen adaylarının eğitim fakültesinden genel olarak "az düzeyde" memnun oldukları ortaya çıkmıştır. Öğretmen adaylarının ölçeğin "danışmanlık hizmetleri" ve "ders ve ders programları" alt boyutlarından "orta düzeyde" memnun oldukları sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Nitel verilerin analizi 1 Bu çalışma XII. Ulusal Sınıf Öğretmenliği Eğitimi Sempozyumunda sözlü bildiri olarak sunulmuştur. 2 Bu makale Crosscheck sonuçlarına göre orijinal bir makaledir.

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This study investigated the relationships between prospective teachers' STEM activity preparation skills (STEMaps), genders, and mathematics achievements (MA). In the research, a total of 89 prospective elementary school teachers participated. Data were collected by STEM Activity Preparation Forms requiring prospective teachers to prepare STEM activities about science experiments at the elementary school level. Relational screening model was used in the research and the relationships between STEMaps, gender and MA were tested using structural equation modeling. The findings indicated that MA has significant effects on STEMaps whereas gender has no significant effects. The path from MA to STEMaps was found to be a medium effect. It was also concluded that MA explains 20.25% of total variance of STEMaps. More longitudinal and experimental studies are needed to better understand the teachers’ and prospective teachers' skills to prepare STEM activities.