NERA 2005

After-School Activities of Second-Shift Students in Turkey and Bulgaria

Asil Ali Özdoğru, Temi Bidjerano, and Çağrı Özköse-Bıyık

After-school activities compose a major developmental context for children to develop skills, build relationships, and learn about their selves and the society. This study looks at the after-school activities of non-traditional students in a cross-cultural framework. One hundred and eighty-six second-shift fourth graders in Turkey and Bulgaria completed a questionnaire about their regular daily schedule for given three days of a week. Results indicated similarities and differences between first- and second-shift students in the amount and type of activities they engaged in. Differences and similarities between the countries also implied the importance of cultural values and norms on the time-use of young people in different cultures.

Keywords: After-school activities, cross-cultural comparison, second-shift students

Citation: Özdoğru, A. A., Bidjerano, T., & Özköse-Bıyık, Ç. (2005, October). After-school activities of second-shift students in Turkey and Bulgaria. Paper presented at the 36th annual conference of the Northeastern Educational Research Association, Kerhonkson, NY, USA.

Gardner 2005

The Impacts of Humor in Instructional Materials: Conclusions Dependent on “Rho-Bustness” of Methods

Asil Ali Özdoğru and Robert F. McMorris

In this study, the effects of humorous cartoons on graduate students’ perceptions and learning of psychological concepts were investigated by taking sense of humor as a moderator variable. Fifty-five graduate students were given 3 concepts with cartoons and 3 without cartoons to study. Then students were handed survey items including demographic questions, Likert-scale items asking their perceptions about the materials, the Multidimensional Sense of Humor Scale, and 24 multiple-choice test items, 4 per concept, on the given concepts. The self-report data were very supportive of using cartoons in instructional material. Students reported favorable attitudes for inserting cartoons into reading passages; however there was no apparent effect of humorous cartoons on students’ learning of concepts. The methodological considerations and robustness of the design has been discussed in terms of their effects on the findings of the study.

Keywords: Humor, sense of humor, cartoons, robustness

Citation: Özdoğru, A. A., & McMorris, R. F. (2005, October). The impacts of humor in instructional materials: Conclusions dependent on “rho-bustness” of methods. Paper presented at the 43rd annual Eric F. Gardner Conference, Auburn, NY.