Modern Educational Approaches
Sh. Soleymani; Kh. Aliabadi; I. Zaraii Zavaraki; A. Delavar
Abstract
Background and Objectives: The need for performance and autonomy in problem-solving styles of learning English grammar for students in the current knowledge-based world is essential. Therefore, the present study aimed to improve it under the flipped learning pattern.Methods: The present study is applied ...
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Background and Objectives: The need for performance and autonomy in problem-solving styles of learning English grammar for students in the current knowledge-based world is essential. Therefore, the present study aimed to improve it under the flipped learning pattern.Methods: The present study is applied and quasi-experimental research. The statistical population consisted of 380 people in a purposeful and accessible manner among all students registered in the Aladdin English Short-Term Specialized Training Center between 2018 and 2020. The criterion for selecting language learners was random substitution and exclusion criteria were the pre-test and post-test questionnaires where learners did not fully answer the questions or some items. Finally, the participants were 220 people divided into two groups, control (N=110) and experimental (N=110). To collect the required data, Cassidy & Long's (1996) problem-solving questionnaire was used with 24 questions set on a three-point scale (yes, no, and I do not know) measuring six factors. Participants in the control and experimental groups first completed the questionnaire as a pre-test. Then, the instructor used the usual teaching methods in the control group, which all instructors in language centers use Flipped classroom method was implemented in the experimental group. The instructor used this method for 16 months in 10 courses (5 courses for each experimental and control group). Each course consisted of 39 sessions of 90 minutes (58.5 hours), two sessions per week, or 20 sessions of 180 minutes (60 hours), one session per week held only on fridays by one instructor. The instructor asked students some questions about the previous lesson to measure their' knowledge and solve their problems at the beginning of the new session and took a pre-test based on the content of the new session. Researchers utilized a repeated measurement test and T-test of a sample to answer the research questions.Findings: Findings indicated the effect of this teaching method on improving the students’ performance and autonomy in solving the problem of learning English grammar under the flipped learning pattern.Conclusion: The results showed the value and acceptability of the pattern along with traditional teaching methods and its impact on the performance and autonomy of problem-solving styles of learning English grammar among the students. It seemed to increase learners' confidence, too. Implementing the same research in different courses of different academic disciplines is suggested for future research.
Modern Educational Approaches
V.S. Vahedi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Reverse classroom strategy is one of the new teaching-learning methods that has been able to attract the attention of many researchers and experts in recent years and is presented as a solution to overcome the problems and challenges. In addition, in the field of English language ...
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Background and Objectives: Reverse classroom strategy is one of the new teaching-learning methods that has been able to attract the attention of many researchers and experts in recent years and is presented as a solution to overcome the problems and challenges. In addition, in the field of English language teaching, many experts have recently focused on teaching-learning strategies as an effective factor in language learning. Today, many specialists believe that learning language skills alone does not guarantee the success of language learners and the development of self-directed language learners is of high importance. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of flipped teaching of learning strategies (cognitive and meta-cognitive) on learners' speaking proficiency and self-regulation.Methods: This study was quasi-experimental using pre-test/post-test design consisting of experimental and control groups. The participants of this study included 120 intermediate language learners who were homogenized and divided into three experimental groups and one control group. The first experimental group was taught learning strategies (cognitive and metacognitive) through flipped classroom along with teaching the usual textbook at the institute. The second experimental group was taught the institute textbook through the flipped classroom method without combining the teaching of learning strategies. The third experimental group, while teaching the textbook, were taught learning strategies (cognitive and metacognitive) through the traditional classroom. The students of the control group were taught the textbook in the usual traditional way and not being taught any of the learning strategies. In order to assess speaking proficiency of the participants at the beginning and end of the treatment, common institute speaking tests that were designed based on the content of the textbook were used. The validity of the instrument was reviewed and confirmed by several experienced language instructors of the institute. The reliability of the instrument was measured by Cronbach's alpha and was reported to be 0.88. The learners' self-regulation was also assessed by the self-regulation questionnaire designed by Bofard et al. (1995). Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance and two-way ANOVA.Findings: Findings showed that flipped teaching of learning strategies had a positive and significant effect on improving students' speaking proficiency. The results also showed that the independent effects of two variables, i.e. flipped teaching and learning strategies on the level of self-regulation of learners were significant, while the interaction of these two independent variables was not significant. Furthermore, according to the results of Tukey post hoc test for the effect of flipped teaching method and also teaching learning strategies, it was found that the difference between the mean scores of self-regulations of all groups in relation to flipped teaching method and also teaching learning strategies was significant.Conclusion: As a consequence, it is recommended to integrate CALL into traditional language classes in order to reach better learning outcomes. In addition, English learners mainly complain about the lack of interaction in the out-of-classroom environment, and flipped classrooms can address this need by providing interactive out-of-classroom communication environments.
Modern Educational Approaches
Z. Abolhasani; M. Dehghani; M. Javadipour; K. Salehi; N. Mohammadhasani
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Design thinking is a participatory problem-solving method with a human-centered approach that enhances innovation by enhancing learners' creative thinking abilities. Although design thinking has become an integral part of design and engineering as well as business, it can have ...
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Background and Objectives: Design thinking is a participatory problem-solving method with a human-centered approach that enhances innovation by enhancing learners' creative thinking abilities. Although design thinking has become an integral part of design and engineering as well as business, it can have a positive impact on the 21st century education in other fields, too. Using design thinking in educational settings, students read, think, and reason logically and can solve complex problems. However, there are several definitions of design thinking, as many authors have stated that there is no fixed universal definition of design thinking. Therefore, it seems necessary to try to understand and demystify design thinking. In this regard, the purpose of this study researchis to analyze the concept of design thinking and study the models of design thinking and definitions of the 21st century skills as well as the role of design thinking on the 21st century skills by systematic collecting, evaluating and reviewing the related articles on this topic.Methods: In this study, searches were performed in the databases of Eric, ScienceDirect, Taylor and Francis, Springer, and Google Scholar, and all articles indexed in their databases from 2000 to 2020 were collected in English. After searching the databases, the relevant articles were selected and evaluated according to the CASP evaluation criteria. After reading the abstracts and the initial review and removal of irrelevant articles, the full version of 83 articles was prepared and reviewed. Then, among the available articles, the relevant ones were selected and evaluated for detailed evaluation based on CASP evaluation criteria.Also, in the manual search that was done through the sources of articles, according to the nature of design thinking, 3 reference sites were added to present the model and 3 books and 2 websites were added for the skills of the 21st century. Finally, 54 articles, books and websites were selected for detailed study.Findings: According to the obtained/aforementioned studies, they were categorized in four groups: 1- Articles that have explained the skills of the 21st century. 2- Articles that have offered a new definition of design thinking. 3- Articles that have presented new models of design thinking. 4- Articles that have used the models in implementing the design and improving the skills of the 21st century. Given the results, despite the similarities and connections that can be identified in the context of 21st century skills, different terms and definitions are often used to describe a skill or a set of skills that cause ambiguity and confusion. In this regard, the skills that are mentioned in all frameworks are as follows: cooperation and communication; ICT literacy; social skills; creativity; critical thinking; problem solving, production of quality products and productivity. The results of the studies also showed that the implementation of design thinking leads to strengthening problem-solving skills, innovation and creativity, and the skill of using integrated thinking. Continuing the implementation of design thinking along with empathy, cooperation, teamwork leads to self-confidence and value of the learner.Conclusion: According to the research results, in general, it can be said that today's society needs to educate a generation equipped with the 21st century skills to advance the high goals of the society, so paying attention to creating the necessary conditions for the implementation of design thinking plays a unique role in raising a productive generation.
Modern Educational Approaches
A. Sharghi; H. Azemati; S. Asadi; A. Khorshidian
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Disaster occurrences lead to a wide range of built environment destruction and physical damages and followed by a widespread need for reconstruction. However, international experiences and failures of architects in providing reconstruction and accommodation projects reveal ...
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Background and Objectives: Disaster occurrences lead to a wide range of built environment destruction and physical damages and followed by a widespread need for reconstruction. However, international experiences and failures of architects in providing reconstruction and accommodation projects reveal the presence of gaps in academic learning views and special planning and designing needs in critical circumstances. Evidence suggests that the successful participation of architects and built environments professionals in reconstruction requires knowledge and expertise in creating a resilient environment and community in post-disaster complex situations. According to the issue, the present paper tries to evaluate and examine the efficacy of reconstruction education technology for architecture students in reconstruction after disaster department at Shahid Beheshti University in two phases. First; field trip to affected places, case study and group discussion after primary learning the basics, theories and perspectives of the reconstruction. Second; deepening and expanding the learned lessons using narrative technique in teaching and close participation in class discussions. MethodS: The nature of the research is quasi-experimental, without control group and in the time period of a semester. Initially, with the aim of identifying the nature of the education technology process, a deep interview with professors of the reconstruction atelier were done. The main codes of this process were extracted by content analysis. Then, with the presence of the researcher in the atelier, through participatory observation, shared points and technologies of these ateliers were extracted and based on the professors’ viewpoint, they were corrected and confirmed. In the next step, the extracted process was measured by the longitudinal and pre-test and post-test research design, using a standard Student Evaluation of Educational Quality (SEEQ) questionnaire with 9 criteria. The research participants are freshmen students of post-disaster reconstruction postgraduate education, due to the lack of a specific mentality of the education process. Completing the questionnaires was performed at the beginning of the semester and then simultaneously with semester exams. In order to measure the findings validity, the research was carried out again in the academic semester of 2019-2020 and was performed by the 15-person group of new students. According to the findings with the lowest level of error, research findings were validated.Findings: Based on the paired t-test of pre-test and post-test data, reconstruction education technology in the preparatory atelier, with 95% confidence level significantly increases the level of criteria such as learning lessons, enthusiasm toward the lesson and the curriculum of reconstruction, interactive learning, and positive evaluation of the instructor’s teaching. Also, in studying the two-way relationship of research criteria through Pearson correlation test, it has been determined that there are positive and meaningful relationships between the dual criteria of student's assessment of learning and the enthusiasm to course and instructor’s teaching evaluation and the desire to group interactionConclusion: According to efficacy of the technology in teaching practical and theoretical issues of post-disaster reconstruction to architecture students, it is suggested that it be considered in architectural design studios in order to enhan
Modern Educational Approaches
M. Mojadam; Z. Khoshneshin; A. Ghasemtabar; A. Najafi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: The endeavor of organizations and companies to reach large global markets has led them to use the most effective and practical methods to reach this aim. One of these methods is the new teaching methods for employees which in the present study have been examined to determine ...
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Background and Objectives: The endeavor of organizations and companies to reach large global markets has led them to use the most effective and practical methods to reach this aim. One of these methods is the new teaching methods for employees which in the present study have been examined to determine the feasibility of applying new teaching methods in National Petrochemical Company of Iran, so that the company and especially its staff can benefit from these new teaching methods.Methods: This study is designed in an applied and descriptive-surveying format using a researcher-made questionnaire. It includes five components with 56 items that have separately studied readiness (17 items), the effectiveness of the teaching methods of former courses (10 items), the quality of the teaching content (8 items), the opportunity to develop new teaching methods (12 items), and the opportunity to develop new teaching methods in accordance with structural and infrastructural facilities. The reliability of the questionnaire was estimated by Cronbach's alpha coefficient and found to be 0.85، 0.87، 0.85، 0.70، 0.90 respectively. Data were analysed in SPSS software using one sample t-test. The sample of the present study consisted of 270 staff and managers of National Petrochemical Company varying from grade 9 up to B (the specific levelling of the company’s staff). The Morgan Table was used for sampling in which from a population of 270, 120 individuals were selected as a sample from which 91 individuals received the questionnaire. Findings: The results indicate the possibility of implementing new teaching methods in accordance with multiple dimensions. Among the dimensions of feasibility, except for the human dimension which is in the desired condition, other dimensions are not in the desired condition. For such dimensions, t is equal to -8.40 at the significance level of (0.000) which is lower than the assumed average (3) and is reported as undesirable. In the following five areas or dimensions of feasibility, the perspective of managers and staff were studied: 1) the amount of readiness of the managers and staff in using the new teaching methods; 2) the attitude of the managers and staff towards the quality and effectiveness of the teaching methods in the former courses; 3) the attitude of managers and staff towards the methods of presenting the teaching content and the quality of the teaching materials; 4) the opportunities for the development of new teaching methods in accordance with the attitude of the managers and the staff; 5) the opportunities for the development of the new teaching methods in accordance with the structural and infrastructural facilities in terms of the perspective of the managers and the staff. Except for the first question, for the rest of the questions, a negative value in a one sample t-test was shown which indicates there is a distance to reaching the desired situation. Moreover, the correlation among the components 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 was also calculated which were 0.34, 0.69, 0.72, 0.66 and 0.53, respectively. Friedman test was used to prioritize and identify the components that are most desirable Conclusions: The inferential results derived from the statistical findings showed that the readiness of the managers and the staff to promote the culture of using new teaching methods according to the findings is in desirable condition. So is possible that implication of the new teaching methods is predictable based on the perspective of the managers and the staff’s point of views. In other dimensions, such as knowledge, technical, organizational, structural and infrastructure, there are signs that optimized conditions to benefit from new teaching methods. Referred to generality of findings indicates the human, technical, organizational and structural dimensions, it can be claimed that the feasibility indicators are not in a desired condition in the company. Except for the attitude and acceptance of using new teaching methods that are in favorable and appropriate condition, the rest of the indicators are less than the average.
Modern Educational Approaches
N. Safaei; E. Zarei; A. Samavi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Today, creativity and fostering creative people is a very important issue in the education of any society. Creative people are actively able to direct their interests and desires. Creativity is a process whose application in adulthood is conditional on its upbringing in childhood. ...
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Background and Objectives: Today, creativity and fostering creative people is a very important issue in the education of any society. Creative people are actively able to direct their interests and desires. Creativity is a process whose application in adulthood is conditional on its upbringing in childhood. Accordingly, training creative, innovative and constructive people should start from the first years of their life. What is important in creating something new or new design and in the creative process in general is thinking, because creativity is a kind of intellectual activity. One of the prominent features of human and the basic axis of their life is the power of thought. During their life, human has never been free from thinking, and with the power of correct thinking, they have made decisions and have been able to solve problems and issues and achieve growth and excellence; Therefore, all human success and progress depend on fertile, dynamic and effective thought. Therefore, the present study has tried to investigate different theories related to creative thinking skills as one of the research variables, identify and extract its theoretical, philosophical, social and psychological foundations from different sources and based on it identify different components of creativity that is appropriate for elementary school children and design a creative thinking curriculum model based on the main elements of the curriculum (objectives, content, teaching methods, and evaluation). In addition, in order to validate the designed model, it was provided to curriculum specialists, education psychologists, and educational staff (educators), so that ultimately the designed model would be provided to specialists and educational staff with suggestions and solutions. Methods: This research is applied in terms of purpose. In terms of tools, it is an evaluation and its method is descriptive. The statistical population of the study includes curriculum specialists and education psychologists in public universities of Bandar Abbas, Shiraz and educational psychologists and educators working in primary schools in Bandar Abbas. The sample size was selected using stratified sampling method and a total of 208 people were selected. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire based on the creative thinking skills curriculum. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (Chi-square) were used to analyze the data. Findings: Statistically, there is a difference between the views of the three groups, namely the curriculum group, educational psychologists and educators in the element of objectives, content, teaching methods and curriculum evaluation in relation to the curriculum model based on creative thinking skills for elementary students. Conclusion: The results of the study generally show that based on the designed curriculum model, creative thinking skills based on the three main components of knowledge, attitude and skills for primary school children, revising the usual student education programs and paying more attention to the creative factor is necessary in educational programs. It is suggested that curriculum planners and educators in the elementary school try to exploit the goals mentioned in this model and include them in their current and future plans. Also, the authors of the elementary school textbooks should pay attention to the use and arrangement of the content based on the suggested topics mentioned in the model and use the suggested teaching and evaluation. It is suggested that according to the model designed in the form of four main elements of the curriculum, which include: objectives, content, teaching method and evaluation method, in further research other elements of the curriculum such as teacher role, organizing space and learning environment, time, tools and learning tools, etc. be consdiered.
Modern Educational Approaches
A. Badeleh,; H. R. Gholamrezaei
Abstract
Background and Objectives: This study aims at examining the effect of real-world teaching model on the visual-spatial visualization focusing on the role of technical self-efficacy of male technical-engineering students in technical drawing.Methods: This study applies semi-experimental design using pretest-posttest ...
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Background and Objectives: This study aims at examining the effect of real-world teaching model on the visual-spatial visualization focusing on the role of technical self-efficacy of male technical-engineering students in technical drawing.Methods: This study applies semi-experimental design using pretest-posttest method. The statistical population of the study includes 400 male associate students in technical courses among whom 40 students were selected as the sample, using random cluster sampling method. The instruments included researcher-made questionnaires of technical self-efficacy, visual-spatial visualization and evaluation of real-world teaching model. The validity and reliability of the aforementioned questionnaires were measured using the content validity as well as considering the ideas and suggestions of experienced professors, curriculum and psychology experts. Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient for subscales of self-confidence, motivation and perseverance, innovation and questionnaires of technical self-efficacy, visual-spatial visualization, evaluating a real-world teaching model were found to be 0.88, 0.75, 0.81, 0.90, 0.80 and 0.77, respectively.Findings: The results showed that the real-world teaching model has an influence on the male engineering students’ technical self-efficacy, its dimensions, and their visual-spatial visualization in technical drawing; and technical self-efficacy, with its mediating effect, is effective on the influence of real-world learning model on students’ visual-spatial visualization. Students are suitably satisfied with the teaching method that is based on the real-world model in the components involved in using this model to understand the maps, geometrical design, tangible 3-D models, and usefulness of the real-world models. However, their satisfaction with the components of using and applying practical teaching of the real-world models is not appropriate.Conclusions: Real models enhance students' vision for preparing the maps on the basis of the real-time industrial model as well as its reconstruction. Drawing maps on the basis of 3D images, simplifying the design of maps, and facilitating the process of working with real-time industrial collections and mechanisms to identify and understand the solutions for technical problems lead students to gain new and innovative experiences.
Modern Educational Approaches
M. Ashrafganjouei; H. Nadimi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: During design process, images as visual stimuli are significant tools in reaching creative design ideas. So this issue has resulted in conducting extensive studies in the field of educational technology on the methods of using visual stimuli as an educational tool. Since the ...
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Background and Objectives: During design process, images as visual stimuli are significant tools in reaching creative design ideas. So this issue has resulted in conducting extensive studies in the field of educational technology on the methods of using visual stimuli as an educational tool. Since the visual stimuli can be categorized based on their similarity to the design problem or their quality (clear, ambiguous), in some of the studies, the impact of various types of visual stimuli on students’ design creativity has been examined. The level of students is another factor which could have an influence on students’ creativity when they were using visual stimuli. Also, in some studies, the relationship between the type of the design task and the visual stimuli has been investigated. However, there is no comprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness of these methods in the field of architecture design education. As a result, the purpose of the present research is examining the effectiveness of the methods of using visual stimuli in design training. Methods: In the present study, first, a framework for using visual stimuli based on previous studies was suggested which consisted of two sections: in the first section, the relationship between different types of visual stimuli and different aspects of creativity was determined; the second section, the factors influencing the methods of using the visual stimuli by the students were determined that consisted of students’ level, the type of the design task, and the design problem. Then,the methodofpeer review was applied to evaluate the effectiveness of the methods of using the visual stimuli in the design training. As a result, expert teachers in architecture from Iran and the United States evaluated the compiled text. In this regard, the teachers’ opinions were recorded through interviews and then their opinions were written and analyzed by a qualitative coding method. Peer review as the method of analysis was applied to investigate the validity of those methods. First participants’ ideas were gathered by interview. All their utterances were audio recorded and transcribed. In the next step the data were analyzed by a qualitative coding method. So the utterances of the participants were segmented based on different sections. Then, in the next stage, their content were codified in terms of validation, similar experience; criticism or suggestions. Findings: The opinions of the expert teachers were examined according to two sections of methods of using visual stimuli and also the effective conditions for using them in design education. Besides confirming the methods related to the types of stimulus and design task, the participants also provided numerous educational experiences on the proper interpretation of various types of stimuli. In the second section, besides confirming the impact of the students’ level, and the type of the design problem, some of the teachers offered criticisms and suggestions regarding the classifications of these problems. Conclusion: The results of peer review, besides confirming the methods of using visual stimuli, provide approaches that can improve the effectiveness of the methods of using visual stimuli in design education. Moreover, the expert teachers offered criticisms and suggestions regarding some problems and also added some suggestions. For example, the visual stimulus which has more similarity to the design problem has more effect on students’ design creativity than those images which have less similarity to the design problem. Or when using the ambiguous sketches related to the expert designers, the way they use their sketches and the stages through which these sketches are transformed into the final idea should be taken into consideration and these processes should also be taught to the students. In other words, students need to know how expert designers transform those ambiguous images to final design solution. Also, categorizing the design problems into formal and functional has ambiguities and other methods of categorization should be used. The results of analyzing the opinions of the expert teachers can be used for future research besides the development of the subject.
Modern Educational Approaches
E. Reyhani; F. Ghasemi; Z. Rahimi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: In the turn of present century, dramatic changes have taken place in education and society. Among these changes, the change from an industrial to a knowledge-based society, the change from information technology and new information in various scientific fields, and the change ...
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Background and Objectives: In the turn of present century, dramatic changes have taken place in education and society. Among these changes, the change from an industrial to a knowledge-based society, the change from information technology and new information in various scientific fields, and the change in occupations can be mentioned. As a result, education has faced many shortcomings based on the level of the expectations of the society and its outputs. Due to the changes in the objective of the educational systems and the changes in the dimensions of people's lives, the teacher researcher paradigm has been considered by most teacher training systems in recent years, and that is why, it has led to some reforms in teacher training programs. The main and most important components of teacher training, curriculum, consists of goals, content, teaching method and evaluation. The present study explains the goals of the curriculum based on a teacher-researcher training at Farhangian University. The goals of the study are comprised of three areas of knowledge, competence, and attitude. According to the objectives of the study a mixed research method of the exploratory type was used which consists of two qualitative and quantitative stages. In the qualitative stage interpretive phenomenological method of data collection tool was used and In the quantitative stage, a descriptive survey method was utilized. Methods:Inthe qualitative section, the research population comprised of the experts in the field of teacher training among which the appropriate instances were selected through targeted sampling and the required information was collected through a semi-structured interview. Theoretical saturation was achieved from interviews with 15 experts. In the analysis of the text of the interview the interpretive content analysis was used. To validate the data, credibility, transferability, reliability and validation were used. In the quantitative stage, the research population were the faculty members of different campuses of Farhangian University, among which four provinces were selected as the sample. The multi-stage cluster sampling method was used to select the sample and using Cochran's formula 274 people were selected among the faculty members of campuses and provincial centers. Data collection was done through a researcher-made questionnaire which was extracted from the qualitative part of the research. The data were analyzed by using a single sample T-test and Friedman test. Findings:In this study, the goals of the curriculum were explained in terms of knowledge, ability and attitude. The results showed that the area of knowledge includes reflection, critical thinking, scientific expertise and research knowledge. The area of ability is comprised of the ability to perform research, to write, to be creative, to act systematically, to be independent and self-sufficient; and the area of the attitude includes interest in research and having no prejudice and stereotypes. The quantitative results of the study also showed that the components of attention and accuracy in relation to the issues of education in the field of knowledge, students' ability to self-assess; in the area of ability, and avoidance of prejudice and black and white thinking, and in the area of attitude received the most attention by the faculty members. There is clear evidence of a gap between the goals of the Farhangian University at the executive level in terms of knowledge, ability and attitude. Conclusion: This study showed that the goals of the teacher taining curriculum need a general reformation at the executive level. It is important to pay attention to all areas of goals including knowledge, ability, and attitude and It is necessary to pay equal attention to all areas and to combine theoretical courses with the required practical work in teacher training programs.
Modern Educational Approaches
F. Salemian; H. Abbasi kasani; M.H. Amirtaimori
Abstract
Education is the most essential human need. Without education, no society can survive; but effective and useful education cannot be done by trial and error, it requires a plan. A review of previous research shows that little attention is paid to the issue of external cognitive load and higher-level learning, ...
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Education is the most essential human need. Without education, no society can survive; but effective and useful education cannot be done by trial and error, it requires a plan. A review of previous research shows that little attention is paid to the issue of external cognitive load and higher-level learning, especially problem solving in the educational design in the country. Therefore, the present study was conducted with regard to the importance and impact of educational design patterns, especially Gagne's design pattern in the field of educational activities and its purpose was to investigate the effect of applying the Gagne's pattern on the external cognitive load and problem solving ability.Methods: With respect to purpose, this was an applied study and with respect to methodology, this was considered as a quasi-experimental study (of the type of pretest-posttest with experimental and control groups). The population of the study consisted of male high school students in West Islamabad. To conduct the research, a high school from West Islamabad was randomly selected, using multistage cluster sampling method. From among the classes of this high school, two were selected as the experimental group and the control group. Then, based on their midterm scores, 15 students from each class were randomly divided into the two control and experimental groups. The experimental group was exposed to the independent variable and the control group was trained by the conventional method. Data were collected using a scale of Pass, Van Merrienboer and Adam. Another instrument was the researcher-made problem solving skill test whose validity was determined by experts and its reliability was 0.84 using retest method. Finally, the collected data were analyzed by using independent t-test and analysis of covariance.Findings: For both groups in this study, homogeneity problem solving pre-test and post-test were performed first. After the experiment (Gagne's educational design pattern) was applied with the experimental group, the results showed the relative superiority of the experimental group in a way that the average score obtained for this group in their problem solving skill (that is, 16.533) was higher than that of the control group (that is, 13.000). Also, there was a significant difference between the average of external cognitive load in the experimental group (6.600) and the control group (3.333). The results of the study showed that in terms of the external cognitive load, there is a statistically significant difference between the two control and experimental groups (t: 6.767, p: 0.01). In addition, the findings of the study revealed that Gargano’s educational design pattern had a significant effect on the reduction of the external cognitive load in the experimental group as compared to that of the control group. The findings also showed a significant increase in the problem solving skills in the experimental group as compared to those of the control group (p: 0.05, df: 1, F: 46.234).Conclusion: Based on research findings, it can be concluded that the application of Gagne's pattern in the educational system can have a positive effect on achieving high levels of learning, and it is recommended that teachers and administrators of the educational system pay attention to this point. According to their authority on how to use different teaching methods, teachers can use the results of this research, and use this design method in preparing their lesson plans and applying it to their teaching.
Modern Educational Approaches
Z. Kalantarnia; A. Shahvaran Semnani; M.H. Behzadi; , M. Rostami Mal-khalifeh; M.R. Mardan-beigi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Educating creative people is one of the important goals of educational systems. Undoubtedly, using educational models appropriate to educational content provides a suitable platform for achieving this goal. Innovative and 5 E patterns lead to increasing student creativity. ...
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Background and Objectives: Educating creative people is one of the important goals of educational systems. Undoubtedly, using educational models appropriate to educational content provides a suitable platform for achieving this goal. Innovative and 5 E patterns lead to increasing student creativity. In the innovation model, the student tries to look at the problem with a new perspective and turn it into a familiar problem by analogy and simile. In the 5E inclusive model, the student discovers relationships, solutions, and concepts through participation in a variety of activities. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of educational interventions based on innovation and 5E patterns on the academic performance of 9th grade students’ geometry. Methods: The research method was quasi-experimental in which pre-test, post-test design with control group was used. From the statistical population of 9th grade female students of Tehran public high schools, 3 classes, each class included 30 students as a sample, were selected by convenience sampling method. Then two classes were randomly selected as experimental groups of innovation and 5E and one class as control group. Data collection instruments included researcher-made performance tests tailored to innovation models and 5E, while the reliability and validity of these tests were assessed only for group 5E and the results were generalized for innovation groups and 5E. In order to collect the data, at the first phase, performance pre-tests based on the basic geometric concepts were administrated for innovation, 5E and control groups. Then, the content based on innovation and 5E patterns and the traditional method for innovation, 5E and control groups were implemented by the researcher in 8 sessions for 60 minutes in five consecutive weeks. Finally, the researcher-made post-test based on the geometric concepts was run for innovation, 5E and control groups. To analyze the data descriptive statistics (including mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics containing Kolmogrov Smirnov (to check the normality of the data) and the ANOVA were used by SPSS statistical software. Findings: The results of the research in the descriptive statistics section showed that the mean difference between the pretest tests of the performance tests of the innovation groups with 2.73 and 5E with 3.16 compared to the control group with 0.42 showed significant differences. Also in the inferential statistics section, the results of the ANOVA test for pretests of the innovation, 5E and control groups indicated that the academic level of the students of innovation, 5E and control groups was the same. (0.05 <0.963). The results of the ANOVA test for post-tests of innovation, 5E, and control groups showed that 5E and innovation had a positive effect on the performance of 9th grade students in geometry. (0.00 <0.05). Conclusion: The use of innovation models and 5E led to students’ performance, so the educational system should emphasize the use of the methods that aim to increase interaction and cooperation between students. Therefore, it is suggested that the necessary training should be introduced in the curriculum of teacher training in order to get acquainted with and apply active teaching methods such as Baybi. Also, the content of textbooks should be organized based on active teaching methods, so that these methods can be taught and implemented in teaching materials. This research has been accompanied by limitations that may affect the generalizability of the research findings. Because it is not possible for the researcher to control disturbing variables such as intelligence and gender, these variables have some effect on the results. Also, due to time and space constraints and the issue of necessary permissions, this study was conducted only among 9th grade female students. Naturally, increasing the sample will lead to more accurate results.
Modern Educational Approaches
G. Ahmady; M. Saberi; F. Ahmadi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Education in today's world has a different meaning from the past, so there should be changes in the attitude and teaching method of teachers. Nowadays, teaching basic sciences is of special importance, and this issue requires teachers to be taught new teaching methods that ...
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Background and Objectives: Education in today's world has a different meaning from the past, so there should be changes in the attitude and teaching method of teachers. Nowadays, teaching basic sciences is of special importance, and this issue requires teachers to be taught new teaching methods that make them learn these subjects better, including physics. Numerous studies have shown that increasing scientific reasoning leads to success in learning content knowledge. So, instead of considering several physics training courses to learn content knowledge, special teaching methods such as reasoning can be created in students with new teaching methods so that they can learn more spontaneously and keep pace with the development of science and technology. Formation. The relationship between teaching methods and the development of scientific reasoning has been extensively studied and it has been shown that the active teaching method enhances the abilities of scientific reasoning. Group discussion teaching is one of the methods of inclusive education that uses this method; learners actively participate in discussions and give them the opportunity to share their opinions and experiences with others. This article examines the effect of discourse-based education through group discussions on students' ability to reason scientifically in physics. Methods: This research is a quasi-experimental pre-test-post-test with a control group. The statistical population is all 10th grade female students of the second year of high school in Isfahan in the 2017-2018 academic years. The sample of this research was selected by multi-stage cluster sampling method. Measurement tool, a test to assess students' ability to reason scientifically in physics as a researcher-made with a reliability of / 76. Using the opinion of experienced professors in the field of physics education, its questions were content narrated. Each question was designed as four options and students were asked to write their reason in a descriptive way to select the desired option to further examine their type of argument. To score, Miyazaki (2000) model is used, which includes four different levels of reasoning in mathematics. In this study, the total score of each student is considered as the level of his physical reasoning ability. Since the answers to the questions were asked descriptively, to reduce the effect of the teacher's judgment, Cronbach's alpha was used for the correctors, which was 0.82. Findings: In the descriptive statistics section, the studied variables were analyzed using statistical index tables, mean and standard deviation, and in the inferential statistics section, the research hypotheses were analyzed using analysis of covariance and Pearson correlation coefficient. The results showed that the ability of physical reasoning and inferential reasoning of students in the experimental group is higher than the control group, but teaching through group discussions did not change much in the level of inductive reasoning of students. Conclusion: According to the research findings, there is a significant and inverse relationship between the ability of both deductive reasoning and inductive reasoning in both groups of testing and evidence, meaning that by increasing the ability of inductive reasoning, students use less inductive reasoning to answer questions. Therefore, teaching through group discussion has been able to have a positive effect on students' reasoning ability in answering physics questions.
Modern Educational Approaches
M. Baradaran; M. Taghibaygi; A.H. Alibaygi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Metacognition as an individual's knowledge about how to learn in agricultural higher education centers should be taken into consideration because the familiarity with metacognitive topics and its role in the process of teaching learning in agricultural higher education centers ...
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Background and Objectives: Metacognition as an individual's knowledge about how to learn in agricultural higher education centers should be taken into consideration because the familiarity with metacognitive topics and its role in the process of teaching learning in agricultural higher education centers is an attempt on the part of the educators to take an effective step so that they can play an influential role in the effectiveness of the country's agricultural higher education system. The education that is based on metacognition leads to lifelong learning in the learners in a way that cultivating such a trait in agricultural students leads to curiosity, responsibility, and the flourishing of creativity in them. In fact, by using the right methods of learning and studying (metacognition), agricultural learners and students can learn the material that is related to their field of study better and more easily. Methods: The present applied research was a kind of descriptive survey method. The statistical population of the study were the faculty members of Agriculture at Shahid Chamran University (N = 82) and the faculty members of Khuzestan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (N = 85) from which all the information was collected. The research tool was a researcher-made questionnaire that in the first stage of its design, due to consultation with the research team and based on the theoretical foundations, the most important components of higher education and agriculture were identified. After determining these components, the criteria for each componentwere identified based on the theoretical foundations. The markers were identified during three Delphi stages through conducting interviews with 15 metacognitive experts. The method of selecting experts was in the form of snowballs. In the first stage, based on a review of the theoretical foundations and the viewpoints of the experts (in the form of open-ended questions and interviews), the indicators were identified for the main components related to metacognition. In the second stage of Delphi, a new questionnaire was prepared based on the Likert scale of five sections. After collecting the second stage questionnaires and analyzing the answers, the items with an average of 3.33 and above that were confirmed. The approved items were used to design the third stage questionnaire and to indicate the agreement or the disagreement of the experts. Having done the date analysis, those indicators with which 66% and above were finally approved. Findings: The results showed that the agricultural higher education system of Khuzestan province is in an unsuitable level in terms of all components of metacognition except educational planning and educational environment. Examination of the current situation of agricultural higher education based on the identified indicators showed that in the components of the curiculum, education management and inservice training courses, planning, evaluation, educational environment and teaching based on the amount of one-sample t-test, there is a significant difference between the real value and the assumed value. The course has two criteria of participation and justification that the value of the t-test showed that there is a significant difference between the two real and assumed values. The component of education management and in-service training courses has two criteria of empowerment and justification and the t- test shows a significant difference between the real and the assumed value. The evaluation component has two criteria of participation and performance that the value of the t-test showed that there is a significant difference between the two real and assumed values. The component of the educational environment also has two criteria of motivation, facilitation- interaction in a way that the value of the t-test in all these three criteria shows a significant difference between the amounts of the two real and assumed values. The teaching component has three criteria, namely before teaching, during teaching, and after teaching. The value of the t-test shows a significant difference between the two real and the assumed values. The results of the F-test show that there is a significant difference between at the level of 0.001 between the academic rank of the respondents at the level of 0.005 and between the field of study of the faculty members in terms of performing the tasks that are related to metacognition. Conclusion. In the components of the curriculum, education management and inservice training courses, educational evaluation, instructor or teaching duties, educational planning and learning environment, the current situation is not at an appropriate level. This means that the various indicators of metacognition are not properly observed in these components. Given the importance of these components in agricultural higher education in order to achieve its macro goals and vision, the system should be reviewed and revised based on the indicators that are of significance and priority. It is necessary for the policymakers and planners of agricultural higher education to consider the indicators related to the main components of the system which have been identified in this research in planning and designing the educational programs. The Policymakers and planners are advised to change the educational system in a way that the dominant atmosphere in the classrooms would be participatory and cooperative and the content of the books be adjusted in such a way that critical thinking as a strategy of deep learning can be facilitated.
Modern Educational Approaches
A. Mirzakuchak khoshnevis; S. Ziaee
Abstract
Background and Objectives: The main aim of architectural schools is to train professional architectures who can design and organize the living spaces for people. But unfortunately these days most of them have not reach this goal. The most important reason of this issue is that the topics in the architectural ...
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Background and Objectives: The main aim of architectural schools is to train professional architectures who can design and organize the living spaces for people. But unfortunately these days most of them have not reach this goal. The most important reason of this issue is that the topics in the architectural schools do not correspond with the needs of professional workplaces. So it is important for the architectural schools to train professional architects who have enough abilities to start working, design and build real places.The 5 courses of architectural design studio are very important in learning system of Iranian architectural Universities. So it is important to analyse different teaching methods and their effects on each of these courses. In the first part of this article, the course programs of architectural design 4 have been analysed. The topics, goals and the steps of each method is explained; and in the following the effect of inductive teaching method has been analysed at Khayyam University of Mashhad as the case study of the research. The hypotheses of the research explore that the inductive teaching method let the students design more creative and rational projects, fulfil the needs of the projects that have correct relations among the spaces. Methods: The case study is Khayam university of Mashhad because one of the researchers of this research has been teaching in this university for many years. The research method is descriptive and analytical and survey research; and information was gathered by a questionnaire, observation and documental studies.The validity of questionnaire is controlled by content validity method and the reliability of the information was controlled by triangular method. The gathered information were analysed with content analysis, Spss software, graphical and deductive analysis. Findings: The results show that inductive teaching system let the students design more rational projects, which fulfil the needs of the projects that have correct relations among the spaces. These projects will be more executive and reach the architectural training goals in the school’s topics, define a better relation between the standards of the project and creative concepts and ideas and finally these projects will have better space quality that correspond with the topic of the design. But this method of teaching design process restricts the student’s creativity. Conclusion: changing the teaching methods architectural schools, changes the design process and the results of the final projects. There is a meaningful relationship between the independent and dependent variable. Because the correlation coefficient between the method of teaching designing process and the final result is good. According to the results of field studies and the research’s background we can claim that there is a relation between the teaching method of design process and the results. Each of the teaching method, according to their goals and topics which they focus on, can be successful in designing a good architectural project that fits the needs and functional conditions In future researchways to alleviate the problems ofthis instructional approach that led to limiting students’ creativity are recommended.
Modern Educational Approaches
E. Mohammadzadeh chianeh; H. Soltanzadeh; M. Dehbashi Sharif; G. Keramati
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Architectural education as a challengeable subject is dependent on multiple variables. Since formation of an architect character and learning design abilities are related to this subject, it is so sensitive. Historically, the role of mathematics and application of its ...
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Background and Objectives: Architectural education as a challengeable subject is dependent on multiple variables. Since formation of an architect character and learning design abilities are related to this subject, it is so sensitive. Historically, the role of mathematics and application of its different aspects in architectural design is indisputable. While recent decades have witnessed a high level of interaction between mathematics and architecture in the world, mathematics in architectural education in Iran is still being taught as a basic course through the lecture method. A great concern in learning architectural design is how to apply the basic courses in design process. Methods: According to the necessity of revising the role of mathematics in education of architectural design, and developing new approaches to apply mathematical thought in logical process of design, the present study aims to test an educational model in an environment consisting of test and control groups in the Basic Design 1 & 2 courses, using the proposed model of Lawson as well as quasi-experimental research method. The research subjects are selected among BA students of Islamic Azad University of Urmia (n=52). They provided logical solutions for design problems, using algebraic, arithmetic, geometric and symbolic aspects of mathematics. The subjects’ design abilities were evaluated by the performance measurement method based on verdict criteria. The researchers determined two groups of mathematical and architectural design measurement criteria. For design, the criteria included design conceptual quality, spatial and functional arrangement, form combination, presentation quality, creativity and final grade. Findings: The final grades of four research projects executed in two studios were respectively for design 62.57,66.29, 71.30, 75.31 and for mathematics 64.99, 69.27, 71.72 and 74.9. The correlation between design and mathematics evaluation scores for project 1 of the studio 1 (ƿ=0.594) and project 2 of the studio 2 (ƿ=0.604) is independently obvious which indicates the strong combination between mathematics and design aspects in these projects. For the project 2 of the studio 1, the correlation was low (ƿ= 0.166). The possible explanation could be based on the lack of real materials application and the experiment of altering theory analysis to practical analysis. The correlation between design evaluation scores and mathematics application (ƿ=0.384) reveals a positive role for mathematical thought in developing logical solutions and general quality of design. Conclusion: Findings of this study directly refers to the correspondence between research assumptions and the verdict criteria. The findings indicate that students’ performance in test group is better than the students in control group in all criteria except the presentation. The best performance by subjects of the test group means that their ability in creating solution concept has much improved compared with the control group as a result of manipulating the independent variable which is the education method in this study. This improvement couldn’t be related to other unrelated independent variables, because these variables have been either controlled or their effect has been studied through the pre-test. Stated on the findings in analyzing the general quality of design, students provided complicated geometric patterns in their design as logical, creative and efficient solutions through realizing their mathematical principles. Acquiring and developing the design schema based on design problems in the Basic design studios results the improvement of the students’ ability in logical aspects of design.
Modern Educational Approaches
N. Yaftian; M. R. Ansari
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Understanding mathematical concepts is impossible without emphasizing reasoning and takes on instrumental and procedural aspects, and can be more easily recreated if mathematics is learned as a reasoned science instead of a set of procedures. On the other hand, the goal of ...
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Background and Objectives: Understanding mathematical concepts is impossible without emphasizing reasoning and takes on instrumental and procedural aspects, and can be more easily recreated if mathematics is learned as a reasoned science instead of a set of procedures. On the other hand, the goal of any educational system is to prepare students for social life; So that they can perform their daily duties well as a citizen. In this regard, they must be able to convince themselves and others with the reasoning they present. However, students face widespread difficulties in understanding reasoning and proof in mathematics as well as in assessing their correctness. Therefore, it is important for students to evaluate the correctness and validity of mathematical reasoning and to use these reasoning to convince themselves and others and deserves further attention and research. The purpose of this research was to study the ability of 11th grade students to evaluate mathematical reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of students.. Methods:The present study was conducted by survey method.The statistical population consisted of the 11th grade students in Zanjan and the sample includes 393 boy and girl students selected by random cluster sampling from the gifted, exemplary public, Shahed and public schools and the sample was selected to include all levels of students.. The research instrument is a researcher-made test consisting of 3 problems in familiar, completely familiar and unfamiliar situations. Students were provided with some responses for each of these three situations to determine which responses can be selected to convince themselves, which ones can be chosen to convince friends, and finally which ones can be selected to get the best score. Descriptive and inferential statistics (Chi-square test) were used for data analysis. Findings: The findings indicated that students were not capable of evaluating mathematical reasoning and in more than 60% of cases they were particularly interested in using formal methods. Selecting the responses to persuade themselves and friends in more unfamiliar situations indicated that students paid less attentionto to accepted criteria for accepting a logical reasoning. Students' performance to get the best score from the teacher indicated that their attention to correct and incorrectsymbolic responses has increased, the form of presentation seems to be more important to them,. Although they are not able to distinguish formal proof content from the false one, they have ea better understanding for distinguishing invalid reasoning in the familiar situations. The results showed that in some cases gender influenced students' performance. Conclusion: It can be said that the current teaching method in mathematics has not had significant results in the area of reasoning and proof. Therefore, it is necessary to review the teaching methods and the content of the textbooks. The results of this research can be used by education policy makers and textbook authors to pay special attention to the situation of reasoning in mathematics textbooks by being aware of students' views on mathematical reasoning, and perhaps by changing the way textbooks are written, a fundamental step to solve difficulties. Also, by being aware of students' performance in the field of reasoning and proof, math teachers can identify the strengths and weaknesses of their students in the process of math proofs and identify their misconceptions in this field.
Modern Educational Approaches
N. Karimi; H. Vahedi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: The educational Burnout and task value are among the most important variables in the field of education. Educational burnout refers to feeling of tiredness in doing tasks and study, as well as a pessimistic Attitude to education and curriculum and a feeling of inadequacy. The ...
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Background and Objectives: The educational Burnout and task value are among the most important variables in the field of education. Educational burnout refers to feeling of tiredness in doing tasks and study, as well as a pessimistic Attitude to education and curriculum and a feeling of inadequacy. The task value is one's perception of tasks and its importance, which includes the components of interest, importance, and usefulness. Research has shown that these two variables can affect academic outcomes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of training math skills in physics education on improving the task values and reducing the educational Burnout of 12th grade students. In this regard, the present study aimed to compare students with and without training math skills in physics education in terms of the educational Burnout and task value. Materials and Methods: The present research method was a quasi-experimental design as a pre-test-post-test with a control group. In this study a sample of two classes with 36 students from the 12th grade math-physics students from the statistical community of students of the District 1 of Tabriz was selected in the first semester of the 2018-19 academic year. The students in this study were selected by Targeted Sampling and then randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups. Students in the experimental group were exposed to math skills training for 8 sessions and the control group received traditional training over the same period. The training math skills in physics education package has been prepared by physics teachers and reviewed and approved by professors in the field of education and physics at the university. This package included justifying students about training math skills and their applications in training physics concepts such as vector analysis in physics, linear function and its application in physics, Quadratic function and its application in physics ،Tangents and slope. Both groups were evaluated before and after the study by educational burnout and task value questionnaires. The obtained data were analyzed using covariance method. Findings: The results of study showed that there is a significant difference between the two groups in terms of their educational burnout. Students who had math skills training in physics education demonstrated lower educational burnout in compare with control group. The results also showed that there was a significant difference between the two groups in the task value. The results show that students who have been taught math skills show a higher task value. Conclusion: The results of the research confirm the effect of teaching math skills in physics education on improving the task values and reducing educational burnout of students.The results can be used in the field of education. In this regard, it is suggested that in order to improve the task value and reduce academic burnout and consequently to improve academic outcomes, the teaching math skills in physics education should be considered. The study did not examine burnout subscales. In future researches, it is suggested that the effect of teaching math skills on physics education on the subscale of academic burnout be examined.
Modern Educational Approaches
M. Talebi; M. Moosavi; K. Poushaneh
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Creativity or Innovation is a controversial issue in various scientific fields, especially educational sciences and psychology. If we consider design as an imaginative creation of pre intended possible form of things to achieve different humanistic purpose; in this process, ...
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Background and Objectives: Creativity or Innovation is a controversial issue in various scientific fields, especially educational sciences and psychology. If we consider design as an imaginative creation of pre intended possible form of things to achieve different humanistic purpose; in this process, Creativity, as a multilevel concept, can be thought as a process that, although formed in the human minds, but is has also objective appearance in architectural patterns, methods and designs. In recent decades, the creativity concept Investigation, its functions and its influence on learning - as well as the ways of teaching creativity - have become a matter of great importance. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the levels of basic and altered creativity in the architectural design studio (3) course, based on the four main components of Torrance Creativity Thinking Test (Fluency, flexibility, originality and Elaboration) and Scamper tecnique. Materials and Methods: The required data of this research were collected by using the experimental research method in the form of the pre-test and post-test design through both Torrance's test and drawing sketch among the students of Ardabil Azad university in the second semester of the academic year 2017-2018. The research sample consisted of 40 students divided into two groups with two individual instructors. In first step, by using the pre-test, the level of students' creativity in each of 4 dimensions was measured. Then, in order to evaluate altered creativity, the first group was trained by common training - approved in higher education- and the second group instructed and evaluated through the experimental intervention – implementation of creativity training program (Teaching Brainstorming technique) in 6 sessions, by Related exercises. Finally, in second step, by using Scamper technique, drawing sketch test was given to both groups. Findings: Statistical data were analyzed by running both MANOVA and ANOVA techniques in SPSS. The Results obtained from the implementation of the experimental method, showed statistically significant difference between the experimental group and the control group (common and approved method of training) at the levels of Torrance creative thinking components. And among 4 components of Torrance creative thinking, Fluency has been improved by creativity training techniques more than other components in both multiple choice and sketching tests. In fact, it could be deducted that students, were able to draw more ideas related to the subject of design, after learning creative techniques in the post-test step, which showed an increase in the fluid level of creativity of this group. Also, based on data analysis, the originality dimension is at a lower level than other components. Conclusion: While creativity based instruction enhances architectural design skills and impacts on all components of creativity (Fluency, flexibility, originality and Elaboration), the current teaching method not only can undermine the students' originality but also may lead the design process to imitation. In addition, in the originality dimension, due to factors which has influence on it such as time and space, the student's experience, adequate practice and group interaction, it is suggested to consider each of these components in assessment techniques.
Modern Educational Approaches
R. Afkhami; N. Asghary; A. Medghalchi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: The figural patterns have a unique capacity to enhance functional thinking. The patterns generalization in school mathematics is considered as a way to promote functional thinking. Variable is one of the concepts in patterns generalization. Paying attention to figural patterns ...
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Background and Objectives: The figural patterns have a unique capacity to enhance functional thinking. The patterns generalization in school mathematics is considered as a way to promote functional thinking. Variable is one of the concepts in patterns generalization. Paying attention to figural patterns provides an opportunity for students to understand the meaning of variable and how to use it. Reference is also a central concept in patterns generalization. The number of variables is one of the characteristics that has been proposed in the pattern generalization tasks, but all the research has been related to one variable, linear and quadratic patterns. The aim of this study was to identifying the prior schemas in generalization of two-variable figural patterns. As regard to the concept of two variables, understanding three-dimensional space is a prerequisite for understanding and generalizing two-variable patterns. In these patterns, instead of one independent variable, there are two independent variables that change simultaneously and affect the dependent variable. Understanding these patterns requires the development of the R2 space scheme to R3 space, which is not a cognitively complex step and does not require the reconstruction of the existing scheme. Methods: The present research is part of a broad research which is done using quantitative-qualitative (mixed) research method. The research framework is APOS theory and based on the use of ACE (Activities, Class discussions and Exercises) teaching cycles. This research was conducted in three steps. In the first step, initial genetic decomposition for generalization of two-variable figural patterns was designed using the background, self-concept analysis and researchers’ experiences. It includes the prior schemas for generalization. In the second step, from the total 493 students of Malekan city (in East Azerbaijan) as the statistical population of research, a sample of 220, 7th grade students were selected based on the Cochran formula for determination of sample size. Then, a test that includes 7 tasks was designed based on APOS framework. The validity of the test was confirmed by three experts in mathematics education and four experienced teachers. Internal consistency of questions was estimated with Cronbach’s alpha and reported to be 0.69. Students responded the test at 90 minutes. The third step of research began with 19 students, with permission from the education and training office of Malekan, and school principals and parents of students. This step is done in three cycles. Findings: Using the analysis of students' responses to this test based on the APOS framework and doing three cycles of the research were conducted with the teaching method of Activity-Class Discussion-Exercise (ACE) with 19 students; genetic decomposition was finalized in this way, and defects of students in reference schema, R3 schema and variables schema as prior schemas in generalization of two-variable figural patterns were identified and encoded. Most of students had a good understanding of working with two variables. However in the context of generalization of two-variable figural pattern revealed many difficulties at the naming of variables, and using independent and dependent variables in proper positionConclusion: Identifying the mental constructs of students in generalizing patterns eases better teaching and learning. Conclusion: By identifying the mental structures of students in generalizing patterns, the path of teaching and learning will be smoother.
Modern Educational Approaches
N. Yaftian; M. Shayan
Abstract
Background and Objective:In workplaces, employees need to understand the meaning of the calculations they perform in their work environment, and in fact employers expect a desirable level of mathematical application from their employees. Education is obliged to train students as useful citizens for the ...
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Background and Objective:In workplaces, employees need to understand the meaning of the calculations they perform in their work environment, and in fact employers expect a desirable level of mathematical application from their employees. Education is obliged to train students as useful citizens for the society in proportion to the progress of science and technology. The question is whether a student, after compulsory education, is able to face everyday challenges or not. In many educational societies, this readiness and ability is called literacy, and in particular mathematical literacy. In other words, mathematical literacy includes applications of mathematics in relation to real life. Also, the National Council of Mathematics Teachers has stated that one of the most important goals of mathematics education is to make students aware of the role of mathematics and its effectiveness in life and development of thinking and reasoning; in addition, having confidence in their capacities and abilities in performing mathematical tasks and various problem-solving situations. The purpose of this study is to study the mathematical literacy of students in grade 9. Methods:The research is descriptive and survey method. The statistical population is 9th grade students of the junior high school in Najaf-Abad city and the sample consists of 266 male and female students selected randomly by cluster sampling method. The instrument for measuring is a researcher-made test based on the PISA study, which included 8 questions and included 14 questions. Student's mathematical literacy was studied in various fields and content areas using mathematical processes. The formal and content validity of the research tool was confirmed by experts in mathematical education and mathematical professors. Findings:The results showed that students did not perform well in mathematical literacy test. The findings indicate that the student's mathematical world is far from all aspects of issues, content areas, and mathematical processes with the real world. It is hoped that the results of this study will lead to a review of textbooks, teacher training and evaluation methods aimed at improving students' mathematical literacy so that students are more likely to come to the math class. Conclusion: However, for the progress and development of a society, citizens need to be dynamic and successful in their personal lives and have the ability to solve their personal problems. The expectation from a 15-year-old student is that he or she be able to make financial decisions for his or her personal purchases, for example, or that he or she be able to meet the personal needs of the profits from the purchase and sale of goods. Given that education professionals believe that students need both the components of communication skills and problem-solving ability to enter academia and the job market, and that these two are important through enhanced mathematical literacy, Addressing students' poor performance in assessing math literacy is not without merit.
Modern Educational Approaches
E. Zaferanieh; M. Tavakoli; A. Eslami Rasekh
Abstract
This study investigated the effects of sociocultural instruction on developing the speech act of criticizing. The participants were second language learners in two English learning classrooms as experimental and control groups. The participants in the experimental group operated under the basic principles ...
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This study investigated the effects of sociocultural instruction on developing the speech act of criticizing. The participants were second language learners in two English learning classrooms as experimental and control groups. The participants in the experimental group operated under the basic principles of the socio-cultural approach with interactive tasks, cooperation, and scaffolding. They were asked to read and criticize a peer’s work orally. For this group, the teacher provided fined tuned instruction and mediated individual tutor feedback. For both the experimental and control groups, the learners’ pragmatic development was measured through pre-tests, immediate and delayed posttests performance of discourse completion and role-play tests. The researchers analyzed the results of tests through statistical procedures such as paired and independent t-tests. The results revealed that the experimental group significantly improved and performed better than the control group, indicating the successfulness of sociocultural instruction. Next, the researchers interviewed the participants to find about their feelings. After interviewing the participants, the researchers found positive feelings of learners about this kind of instruction including low degrees of stress, high levels of excitement, fun, motivation, and clarity that provided another evidence for worthwhile impacts of sociocultural instruction.
Modern Educational Approaches
M. Samian; R. Movahedi; E. Salehi Omran; H. Saadi
Abstract
Background and Objective:The historical experience of the development process in the industrialized countries shows that agriculture has played a key role in the national development of these countries. Agriculture has complex social, political, economic, ecological, aesthetic and moral aspects. Optimal ...
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Background and Objective:The historical experience of the development process in the industrialized countries shows that agriculture has played a key role in the national development of these countries. Agriculture has complex social, political, economic, ecological, aesthetic and moral aspects. Optimal confrontation with complexities, lack of uncertainty and norms, and conflicting values and tendencies require fundamental changes in agricultural work and as a result, fundamental changes in the competencies are required by agricultural students and rural development. The goal of education should be to nurture talents, grow and develop abilities and competencies, not to define the future for students. Agricultural graduates must not only be equipped with technical and specialized skills, but also have skills to facilitate development processes, including proficiency in project management, communication and negotiation. The main objective of this research was to identify the needs of agricultural students on professional competencies and its relationship with the social structure of education based on the Borich's model. Methods: The statistical population of this study consisted both senior undergraduate and postgraduate students on different agricultural fields at both Bu Ali Sina University of Hamedan and Razi University of Kermanshah (N = 850). Of those, 385 students were selected as samples by using Cochran's formula and a simple random sampling method. The main tool for data gathering in this research was a questionnaire whose questions were designed in three sections: professional competencies, social structure of education, academic motivation. The validity of the questionnaire was calculated using a panel of experts and its reliability was calculated by Cronbach's alpha test and it was 0.88. Findings:The results of the research showed that from the viewpoint of the agricultural students about professional competencies, 8 items need to be learned by the students and integrated into students' curriculum. These were: 1. Practical skills, 2. English skills, 3. Agricultural experience, 4. Ability to implement various agricultural projects, 5. Ability to implement research project; 6. Agricultural and environmental technical knowledge; 7. Information and communication technology skills; and 8. Creativity and innovation. The results of structural equation analysis also showed the direct effect of professional competencies on two variables of academic motivation (0.78) and social structure of education (0.63), and they were significant at the level of 0.001. The results also showed that academic motivation had a direct effect on the social structure of education with a path coefficient (0.82). Conclusion: Different approaches can be used to formulate competencies and having a competency framework in a specific area. In this context, according to the functional areas and the level and nature of the expected behaviors, competencies can be divided into technical competence, methodological competence, social competence and individual competence, the ratio of which can vary from job to job. Combining different types of competencies together creates a type of competency that can be described as professional competence in practice. In recent years, one of the emerging issues is that competencies and their roles are a contributing factor to the organizations that deal with the changing environment. In this regard, the competency-oriented approach focuses on individuals and highlights the importance of human resources to achieve organizational goals.
Modern Educational Approaches
S. Haghjoo; E. Reyhani
Abstract
Background and Objective:Recent research by Rivera and Sinclair et al. Shows the impact of spatial abilities on achieving different goals in different fields of study and real life, and suggests the need to extend its learning to all levels of education. Traditional approaches to teaching geometry based ...
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Background and Objective:Recent research by Rivera and Sinclair et al. Shows the impact of spatial abilities on achieving different goals in different fields of study and real life, and suggests the need to extend its learning to all levels of education. Traditional approaches to teaching geometry based on the classification of shapes and objects and their properties have been intuitively focused on ultimately formal proof. Currently, more emphasis is placed on spatial abilities such as mental rotation, representation of three-dimensional objects, and coordination of motion and position. Incorporating such abilities into textbooks plays an important role in students' understanding of the concepts of geometry. Structure of Observed Learning Outcome (SOLO) is one of the most practical theories that falls into the general and local frameworks of cognitive development. The importance of this theory is that it can assess students' understanding of a subject at all ages. The aim of this study was to investigate the ability of students' spatial skills in solving one task and to analyze their responses based on SOLO taxonomy. Solo theory is one of the theories of mathematical education, which has a great application in our cognition of mathematical understanding and math learning of students. Methods: The research method is descriptive of survey type .A question of the Purdue standard questionnaire on spatial visualization has been selected which its formal and content validity has been confirmed by 3 math education professors and 4 teachers of geometry. By using the criterion of Cronbach's alpha, this approximate reliability coefficient(0.9) was obtained.The participants in this study were 498 students from the tenth , eleventh and twelfth grade students who were selected randomly in a multi-stage cluster of theoretical and technical schools in Bushehr. Findings: The results show that in the field of visualization 59% of students in ordinary schools are in a unistructural level. In this regard, none of the technical students reached multistructural and relational levels. While analyzing responses, their thinking patterns, multiple solutions, strategies and common misconceptions have been analyzed. The results of the study are very important for the planners, the authors of the textbooks and the researchers. Conclusion: The SOLO model helps teachers assess student learning outcomes and assess students' understanding. In order to improve students' understanding of spatial visualization and increase spatial skills, it is suggested that such issues be used in curricula and textbooks. The use of dynamic geometry and software is effective in better understanding spatial visualization, as shown by research by Demir and Ildiz. The use of the solo model is also suggested to researchers and teachers to assess students' understanding of a subject.
Modern Educational Approaches
S. Sardashti; M. Shafaie; Farhang Mozaffar
Abstract
Background and Objective:Creating a learning environment rich in social relationships in which peer interaction and collective learning can be developed is the core of the studio-based education for teaching architectural design. The social dimensions of the studio and the opportunities it provides for ...
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Background and Objective:Creating a learning environment rich in social relationships in which peer interaction and collective learning can be developed is the core of the studio-based education for teaching architectural design. The social dimensions of the studio and the opportunities it provides for collaboration and participation serve as a stimulus for learning, and it is the culture of the studio that means sustainability to students. One of the interactive teaching methods that seems to be in line with the multiplicity of today's world and the different nature of architecture and the workshop education system is the critical pedagogy method invented by the Brazilian thinker Paolo Freire. Freire considers the main purpose of education to be the development of creative and critical human beings who look critically at all the thoughts, ideas and values in society, as well as the actions of individuals and the way they deal with various events and happenings to find their roots. Freire's model in critical education mostly includes critical dialogue in which students (whole class) present their views and review evaluations and critiques. Participate in evaluating the thoughts of others and together with them, by combining views and examining arguments, take a more accurate and comprehensive approach to the issue and discover effective solutions. Therefore, it can be inferred that the critical education methodwith its special characteristics has the potential to improve the quality of architectural design classes. The aim of this study is to illustrate the procedure of applying critical pedagogy in Iran higher education context –architecture discipline- to identify challenges and improve the method in the selected environment. Methods:The qualitative method (interpretation) was selected as research method and content analysis was performed on the collected data. 24 postgraduate architecture students were selected as the sample, and by using a bipartite subject, comparison between two methods (traditional and critical) become possible. To verify and extend the model, the experiment was repeated next year with 22 different students. Findings: The results indicated that the effects of critical pedagogy have been perceived by students in eight categories: (1) improving intrinsic motivation (2) improving social skills, oral skills and self-confidence, (3) improving the speed and quality of development process of architectural ideas, (4) creating diversity and cheerfulness, (5) reducing stress and anxiety, (6) waste of time and vain discussions, (7) educational marginalization, and (8) self-censorship. The first 5 categories are positive feedbacks and the other three are negative feedbacks considered as challenges of applying critical pedagogy. At the end, some strategies are purposed to overcome these challenges and improve the quality of the classes. Conclusion:Some solutions to overcome the challenges are suggested including: students choosing an external reality topic, phasing group corrections, continuing the method to institutionalize it, changing students' view of the teacher as the source of information or the professor as a superior and miraculous person and change the view and reduce students' distrust of themselves. Characteristics for the critical teacher are also mentioned, such as humility, humor, high capacity of the teacher against laughter and jokes, great patience of the teacher in the face of useless discussions, and familiarity of the critical teacher with theories of psychology and psychoanalysis.
Modern Educational Approaches
E. Lalbakhsh; V. Ghobad; S. Azizi
Abstract
Background and Objective:The large gap between academic lessons in architecture schools and the labor market in society has made many graduates of architecture schools unfamiliar with the work process and solving architectural issues in society. An important constituent which has been present in Iranian ...
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Background and Objective:The large gap between academic lessons in architecture schools and the labor market in society has made many graduates of architecture schools unfamiliar with the work process and solving architectural issues in society. An important constituent which has been present in Iranian education and training culture from yesteryear, which can be seen in novel education stands around the world, is collaborative education. In this method, learners get accustomed to concerns related to collective benefits and group problem solving. Thus, after graduation students gain higher ability to identify issues in society and solve problems with colleagues and interact with others. The aim of this study is to present a model for collaborative architectural design education, on the subject of decreasing the gap between academic education and work. Some of the benefits which can be gained from this method include preparing learners for work and social life, improving awareness of the educational issue by grouping students of different levels, strengthening students’ responsibility and commitment towards their surrounding environment, objectivism in education, academic education based on the realities of society. Methods: In this study, the method is qualitative and post positivism. It is inductive and first-degree data was collected, organized, and classified. It sought to discover issues surrounding architectural design education in a collaborative manner. Findings:The presented model consequently showed that it is not only synergistic, but also instigates efficiency in design education students. It can also significantly reduce the gap between academic education and the labor market. Conclusion: The results of theoretical and field studies on the proposed model show that architectural design in a participatory and interactive manner while synergizing in education leads to the effectiveness of design education among students. Because in this model, the distance between academic education and students' daily life is reduced. At the same time, students achieve group benefits by raising a sense of solidarity. In this model, students feel responsible for their surroundings and gain more knowledge about the artificial environment around them. Therefore, by identifying the architectural problems of their surroundings, they seek to solve the problem as a group. Students in the architectural design studio, while communicating and creating a dialogue space, will not only be effective in enhancing each other's design capabilities, but will also seek to solve the problem by explaining clear goals and defining the architectural problems around them, by identifying a common goal. Therefore, teaching participatory architecture design reduces the gap between education and society, improves the efficiency of academic education in architectural design, and prepares the learner for professional and social life. It strengthens the student's sense of responsibility and commitment to their environment. It causes objectivism in education and makes it possible to start education by describing the issues of daily life and achieving an accurate understanding of the realities of society. It also enhances learning capabilities through social relationships, organizing experience, innovation, and creativity through pluralism. In the method of teaching participatory architecture design, it is possible to transfer experiences between different levels of students. In this way, based on this model of architectural design education, one of the most important shortcomings of architectural education, which is the long distance between the labor market and the university, will be eliminated.
