Prospective Preschool Teachers ’ Academic Achievements Depending on Their Goal Orientations , Critical Thinking Dispositions and Self-Regulation Skills

The aim of this study is to explain and predict prospective preschool teachers’ academic achievements depending on goal orientations they adopt, their critical thinking dispositions and self -regulation skills. Research sample constitutes of 265 prospective preschool teachers attending the Faculty of Educational Sciences in Cukurova University. Research data were collected with th e 2x2Achievement Goal Orientations Scale, Self-Regulation Questionnaire and Critical Thinking Disposition Scale. Demographical information about prospective teachers’ gender, age, grade level and academic grade point averages were obtained with the person al information form. For the analysis of research data, One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and discriminant analysis were used. In this study; it was concluded that prospective teachers with high level of learning approach orientation, critical thinking disposition and self-regulation skills had higher levels of academic achievement. However, it was determined that distinguishing va riables among prospective preschool teachers with low, medium and high level of academic achievement included learning approach, performance approach goal orientation and critical thinking disposition and self -regulation skills. Correct classification percentage of distinguishing variables according to prospective preschool teachers’ levels of academic achievement was determined as 48.8%. Considering the fact that prospective teachers’ achievement-goal orientations, critical thinking dispositions and self-regulation skills may increase their academic achievement and shape their future teaching performances, it is suggested to implement programs t hat will contribute to the development of such skills and orientations among prospective preschool teachers.


Introduction
Achievement goal orientation is associated with objectives underlying success behavior (Ames, 1992b).This concept includes integrated effect of belief, quality and emotions on the intention of behavior (Weiner, 1985) and different ways, activities and reactions for success (Ames, 1992a).Achievement goal theory is based on analysis of students' motivation process towards success (Midgley et al., 1998).Motivational processes are known to be prerequisite of successful education.However, one of the probl ems that educators face during this process is reported to be lack of learners' motivation (Akin, 2006).In this context, achiev ement goal ori entation is considered to be a useful framework for understanding learning and performance (Zweig & Webster, 2004).
Studies conducted in the field of goal orientation mainly focus ed on learni ng and perfo rmance (Dweck & Leggett, 1988;Nicholls, Patashnick, & Nolen, 1985).Learning orientation is associated with learner's focusing on increasing his/her knowledge by acquiri ng a concept and materi al literally and gai ning competence on that issue.Performance orientation, on the other hand, covers situations in which there is concerns of meeting the social norms and as a result trying to be more successful than others by avoiding to be seen clumsy or unskilful (Elliot & McGregor, 2001;Pajares & Cheong, 2003;Zwei g & Webster, 2004).Studies have shown that while there is a positive relationship between learning orientation and motivation, performance achievement orientation establishes negative relationship with motivation (Lemyre, Roberts, & Ommundsen, 2002;Urdan & Maehr, 1995).Howev er, some other studies i ndicate that performance orientation can also be divided into two sub-factors such as performance-approach and performanceavoidance (Elliot & Harackiewicz, 1996).Both variables basically focus on fulfilling normative standards.While performance-approach is associated with a state of demanding positive evaluations, performance-avoidance is associated with efforts to avoid negative evaluations (Tan & Hall, 2005;Zweig & Webster, 2004).
Using two-factor structure related to performance ori entation also seems to apply for learning orientation.The framework of 2x2 goal ori entation suggests that learning -avoidance ori entation can also be adopted together with learning approach.Therefore, situations such as understandi ng subjects wrong, making mistakes, forgetting what they have learned and fear of losing physical or intellectual capacity can be evaluated within the framework of learningavoidance.At this point, learning approach ori entation arises from focusin g on bes t premises and positive outcomes, and learning avoidance arises from focusing of inappropriate and negative outcomes (Elliot & McGregor, 2001).Individuals' motivational orientations rel ated to how they think about thems elves, thei r duties and performances are important indicators for quality of learning process (Midgley, Tiger, & Middleton, 2001).It is considered that quality of learning process can be ensured by improving thinki ng skills.Thinking is a natural process, but adrift thinking may be generally distorted, partly unconscious and potentially biased.Considering the fact that quality of course of life vari es directly proportional to quality of thi nking, i t is concluded that thi nking activities should be improved in a systematical way (Scriven & Paul, 2004).A way of improving thinki ng processes is indicated as acquisition of critical thinking skills (Black, 2005).Dawsonl (2008) defines critical thi nking as defining questions and problems, gatheri ng and assessing information, testi ng res ults according to cri teria, alternative thinking, monitori ng i ndicators and expressing obtained outputs.Critical thinking with its most nominative form refers to the skill of evaluating information through analysis (Duron, Limbach, & Waugh, 2006).
Critical thinking skill which is in the center of cognitive skills such as analysis, interpretation, inference, description and following and regulating a person's own logic (APA, 1990) is among the basic qualifications expected to be gained during the process of education (Bohlin, 2009).In this way, it will be possible to improve learners' skills in establishing a bond between new information and old information, and structuri ng of new information will be s upported, thus meaningful learning will be achiev ed (Phan, 2009b).Critical thinking supports individuals to improve their expertise in thei r professional fields, and evaluate and analyze their self-learning processes (Phan, 2010).For instance, cri tical thinking helps prospective teachers improv e thei r pedagogical teaching skills.It is important for an i ndividual to know his/her limitations during his/her l earning process and what is needed for managing his/her shortcomings better (Zimmerman, 2002).Current education process emphasizes the importance of educati ng individuals to think, search, question, produce and take on responsibility of their own learnings (Is pir, Ay, & Saygi, 2011).The s elf-regulation skill in reaching this objective appears to be paramount.Self-regulation is a deep and intrinsic mechanism bas ed on careful, deliberate and attentive behaviors (Bodrova & Leong, 2005).Academic self-regulation skill covers a self-regulated process in which learners transform thei r mental skills into academic skills rather than a mental ability such as intelligence or a qualification such as reading (Zimmerman, 1998).
Self-regulated learning is defined as level of meta-cognitive, behavioral and motivational active role individuals taking in learni ng processes (Zimmerman, 1986).Although all learners use regulatory processes up to a degree, thos e with self-regulation skills can be distinguished with their awareness in terms of strategic relationships between regulatory process and learning outcomes and their use of these strategies towards reaching academic objectives (Zimmerman, 1990).Individuals with high self-regulation skills take an active role in thei r own learning process.These individuals are aware of thei r strengths and weaknesses, and thus, they are guided by strategies appropriate to their goals.They monitor their behaviors from the point of their objectives and conduct self-evaluation by thinking about their behaviors.This situation increases thei r motivations by ensuring that they satisfy themselves towards improving their self-learning methods (Zimmerman, 2002).Generally speaki ng, self-regulated learning includes an active and structural process guided and restricted in accordance wi th objective and surrounding contextual features and in which learners establish their objectives related to their le arning, and then they observ e, regulate and control their cognition, motivation and behaviors (Pintrich, 2000).
Another vari able that is considered important in understanding students' academic achi evements is self -regulation skill (Schunk, 1984).Studi es conducted have shown that students' use of self-regulated learning strategies plays an important role in their academic achi evements (Nota, Soresi, & Zimmerman, 2004;Zimmerman, 1990).According to Zimmerman, Bandura & M artinez -Pons (1992), students' beliefs in their ability to regulate their self-learnings i ncrease thei r self-efficacy perceived for academic achi evement.Increasing academic self-efficacy positively affects students' academic objectives that they define for themselves and thei r academic achievements.Another predictor of academic achievement is cri tical thinking skill (Garett & Wulf, 1978).It is known that there is a positive relationship between academic achiev ement (Ip, Lee, Lee, Chau, Wootton, & Chang, 2000;Phan, 2009a) and critical thinking skill that supports students' motivations in teachi ng and learning processes (Phan, 2010).Process of assessment and development of self-learning skills through critical thinki ng skills brings along academic achievement to students (Phan, 2006).According to this; students with high critical thinking disposition are said to be more successful than those with low critical thinking disposition (Akbiyik & Seferoglu, 2002).
Academic achiev ement shows learners' performance that they exhibi t based on what they understand on a s ubject (Marshall & Dorward, 2000).While learning-oriented students regard themselves as successful as they obtain new information wi th a perspective focused on development and progress, performance -ori ented s tudents approach success as doing a task better than others (Ames, 1992b).Learners' academic achi evements can be associated with thei r learning and performance ori entations, but direction of this relationship may differ.Indeed, there are s tudi es concluding that success may be associated negatively with performance ori entation (Beck, Rorrer -Woody, & Pierce, 1991), positively with learning orientation (Schraw, Horn, Thorndike -Christ, & Bruni ng, 1995) and positively with performance orientation (Harackiewicz, Barron, & Elliot, 1998).
Achievement goal theory considers learners' achi evement goal orientations towards carrying out a particular academic task as important pioneers for processes and outputs related to success.This theory brings along path, knowledge, effect and behavior patterns that an individual follows during reaching an objective (Ames, 1992b;Dweck & Leggett, 1988).This pioneer ensures that students' achievement goal orientations are one of the most important vari ables in motivation studies conducted in educational context (Poondej, Koul, & Sujivorakul, 2013).However, it is known that, compared to the performance orientation, learning orientation is associated with more positive outputs in educational sense.In a sense, s tudents who adopt learning orientation tend to be motivated by more acceptable ways compared to students who adopt performance orientation (Midgley et al., 1998).Studies conducted suggest that there is close relationship with adopting learning orientation from achievement objective orientations and use of learning strategi es (Gehlbach 2006;Greene, Miller, Crowson, D uke & Akey, 2004;Phan, 2009a).Consideri ng from the point of educational process; it can be said that learning orientation is associated with all thes e factors stemming from the fact th at use of deep learning strategies shows positive correlation wi th critical thinking and academic achievement (Liem, Lau, & Nie, 2008).
1. Do prospective teachers' average scores in achievement goal orientations, critical thinking dispositions and selfregulation skills vary significantly as per their academic achievements?
2. On what correctness level do scores obtai ned from 2x2 Achievement Goal Orientations, Cri tical Thinking Disposition Scales and Self-Regulation Ques tionnaire by prospective preschool teachers from three different levels of academic achievement classify these individuals as per their academic achievement?

Sample
The Within the scope of the research, general academic grade averages of prospective preschool teachers included in the sample varied between 1. 91 and 3.81.Cutoff score was used in classification of prospective teachers as per their levels of achiev ement in accordance with the rel ated fi eld lite rature (Demir, Dereboy, & Dereboy, 2009;Tatli, Ergin, & Demi r, 2016).In this context, prospective teachers' general grade point averages were primarily converted into 100 -point grading system using conv ersion tabl e of Higher Education Council (HEC), and grade equivalents were obtai ned.
Considering that prospective teachers' achievement scores showed normal distribution, higher and lower of half standard deviation (S=5.07098)from av erage (X=76.0293)were accepted as sub-cutoff points.Accordingly, those with achievement score of 70.9 and below were described as having low level of academic achi evement (n=74), thos e with achievement score between 70.10 and 81.09 were described as having medium level of academic achiev ement (n=98), and thos e with achievement score 81.10 and higher were described as having high lev el of academic achiev ement (n=93).

Measures
Prospective teachers included i n research s ample were assessed in terms of their goal orientations, self -regul ation skills and cri tical thi nking dispositions.Res earch data were collected using 2x2 Achiev ement Goal Orientations Scal e, Self-Regulation Scale and Cri tical Thinking Disposition Scale.Demographical information about pros pective teachers' gender, grade level and academic grade point averages were obtained wi th the personal information form.Further information regarding measurement tools are presented below.
2x2 Achievement Goal Orientations Scale (AGOS): This scale was dev eloped by Akin (2006) to determine students' achievement orientations withi n the framework of modern achiev ement orientations.The scale consists of 26 items in 5-point Likert-type collected under four sub-dimensions.Internal consistency coefficients were determined as .91 for learning-approach goal orientation (LPGO) sub-dimension, as .97for learning-avoidance goal orientation (LVGO) subdimension, as .97for performance-approach goal orientation (PPGO) sub-dimension and as .95for performanceavoidance goal orientation (PVGO) sub -dimension.Tes t-retest reliability coefficients of the scale were calculated as .77,.82,.84 and .86respectively for four s ub-dimensions.Two -half reliability coefficients of the scale were determined to vary between .96 and .98,and it was identified that the scale could be used as a valid and reliable measurement tool in studies.
Self-regulation Questionnaire: The questionnai re was developed by Brown, Miller & Lawendowski (1999) with a view to measure behavioral self-regulation that covers performance regulation processes such as intros pection and individual's learning methods.Origi nal form of the scale consists of 63 items in 5 -poi nt Likert-ty pe collected under s even s ubdimensions.The ques tionnaire was adapted into Turkish culture by Aydin, Keskin, and Yel (2015).In this context, a questionnaire consisting of 51 items and three dimensions were achi eved as a result of analyses conducted.Internal consistency coefficients of the questionnai re were determined as .88 for self-reinforcement sub-dimension, as .87 for self-monitoring sub-dimension, and .60 for self-ev aluation sub-dimension.Internal consistency coefficient for the scale in general was determined as .87.Among scores obtained from the questionnaire, scores equal to 198 and higher show high lev el of self-regulation capacity; scores in 197-160 score range show medium level of s elf-regulation capacity ; and scores equal to 159 and lower show low level of self-regulation capacity.
Critical Thinking Disposition Scale: The scale was dev eloped by Semerci (2000) under the name of "The Scale of Cri tical Thinking" with a view to measure critical thinking skills.With reference to one -dimensional structure of the scale and inadequacy of analyses in developing a scale, the scale was revised again by Semerci (2016) under the name "Cri tical Thinking Disposition Scale".Revised scale consists of a total of 49 items in 5-point Likert-type and four sub-dimensions.
Internal consistency coefficients of the scale were calculated as .89for metacognition sub -dimension, as .89for flexibility sub-dimension, as .90for systematicity sub-dimension, .83for perseverance-patience sub-dimension and as .67 for open-mindedness sub-dimension.Internal consistency coefficient for the scale i n general was determined that as .96.Fi t index values revealed as a resul t of confirmatory factor analysis applied (χ2/Sd=2.590,RMSEA=0.0378,SRMR=0.0305,GFI=0.903,AGFI=0.889,CFI=0.932,NFI=0.90)show that the scale has a valid structure (Semerci, 2016).

Data Analysis
For the analysis of research data, SPSS 18.0 packaged softwar e was used.One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test differenti ation of prospective preschool teachers' scores rel ated to achievement orientations they adopt, thei r critical thinking dispositions and self-regulation skills based on their current academic achievements.Tukey Test among Post-Hoc tests were used to analyze from which groups differences among groups emerged.
Discriminant analysis was used to determi ne at which correctness level prospective teachers' achiev ement orientations, self-regulation skills and critical thinking dispositions predicted prospective teachers' three different academic achiev ements within the scope of the research.In this context, firstly, assumptions of the discriminant analysis were tested.In this respect, data were analyzed according to z score in terms of their state of containing end value.According to calculated z scores, three end values outside the range of -3z + 3z scores were excluded from the analysis.Then, data normality was analyzed in accordance wi th skewness and kurtosis coefficients.Skewness and kurtosis coefficients were determined to vary between -1 and +1.According to these v alues obtained, normality of distribution was accepted.Another assumption that should be fulfilled to carry out disc riminant analysis is the existence of multiple linear connections between independent variabl es.In this respect, Pearson correl ation coefficients between variables were analyzed, and it was determined that correlation among variables varied between .00 and .74.A correlation over .80among vari ables indicates some possible multiple linear problems, and a correl ation of .90 and higher indicates a s erious multiple linear connection (Buyukozturk, 2002).Homogeneity of variancecovariance matrices were tested with Box M test, and it was determined whether homogenei ty assumption was not fulfilled (F=1.58,sd1=42, sd2=149597.013,p<05).Accordi ng to Ozdamar ( 2004), quadratic discriminant analysis should be us ed in such cases (Cited by Cokluk, Sekercioglu, & Buy ukozturk, 2012).In this res pect, quadratic discriminant analysis was preferred in analyses.

Findings
ANOVA results related to whether the prospective teachers' score averages in goal orientations (learning approach, learning avoidance, performance approach and performance avoidance), critical thinking dispositions and selfregulation skills varied according to their academic achievements are shown in Table 1.1; the prospective teachers' learning approach achievement orientation [F(2-258)=7.64;p<.01] and performance approach achi evement ori entation [F(2 -258)=3.91;p<.05] varied significantly as per thei r academic achievements; but their learning avoidance achiev ement orientation [F(2-258)=30; p>.05] and performance avoidance achievement orientation [F(2-258)=.25;p>.05) did not vary significantly.Accordingly, the pros pective preschool teachers demonstrating hi gh (X=33.61,S=4.1 3) level of academic achiev ement adopted more learning approach achievement orientation compared to the pros pective teachers demonstrating medium (X=31.50,S=4.18) and low (X=31.31,S=4.76) level academic achiev ement.Analyzing the prospective teachers' pe rformance approach achievement orientation they gave according to thei r academic achi evements ; it is determined that prospective teachers with medium level of academic achievement (X=18.31,S=4.97) showed more performance approach achievement orientation at a significant level than the pros pective teachers with low level of academic achiev ement (X=16.42,S=5.23).
The prospective preschool teachers' critical thinking disposition varied significantly compared to their academic achievements [F(2-258)=8. 85; p<.01].Accordi ng to the results of Tukey test which was conducted to determine in which groups there was difference, it was determi ned that the prospective preschool teachers with hi gher (X=201.03,S=23.81) level of academic achievement tended to show significantly more critical thinki ng disposition compared to prospective teachers with medium (X=185.93,S=23.11) level of academic achievement.
Analyzing prospective the preschool teachers' self-regulation skills as per their academic achiev ements within the scope of the research, a si gnificant difference can be seen between the prospective teachers' academic achievements and self-regulation skills [F(2-258)=12.41;p<.01].Accordingly, it was determined that the prospective preschool teachers with high (X=189.03,S=21.61) l evel of academic achievement had more self-regulation skills compared to the prospective teachers with medium (X=174.35,S=20.78) and low (X=178.05,S=20.37) level academic achievement.
Within the scope of the research, discriminant analysis was used i n determi nation of distinguishing vari ables for the prospective preschool teachers with low, medium and hi gh levels of academic achievement and in predicti ng the prospective teachers' levels of achievement.At the beginning, goal orientations, cri tical thi nking disposition and selfregulation skills were taken into discriminant analysis model.Since the study included the pros pective preschool teachers with three different lev els of academic achievement, two functions were obtained as a res ult of discriminant analysis.The statistical results related to analysis functions are shown in Table 2. .037.540 According to standardized discriminant function coefficients given in Table 3, self -regulation skill (.718) is the variable with maximum contribution to separation into groups.Relative order of importance in terms of contributions of other variables to the function is listed as performance approachi ng achi evement ori entation (. -.541), critical thi nking disposition (.345) and learning approach (.037).According to matrix coefficients related to the function, correl ation between discriminant function and self-regulation skill was determined as .850,correlation between discriminant function and cri tical thinki ng disposition as .705,correlation between discriminant function and learning approach achievement orientation as .540,and correlation between discriminant function and performance approach as -.385.Factors with positive coefficients are indicated to be observed more in prospective preschool teachers with high lev el of academic achi evement, and factors with negative coefficients are indicated to be observed more in prospective preschool teachers with low level of academic achievement.Resul ts of disc riminant analysis for correctness of classification of prospective teachers according to their academic achievements are presented in Table 4.

Discussion
Within the scope of the research, prospective teachers' academic achi evements were examined depending on variabl es such as achievement ori entations adopted by prospective preschool teachers, thei r critical thinking dispositions and self-regulation skills.In this context, the relationships were analyzed between the prospective teachers' levels of academic achievement and learni ng approach, learning avoidance, performance approach and performance avoidance dispositions constituti ng achiev ement orientation, their critical thinking dispositions and self-regulation skills.In the last stage, distinguishing variabl es between the prospective teachers' lev els of academic achievement such as low, medium and hi gh levels were determined and their level of academic achievement in accordance wi th these variabl es were classified.
Within the scope of this study, a significant relations hip was found between the prospective preschool teachers' levels of academic achi evement and their learning approach and performance approach achievement ori entations.Accordingly, the prospective teachers wi th high level of academic achievement adopted more learning approach achievement orientation compared to the prospective teachers with medium and low level of academi c achievement.Individuals adopting learning approach achi evement ori entation take on a critical approach in face of situations hindering their achi evements (Akin & Arslan, 2014), do not give up when confronted with difficult tasks (Meece, Anderman, & Anderman, 2006;Pintrich, 2000) and make an effort towards eliminati ng reasons for failure (Ak in & Arslan, 2014).Individuals with learni ng orientation use their self -regulation s trategies more especi ally when faced with challenges or failures, have higher levels of intrinsic motivation and demonstrate better performance (Grant & Dweck, 2003).These individuals acting with the goal of learning a subject or material with intrinsic motivation rather than an effort towards meeting social norms are said to reach high academic achievement (Akin, 2006).Reviewing the literature rev eals that other studies have found similar results (Akin, 2006;Buyuktanir, 2014;Meece, Anderman & Anderman, 2006;Grant & Dweck, 2003;Miller, Greene, Montalvo, Ravindran & Nichols, 1996;Wolters, 2004).
Considering the fact that self-regulation, tenacity and maki ng effort are the most important providers of academic achievement (Miller, Greene, Montalvo, Ravindran & Nichols, 1996), the result that prospective teachers with learning approach achievement orientation have higher academic achievements emerges as an expected outcome.
In this study, the prospective teachers with medium level of academic achiev ement adopted more performance approach achievement ori entation compared to prospective teachers with low and high level of academic achievement.
Students may want to achieve to satisfy their teachers or parents, impress their classmates or feel thems elves important, thus they can be inclined towards performance approach tendency (Pajares & Cheong, 2003).Thus, students adopting the objective of demonstrating thei r skills or showing better performance than the others may do not make an effort towards in-depth learning, and thei r knowledge may remain superficial (Anderman & Young, 1994).Simil arly, Meece, Blumenfeld, and Hoyle (1988) have found out that s tudents with performance ori entation focusing of providing social recognition, getting liked by teacher or refraining from study have lower levels of cognitive involvement compared to students with learning orientation.This situation is thought to result i n decrease in academic performance among students wi th performance orientation.Howev er, analyzing the field literature, it can be s een that different study resul ts have been reached.In a study conducted by Harackiewicz, Barron, and Elliot (1998) towards the state of feedi ng intri nsic motivation by performance approach, it was concluded that academic achievements among students showing performance goal ori entation were higher.Although perform ance goal approaches are often associated with extrinsic motivation, the fi eld literature includes some studies suggesting that this may not always improve in the s ame way (Heyman & Dweck, 1992).It is indicated that, especially when the threat of assessment on being found successful, performance orientation may carry positive potential (Dweck, 1985).Performance ori entations promote an adaptable success by prompting individuals towards achiev ement based on normative comparison (Harackiewicz, Barron, & Elliot, 1998).
Findings of this study show that there is a significant relationshi p between critical thinking disposition and academic achievement.Analyzing the field literature, it can be seen that parallel results have been found, a positive correlation is determined between academic achiev ement and critical thinking skills (Gadzella, Baloglu, & Stephens, 2002;Garett & Wulf, 1978;Steward & Al-Abdulla, 1989;Tilson, 1986;Villavicencio, 2011).During the process of understandi ng course contents provided in schools, it is indicated that students should use their thinking process; otherwise, they will have to memorize information (Paul & Elder, 2002).From this perspective, findings of this study make sense.Students with high lev el of cri tical thi nking disposition will have higher level of academic achievement if they try to understand contents rather than memorizing cours e contents.Therefore, it is important and necessary to improve l earners' cri tical thinking skills and encourage transfer of these skills into learning process (Karbalaei, 2012).
In this study it was determined that there was a significant relationship between the academic achievement and selfregulation skills of prospective preschool teachers.Accordingly, the pros pective preschool teachers wi th hi gh level of academic achiev ement had more self-regulation skills compared to the pros pective teachers with medium and low lev el academic achievement.According to Pintrich (2000), self-regulatory activities directly affect outcomes such as achievement and performance.Self-regulated l earning includes learners' controlling their thoughts, emotions and movements on the way to academic achievement.In this way, learners can increas e their performances using systematic and regular methods (Zimmerman & Schunk, 2001).Similar results have been found by other researchers (Akin, 2006;Buyuktanir, 2014;Meece, Anderman & Anderman, 2006;Grant & Dweck, 2003;Miller, Greene, Montalvo, Ravindran & Nichols, 1996;Wolters, 2004).Pintrich and De Groot (1990) foun d that self-regul ated learning was one of the most important predictors of academic achiev ement.In this respect, it seems that increase in s elf -regulation skills is provider of high level of academic achievement (Paterson, 1996).
Becaus e findings obtained within the scope the study did not show statistical significance, learni ng orientation and performance avoidance achiev ement dimensions did not enter the discriminant function.Analyzing the data related to the s ample, it can be seen that 85.7% of the research study group constituted of female pros pective teachers.This finding can be associated with the fact that study sample consisted mainly of female prospective teachers.Indeed, reviewing the relevant fi eld literature, it can be s een that women hav e higher level of approach orientation perceptions compared to men (Aydin, Gurb uzoglu Yalman, & Yel, 2014;Gozler, Bozgeyikli, & Avci, 2017;Kucukoglu, Kaya, & Turan, 2010).

Conclusions and Recommendations
When results of this study were addressed as a whol e, it was concluded that pros pective teachers showing high level of academic achi evement also had higher levels of learni ng approach orientation, critical thinking dispositions and selfregulation skills.In accordance with thes e res ults, the following recommendations are presented.Considering the fact that high-order thinking and ability to control learning processes in pros pective teachers are factors that may s erve for this purpose, improving these factors will play a significant role even in increasing academic achiev ement systematically.It can be seen that the rate of female prospective preschool teachers constituting the research sampl e is quite high compared to the males.This situation is thought to affect results related to findi ngs obtained.To obtain comparative res ults, it is suggested to keep number of female and male pros pective preschool teacher participants relatively equal in future studies in which gender will also be discussed as an independent variable.
Just like learners getting affected from educators' orientations (Kaplan & Maehr, 1999), preschool children can also be affected from their teachers' skills and orientations.In this context, considering the fact that prospective teachers' achievement-goal ori entations, critical thinking dispositions and self-regulation skills may increase their academic achievement and shape thei r future teaching performances, it is sugges ted to implement programs that will contribute to the development of such skills and orientations among prospective presc hool teachers.It should be considered that prospective teachers may need appropriate role models to reveal their learni ng approach orientation, critical thi nking and self-regulation skill acquisitions, and at this point, academicians hav e significant func tions.Accordi ngly, it is important to provide course contents in a way to improve these skills in question.
research was carried out with 265 prospective preschool teachers who attended Facul ty of Educational Sciences in Cukurova University.Research population consti tutes of 500 prospective teachers attending preschool teaching program in Cukurov a University in 2016 -2018 academic year.The following paths were followed in determi ning estimated sample size required according to number of teachers in the population(B uyukozturk, Kilic-Cakmak, Akgun, Accordingly, the sample size was calculated as 217 for 95% reliability.At this point, an ideally qualified res earch group was established with 256 prospective teachers in the study.Among participants included in the s ample, 227 of them (85.7%) were female, 38 of them (14.3%) were male, 57 of them (21.5%) were in fi rst grade, 71 of them (26.8%) were in the second grade, 69 of them (26.0%) were in the third grade, and 68 of them (25.7%) were in fourth grade.

Table 1 .
ANOVA Results Regarding the Prospective Preschool Teachers' Scores in Achievement Orientation, CriticalThinking disposition and Self-Regulation Skills as per their Academic Achievement Levels

Table 2 .
Canonical Discriminant Function Statistics.According to Table2, assessments were applied over the firs t function by considering that fact that the firs t function produced as a result of discriminant analysis had the hi ghest power of explaining the difference among groups.Eigen value of the function obtained in this context was determi ned as .14,functionexplained 78.9% of the total vari ance.Canonical correl ation coefficient was determined as .35.Wilks' Lambda results (Λ=.85, X2 =38.65, p<.01) show that the model which included predictor variables distinguished significantly three groups includi ng low, medium and high academic achievement.Considering the level of significance for predictor variables, it was determined that there was significant difference among low, medium and high lev el of academic achiev ement groups in scores obtained from achi evement orientation [F(2, 239)=6.17,p<.01],performanceapproach achi evement ori entation [F(2, 239)=4.32,p<.05],criticalthinking disposition [F(2, 239)=8.28,p<.01]andself-regulation skills [F(2, 239)=12.31,p<.01].Since learning avoidance and performance avoidance achievement orientations were not found statistically significant, they were not included in discriminant function (p>.05).Accordingly, standardized discriminant function coefficients a nd s tructure matrix coefficients are given in Table3.

Table 3 .
Standardized Discriminant Function and Structure Matrix Coefficients.

Table 4 .
Classification Matrix for Prospective Preschool Teachers with Low, Medium and High Level of Academic Achievement.As presented in Table4, 24 out of 67 prospective preschool teachers with low level of academic achiev ement (35.8%), 51 out of 90 prospective preschool teachers with medium level of academic achievement (56.7%) and 43 out of 85 prospective preschool teachers with high l evel of academic achiev ement were correctly classified.Correct classification percentage of prospective preschool teachers with low, medium and high lev els of academic achiev ement by the discriminant analysis model as a whole was determined as 48.8%.