This study brings a novel perspective to the relationship between higher education and work life by examining work-domain goal orientation as a critical factor in preparing students for professional environments. Through an extensive literature review, it highlights the role of work-domain goal orientation in aligning higher education curricula with the demands of the modern workplace, emphasizing how students’ goal orientation influences their future professional success. Additionally, this study adapts and validates a work-domain goal orientation instrument into Turkish, offering a reliable tool for use in Turkish contexts. A sample of 729 undergraduate students from various academic disciplines participated in the study. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed a three-factor structure (learning, proving, avoiding), accounting for 68.4% of the variance. The internal consistency was reliable, with Cronbach’s alpha values ranging from 0.84 to 0.86 across subscales. The study provides a dual contribution by offering theoretical insights into work-domain goal orientation and delivering a psychometrically validated tool for assessing students’ readiness for professional life in a non-Western context. These findings address gaps in the literature on goal orientation and its application in diverse cultural settings, advancing both academic understanding and practical applications for educational institutions and employers. This study contributes to bridging the gap between higher education and work life, offering both theoretical perspectives and a practical tool to improve workforce preparedness.

Eğitim programlarının etkililiğinin artırılması, yalnızca kuramsal düzlemde geliştirilen içerik ve hedeflerin yeterliliği ile sınırlı kalmamakta; aynı zamanda bu programların uygulama sürecinde sistematik biçimde izlenmesi ve değerlendirilmesini de gerekli kılmaktadır. Program uygulamalarının sahaya geçirilmeden önce pilot düzeyde test edilmesi, program bileşenlerinin bağlamsal uygunluk, uygulanabilirlik ve işlevsellik açısından değerlendirilmesine olanak tanımaktadır. Bu süreçte görev alacak öğretmen ve yöneticilerin pedagojik donanımı, mesleki deneyimi, yeniliğe açıklığı ve değerlendirme süreçlerine aktif katılımı, elde edilecek verilerin geçerliliği ve programın genel başarısı açısından belirleyici unsurlardır. Değerlendirme faaliyetleri, yalnızca çıktı temelli sonuçların ölçümünü değil, sürece dair izleme, yansıtıcı analiz ve sürekli iyileştirme döngüsünü de içeren bütüncül bir yapı arz etmektedir. Tamamlayıcı, biçimlendirici ve düzey belirleyici değerlendirme türleri aracılığıyla elde edilen nitel ve nicel veriler, programın amaçlara ulaşma düzeyi, öğrenme ortamlarının etkinliği ve öğretim materyallerinin yeterliliği hakkında bilimsel temelli çıkarımlar yapılmasına imkân sağlar. Bu bağlamda değerlendirme, yalnızca geçmiş uygulamaların analizine değil; aynı zamanda gelecekteki müdahalelerin planlanmasına, kaynakların etkin kullanımına ve paydaş katılımının artırılmasına hizmet eden stratejik bir karar destek mekanizması işlevi görmektedir. Enhancing the effectiveness of educational programs requires more than the adequacy of theoretically designed content and objectives; it also necessitates the systematic monitoring and evaluation of these programs throughout the implementation process. Conducting pilot implementations prior to full-scale application enables the assessment of program components in terms of contextual relevance, feasibility, and functionality. The pedagogical competence, professional experience, openness to innovation, and active engagement of teachers and administrators involved in this process are critical factors that influence the validity of the data collected and the overall success of the program. Evaluation practices constitute a comprehensive framework that encompasses not only outcome-based assessments but also process-oriented monitoring, reflective analysis, and continuous improvement. Through diagnostic, formative, and summative evaluation methods, both qualitative and quantitative data are gathered to support evidence-based inferences regarding the extent to which program goals are achieved, the effectiveness of learning environments, and the adequacy of instructional materials. Accordingly, evaluation functions not only as a means of analyzing past implementations but also as a strategic decision-support mechanism that informs future interventions, ensures the efficient use of resources, and promotes stakeholder engagement.

Programla İlgili Temel Kavramlar ve Program Türleri Erdoğan TEZCİ Ayşe Ahsen TALU Program Tasarımları Nihat UYANGÖR Eğitim Programında Teori Sorunsalı Sümer AKTAN Programın Temelleri: Felsefi Temel M. Emir Rüzgar Akademik Bir Alan Olarak Eğitim Programının Tarihi Temelleri Sümer AKTAN Programın Temelleri: Sosyal, Kültürel ve Ekonomik Perspektifler Ayşe Gülsüm AKÇATEPE Eğitim Programlarının Psikolojik Temelleri Volkan DURAN Bayram ÖZER Program Geliştirme Seda KERİMGİL ÇELİK İhtiyaç Analizi Yalçın DİLEKLİ Hedeflerin Belirlenmesi İlkay DOĞAN TAŞ İçeriğin Düzenlenmesi Ersin TÜRE Eğitim Durumları: Öğrenme ve Öğretme Süreçleri Ece KOÇER Sınama Durumları Fatmir MEHMETI Erdoğan TEZCI Sürdürülebilir Program Geliştirme Fatih AYGÖREN İnovasyon ve Geleceğin Eğitim Programları Eyup YÜNKÜL Program Geliştirmede Model Sorunu M. Emir Rüzgar Program Uygulama ve Değerlendirme Mehmet GÜROL Dilek İLHAN FINDIKOĞLU Programın Planlaması ve Öğretim Aysun GÜROL Fuat FINDIKOĞLU Program ve Öğretim Tasarımı Nesrin ÖZTÜRK Öğretmen ve Program Geliştirme Caner BÖREKCİ

The Türkiye Century Maarif Model, introduced by the Ministry of National Education in 2024, represents a major curriculum reform. Although previous research has examined teachers, administrators, and teacher candidates mainly through surveys and interviews, spontaneous digital reactions remain underexplored. This study investigates discourse surrounding the Maarif Model on X. Posts containing five reform-related hashtags were collected through the X API and analyzed in Python using a KDD-informed text-mining framework. The analysis combined BERT-based sentiment classification, word-frequency analysis, and Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic modelling. Data preparation included duplicate removal, relevance screening, and bot/noise filtering, while automated sentiment labels were interpreted cautiously because no independently coded gold-standard validation set was available. Positive posts constituted the largest sentiment category across all hashtag-based subsets, suggesting substantial symbolic support for the reform. However, negatively oriented posts contained more prominent references to projects, targets, administrative expectations, and implementation-related concerns. Topic patterns also linked the reform discourse to curriculum, teacher roles, student-centered approaches, institutional coordination, and local implementation. Broader hashtags were associated with relatively more critical or contested expressions, whereas institutionally aligned hashtags contained stronger positive discourse. These findings suggest that social media can provide an early source of feedback on large-scale educational reforms, although it should not be treated as representative public opinion. The study illustrates how computational analysis of digital discourse can complement traditional policy-evaluation methods.