Education technology - higher education
F. Shamsi Ashteani; H. Kalantari Dehaghi; M. Nazarzadeh Zare
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Nowadays, the development and deployment of technologies in educational settings seem not to be enough to take advantage of their benefits; rather, this development and deployment require the possession of a series of other skills, such as communication skills. Faculty members, ...
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Background and Objectives: Nowadays, the development and deployment of technologies in educational settings seem not to be enough to take advantage of their benefits; rather, this development and deployment require the possession of a series of other skills, such as communication skills. Faculty members, as one of the determinants of communication in the university environment and as one of the most important pillars for maintaining quality in higher education, need to have the necessary communication skills for teaching, especially in virtual spaces. In addition to having communication skills, the use of ethics in educational settings can also help establish a worthy, constructive, and productive relationship between individuals. Therefore, one of the most fundamental criteria of the higher education system that faculty members are obligated to observe in their profession is professional ethics. In addition to having communication skills and professional ethics in the use of technology, the acceptance of technology by users is also of great importance, as there is always resistance to the acceptance of new technologies. A review of past research regarding the research variables at the domestic and international levels indicates a significant relationship between communication skills and professional ethics in the studies conducted at the domestic and international levels. Accordingly, the main objective of the present study was to investigate the mediating role of technology acceptance in the relationship between communication skills and professional ethics of faculty members in the course of virtual education.Methods: The present research method was a descriptive-correlational study of the structural equation modeling type. The statistical population of the present study included all 288 faculty members of Arak University, of whom 168 were selected using a simple random sampling method based on the Krejcie and Morgan table. In this research, three questionnaires on communication skills, professional ethics, and technology acceptance were used to collect the required data. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data in SPSS and PLS software.Findings: The findings of the present study indicated a significant effect of communication skills on professional ethics (0.323), a significant effect of communication skills on technology acceptance (0.334), and a significant effect of technology acceptance on professional ethics (0.257). Additionally, the other findings of the study indicated an indirect and significant effect of communication skills on professional ethics through technology acceptance (0.086). Furthermore, the measurement and model fit indices also indicated the model's desirability.Conclusion: Overall, the results of this research showed that the communication skills of professors in the virtual education environment would play a central and decisive role in improving their professional ethics. These skills had a positive effect on the professional ethics of professors in several ways: 1. the communication skills of professors in the virtual education environment directly improved their ethical behaviors and interactions with students, 2. professors with strong communication skills would be able to apply the principles of professional ethics more effectively in the virtual education process by creating an environment based on trust, respect, and empathy, 3. the communication skills of professors, indirectly and through increasing the acceptance of educational technologies among them, strengthened professional ethics in the virtual education environment, and 4. having strong communication skills, professors would be able to facilitate the process of accepting and using new educational technologies in their work environment. This, in turn, would lead to the improvement of teaching quality, more effective interaction with students, and, as a result, the promotion of professional ethics in the virtual education environment. In general, improving communication skills and facilitating the process of technology acceptance among professors are effective strategies for promoting professional ethics in virtual education. Therefore, paying attention to these components in the design and implementation of professional development programs for professors can play an important role in promoting their professional ethics in the virtual education environment.
Electronic learning- virtual
L.S. Hamidian Divkolaei; S. M. Bagheri
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Today, turning to virtual education in schools and universities along with face-to-face training is inevitable. Virtual education has received much attention in recent years in Iran. This becomes even more important and valuable when it comes to teaching practical courses. ...
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Background and Objectives: Today, turning to virtual education in schools and universities along with face-to-face training is inevitable. Virtual education has received much attention in recent years in Iran. This becomes even more important and valuable when it comes to teaching practical courses. Architecture, as a field in which many of its courses are considered practical, would encounter serious challenges in students' learning if the important points in virtual education are not considered. One of the issues that may be overlooked in the field of virtual education is the discussion of learning differences among students. Learning style is a characteristic that determines how students learn and how they prefer to learn, and the teacher also learns to identify and guide the needs of individual students. Failure to pay attention to the differences in students’ learning styles, especially in virtual education, where the teacher does not have much visual and face-to-face communication with students, will sometimes lead to a complete lack of transfer of concepts in education. Traditional classroom-based learning, on the other hand, typically leads to a consistent learning process that does not fit the learners’ different needs, while in targeted web-based learning programs, learning can be implemented properly. The cognition of the differences in learning process among students is one of the important factors in developing and improving education. Examining the different styles of students in learning, can be helpful to improve the quality of education and transfer better learning to students, especially in virtual education.Methods: In this article, we try to know the four divisions of students' learning style, and their performance in different courses of architecture. The present study was conducted on 48 architectural students in their first semester (who has started their studies with virtual education) from different degrees) bachelor and associate degree) in architecture and interior design. Architecture students face different attitudes in various academic years. Because of the impact that cognitive changes have on students' learning styles, it was decided to consider the statistical population among the freshmen in order to reduce the impact of changes in students’ learning styles, so that students' initial learning style is identified. SPSS 23 software was used to analyze the data.Findings: The results showed that the majority of architecture students in the bachelor and associate degree, from the selected community, used the adaptive learning style and the students of the interior design group had convergent learning styles. Studies also showed no significant relationship between degree and students' field of study with their performance. Also, the results of studies demonstrated that students with divergent learning style in the theoretical courses of bachelor’s degree in architecture field, had the best performance (with an average of 20), whereas students with convergent learning style in theoretical-practical courses of bachelor’s degree in architecture earned the lowest performance (with an average of 8.25). According to the results of the studies, it seemed that only in the bachelor’s degree students and in the theoretical-practical course (architectural design 2), there was a significant relationship (sig <0.05).Conclusion: It is suggested that educators be aware of different learning styles at the beginning of each training course in order to consider a specific category for each group of people with a common learning style. By identifying their learning style, learners can use the flexible structure that e-learning allows to achieve the desired learning outcome.
Electronic learning- virtual
N. Khatib Zanjani; N. Mohammadi; A. Paahoo
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Canonical correlation deals with two series of variables, each of which can be given a theoretical meaning. The purpose of this study was Canonical analysis of online self-regulatory collectivity (online interaction) and components of cognitive flexibility during cyber teaching ...
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Background and Objectives: Canonical correlation deals with two series of variables, each of which can be given a theoretical meaning. The purpose of this study was Canonical analysis of online self-regulatory collectivity (online interaction) and components of cognitive flexibility during cyber teaching (during Corona virus pandemics) among students of junior high school.Methods: The statistical society included all male and female junior high school students in Ardabil numerated as 43098 (23239 boys and 19859 girls) in the academic year 2020-2021 so that 381 ones (205 boys and 176 girls) were selected via proportional stratified sampling method. For collecting the required data, online self-regulation questionnaire (OSRQ) and the content of cognitive flexibility Inventory (CFI) were used. The collected data was analyzed using Pearson Product-moment correlation and canonical correlation analysis in SPSS 26.00.Findings: The obtained results pointed to a significant relationship between the predictor and criterion variable components (p<0.01). Also, the canonical correlation identified that the components of online self-regulation collectivity including learner-content interaction, learner-Instructor interaction and learner-learner interaction can predict changes of components of cognitive flexibility collectivity including alternatives and control subscales among junior high school students (p<0.01).Conclusion: The results of the study identified that the more the students interact in online teaching and in cyber space with content, as well as the teacher and the other students, the more power of cognitive complexity they would have to deal with difficulties in problems in learning and teaching issues. Using cognitive strategies could assist the students in accessing vague teaching concepts and enable them to access higher levels of learning. At the present time, virtual training provides the students with ample opportunities to make some changes in themselves in terms of motivational aspects, skills, and operational learning steps for reaching teaching purposes. The learner-content interaction is a channel that reconciles the cognitive structure and the mental content of the learner with their macro-cognitive, motivational, and behavioral aspects. These changes in cognition can empower the learners in self-regulation and turn them from passive and strict receivers into active and flexible learners. Accordingly, this perception of ability and internal power assists the learner to reach the belief of self-controllability in solving problems and facing with challenging circumstances.
e-learning
P. Hessari; F. Chegeni
Abstract
Background and Objectives: E-learning is the newest form of distance learning and is an approach to curriculum planning in which, in addition to using inclusive methods, computer tools and the Internet are used. Today, there is a growing attention paid to the e-learning approach to learning and teaching ...
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Background and Objectives: E-learning is the newest form of distance learning and is an approach to curriculum planning in which, in addition to using inclusive methods, computer tools and the Internet are used. Today, there is a growing attention paid to the e-learning approach to learning and teaching in order to meet the changes and challenges facing higher education. This is an approach that is specifically tailored to the new education and improves education in the higher education environment. Numerous components are effective in learning and teaching in the method of virtual education and also the effect of virtual teaching and learning in the courses having different content is different. These topics have inspired the researchers to study the nature of e-learning in various courses. This study seeks to identify the impact of virtual education in the field of architecture. Architecture education at different levels is an aspect of higher education that has a special method and process due to the role and position of professionals of this field in the country. The nature of this field is different from other fields due to being taken without practical and theoretical courses. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explain the status of virtual education in the field of architecture and specifically in the practical and theoretical courses of this field which are derived from the practical and theoretical nature.Methods: This research is applied in terms of its purpose and descriptive in nature and of survey type. The data collection instruments in this study are both quantitative and qualitative. The statistical population of this research is 78 undergraduate students of architecture in the University of Torbat Heydarieh. Data collection tools in this study include qualitative and quantitative cases. The software named Statistica and a questionnaire were used to assess the impact of e-learning on practical and theoretical courses in architecture. The questionnaire used in the research was anchored on a five Likert scale. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to check the validity or reliability of the questionnaire. In order to analyze the data in this study, the collected information was inserted into SPSS software and then the data were analyzed at both descriptive and inferential levels.Findings: The findings of this study show that the six indicators of interactivity, interpretation, peer support, understanding all aspects of a subject, communication and teacher support are effective in virtual education in the field of architecture and its practical and theoretical courses.Conclusion: The present study focuses on the effect of virtual education on practical and theoretical courses in architecture at the university. The results obtained in this study can be useful for learning environments as well as other courses in general. This study reveals that virtual education has many effects on learning architecture and having more interaction in this field and in practical and theoretical courses, but the effectiveness of the components related to virtual education in both practical and theoretical courses are different from each other. Moreover, in the theoretical courses, the effectiveness of e-learning is far greater than in practical courses.
