Technical Education Faculty Research Articles

Design education: A case study of furniture and decoration education

In this study, Computer Aided Design (CAD) education in the department of Furniture and Design, Technical Education Faculty, Gazi University, raises workforce for furniture industry and interior design sector, was investigated. A research questionnaire was developed and carried out with the students in accordance with the determination of problems, influence of education, teaching program and a comparative study of furniture design to classical drawing and CAD. As a result, the significant problem (96%) was found as the lack and insufficiency of CAD lectures in the teaching program. According to the study, CAD process is much more effective as the process as a whole is taken into consideration. It has been determined that new lectures are needed for the education of the visual presentation since 15hours is not sufficient. In reference to these results; there shall be a new approach to the CAD education of the department as a whole, where weekly lecture hours instead of diversity of the lectures shall be increased, since the process takes a long time; and the problems rising from lack of instructors shall be prioritised in the strategically planning.

Defining of conceptions related to their department of candidate teacher of mechatronics education

Mechatronics is the common discipline of mechanical, material, electric / electronics and computer technologies. Although mechatronics education is new in our era, it has created its own working area because of the fade that another research area has interested this subject. Because number of technical teachers and technicians who will work in this area is not sufficient in our country, workforce in this area has been provided. Although this situation seems like a disadvantage it has not only created a synergy with different areas but also gained glance angle of this areas. For example, a Mechanics student has been able to evaluate events with viewpoint by combining area principles gained and principles at electronics. The base of this study composes analyze of problems students who come from different disciplines will meet in the same education and working place. This variety forming mechatronics has created problem of transduction. This adaptation problem has psychology press on the students. It has also decreased students’ interest about lessons.Marnara Universty Technical Education Faculty Department of Mechatronics Education has started education in 2003 - 2004 semesters to educate mechatronics technical teachers with 31 students. Now 121 students have learnt. To date in the vocational education system, there has been no high school education, which will compose a basic for Mechatronics Education Programmer. However, in 2003 -2004 semesters National Education Ministry has been opened new departments in Turkey. In this study, survey has been fulfilled not only to deduce mechatronics department students’ problems they have met when their mechatronics education based four different disciplines but also to offer suggestions about problems.

The effect of presenting the electronic circuits lesson on virtual environment according to the project based learning approach on the views of the students

In this research, the views of the students on the process of the Project based learning carried out on virtual environment have been determined. The universe of this research consists of the 2nd class students at Electronics and Computer Teaching Technical Education Faculty at Fırat University during 2005-2006 teaching year first spring and (85) students participated. In choosing the examples, academic success, internet connection, connecting internet any time, the Project based learning and dimensions of virtual learning are used as neutral criterion. Two different methods as quality and quantity have been accepted in this research. “Richened Pattern” in which quality and quantity researches are used together has been chosen. Firstly, the views of the students during their studies have been taken to the forum section as they reflect. Besides, the views before and after application have been collected by a view showing survey. While comparing the views of the students before and after application, t test has been used for the independent groups. When the distribution is normal, student t test has been used, when the distribution is not normal Mann Witney U test has been used. Some of the main findings of this research are as follows.The students come over the anxieties about the new situations by dialogue- consultation.Internet is seen the first knowledge resource in the sense of getting information.It is seen that division of labour and cooperation have been used mostly.The students tend to diverge from the teacher centered learning.

An Experimental Study on Freeze-Drying Behavior of Strawberries

In this article, the freeze-drying behavior and the drying kinetics of strawberries were investigated. Drying experiments were performed in a freeze-drying experimental setup constructed in the Department of Mechanical Education, Faculty of Technical Education, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey. In experiments, 5- and 7-mm-thick sliced strawberry samples have been used. Some models, which were given in the literature, have been used to predict the drying behavior of strawberries. Experimental data findings were fitted for determining the best model to represent the drying behavior of strawberries and the drying kinetics used in these models. It was seen from the correlation coefficient, reduced chi-square, and root mean square error (0.9984, 2.688 × 10−4, 0.015 and 0.9976, 4.669 × 10−6, 0.002, respectively) that the Page model could sufficiently describe the drying behavior of 5- and 7-mm strawberry samples.

ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK (ANN) APPROACH TO PREDICTION OF DIFFUSION BONDING BEHAVIOR (SHEAR STRENGTH) OF SiCP REINFORCED ALUMINUM METAL MATRIX COMPOSITES

In this study, Artificial Neural Network approach to prediction of diffusion bonding behavior of SiCP reinforced aluminum alloy metal matrix composites, manufactured by powder metallurgy process, were obtained using a back-propagation neural network that uses gradient descent learning algorithm. A powder Al-Mg-Si matrix was employed with particulate SiC at 5-10-20 (wt) % fractions. MMC’s were fabricated by powder mixing and hot pressing at 600oC below liquation temperature. Diffusion bonding was carried out under protective atmosphere (argon) at 550, 575, 600 and 625oC process temperatures for 20, 40 and 60 minutes with a load of 0.25 MPa, below those which would cause macrodeformation. Microstructure examination at bond interface were investigated by optical microscopy, SEM. Specimens were tested for shear strength and metallographic evaluations. After the completion of experimental process and relevant test, to prepare the training and test (checking) set of the network, results were recorded in a file on a computer. In neural networks training module, different SiC reinforcement fractions (wt), different temperatures and welding periods were used as input, shear strength of bonded specimens at interface were used as outputs. Then, the neural network was trained using the prepared training set (also known as learning set). At the end of the training process, the test data were used to check the system accuracy. As a result the neural network was found successful in the prediction of diffusion bonding shear strength and behavior. * Department of Metal, Faculty of Technical Education, University of Firat, 23119 Elazig, Turkey, mtaskin@firat.edu.tr ** Department of Metal, Faculty of Technical Education, University of Firat, 23119 Elazig, Turkey, ucaligulu@firat.edu.tr *** Department of Metal, Faculty of Technical Education, University of Firat, 23119 Elazig, Turkey, hdikbas@firat.edu.tr ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK (ANN) APPROACH TO PREDICTION OF DIFFUSION BONDING BEHAVIOR (SHEAR STRENGTH) OF SiCP REINFORCED ALUMINUM METAL MATRIX COMPOSITES Taskin, Caligullu ve Dikbas, 2008 1812

Turkish Adolescents' Knowledge on and Attitude toward Emergency Contraception

Objective Adolescents tend to be at risk for unwanted pregnancies, so detecting their level of knowledge on emergency contraception and providing them information is important to prevent such pregnancies. Hence, in two faculties at Gazi University, this study aimed to detect freshman students' level and need of knowledge on emergency contraception and to evaluate their attitude towards emergency contraception. Materials and Methods The study was performed with freshman students of the Occupational Education Faculty and the Technical Education Faculty. A questionnaire including questions about demographic properties, obstetrical history, status of contraceptive use, level of knowledge and opinions on emergency contraception was administered to the students. Data was analyzed statistically with the computer program EPI Info 6.0. Results A total number of 385 adolescents were included in the studys; 157 of whom were males (40.8%) and 228 of whom were females (59.2%). To the question “is there any way to prevent a possible pregnancy after an unprotected sexual intercourse?”, 166 students replied “yes” (50.5%), 39 “no” (11.9%) and 124 “I do not know” (37.7%). Of 166 students replying “yes,” 114 (68.7%) listed a possible contraceptive method. The mostly cited method was “morning after pills” (n = 62; 54.4%), followed by curettage (n = 15; 13.2%). Among all students, 158 (49.8%) informed us that they were aware of the presence of “morning after pills” whereas 159 (50.2%) claimed they were not. Eighty-six male students (70.5%) and 115 female students (72%) emphasized that they would use emergency contraception upon necessity. Conclusion Half of the participants were familiar with various options to prevent pregnancy after an unprotected sexual intercourse episode, but they lacked specific knowledge about possible methods and ways to use them. Thus, it is essential that information about emergency contraception be included in adolescents' educational programs and that adolescents be provided with easily accessible medical services.

REFLECTIONS OF COMMUNITY-COLLEGE STUDENTS REGARDING MENTEE/INSTRUCTOR TEACHING AND LEARNING EFFECTIVENESS

This investigation used data collected from students who assessed their instructors' teaching and learning effectiveness. Instructors were community-college career and technical-education faculty enrolled in the Community College Induction Mentoring Program (CCIM), a jointly sponsored program between Iowa State University and the instructors' respective community colleges. These new faculty were involved in a structured mentor/mentee program in which the mentor was involved in a 1-day mentor training program. The mentor/mentee relationship was designed around annual goals with an action plan developed, executed, and assessed for each goal. One component of the mentor/mentee program involved documentation of an effectiveness plan, including students' perception of their mentored-instructors' teaching and, as a consequence, their own learning effectiveness. Students were asked to complete an evaluation instrument comparing their “reactions” and “learning” in classes taught by mentored instructors enrolled in the CCIM program relative to other nonmentored instructors. A total of 9 hypotheses provided the direction of the research. Student ratings were typically higher for new instructors who received peer mentoring. Mentees and mentors consistently reported a high level of satisfaction about their partnership. Supervisors voiced strong support for the program. This paper shares student survey results of mentee/instructor teaching and student learning effectiveness.