Learning Management Systems, which are used in the field of education and considered as one of the effective learning tools (LMS), have a great importance especially in higher education and in the last decade, they have been used by almost all educational institutions. Because of its widespread use and increasing importance, the overall aim of this research is to investigate İstanbul Zaim University, English Preparatory School Students' attitudes in terms of writing course towards Cambridge Learning Management System. The target population of the study, which was carried out on the basis of survey design, consisted of İstanbul Zaim University, English Preparatory Program students in spring term, in 2015-2016 academic year. The sample of this research, which was selected by using stratifies sampling techniques among students who studied at four different language levels of English Prep. School Program, consisted of 313 students. 166 students (53%) were female and 147 students (47%) were male. The age distribution of students was in the range of 17 to 25 years old. In this study, a learning management system attitude scale, which was prepared by the researchers by conducting a validity and reliability study on 305 students and a writing course achievement test, which had convergent validity with Cambridge Publishing Company's standard achievement test, were used as a data collection tool. In the analysis of data, which was collected through face to face applications, SPSS was used. In terms of overall aim and sub goals of the study, percentage, mean, standard deviation, independent sample t-test, one-way analysis of variance and simple linear regression analysis were used. The findings showed that English Prep. School students had positive attitudes towards learning management system. In addition, the gender of the students, age, the type of high school they graduated and their concluded that "students' writing course achievement" was a significant predictor of attitudes towards learning management system. Recommendations towards the further dissemination of the learning management system, which continuously increases the quality of education especially in terms of e-learning, were put forward.

Many factors affect providing high-quality English education and rendering it sustainable. One of these factors is undoubtedly ensuring the professional development of the English language instructors. An important way to guarantee professional development is through needs analysis. Needs analysis is of utmost significance in determining the professional skills that English preparatory instructors require to develop and taking the necessary steps. In this regard, the aim of the study is to determine the professional skills that these instructors need to develop in higher education. Qualitative research method was used in the research to unearth the opinions, thoughts, views and feelings of instructors on professional skills to be improved. Since the research covered only one unit of a higher education institution, a holistic single case design was preferred. Participants included English preparatory school instructors, administrators, students, and senior members of the Faculty of Education. Convenience and criterion sampling techniques were used in the selection of the participants. In the study in which interview technique was used, an interview form was implemented in order to ascertain the professional skills. The data collection process was carried out over the course of eight weeks. Descriptive analysis and content analysis techniques were used in data analysis. While the opinions of the English preparatory school stakeholders were shared via verbatim quotation technique during the descriptive analysis process, the professional skills that English preparatory instructors require to improve were determined via the content analysis of the participants’ relevant opinions. As a result of the research, professional skills that these instructors need to enhance were identified.

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