https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12809/247 2026-04-04T06:49:19Z https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12809/10748 Digital competences of older women in Turkey: gender and ageing as double danger Adnan, Müge; Özbek, Çağlar The Internet is a massive technological breakthrough in terms of interpersonal communication and social connectivity, facilitating citizenship practices of societies of modern life; yet its potential in the inclusion and empowerment of older adults is hampered by low levels of technology usage and often limited digital competences. Many older adults remain relatively distant from modern digital life, further isolated from society and daily public services. Older adults are considered disadvantaged, tend to live dependent upon others, and occasionally deprived of human and social capital. This divide has been more prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly for older women. Promoting specific actions to improve digital competences can contribute to digital inclusion, particularly for disadvantaged segments of society. This study presents findings from a field research conducted to determine the digital competence levels of older women living in southwest Turkey as part of a nationally funded project. Field notes and survey data collected from 377 older women revealed that digital competence may improve through education, that challenges included dependency, safety/fear, and stoicism, and that any support, social interaction, or training offered to older adults could help them to improve their digital competences and self-confidence for daily survival in the digital age, enabling more independent and self-sufficient living in their later years. Future directions include social connectedness and intergenerational interaction for digital competence, lifelong learning activities and training programmes on digital skills and ICT usage for older adults, and improved designs of digital products to prevent their exclusion from today’s technology-dominated society. 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12809/9690 Predicting students at risk of academic failure using ensemble model during pandemic in a distance learning system Karalar, Halit; Kapucu, Ceyhun; Gürüler, Hüseyin Predicting students at risk of academic failure is valuable for higher education institutions to improve student performance. During the pandemic, with the transition to compulsory distance learning in higher education, it has become even more important to identify these students and make instructional interventions to avoid leaving them behind. This goal can be achieved by new data mining techniques and machine learning methods. This study took both the synchronous and asynchronous activity characteristics of students into account to identify students at risk of academic failure during the pandemic. Additionally, this study proposes an optimal ensemble model predicting students at risk using a combination of relevant machine learning algorithms. Performances of over two thousand university students were predicted with an ensemble model in terms of gender, degree, number of downloaded lecture notes and course materials, total time spent in online sessions, number of attendances, and quiz score. Asynchronous learning activities were found more determinant than synchronous ones. The proposed ensemble model made a good prediction with a specificity of 90.34%. Thus, practitioners are suggested to monitor and organize training activities accordingly. 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12809/9458 Stem in transition from primary school to middle school: Primary school students' attitudes Karalar, Halit; Sidekli, Sabri; Yıldırım, Bekir This study aims to examine the STEM attitudes of primary school fourth-grade students who are in the transition period from primary school to middle school. More specifically, this study examines whether the students' attitudes towards STEM significantly differ according to gender, parents' educational background, science achievement, and mathematics achievement. The data obtained from 221 fourth-grade students through the STEM Attitude Scale were analyzed by independent sample t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The research results revealed that students move from primary school to middle school with a high STEM attitude. In this transition, girls' attitudes towards mathematics and boys’ towards engineering and technology were higher. The tendency in engineering and technology attitudes differs only in favor of male students but does not differ significantly in parents' educational background, science, and mathematics achievement. While there was no significant difference in general STEM attitudes of the students in terms of gender and mother’s education, there was a difference in father’s education, mathematics, and science achievement. Following, the research results were discussed, and recommendations for policymakers and practitioners were presented 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12809/8332 Modern Çağın Yeni Fobisi: Üniversite Öğrencileri Arasında Nomofobi Prevalansı Adnan, Müge; Gezgin, Deniz Mertkan Mobil teknolojiler, günümüzde artık yaşamımızın bir parçası haline gelmiştir. Cep telefonları ve akıllı telefonların kullanımı hayatımızı her alanda kolaylaştırırken, bağımlılık veya huzursuzluk gibi bazı istenmeyen etkiler de ortaya çıkmaktadır. Son günlerde modern çağın fobisi olarak adlandırılan nomofobi, bireyin mobil cihazına erişemediğinde veya mobil cihaz üzerinde iletişim kuramadığında yaşadığı irrasyonel korku ve kaygı olarak tanımlanmaktadır. Bu kaygı, bireyin yaşamında günlük işlere yoğunlaşmasını olumsuz yönde etkiler. Cep telefonundan mahrum kalma korkusu olarak da ifade edilen nomofobi, akıllı telefonların yaygınlığının artmasına paralel olarak artış göstermiştir. Nomofobik davranışlar, günlük alışkanlıklarımızı değiştirebilmekte, özellikle öğrencilerin nomofobi yüzünden yaşadığı olumsuzluklar okul yaşantılarına ve akademik başarılarına da etki edebilmektedir. Bu çalışmanın da amacı, 2014-2015 öğretim yılı bahar döneminde bir devlet üniversitesinde farklı bölümlerde öğrenim gören 433 üniversite öğrencisi arasında nomofobinin yaygınlığını incelemektir. Tarama yöntemiyle gerçekleştirilen çalışmanın analiz aşamasında betimsel istatistikler, bağımsız örneklem t-testi ve tek yönlü varyans analizi kullanılmıştır. Çalışmanın bulgularına göre, ölçekten alınan ortalama puan üzerinden öğrencilerin nomofobi düzeylerinin ortalamanın üzerinde olduğu görülmektedir. Öğrencilerin cinsiyet, sınıf, cep telefonu kullanma süreleri ve akıllı telefon kullanma süreleri değişkenlerine göre nomofobi düzeyleri arasında anlamlı farklılık bulunamamıştır.; Mobile technology is an integrated part of today's lifestyle. Despite providing several advantages, mobile phones may have a negative impact on our lives causing addiction, discomfort, anxiety or dependence. Considered a modern phobia, nomophobia is a term that describes the irrational fear or anxiety of being unable to access a mobile phone or being beyond mobile phone contact. This anxiety adversely affects individual's concentration on daily tasks. Briefly defined as being destitute of mobile access, the prevalence of nomophobia increases in parallel with the widespread use of smartphones due to their extensive features and capacity. Nomophobia behaviours may change our daily habits, and particularly students experiencing nomophobia may suffer from negativities in their academic achievement. This study aims at investigating the prevalence of nomophobia among 433 Turkish college students enrolled in a state university in the 2014-2015 academic year. Employing a survey method, data collected in the study were analysed using descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test and one-way analysis of variance. Findings indicate that nomophobia levels of the college students are above moderate level, based on average score. There is no significant difference as of gender, grade, duration of mobile phone and smartphone usage. 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z