Private University In Turkey Research Articles

AN INVESTIGATION ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CHATBOTS IN EVALUATING WRITING ASSIGNMENTS IN EFL CONTEXTS

This study aims to explore the effectiveness of chatbots, specifically ChatGPT, in evaluating writing assignments. 51 English as a foreign language (EFL) learners from Türkiye took part in the study voluntarily. Based on a quasi-experimental research design, the study involved dividing the participants into two non-equivalent groups. The participants in the control group received feedback on their writing from a teacher, while the experimental group was given feedback by the ChatGPT. Thus, the research indicated how Artificial Intelligence (AI)-generated feedback was influential in evaluating writing assignments compared to human-generated feedback. The feedback given by the teacher and the ChatGPT was analyzed via a content analysis, and the results showed that the ChatGPT and the teacher feedback had differences in the language style, register, content, and accuracy. Besides, students’ perceptions of the feedback were revealed through the Student Perceptions of Writing Feedback Scale of Marss (2016) and analyzed using Independent Samples t-Tests on the SPSS. The statistical tests indicated that the students’ perceptions did not vary whether the feedback was AI or human-generated. This study suggests that AI-generated feedback can match human feedback in terms of students’ perceptions. Still, the differences regarding feedback features show the strengths of a teacher and a bot for giving feedback by suggesting a more complementary role for AI technology in educational settings.

Pathways to Need-Supportive Teaching: Teaching Mindsets and Motivation to Teach

AbstractTeachers differ in the extent to which they support their students’ basic psychological needs. To better understand these differences, we investigated how mindsets and motivation to teach English relate to their need-supportive teaching practices. Data was gathered from 348 EFL instructors (261 female, 87 male; Mage = 38.47, SD = 9.22) working at state and private universities in Turkey through the following self-report questionnaires: the Implicit Theories of Intelligence Scale (ITIS; Dweck et al., 1995), the Comprehensive Relative Autonomy Index (C-RAI; Sheldon et al., 2017), and the Teacher as a Social Context Questionnaire (TASC-Q; Belmont et al., 1988). Results of structural equation modeling revealed that language instructors’ fixed teaching mindset beliefs had both direct and indirect relationships with their need-supportive teaching through quality of teaching motivation. The direct relationships suggest that instructors who believe their teaching ability is a fixed trait are less likely to teach for autonomous reasons, such as personal interest and values, and more inclined to teach out of external reasons, such as pressure from supervisors. The indirect relationships suggest that autonomous teaching motivation mediates the negative relationships between fixed teaching mindset and provision of involvement and structure. These findings highlight the important role of teaching mindsets and motivation in promoting need-supportive learning environments.

Evaluation of the effectiveness of the training on "Home care of COVID-19 positive/suspicious patients" given to nursing students: A quasi-experimental study.

This study aims to evaluate the effects of education on home care of infected or suspected COVID-19 patients on the levels of knowledge, anxiety, and awareness of nursing students in Turkey. The study is in quasi-experimental design. A sample of 158 volunteer students studying nursing at a private university in Turkey was formed. Data were collected using, descriptive information form, "Coronavirus Anxiety Scale," "COVID-19 Awareness Scale," and the "Knowledge of COVID-19 Home Care Test." Pre-test was performed before the participants received education. Post-test was performed seven days after the intervention. SPSS version 25.0 was used for data analysis. "TREND checklist" was used for quasi-experimental/non-randomized evaluations to report the findings of the study. Anxiety levels decreased and the levels of awareness and knowledge on COVID-19 increased after receiving education on home care of infected or suspected COVID-19 patients (p < 0.001), indicating the effectiveness of the education. Education on home care of infected or suspected COVID-19 patients was an effective method to reduce anxiety and increase knowledge and awareness in nursing students. To contribute to community health, home care training can be given to nursing students, other people receiving home care, or providing home care to COVID-19 patients, infected or suspected COVID-19 patients.

Pre-Service Teachers’ Ethical Reasoning about Climate Ethics and Climate Justice

The climate crisis is an ethical issue besides being an environmental problem. Therefore, examining pre-service teachers’ ethical reasoning about climate change is crucial since they will educate future global citizens. To achieve this aim, this study probed into pre-service teachers’ reasoning on climate ethics and climate justice by asking them to answer the questions in two different reflections. The participants of the current study were 31 pre-service teachers (10 males, 21 females) who study in the English Language Teaching Program at the Faculty of Education at a private university in Turkey. In the 1st reflection, they identified and justified ethical issues regarding climate change and discuss how they could teach them in their class. The 2nd reflection asked them to discuss climate justice and design an instruction to teach climate justice by using a story and a game. The results suggest identifying and naming the ethical issue as climate justice and asking pre-service teachers to design teaching on stories and games in a structured way to facilitate ethical reasoning.

Determining entrepreneurial knowledge and intentions of international students studying in Turkey

Entrepreneurial knowledge and intention focus on understanding an individual’s interest in and abilities towards entrepreneurial activities. Another issue is the impact of cultural differences on entrepreneurial intention. The purpose of the study is to reveal the impact of entrepreneurship knowledge on entrepreneurial intention of international students receiving higher education in Turkey. We also examine whether there are differences in entrepreneurial knowledge and entrepreneurial intention according to gender, department, having an entrepreneurial business idea, receiving entrepreneurship education or not and monthly expenditure amount. The methodological basis of the study resides in the concept of entrepreneurial knowledge and planned behaviour theory. Among the research methods are frequency and regression analyses, parametric tests, convenience sampling method. A total of 380 students enrolled in 20 public and 5 private universities in Turkey in the 2021–2022 academic year participated in the survey and completed the questionnaire. Participants were reached through electronic and social media environments or face-to-face communication. The research results reveal that there are statistically significant differences between entrepreneurial knowledge and intention with educational status, entrepreneurial idea, department of study and the amount of monthly expenses. Furthermore, regression analysis showed that entrepreneurial knowledge and entrepreneurship education have a significant positive effect on students’ entrepreneurial intentions. The findings of this study provide valuable guidance for policymakers and curriculum preparers to understand international students’ entrepreneurial intentions and promote entrepreneurial intentions in universities.

Asenkron Yansıtma ve Tartışmanın Öğretmen Adaylarının COVID-19 Pandemisi Hakkındaki Argümanları Değerlendirmesine Etkisi

Pre-service teachers (PSTs) play a key role in creating future citizens who critically evaluate information. Therefore, this study investigated PSTs’ ability to evaluate two controversial topics about COVID-19 before and after asynchronous reflection and discussion on the trustworthiness of evidence and credibility of sources of evidence. Eighteen sophomores who studied in the English Language Teacher Education Program in the Faculty of Education at a private university in Turkey participated in the study. Their pre- and post-assignments, in which they discussed arguments about COVID-19, were analyzed. The results of the study reveal the positive impact of asynchronous reflection and discussion to facilitate PSTs’ critical evaluation. The results suggest further implications in teacher education programs and teacher education research for promoting argumentation skills.

An analysis of the interplay between affective and cognitive components of teacher identity among native and non-native EFL in-service trainees

The present study aims to explore the affective and cognitive components teacher identity by examining the EFL teachers’ and in-service trainers’ attitudes toward in-service professional development training process at a private university in Turkey. The participants, who were selected through convenient sampling, consist of native and non-native EFL instructors; EFL in-service trainees (N=6) and teacher trainers; EFL in-service teacher trainers (N=2). The data was collected via semi-structured interviews conducted with the teachers and Behavior Observation Rubric completed by teacher trainers. In the first phase, EFL teacher trainees were observed in class and given post observation feedback by in-service teacher trainers, who completed the rubric evaluating the reactions of the teachers to four categories: (1) Attitude to feedback, (2) Response to feedback, (3) Behavior, and (4) Independent work. In the second phase, teachers were interviewed about their perceptions of the in-service training process; Interview data (qualitative data) were analyzed through content analysis, while descriptive statistics (frequency) was used to analyze Behavior Observation Rubric scores (quantitative data). The findings indicated differences between native and non-native EFL instructors (trainees). According to interviews, native EFL instructors felt more enthusiastic about professional development sessions compared to non-native EFL teachers due to several educational background, cultural differences and so on. This was supported by the results from the Behavior Observation Rubric, which revealed higher scores for native EFL instructors than for non-native instructors in terms of attitude to feedback, response to feedback, behavior, and independent work during the professional development; observation process. / Keywords: native vs. non-native EFL instructors, teacher identity, EFL in-service trainees

Should English Language Teaching Undergraduate Programs in Turkey be Restructured? Views of Pre-Service English Language Teachers

English language teachers in Turkey are officially entitled to teach at any level (from kindergarten to university) and any age group; however, it has been repeatedly argued that teaching English to young learners is different from teaching English to teenagers and/or adults as they require diverse skills, competences, qualifications and expertise (Bland, 2019; Enever, 2014; Gungor, 2020; Linse, 2005; Öztürk Aydın, 2019; Rich, 2019). Moving from this line of reasoning, this study, first of all, aims to investigate whether ELT undergraduate programs in Turkey need to be restructured from the perspectives of pre-service English language teachers. Closely related to this aim, this study also intends to identify the degree to which their undergraduate training prepares pre-service English language teachers (PSTs) for the different school levels they are to work at. With these two complementary aims in mind, this study has employed a qualitative research paradigm. 192 senior pre-service English language teachers who take practicum courses and study at the English Language Teaching (ELT) programs of 14 different state and private universities in Turkey have participated in this study. The data for the study has been collected via an online survey form and a focus group interview. The findings show that ELT undergraduate programs prepare PSTs satisfactorily to work at primary and secondary level schools from the perspectives of PSTs. However, PSTs believe that their undergraduate program cannot prepare them as satisfactorily to work at pre-primary school, high school and university levels. Furthermore, almost half of the PSTs agree that ELT undergraduate programs within Education Faculties should be restructured as ‘ELT for young learners’ and ‘ELT for teenagers/adults’.

A Comparative Study of the Effectiveness of Online and Conventional Instructions on Learners’ Productive Skills Development

In the current millennium, the integration of instructional technologies has become mandatory, especially when the focus of instruction is only on fluency and correct learning. English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers believe that students can achieve an adequate level of fluency and accuracy only if they speak and write English with less difficulty and more spontaneity. For this purpose, instructors ceaselessly seek versatile ways and approaches to enrich the teaching of four language skills (mainly the productive ones). Online sources provide both students and instructors with various ranges of software applications and platforms to actively involve in different class activities. This study aims to pinpoint the effectiveness of both online and conventional teaching on learners’ productive skills and to examine which mode of instruction leads to constructive output of EFL learners. Furthermore, this article considers teachers’ attitudes and learners’ perceptions on the use of online instruction in EFL classrooms. This research uses a qualitative approach by means of an interview and a questionnaire designated to 15 EFL teachers and 400 learners in a private university in Turkey. The results of this study reveal that both teachers and learners prefer having Hybrid instruction (the combination of both online and face-to-face models) in teaching and learning productive skills, so the findings of this research can assist EFL teachers, material designers and policy makers to include Hybrid education in their curricula.

Coursebook Writers’ Orientations towards ELF: The Case of Coursebooks used in a Private University

Coursebooks used in English language teaching play a significant roles for language learners. One way of determining whether the current status of English in language teaching, that is, English as a lingua franca (ELF), is taken into account in the globalized world is through coursebook analysis. The purpose of this study is to determine how listening, speaking and video sections of two intermediate level coursebooks used in a preparatory program of a private university in Turkey are approached in respect of ELF principles in the teaching of English. This descriptive research, based on a qualitative and quantitative content analysis, was conducted using Rose and Galloway’s (2019) framework for coursebook analysis. The findings demonstrate that in one of the coursebooks, ELF interaction was higher than the other regarding listening recordings, and there was only one video representing an ELF interaction in both of the coursebooks. RP (Standard British English) was the core reference in the listening files and videos. Cross-cultural and global topics were chiefly included in the speaking tasks; however, there was a lack of multi-cultural topics addressed within the books. Speaking activities included mainly the strategy of turn-taking and only two clarification communicative strategies, but guided speaking tasks were in contradiction with ELF features. The findings offer practical implications for coursebook designers/writers, curriculum designers and language teachers.

Comparison of State and Private Universities in Turkiye in terms of Instruction and R&amp; D Regarding the Reports of the Turkish Council of Higher Education (YÖK)

Turkish Council of Higher Education (YÖK) started to publish University Monitoring and Evaluation General Reports since 2019. Three reports (2019-2020-2021) have been published. Average annual data of state and private universities in Turkey are available in these reports. These reports also include data about various aspects of university education under the titles of Instruction and Research &amp; Development (R&amp;D). This study aims to determine pros and cons of state and private universities for Turkish and international university applicants by comparing the data averages of the 2019, 2020 and 2021 reports about the Instruction and the Research &amp; Development (R&amp;D) of both university types. Under the Instruction title; data about number of accredited undergraduate programs, occupancy rate of the programs, number of students participating in teknokent (technopole) or technology transfer office (TTO) projects, number of programs in the top 5% of the public servant selection exam (KPSS), number of international symposiums, congresses or artistic exhibitions, number of social responsibility projects implemented by students, number of industrial projects implemented by students and number of printed books and e-publications for each student were examined. Under the Research &amp; Development title; data about number of publications published in national peer-reviewed journals and in SCI, SCI-Expanded, SSCI and AHCI indexed journals, number of cited publications in the top 10%, number of applied and granted patents, utility models and designs, number of R&amp;D projects supported by national and international institutions and organizations, ratio of investment budget spent on R&amp;D, income except for subsidy, innovation and product development income from laboratory services within the scope of R&amp;D and number of joint projects with industry were examined. Document analysis method was used in the study as a qualitative research method. Document analysis includes the analysis of written materials containing information about the phenomenon or facts to be investigated. In the field of education: Textbooks, instructional regulations, internal and external correspondence, official documents... can be used as data source (Yıldırım and Şimşek, 2013, pp.217-218). Data averages of state and private universities were evaluated. Data differences among universities in same category were not included. The results shows that both state and private universities have pros and cons in terms of instruction and R&amp;D, but state universities are advantageous regarding data numbers and diversity. While private universities are profit-oriented and attach importance to individual development, state universities are more collaborative and are community-oriented. Keywords: state university, private university, universities in Turkiye, instruction, R&amp;D

Questioning merit-based scholarships at nonprofit private universities: Lessons from Turkey

By employing multiple correspondence analysis (MCA), this study reveals the similarities between students’ socioeconomic status at five nonprofit private universities in Turkey. This research analyzes qualitative characteristics such as students’ fathers’ occupations, high school types, programs of study, and tuition fee paying status. The results demonstrate that children from relatively low-income families do not sufficiently benefit from the merit-based scholarship programs at nonprofit private universities. To ensure equality of opportunity in higher education, the researchers advocate for redesigning merit-based scholarship programs, which holds key implications not just for Turkey, but also for other higher education systems that rely on merit-based financial aid.

LİSANSÜSTÜ ÖĞRENCİLERİN DANIŞMANLARI İLE İLETİŞİM SÜRECİNDE BENLİK SUNUM STRATEJİLERİNİ KULLANIMLARININ İNCELENMESİ

İnsanlar gündelik yaşam rutinlerinde diğerleri ile etkileşim halindeyken, kendilerini olduklarından daha pozitif bir şekilde sunma konusunda olağanüstü bir çaba göstermektedirler. Bu şekilde kendilerine dair diğerlerinin izlenimlerini şekillendirmeye çalışmaktadırlar. Bu çalışmada, Lisansüstü eğitim gören öğrencilerin danışmanları ile iletişim sürecinde, hangi izlenim yönetim taktiklerine başvurduklarının ortaya çıkarılması amaçlanmıştır. Araştırmanın evrenini, Türkiye’deki devlet ve özel üniversitelerinde eğitimlerine devam eden Lisansüstü öğrenciler oluşturmaktadır. Araştırmanın örneklemi ise Kolayda Örnekleme ile seçilen 387 kişiden oluşmaktadır. Araştırmada veri toplama aracı olarak anket kullanılmıştır. Çalışmada tarama modelinin bir türü olan ilişkisel tarama modelinden karşılaştırmalı tarama modeli kullanılmıştır. Araştırma sonucunda elde edilen bulgulara göre katılımcılar danışmanlarının izlenimlerini yönetme sürecinde, kendini tanıtmaya yönelik izlenim yönetimi taktikleri ile kendini savunmaya yönelik izlenim yönetim taktiklerini başarılı bir şekilde kullanmaktadırlar. Araştırma sonucunda elde edilen bir diğer önemli bulgu, yüksek lisans öğrencileri doktora öğrencilerinden daha fazla kendini tanıtmaya yönelik izlenim yönetim taktiğinin alt boyutlarından biri olan kendini sevdirme taktiğine daha fazla başvurmaktadırlar. Sonuç olarak; lisansüstü öğrenciler danışmanları ile iletişimlerinde izlenim yönetim taktiklerine sıklıkla başvurmaktadırlar.

Spor Bilimleri Alanındaki Akademisyenlerin Öz Liderlik Düzeylerinin Politik Becerileri İle Karşılaştırılması

Bu çalışmada spor bilimleri alanındaki akademisyenlerin öz liderlik düzeylerinin politik beceriler ile karşılaştırılması amaçlanmıştır. Araştırmanın örneklemini Türkiye’de kamu ve vakıf üniversitelerinin spor bilimleri alanında çalışan akademisyenleri oluşturmaktadır. Çalışmaya 251 akademisyen katılmıştır. Araştırma konusuna yönelik Tabak, Sığrı ve Türköz (2013)’ün Türkçeye uyarladığı öz liderlik ölçeği veri toplama aracı olarak kullanılmıştır. Spor Bilimleri alanında görev yapan akademisyenlerin politik becerilerini belirlemek amacıyla ise Ferris ve arkadaşları (2005) tarafından geliştirilmiş ve Özdemir ve Gören (2015) tarafından eğitim örgütlerinde Türkçeye uyarladığı Politik Beceri Envanteri kullanılmıştır. Öz liderlik ve politik beceri ölçeklerine açımlayıcı faktör analizi kullanılmış olup, öz liderlik ölçeği 8 alt boyuta, politik beceri ölçeği ise 4 alt boyuta ayrılmıştır. Öz liderlik boyutunun sosyal zekâ alt boyutu ile aynı yönlü ve yüksek bir ilişki içinde olduğu; politik beceri boyutunun ise kişi-etki alt boyutu ile en yüksek aynı yönlü ilişkiye sahip olduğu bulgusuna ulaşılmıştır. Faktör analizi sonucu öz liderlik ölçeği için 8 alt boyut elde edilmiş Croanbah Alpha değerleri %50 nin altında kaldığı için düşünme odaklanma ve kendi gözleme çalışmadan çıkartılmıştır. Politik beceri ve öz liderlik ölçekleri arasında aynı yönlü %43 orta düzeyde bir ilişki olduğu sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Bu araştırma 18. Uluslararası Spor Bilimleri Kongresinde bildiri olarak sunulmuştur.

University Websites: Attractive or Casual?

International student mobility is increasing around the world and the number of students who prefer Turkey for higher education is increasing every year. It is also important for universities to be able to influence students' preferences and attract more successful students. The most used and most important means of universities to introduce themselves to students coming from another country, to leave a positive image and to increase their organizational attractiveness are the corporate websites of universities. Universities create an image about themselves with the visuals they use on their websites. In this study, the image attractiveness of the websites of universities in Turkey towards international students was examined. For this purpose, it has been examined by using visual content analysis whether there are contents that will positively affect the organizational attractiveness of the university for foreign students on the home pages of the websites of state and private universities in Turkey. Among 129 state and 74 private universities in Turkey, 25 universities were selected by proportional stratified sampling method. The codes determined as a result of the visual analysis were gathered under four themes. It has been found that universities mostly include their scientific studies on their websites, and private universities give more space than state universities to the educational environments, buildings, campuses and visuals of their students interacting in these environments, which create the first impression of the university for international students.

A Qualitative Investigation into Student Empowerment in Higher Education: Perceptions of Students, Faculty Members and Administrators

The aim of this study was to explore the concept of student empowerment and empowering aspects of the higher education curricula as perceived by the students, faculty members and administrators. The research design was a case study and it is conducted at a private university in Turkey. The data were obtained via semi-structured interviews with 24 undergraduate students, eight faculty members and five administrators. The findings of the study revealed the complexity and multi-dimensionality of student empowerment. Participants defined empowered students in higher education as having active personal and social characteristics. Different members’ views of the empowering factors overlapped to a great extent and they were grouped under three interconnected dimensions: academic, social and political empowerment. Participants' reports indicate that student empowerment in university curricula depends on several factors, such as faculty qualifications, active student participation in curriculum decisions, student clubs, extracurricular activities, and whether students have the opportunity/right to voice their demands and objections. The data analysis points out a possible existence of a fourth dimension which centers around personal characteristics. Hence, further research is needed to prove the existence of this fourth dimension as in the current data set it did not come forth as a major dimension. Furthermore, the findings revealed that democratic understanding is a precondition for student empowerment and a “deep” democratic understanding is needed in higher education institutions.

A THEORETICAL APPROACH TO GENDER STUDIES COURSE IN TERMS OF FEMINIST PEDAGOGY

The article studies how feminist pedagogy in gender education is used to transform the mindset of students, their families and ultimately society. Brazilian theorist Paul Freire describes the oppressor-oppressed (discriminatory) relationship in society in the Pedagogy of the Oppressed. According to Freire, education is a direct political act and can transform society as well as a libertarian style of pedagogy where everyone speaks, expresses their opinions and attains their rights. In feminist pedagogy inspired by Freire, the structures and systems that sustain the discrimination against women are identified as early as the school level and are subsequently transformed to minimize negative attitudes toward girls. Feminist pedagogy, started to take its place in academia as a field that supports the critical thinking structure after the 1980s in Turkey. It aims to strengthen the student’s self-esteem, independence and questioning abilities, especially to criticize the patriarchal social structure and to promote the gender equality. Feminist pedagogy is applied in the state and private universities in Turkey. The paper focuses on the author’s teaching experience of “Gender Studies” course with 348 Turkish and foreign students in a private university in Istanbul between 2019–2022. Feminist pedagogy was applied in terms of the content and method in the classroom and the survey that was conducted to measure the impacts of the method in terms of transformation. The paper contributes to gender studies of scholars with a feminist perspective on how to apply that methodology. Based on a study of the effectiveness of teaching the mentioned discipline, recommendations for improving the pedagogical content were made

The evaluation of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) program at an engineering faculty at a private university in Turkey

This study aims to evaluate the English for Specific Purposes (ESP) program at the engineering faculty at Toros University in Turkey. The research was based on Hutchinson and Waters' (1987) framework for ESP, and multiple sources of data collection were used. The participants of this study were 66 engineering faculty students. The study, the abridged version of the MA thesis conducted in 2018-2019 Academic Year, demonstrated that the main objective of the ESP program is to develop personal strategies for reviewing new related vocabulary, to use vocabulary in a variety of academic speaking, listening, writing and reading activities. The students' needs were grouped into three categories which are occupational, social and educational. The primary need of the engineering students is the expansion of vocabulary because they are unfamiliar with the terminology of their future professions. The majority of the students believed they were competent in grammar but needed to develop their vocabulary. Most of the students wanted to use a textbook explicitly prepared for their major study area.

CELTA Course from the Perspective of EFL Instructors: A Case Study

The aim of this study is to explore the CELTA course from the perspective of EFL instructors. A single case study of qualitative research methods is employed in the study. The sample consists of 6 EFL instructors working for a private university in Turkey. The quantitative data of the research was obtained through course evaluation survey. Qualitative data was gathered by open-ended questions and interview forms developed by the researcher and also with the documents. Descriptive analysis was performed to show evaluation of the course in the quantitative phase of the research. On the other hand, the content analysis method was applied in the analysis of qualitative data. As a result of the study, the CELTA course is useful for EFL instructors’ careers; nevertheless the course components and content should be redesigned considering andragogic principles. Moreover, EFL instructors were pleased to take the course at the end of the course although the course’s weaknesses.

Sosyal Duygusal Öğrenme Ölçeği- Genç Yetişkin Formu Geliştirme Çalışması

Purpose: Social emotional learning (SEL) is the process of developing the attitudes, values and skills necessary for individuals to gain social emotional competence. SEL includes many skills such as setting goals and achieving them, making responsible decisions, establishing healthy relationships with others, collaborating with others, recognizing feelings, and being aware of needs etc., which individuals need these skills throughout their lives. In this study, it was aimed to develop the Social Emotional Learning Scale-Young Adult Form (SELS-YF), which aims to measure the SEL skills of university students.Design/Methodology/Approach: Participants of the study included university students who were between 18-24 years old, recruited from various public and private universities in Turkey. The scale was applied to 530 undergraduate students (352 female and 178 male). The validity of the SELS-YF was evaluated through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The construct and criterion validities of the scale were also tested. Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s Omega coefficients were calculated for the internal consistency reliability of the scale.Findings: The results indicated that the SELS-YF consist of 20 items, including five dimensions, namely Self-Awareness, Academic Self-Regulation, Social Awareness, Responsible Decision Making, and Relationsip Skills. The scale had positive correlation with well-being, indicating criterion validity. The internal consistency of the scale was adequate for the total scale (Cronbach’s alpha =.86) and ranged from .63 to .77 for each dimension. In addition, McDonald’s Omega (ω=.86) coefficient for the total of the scale was calculated.Highlights: The SELS-YF is a valid and reliable instrument to measure SEL skills of undergraduate students within Turkish culture.