Comparative analysis of "curriculum and instruction" master and doctorate programs between Turkey and the U.S.

The purpose of the study is to examine the comparative similarities and differences between Turkey and The U.S. "Curriculum and Instruction" master and doctorate graduate education programs and to design curriculum framework for curriculum and instruction master and doctorate degrees. In this study, collective case study and comparative research methodologies within qualitative research model were used and the data obtained from the documents and interviews were analyzed from interpretivist perspective. The study group was universities with master and doctoral programs in the field of Curriculum and Instruction in Turkey and in the United States. The selected universities in Turkey were; Ankara University, Gazi University and Inonu University and In the United States were; Indiana University at Bloomington, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and The Pennsylvania State University at College Park. Research data were collected from documents and through interviews. Documents were obtained from the specified universities' web addresses and faculty members working in the field of curriculum and instruction at these universities and a total of 18 participants, three from each university who were continuing or completed their master and doctorate education were interviewed. For data collection from participant a semi-structured interview form was used. The documents obtained from universities in Turkey and in the U.S. were analyzed based on "document analysis" in order to identify similar and different aspects of the programs. The data collected from interviews were analyzed by using qualitative data analyze software. The study findings indicated that even though the numbers of the students in Turkey and U.S. universities were comparatively same, school budgets, library collections and numbers of faculty members were higher in the U.S. universities. The mission and aim statements of Turkey and U.S. Curriculum and Instruction graduate programs in terms of preparation teachers, experts and academics were determined to be similar. Regarding admissions to graduate programs; oral examination was widely used in Turkey's graduate programs, in the U.S. programs, statement of purpose, reference letters and academic writing samples were identified to be prerequisite for admission. Number of credits and courses required for graduation from graduate programs were found to be higher in U.S. universities. In the U.S. graduate programs, an area of specialization or minor area was required. For the teaching and learning process, student centered teaching approaches were preferred, students learning were assessed and evaluated on process based approaches. At academic advisors appointment process, students' preferences are given higher priority in the U.S. programs, whereas in Turkey, advisors were appointed by the department coordinator or institute. Support services provided by the universities such as research support, library resources and university facilities were found to be better in U.S. compared with Turkey. As a result of the study, after analysing comparatively Turkey and the U.S. graduate programs, a "Curriculum and Instruction" graduate master and doctoral curriculum framework was designed.