It is stated that beliefs of teachers about mathematics is one of the important factors affecting teaching practices. It is thought that being informed about these beliefs of teachers could help teachers to explain their perspectives about teaching practices. In this study, survey method, one of quantitave research methods, was used. 429 teacher candidates educating at the Department of Primary and Primary Mathematics Teacher Education were the participants of the study. Data about the beliefs of the teacher candidates related to the nature, learning and teaching was collected by the Mathematics Related Beliefs Scale. Obtained data was categorized under two categories as constructivist and traditioanal beliefs and analyzed in terms grade level, gender and department.

The purpose of this study was to investigate teacher candidates’ attitudes towards the teaching profession according to their gender, field and programs from which they have graduated, and whether or not practiced teaching profession before. The research group included 180 female (%83.33) and 36 male (%16.66) teacher candidates studying in Pedagogical Formation Certificate Program at Yildiz Technical University. The Attitude Scale Related to Teaching Profession having been developed by Erkuş, Sanlı, Bağlı and Güven (2000) for measuring the attitudes of teachers toward teaching profession was administered as a data collection tool. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test and one-way ANOVA. Results revealed that while teaching experience has an important effect on attitudes towards teaching, but gender, field, and program variables do not have any significant effect on it. Also, it was found that the teacher candidates in pedagogical formation certificate program have a positive attitude towards the teaching profession. 

Although action research enables teachers to take responsibility of their own professional development, teachers ascribe the role of researcher only to experts outside the classroom. Drawing on qualitative analysis of a teacher of English’s reflection journal and interviews as well as quantitative analysis of examinations taken by students, this study examines how action research can affect the teacher in terms of content knowledge, teaching practices, and beliefs and attitudes. The results suggest the popularization of action research among teachers by teacher training and development units showing the positive changes in the teacher’s performance leading to improved student learning.