e-learning
M. Ruhi; F. Mahmoodi; K. Taghpour
Abstract
Background and Objectives: The aim of this study was surevying the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the Corona virus outbreak in higher education from the perspective of students of the faculty of educational sciences and psychology.Methods: The present study was an applied one in ...
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Background and Objectives: The aim of this study was surevying the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the Corona virus outbreak in higher education from the perspective of students of the faculty of educational sciences and psychology.Methods: The present study was an applied one in terms of its purpose and descriptive-survey in terms of the nature of the research. The statistical population of the present study consisted of students of educational sciences and psychology of university of Tabriz; according to the statistics received from the university, therer were 882 students. The Krejcie and Morgan table was used to determine the statistical sample size, based on which 268 participants were included in the sample using the available sampling method. A 79-item researcher-made questionnaire was given to the participants to gather the required data. To this end, after studying the relevant sources and background and interviewing several professors and students, the questionnaire items were extracted and divided into four sections: strengths (S), weaknesses (W), and opportunities (O) and threats (T). The content and face validity of the questionnaire were confirmed drawing on the experts’ opinions, especially the supervisors and advisors. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to determine the reliability of the questionnaire. The reliability of each of the four components of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats was higher than 0.9, which was considered as an excellent level of reliability. To analyze the data, the proposed SWOT methods of Hossein, Adnan and Hossein (2014) were used.Findings: The results showed that considering the strengths, the item of informing higher education institutions of their virtual infrastructure deficiencies was ranked as the first with a percentage of normalized weight of 6.83; flexibility in training places with normalized weight percentage of 6.68 was put in the second place; the item related to facilitating access to the content with a percentage of normalized weight of 6.58 was in the third place. Considering the weaknesses, the impossibility of students’ access to the physical facilities of the university with a percentage of normalized weight of 5.35 was ranked as the first; the item of not being able to gain newer and different experiences that can only be acquired by attending universities was the second one with a normalized weight percentage of 5.29. third rank; moreover, lack of affective bonds among between the students and the instructirs was considered as the third item with a normalized weight percentage of 4.92. As regards the opportunities, the possibility of education for employees with a percentage of normalized weight of 5.71 was put in the first place; global learning opportunities for the new generation with a normalized weight percentage of 5.23 was ranked as the second item; the item related to creating integrated e-learning systems in the form of virtual learning environments with a percentage of normalized weight of 5.21 in was considered as the third item. With regard to the threats, the item of physical injuries (eye injury, backache, etc.) with a normalized weight percentage of 5.42 was ranked as the first one; The item related to the decrease of the relationship between the instructors and the students was the second one with a percentage of normalized weight of 5.26; and the item related to a decrease in the student-student interaction with a percentage of normalized weight of 5.21 was ranked as the third one. Finally, internal (strengths and weaknesses) and external (opportunities and threats) factors were examined and strategies related to strengths-opportunities (SO), strengths-threats (ST), weaknesses-opportunities (WO) and weaknesses-threats (WT) were presented.Conclusion: According to the results, it is necessary to make the best use of the opportunities provided for e-learning and to develop e-learning infrastructure and expand the interactive learning environments to take advantage of the strengths and opportunities, in order to move education towards a growing and desired direction. In this regard, weaknesses and threats can be reduced by grouping students in accordance with the health protocols, utilizing project-based evaluations, as well as attracting financial resources to strengthen the required infrastructure.
Educational Technology
M. Hosseinzadehnabati; F. Mahmoodi; Y. Adib
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Developing a positive attitude toward the subject under study is one of the common educational goals today. Teachers as well as parents believe that the student's attitude toward the subject matter affects the student's success in school. High school students' perceptions regarding ...
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Background and Objectives: Developing a positive attitude toward the subject under study is one of the common educational goals today. Teachers as well as parents believe that the student's attitude toward the subject matter affects the student's success in school. High school students' perceptions regarding technology learning may influence their decision to study in a field at the university and work in the context of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics which are considered to be the basis of economic development in developed countries. During the past decades, there has been a growing gap between the scientific and technical skills offered by the schools and the economic demand in this area, and the number of the learners and those who have been trained in technology and science has decreased in some cases. Since the main objectives of the field of education and learning of the work and technology curriculum in the Fundamental Document of Transformation of Education for the first year of high school is obtaining the merits and positive attitude towards technology and entrepreneurship, the aim of this study is investigating the relationship between attitude toward work and technology with technological attitude and entrepreneurship of high school students in destrict one of Tabriz in the academic year 2018-2019. MethodS: This study was a correlational research using structural equation modeling method. Data were analyzed using least squares method. This method tests the pattern in two steps which include the measurement and structural pattern test. The measurement model examines the validity and reliability of measurement tools and research structures and tests the structural pattern of hypotheses and relationships of latent variables. The statistical population consisted of 15386 high school boys and girls in district one of Tabriz who were studying in the academic year 2018-2019. The sample was selected by proportional random sampling method (the seventh, eighth, and ninth grade) and since the original questionnaire had 40 components, 10 subjects were selected for each component and on the whole, 402 subjects were selected. Data were collected using the Liou and Kuo Technological Attitude Questionnaire (2014), Athayde Entrepreneurial Attitude Questionnaire (2009), and a researcher-made attitude to career and technology course Questionnaire. To test the hypotheses, structural equation analysis using Smart PLS 3 software was used. Findings: The findings showed that there was a very close relationship between career and technology course, attitude to technology and entrepreneurship. Hypotheses were significant at 0.001 level and t-statistic was significant as it was higher than 1.96. Attitude to career and technology course explains self-efficacy of learning technology as 0.44, the value of earning technology as 0.56, strategies of learning technology as 0.56, goal orientation of learning technology as 0.63, environmental stimulus of learning technology as 0.64, self-regulation-triggering of learning technology as 0.54, self-Regulation Implementation of learning technology as 0.68, others’ leadership as 0.40, achievement as 0.56, personal control as 0.30, creativity as 0.42, and intuition as 0.38. Conclusion: Attitude to career and technology course explained the components of technological attitude and the components of attitude to entrepreneurship. The high significance of a positive attitude to the career and technology course lies in having a positive relationship with valuable components such as self-efficacy, learning value, strategies of learning, goal orientation, environment stimulus, creating self-regulation, leadership of others, achievement, self-control, creativity and intuition; therefore, it is recommended to prioritize this course. Knowing the attitude factors and their relationship to the subjects of courses can help teachers to improve the curriculum and the effectiveness of teaching methods so that students can be more successful in learning their lessons, academic performance, and career.
