Research Information System
Thesis Type: Doctorate
Institution Of The Thesis: Gazi Üniversitesi, Eğitim Bilimleri Enstitüsü, Turkey
Approval Date: 2016
Student: FATMA GÖZALAN ÇİÇEK
Supervisor: MEHMET TAŞPINAR
Abstract:The purpose of the current study is to determine the general subject area competencies of teacher educators and to evaluate the teacher educators' perceptions of the extent to which they have these competencies. The conceptual framework developed on the basis of a literature review was used to set up general subject area competencies of the teacher educators.The current study was carried out in line with survey method. First, interviews were conducted with academicians specialized in the field of teacher training and having participated in committees set up to determine teacher competencies. Then, in order to establish the item pool for teacher competencies, a total of 15 teacher educators from the universities of Gazi, Ankara and Hacettepe were interviewed to elicit their opinions about teacher competencies. As a result of these interviews and literature review, a 276-item pool of competencies was formed. Then these items were submitted to the scrutiny of experts and thus it was reduced to 144 items. Piloting of the developed scale was conducted on 212 teacher educators. According to results of the pilot study, Cronbach Alpha reliability. shows that the scale has a high degree of reliability. Additionally, the KMO value of the scale was measured that selection of sampling is a good level. In order to test validity and appropriateness of factor analysis, Barlett test was applied. The results has shown that data set is convenient to factor analysis. As a result of the exploratory factor analysis conducted on the collected data, the scale of teacher educators' perceptions of general subject area competencies was developed. The scale has 106 items. Online version of this scale developed to measure teacher educators' general subject area competencies was prepared and sent to 8200 teacher educators working in all the education faculties through e-mail to elicit their perceptions. A total of 789 teacher educators returned the scale and this return rate was found to be adequate according to the criteria level and margin. The data collected in the current study were evaluated by using a computer program package. The teacher educators' perceptions of subject area competencies were interpreted in light of the results obtained by calculating frequencies, percentages and median values for their responses to the scale items. In cases where the distribution for the analysis aiming to compare the teacher educators' perceptions of general subject area competencies depending on variables such as gender or subject is normal and homogenous, t-test and ANOVA and in cases where the distribution is not normal and variances are not homogenous for comparisons, two non-parametric tests, Kruskal Wallis and Mann-Whitney U test, were used. In the study, it was found that the teacher educators view themselves highly competent in their general subject area. Even in the competency items having the lowest median values, the teacher educators' competency level was found to be medium. While the teacher educators see themselves highly competent in items related to personal characteristics and values, the competency area in which they see their competencies as the weakest is foreign language competency.While the teacher educators' perceptions of general subject area competencies do not vary depending on gender, type of the affiliated university (state/foundation), academic title (Prof., Assoc. Prof., Ass. Prof., etc.) and their major (Educational Sciences/Subject Area Instruction) and teaching experience, they vary significantly depending on their seniority in their profession. Moreover, there is a significant difference between the perceptions of the group of teacher educators with the academic titles of Prof., Assoc. Prof., Ass. Prof. and those of the group including teacher educators with the other academic titles. Finally teacher educators have admitted themselves competent in terms of perceptions of general subject area competencies according to independence variables.Teacher educators' general subject area competencies can be used for various purposes such as professional development of teacher educators and recruitment of teacher educators in education faculties.