Original Research Paper
Information literacy
S. Kalvari Janaki; A.S., Khakbaz; M. Pourjamshidi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Information literacy refers to enabling individuals to determine when they need information and also having the ability to store, evaluate information, and using it effectively when needed. Teaching information literacy through the curriculum is one of the issues that has been ...
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Background and Objectives: Information literacy refers to enabling individuals to determine when they need information and also having the ability to store, evaluate information, and using it effectively when needed. Teaching information literacy through the curriculum is one of the issues that has been considered by curriculum planners in recent years. For this reason, educational systems in different countries have been trying different ways to equip people in communities with information literacy skills. Similarly, in our country, paying attention to teaching information literacy in curricula has been seen in the document of fundamental transformation of education. Two of the courses through which information literacy can be developed are Persian and writing courses. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to investigate the status of information literacy in Persian and writing textbooks at the first year of high school.Methods: The research method in this study was content analysis with a quantitative approach. The statistical population included Persian and writing textbooks of the seventh, eighth and ninth grades of the first year of high school (academic year 2018-2019), on the whole comprised of six textbooks. The sampling method in this study was purposeful sampling method and the sample size was equal to the size of the population, because all six books were analyzed. The research instrument is the standard checklist of information literacy, extracted from the checklist of Lotfi Maher (2010). This checklist includes eight components of feeling the need for information and how to express it, gathering information and search strategies, understanding, internalizing and recording information, the correct usage of information, organizing information, evaluating and analyzing information, being successful and laying emphasis on social, economic and legal aspects of information. Indicators of descriptive statistics including frequency, frequency percentage, tables and graphs were used to analyze the data.Findings: The results showed that although quantitatively, on the average, about one third of the messages of all these textbooks (35.45%) had paid attention to the components of information literacy; the components of information literacy were not explicitly addressed, and information literacy content was more implicitly included in these books. Meanwhile, the status of writing textbooks in terms of information literacy components was better than the Persian textbooks, and grade 8 writing textbook with a frequency of 51.82 had the first rank and eighth grade Persian textbook with 23.84% had the lowest rate of information literacy messages among all the studied textbooks respectively. Among the components of information literacy, the fourth component (correct usage of information) was ranked first with the highest percentage and the eighth component (laying emphasis on the social, economic and legal aspects of information) was not considered at all. Very little attention was paid to the seventh (success) and the sixth (information evaluation) components.Conclusion: The results make it clear that reviewing these textbooks in terms of information literacy messages is necessary for curriculum planners. In this regard, it is suggested that texts or activities would be added to the content of these books to encourage students to conduct research and refer to various sources of information. It is also necessary to develop information literacy skills more explicitly in these books.
Original Research Paper
e-learning
F. Hashemi; S.A. Qureshi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: One of the problems of students in elementary school is lack of comprehension skill which has led to poor performance in all areas of learning. E-learning, as a strategy based on searching and constructing concepts, forces learners to think at high levels so that they can analyze ...
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Background and Objectives: One of the problems of students in elementary school is lack of comprehension skill which has led to poor performance in all areas of learning. E-learning, as a strategy based on searching and constructing concepts, forces learners to think at high levels so that they can analyze and apply complex information; thereby, they can create an engaging online teaching and learning strategy. E-learning environments are unlimited in designing activities and engaging learners to satisfy their intuition and curiosity. Learning in this way improves thinking skills at high orders, which include content thinking, critical thinking, creative thinking and comprehension. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of educational factors that are based on e-learning environments on the comprehension skill of sixth grade elementary students in the academic year 2019-2020.Methods: The research has been done in two parts: qualitative and quantitative. In the qualitative section, by using the qualitative content analysis method, internal and external characteristics of educational factors that are based on e-learning environments were extracted from relevant sources and studies and approved by experts in the form of a model. The statistical population of the study consisted of 22854 students of the sixth grade of elementary school of Qom Province, among which 90 students from 3 schools were selected using available sampling method and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Then, in order to investigate the effect of these characteristics on students' learning, a quasi-experimental method was used with three groups (experimental group: 30 students, control group one: 30 students and control group two: 30 students). Research instruments and materials included educational multimedia with the same content but with a different pattern of educational factors as well as learning test questions. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance.Findings: The results indicate higher average scores of the experimental group (educational factor with internal and external characteristics) as compared to those of the control groups and also higher comprehension of the control group one (educational factor without internal and external characteristics) than that of the control group two (multimedia without educational factor). According to the results of dynamic speech research (pausing and raising and lowering the voice of the agent), personalized speech (informal speech instead of formal) and human voice as compared to computer voice are more acceptable and lead to better comprehension. The proximity of the competence of the agent and the learner, the skill that is proportionate with that of the learner and the variable role of the educational factor (motivator, expert and coach) lead to more learning.Conclusion: Educational factors can create rich learning environments to engage and motivate the learners. Based on the findings, it is concluded that in designing educatrional factors in multimedia, design instructions that are based on the internal and external characteristics of educational factors should be considered. Moreover, designers and manufacturers of multimedia educational software are recommended to use the standards and scientific principles in this field when designing and producing multimedia.
Original Research Paper
e-learning
A. Babajani; َA. Sharif; M. Hassanzadeh
Abstract
Background and Objectives: The use of social media is expanding among students and different age groups. According to the published statistics, 67% of Iranian users of social networks are 12 to 17 years old. These people are of school age and most of them are students. Due to the few activities in the ...
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Background and Objectives: The use of social media is expanding among students and different age groups. According to the published statistics, 67% of Iranian users of social networks are 12 to 17 years old. These people are of school age and most of them are students. Due to the few activities in the field of design and development of scientific social network for this age group, the need to pay attention to the design and implementation of social networks for students according to their needs and based on the values of the Iranian society is felt more than ever. The purpose of this study is to identify the essential features of the student scientific social network at three levels: classroom, general and games and five management capabilities including identity information management, content management, communication management, search management and information management. Based on the aforementioned purpose, one question and four hypotheses were made.Methods: As applied research, this study was carried out using exploratory mixed methods (qualitative-quantitative). In the qualitative stage, observation and structured interview were used as the basis of collecting data. The international scientific social networks were observed to develop the draft of interview questions and the relevant documents. To conduct the interview, a sample of 15 experts were selected purposefully and exposed to the structured interview. Finally, based on an analysis of the content of the social networks and the data collected from the interviews, management capabilities and their specific indicators were categorized. In the quantitative section, the research method was surveying and the data collection tool was a questionnaire. The opinions of two groups, including 15 experts of the previous stage of the study and 43 information technology officials of smart schools in Tehran regarding the importance of the indicators obtained for each of the management capabilities, were collected and prioritized. To validate the collected data in the qualitative section, the review method both by the interviewees and the peers was used. In the quantitative section, the content validity was formally approved by the experts and the reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient.Findings: The identified indicators for managerial capabilities in the main sections of the student scientific social network include 36 indicators in the classroom section, 37 indicators in the general section and 20 indicators in the game section. In each of the tripartite sections, the indicators related to the quintuple managerial capabilities were categorized. 11 indicators related to identifying information management are common to all three sections. The findings of the study show the importance of all indicators identified in the main sections of the student scientific social network. The highest average score obtained is related to the game section with an average of 8.66 versus an average of 8.30 for the general section and 8.45 for the classroom section. However, the degree of importance of those indicators is not the same for the respondents, and, accordingly, the indicators were prioritized. The total score of the indicators of the game section is more than the two general and classroom sections and the game capabilities can be used to advance educational goals. Moreover, it is possible to use the game factors and the capabilities that have been found in this study to further strengthen and support the students’ curriculum and general education.Conclusion: The presence of appropriate indicators for the use of information literacy capabilities in the scientific social network, as well as the use of motivational and playful factors such as point wins can help to increase student participation in educational activities. The possibility of sharing learning problems, class participation in content production, providing information about the activities of friends and groups, the possibility of defining competitions and urban challenges, the possibility of sharing social issues and proposing challenges and competitions based on interests which, in this study, have been recommended as appropriate indicators in different sections of social network, can help in strengthening group participation, project-oriented learning, and group problem-solving. Also, sharing and communication capabilities can provide different students with equal opportunities to grow and learn. The framework proposed in this research can be used to evaluate the existing student scientific social networks. It can also provide a framework for designing and developing software for the student scientific social network based on the local characteristics and imitating the model of similar international student social networks.
Original Research Paper
e-learning
F. Zamani; B. Talebi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: The use of information and communication technology in schools is one of the symbols of classroom intelligence which has become more prominent with the advent of virtual social networks and has become widespread with the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. One of the major ...
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Background and Objectives: The use of information and communication technology in schools is one of the symbols of classroom intelligence which has become more prominent with the advent of virtual social networks and has become widespread with the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. One of the major results of this pandemic is that the application of information and communication technology in schools can lead to the promotion of students' academic engagement. The purpose of this study is to explain the effects of language learners' use of social networks on their academic engagement in learning the English language.Methods: This research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive and correctional in nature. The statistical population in this study includes all of the 1874 language learners in Iran Language Center - Tabriz Branches, who were studying English in the spring semester of 2016. From this number of students, based on Krejcie and Morgan table, 204 people including 90 girls and 114 boys were selected, first using the stratified random sampling method equally according to the branches of the Center and in the next stage, using the relative stratified random sampling method according to gender. The criteria for inclusion in the study were regular class attendance and taking the mid-term and final exams as well as the interest in continuing participating in the research and providing the required information. Moreover, the criteria for exclusion from the study were lack of class attendance or lack of interest in providing the required information. The instruments used in this study were the Academic Engagement Questionnaire (α₌0.96) and the Educational Use of Social Networks Questionnaire (α₌0.96). Both questionnaires are based on the Likert scale and 5 degrees. In order to analyze the data, the test of structural relationships and prediction with PLS software at the significance level of 0.05 was used.Findings: Descriptive statistics showed that the average academic engagement was 93.82 ±14.2, the average behavioral engagement was 30.27 ± 4.41, the average emotional engagement was 33.8 ± 5.8, the average cognitive engagement was 29.57 ± 5.47, the average educational use of social network for classroom activities was 22.97 ± 9.7, the average educational use of the social network for extracurricular activities was 33.38 ± 8.95 respectively. The use of structural relationships test with PLS software showed that there was an increase in the students' academic engagement, behavioral engagement and emotional engagement with increasing their educational use of social network for classroom activities (p₌0.05). Moreover, there was an increase in academic engagement and emotional engagement of students with an increase in their educational use of social network for extracurricular activities (p₌0.05). The effects of learners’ educational use of social networks for classroom activities on their cognitive engagement and the effect of the learners' educational use of social networks for extracurricular activities on their behavioral engagement and cognitive engagement were not significant (p >0.05). According to the corrected coefficient of determination (0.17), changes in academic engagement can be predicted based on the educational use of language learners of the social network.Conclusion: By increasing the use of technologies based on virtual social networks in the classroom, principled planning and appropriate content regulation can improve academic engagement in language learners. Launching various educational software applications during the Covid-19 pandemic is a good opportunity for appropriate use of information and communication technology in schools and foreign language classes in language teaching centers which will be a good investment to promote academic engagement in language classrooms.
Original Research Paper
e-learning
F. Fadaei; H. Kalantari Dehaghi; M. Abdollahzadeh Rafi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Helping children with learning disabilities in the first years of school by using attractive, technological, and accessible solutions is essential to overcome these problems in many situations, such as the pandemic of Covid-19 to help educators in the achievement of their goals. ...
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Background and Objectives: Helping children with learning disabilities in the first years of school by using attractive, technological, and accessible solutions is essential to overcome these problems in many situations, such as the pandemic of Covid-19 to help educators in the achievement of their goals. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of consecutive letter presentation, using a computer-based method on the improvement of the reading ability of dyslexic elementary students.Methods: The research method is quantitative, within the framework of single-subject research projects, and A.B.A.B or Reversal Design. The population of the present study consisted of dyslexic students of Arak city who were studying in the academic year of 2019-2020. Six individuals (2 girls and 4 boys) were purposefully selected from this population. The research instruments were a researcher-made vocabulary checklist, Shirazi and Nilipour Reading Test (2004), Soleimani Phonological Awareness Test (2000) and Fast Naming Test. The research tool was researcher-made software prepared by Microsoft PowerPoint program and run in the final format of Adobe Captivate program in which the words were displayed and pronounced letter by letter, syllable by syllable and finally completely to the student. The research intervention lasted 4 weeks. In the first and third weeks, only the word reading test was administered every day. In the second and fourth weeks, the same tested words in the previous week were taught and exercised. Also, at the end of each week, the phonology test was repeated in the fifth session. Tests of fluency and accuracy of reading texts, phonological awareness, and rapid naming were also administered as pre/post-test before and after the intervention. The results were analyzed, using SPSS software and Wilcoxon and Friedman statistical tests.Findings: The findings showed that the use of computer-based method of presenting consecutive letters can improve the accuracy of reading words separately, as well as the accuracy and fluidity of reading the text; and the student will be able to read in a shorter time and with fewer errors. Also, this method showed significant and upward progress in the phonological awareness of dyslexic students during the intervention. It was also found that after using this method, students did the task of naming the colors with greater speed and fewer errors; indicating that this method had a significant positive effect on information processing speed.Conclusion: The intervention performed in this study, using the available software such as PowerPoint, was able to prove acceptable effectiveness in improving dyslexic students' reading skills, phonological awareness, and information processing speed. Predicting the budget and expert work force to produce content, or teaching the teachers how to prepare and use such programs can be on the agenda of primary educational centers. Also, research on more samples can increase the generalizability of the results.
Original Research Paper
e-learning
P. Alikhani; M. Rezaeizadeh; R. Shahverdi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: The goal of this study was to assess Shahid Beheshti University’s courseware in terms of technical, instructional, and counseling based on Khan’s e-learning framework through reflection on students’ experiences.Methods: The study used a grounded theory research ...
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Background and Objectives: The goal of this study was to assess Shahid Beheshti University’s courseware in terms of technical, instructional, and counseling based on Khan’s e-learning framework through reflection on students’ experiences.Methods: The study used a grounded theory research design. The statistical population of the study was undergraduate students from Faculty of Education and Psychology who had taken Shahid Beheshti University's courseware. Participants were 32 students that were selected by purposeful criterion-based sampling method. Using semi-structured interviews, information was obtained to achieve the researcher's theoretical saturation. The findings were analyzed using Strauss and Corbin coding methods at open and axial coding levels.Findings: The findings from the analysis of one-to-one interviews indicated that: 1. Loss of information from group discussions; 2. Lack of access to useful resources and links in the courseware; 3. Little information about user/support team participation status; 4. Lack of attention to instructional support to student’s success in courseware; and 5. Inadequate information about the activities of service desk have influenced the motivation and continuous activity in the courseware. Most importantly, these issues affect the users’ attitudes towards e-learning.Conclusion: The study of students' experiences showed that the resource support of the courseware needs more review and attention. Ignoring this dimension of e-learning will create a gap between the potential of technology on learning and its use in practice. In other words, the lack of instructional, counseling and technical support affected users' attitudes towards e-learning. According technology acceptance model, perceived ease-of-use will be affected by usefulness of e-learning system. So that, students will not be inclined to continue their activities using it. Therefore, the present study recommends continuous evaluation of the courseware to identify the behavior pattern of users during the activity in the course and apply the necessary support mechanisms. For example, this goal can be achieved
Review Paper
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.
Original Research Paper
Education technology - higher education
M. Arghiani; M. Mirhashemi; M. Mahvash
Abstract
Background and Objectives: One of the effective and significant concepts that has drawn designer’s attention about human and environment is sense of belonging. In environmental design field, despite the frequent use of this word, a clear definition of this concept and its elements has not been ...
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Background and Objectives: One of the effective and significant concepts that has drawn designer’s attention about human and environment is sense of belonging. In environmental design field, despite the frequent use of this word, a clear definition of this concept and its elements has not been presented yet. In this research, for the practical use of sense of belonging in the field of design, first of all, the dimensions and components of this concept, according to the needs of the field of design, have been defined and then the impact of the physical and emotional dimensions of belonging have been evaluated in different patterns of schools; in order to determine the roles of these components in the formation of sense of belonging and finally the quality of the design of educational environments. The primary goal of this study is to create a basis for quality environment in educational spaces by reinforcing sense of belonging and the secondary one is to explain the concept of sense of belonging within the framework of environmental design.Methods: The first part of this study is theoretical type and the second one in terms of goal is applied, that forms a mixed-methods research. The first part is done by using descriptive and analytical methods and examining the theoretical and technical background, and the second part is a survey based on inferential statistics. Library instruments and a questionnaire were used to collect data. The research instrument of the survey part in this study is a researcher-made questionnaire, the final version of which has been approved after several stages of qualitative validity checkup. The statistical population of this study consists of high school students in Bojnord and the samples were randomly selected. Then, the effective components on the sense of belonging have been analyzed and prioritized based on the questionnaire indicators. Questionnaires collected from two patterns of modern and traditional schools in Bojnord were analyzed by SPSS software. In this regard, linear regression correlation test has been used to investigate the relationship between independent and dependent variables. Based on this, 16 indicators have been evaluated based on 3 dimensions of belonging; environmental, activity and emotional-psychological dimensions; then the amount and intensity of the correlation has been measured.Findings: According to the obtained results, "Environmental dimensions" with a beta coefficient of 0.243 and a significance level of zero, have the highest correlation with the sense of belonging. This finding shows that the level of belonging among the research variables has the greatest impact from the physical dimensions and related indicators and the changes in this component predict about a quarter of the changes in the independent variable; the sense of belonging. The second component affecting the sense of belonging with beta 0.208 and the significance level 0.004 is "Emotional dimensions". This finding highlights the important connection between emotion and place. Also, the variable "Activity dimensions" with a beta number of 0.206 and a significance level of 0.001 is the third component which explains the sense of belonging and the promotion of belonging in the studied high-schools.Conclusion: The "environmental dimension" component; which is arising from the physical characteristics of an environment is the most decisive factor in explaining the sense of belonging, because environmental dimensions are the source of the main features of the environment. Human is directly related to the body of an environment, and human perceptions are the result of initial interaction with the physical environment. Therefore, it is necessary to address the quality of educational environments within its physical structure. Another conclusion that the research findings show is that the traditional schools can create higher level of belonging to the environment in individuals, so the characteristics of these schools can be represented in the new experiences.
Original Research Paper
E-Lerning
P. Arianejad; F. Mozafar; M. Khanmohammadi; B. Saleh Sedg Poor
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Nowadays, using technology is essential in many areas and has significant results for its users. Education is one of the areas in which the use of technology has increased its effectiveness. Educational simulations are among the potential provided by the educational technology ...
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Background and Objectives: Nowadays, using technology is essential in many areas and has significant results for its users. Education is one of the areas in which the use of technology has increased its effectiveness. Educational simulations are among the potential provided by the educational technology in this area. Simulatoins have provided various learning opportunities and experiences. Additionally, they have positive effects on the improvement of the learning quality. In technical and vocational education where most of the students’ activities practically occur in workshops, educational simulators can be used as supplementary materials for real activities in workshops by reducing the potential risks and also at a lower cost. On the one hand, according to the interior architecture curriculum, a significant part of the activities of the art students are related to the implementation of the interior decorations in indoor spaces which require the provision of the necessary materials, tools, and equipment. The art students should frequently practice workshop activities to gain the necessary skills and efficiency in the labor market. On the other hand, due to the novelty of this field of study in the technical and vocational education system, some of the art teachers may lack the required skills in practical activities and they may even use inappropriate workshop activities, such as lecturing. Therefore, determining the features of the simulators based on the underpinning curriculum can be a prerequisite for creating simulators and reducing the aforementioned challenges. The approach for developing the interior architecture curriculum is competency approach which emphasizes the learners’ job attributes and their learning outcomes. It is worth noting that this approach has three components, including knowledge, skill, and attitude which are interwoven to result in the intended outcomes for individuals. Since the competency approach focuses on the skills required by the job market, the process of learning is purposeful and the learning speed is adjusted according to the learner's characteristics. Computer training simulators, if designed in accordance with the competency approach, can achieve the desired educational goals in the field of interior architecture and serve as a complementary and effective tool for teaching workshop lessons. This complementary tool, along with workshop activities, will pave the way for interior architecture students to enter the labor market. This study intends to identify the features of computer training simulations in interior architecture education with a competency-based approach from the experts’ perspectives.Methods: Exploratory mixed methods design (Qualitative-Quantitative) was applied using Delphi Survey. In the first stage, semi-structured interviews were conducted with experts from architecture and educational technology areas and data were analyzed through open coding and axial coding techniques. Accordingly, using goal-content table, the researcher-made questionnaire was created. Then, the questionnaire was filled out by the experts in two stages, (exploratory and confirmatory). Snowball sampling was applied for selecting participants in which the sample size up to the theoretical saturation was 10 individuals at the interview stage and in the stage of filling out the questionnaire it was 26 individuals.Findings: After analyzing the data, Q factor analysis was conducted to extract the factors. Accordingly, the features of computer simulators in interior architecture education with the competency approach from the experts’ perspective include: realism based on content and pedagogical standards, capability of practice, repetition, user –friendly environment, visualization of content, various learning and assessment opportunities, interactiveness of environment and learning management, adaptation of content to educational goals and the values of professional ethics.Conclusion: By observing the content and pedagogical standards in simulation environments which are very similar to the workshop environment, it is possible to increase the competencies of students of interior architecture. The effectiveness of practice, repetition, and tendency of the art students for doing exercises could be increased through the duplicability of the activities along with the provision of the required attractiveness. The visualization of the concepts, particularly in the cases having complexities in the implementation processes, increases the student’s perception of those concepts. By increasing the simulation capabilities, different learning opportunities provide more possibilities for art students. In addition to creating conditions for monitoring what students have learned, predicting assessment opportunities provides them with the possibility of self -assessment. Also, the interactivity of the simulator and the management of the learning process by the art students are the characteristics of the environments in which active learning takes place and causes the coordination of the learning process with the speed of student's progress. Laying emphasis on the ethical values and integrating them with the components of competency can strengthen the educational objectives in designing the activities.
Original Research Paper
TVET
S. Kadkhoda; N. Nastiezaie
Abstract
Background and Objectives: After the declaration of a state of emergency caused by the Covid-19 pandemic in late 2019, countries took measures to control the pandemic, such as full quarantine or the implementation of social distance. One of the action measures taken in the field of education by many ...
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Background and Objectives: After the declaration of a state of emergency caused by the Covid-19 pandemic in late 2019, countries took measures to control the pandemic, such as full quarantine or the implementation of social distance. One of the action measures taken in the field of education by many countries including our country, Iran, was the closure of schools and higher education centers. As a result, the concern to develop and implement curricula for continuing education at home and under the quarantine became the biggest challenge for education systems, and the issue of e-learning became very important. Among the numerous factors that can affect virtual learning, in this study, only two factors of information literacy and the teachers’ attitudes toward virtual learning are discussed. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate teachers' information literacy and its relationship with their attitude toward e-learning.Methods: The research method was descriptive-correlation. The statistical population of the study included 152 teachers in Nikshahr [Sistan and Baluchestan province] in the academic year 2020-2021. 109 teachers were selected through random-stratified sampling in terms of gender and teaching level and based on Cochran sampling formula. The data collection was based on questionnaires of information literacy (in the areas of ability to determine the scope and nature of information, ability to effectively access information, ability to critically evaluate information, ability to use the information purposefully and ability to understand the legal and economic aspects of using information) and attitudes toward e-learning (with components of feeling of self-sufficiency, feeling of desire, feeling useful, intention to use e-learning, feeling satisfied and the tendency to multimedia education). One-sample t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient and stepwise regression were used to analyze the data by using SPSS software.Findings: The results showed that that teachers' information literacy in the areas of ability to determine the scope and nature of information, ability to effectively access information, ability to critically evaluate information critically, ability to use information purposefully and ability to understand the legal and economic aspects of using information is lower than the average level; there was no significant difference in comparing the level of information literacy of teachers in terms of demographic characteristics other than gender [superiority of female teachers' information literacy]; teachers' attitudes toward e-learning and its components (feeling of self-sufficiency, feeling of desire, feeling useful, intention to use e-learning, feeling satisfied with the e-learning system and tendency to use multimedia education) were positive; There was a significant positive relationship between teachers' information literacy and their attitudes toward e-learning and information literacy had the ability to predict 73.4% of variance of attitudes toward e-learning.Conclusion: According to the low level of teachers' information literacy in the areas of ability to determine the scope and nature of information, ability to effectively access information, ability to critically evaluate information, ability to use information purposefully and ability to understand the legal and economic aspects of using information and its positive relationship with the attitude to e-learning, holding in-service training courses on information literacy based on the required standards for holding such courses is recommended. It is also recommended to policy makers and curriculum designers of the Ministry of Education to design and implement information literacy courses for teacher training courses.
Original Research Paper
Educational Technology - Teacher Education
M. Alizadehjamal; J. Keyhan
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Readiness for learning, teaching and application of technology and awareness of its role in facilitating student learning, is one of the main skills of teachers, especially in the Corona period, the period that the use of information and communication technology has strengthened ...
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Background and Objectives: Readiness for learning, teaching and application of technology and awareness of its role in facilitating student learning, is one of the main skills of teachers, especially in the Corona period, the period that the use of information and communication technology has strengthened as needed and forced its place in the education system. Therefore, it is necessary to be include the use of information and communication technology as a fundamental principle in the educational and curriculum of schools. On the other hand, due to the weakness of IT acceptance models in properly predicting changes in IT acceptance in educational organizations, researchers found it necessary to test the acceptance of this technology using other theoretical models. Therefore, the aim of this research was to Testing unified theory of acceptance and use of technology for predicting teachers' computer technology use in classroom.Materials and Methods. The research method was correlational and structural modeling equation and the statistical population was including all secondary school teachers in district one of Urmia city, 570 people, of which 230 high school teachers of Urmia city was selected using stratified sampling method and answered to venkatesh's and et al (2003) questionnaires of performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions and voluntariness in use of information technology. Data analysis was performed using PLS software and structural equation testing.Findings: Findings showed that performance and effort expectancy and social influence had significant effects on intention to use, and intention to use and facilitating conditions had significant effects on use. Also finding showed that gender, age and voluntariness in use had moderator role in effects of effort expectancy and social influence on intention to use. In general, the studied variables predict 31% of the decision to use technology and 16% of the amount of technology use. In this study, the variable of computer experience did not have a moderating role on the effects of the variables of expected effort and social influence on the decision to use and facilitating conditions on the rate of use.Conclusion: In short, the findings confirmed the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology. The significance of the direct effect of the performance expectation variable on the decision to use technology means that the more information technology increases a person's work efficiency and is useful for the person, similarly, it will make more decisions to use this technology The significance of the direct effect of expecting effort on the decision to use technology also means that if one considers the computer system as an easy and easy-to-use tool and finds oneself capable of acquiring the skills to use it, one will be more inclined to make decisions about using it. Also, the significant effect of social influence on the decision to use indicates that the emphasis of important people in the life of the person on the use of information technology causes the person to decide on this technology. In addition, when a person uses information technology, this decision manifests itself in the form of actual use, which shows the significance of the effect of the decision to use technology on the use of technology. The low level of predictability indicates the existence of other variables that affect the use rate, and it is necessary for researchers to test other theoretical models to investigate these factors.
Original Research Paper
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
Original Research Paper
Educational Technology
N. Alebrahim; R. Zarei; N. Shahamat; M. Amirianzadeh
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Different aspects of human societies are evolving at an astonishing rate, and as a result new domains of knowledge are being created that address human beings’ needs; therefore, education must function with greater speed and quality in these arenas. The purpose of this ...
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Background and Objectives: Different aspects of human societies are evolving at an astonishing rate, and as a result new domains of knowledge are being created that address human beings’ needs; therefore, education must function with greater speed and quality in these arenas. The purpose of this study was to identify the components of learning technology in education.Methods: The present study was conducted qualitatively. Statistical population consisted of three groups: a) published studies related to learning technology that have been published in prestigious local and foreign journals, b) specialists in the field of leaning technology, and c) upstream documents of education. The statistical sample of this research was divided into three groups: a) 82 international studies of the last two years and 210 local studies, b) interviewing the 22 experts of learning technology, and ) Upstream documents (Fundamental Transformation Document, National Curriculum, Vision 1404, Comprehensive Scientific Map of the country, General Policy of the Parliament). The data collection instrument included an open-ended interview with the participants. Data analysis was performed based on the content analysis. After extracting the codes, the main categories were extracted using axial coding. Then, by discovering the relationship among the central categories, and selective coding, the central category was identified. To validate the data, methods of feedback to participants, researcher review and stance, alignment with scientific sources and key educational documents were used. The reliability of the findings was also assessed eliciting the experts’ comments.Findings: In the context analysis section, it was indicated that in the backgrounds of 137 concepts, 15 components were the most important components of learning technology. From the interviews that were conducted, 128 concepts and 16 components were the most important factors. The examination of the upstream documents revealed that 156 concepts and 26 components were the most important components of learning technology. As the findings of this study showed, 7 criteria and 26 related indicators were applied to learning technology.Conclusion: The results of this study indicated important points that can provide valuable information for educational administrators in the field of learning technology to take basic steps to improve and enhance the quality and effectiveness of this field by adopting principled policies. By classifying the sub-components, the main components were extracted and the network of themes was drawn. As the findings of this study showed, 7 criteria and 26 related indicators were applied to learning technology. These criteria include system capability, individual empowerment, knowledge sharing, interaction with the environment, learning sharing, financial resources, content production. The system capability component included virtual capability, new capability, space and equipment supply, supply and equipment supply principles. Individual empowerment encompassed attitude, empowerment of individuals towards a collective perspective, readiness for change, and principles of technology use. Knowledge sharing entailed encouraging colleagues and group learning, knowledge acquisition, and leadership model and support. Promoting research and exchange results from the connection of the organization with the environment, learning environment, the field of training and learning work and technology. Learning sharing included continuous learning opportunity, learning sharing and system establishment, core knowledge, e-learning, comprehensive goals, learner role validity, teacher (instructor) authority role validation, and teaching-learning. Financial resources entailed principles of financing. Finally, the content production component was identified, which included content production policies.
Original Research Paper
e-learning
z. seyedi raad; A. H. Tajfar
Abstract
Background and Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of quality factors on the success of e-learning systems. This research is based on the EESS model with applying the changes obtained from previous studies and includes various qualitative components such as technical ...
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Background and Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of quality factors on the success of e-learning systems. This research is based on the EESS model with applying the changes obtained from previous studies and includes various qualitative components such as technical system quality, information quality, educational system quality, service quality, support system quality, learner quality, instructor quality, and content quality. In this study, the effects of these eight qualitative factors on "perceived usefulness" and "perceived satisfaction" as well as the effects of "perceived usefulness" on "perceived satisfaction" have been investigated.Methods: The statistical population includes 270 graduate students of information technology management who were studying in the second semester of the academic year 2020-2021 at two universities and were using a learning management system (LMS) with almost similar characteristics. 152 valid questionnaires have been collected. The five Likert scale questionnaire, including 3 general questions and 51 questions related to model variables, was used to collect data. The analysis of research hypotheses was performed using the PLS technique and Smart PLS 3 was applied to administer the tests and examine the hypotheses.Findings: The results of the analysis show that technical quality, learner quality and content quality affect the perceived satisfaction of the e-learning system. Information quality, service quality, educational system quality, support system quality and instructor quality do not affect the perceived satisfaction of the e-learning system. Information quality, learner quality, instructor quality and content quality affect the perceived usefulness of the e-learning system. Technical quality, service quality, educational system quality, and support factors quality do not affect the perceived usefulness. The perceived usefulness significantly affects the perceived satisfaction and also the perceived usefulness and the perceived satisfaction significantly affect the benefits of using the e-learning system.Conclusions: The results of this study empirically confirm the results of other studies on the effect of quality on the success of e-learning systems and show that different qualitative factors affect the benefits of the learners by influencing the "perceived satisfaction" and the "perceived usefulness" and, as a result, they will lead to the success of e-learning systems. The results of statistical analysis show that increasing the quality of the e-learning system can provide the benefits of the learners such as increasing knowledge and academic success, improving the learning process, effective communication with other students and instructors, as well as saving time and money. The research results show the importance of the quality of the learner, the instructor and the content in the success of the e-learning system and this issue shows the importance of education in increasing the technical ability to use the system and examine the methods to increase enthusiasm and encourage the learners and the instructors to use the system as well as adjust the provided course content as much as possible with the level of knowledge and needs of the learners. In addition, increasing the information quality including the existence and availability of the required information, the ease of use, the up-to-dateness and clarity of the information and its presentation method (pens, images, etc.) are greatly effective on the success of the e-learning system. Conducting appropriate research in a statistical population with a different field of study can provide more accurate information about the relationship between the field of study and the success of the e-learning system. In case of finding any differences in the results, the future studies can examine the extent to which customized systems are needed for different fields of study.
Original Research Paper
e-learning
S. F. Noorani; M. Ahmadi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Moodle is a Learning Management System (LMS) that is designed and implemented to provide easy distance learning and e-learning and run any electronic and online learning program. This system is an open-source and can be used in any field of learning. Given the importance and ...
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Background and Objectives: Moodle is a Learning Management System (LMS) that is designed and implemented to provide easy distance learning and e-learning and run any electronic and online learning program. This system is an open-source and can be used in any field of learning. Given the importance and impact of collaborative learning as an educational paradigm, Moodle has provided tools such as wikis, workshops, and forums to provide an environment of collaborative interaction. Peer learning is a form of collaborative learning in which socially equal learners teach and learn from each other. In this paper, we applied Game Theory to design and implement a mechanism to design and run a peer learning environment in Moodle. The proposed mechanism is called GT-Moodle which uses forum tools in the Moodle environment and Prisoner's Dilemma - one of the most famous games in Game Theory- to create a peer learning environment to increase the learners’ motivation in the process of learning. By investigating the education-oriented research conducted in the field of Game Theory, it was found that these research studies have modeled the interaction of teacher/teacher, teacher/learner, learner/learner, and employee/learner. To the best of our knowledge, no study has been conducted to apply the Game Theory in order to create a peer-learning space in a Moodle environment. The space and conditions of the Prisoner’s Dilemma is very similar to those of the peer learning environment. Like Prisoner’s Dilemma in which the cooperation and participation of both players bring more achievement than lack of cooperation and enmity of both of them, in peer learning, the effort and cooperation of both learners in the activities designed for learning lead to more educational achievement and learning for both of the learners. More cooperation in peer learning increases the learning improvement that is the main goal of the GT-Moodle mechanism.Methods: The present research is applied in terms of purpose, and descriptive in terms of data collection and analysis, and quasi-experimental in terms of implementation using post-test design with control and experimental groups. To evaluate, 26 students of discrete mathematics in computer engineering were randomly selected as the experimental group and 27 students were selected as the control group. The GT-Moodle mechanism uses Forum to group and define group activities. This mechanism was performed in several different sessions of the course on the test group and finally, the results of a post-test on the control and test groups were used to evaluate the effect of the proposed GT-Moodle mechanism.Findings: Using the Mann-Whitney U independent group test, the post-test scores of the test group and the control group were compared. The Mann-Whitney U test showed a p-value=0.000<0.05 meaning that there is a significant difference between the mean rank of the experimental and control groups at the level of 5%. Also, the mean rank of the experimental group was 35.31 which is higher than the mean rank of the control group with a value of 19. This indicates a positive effect for the proposed mechanism in this study (GT-Moodle) on learning enhancement.Conclusion: The results of this research can be used and implemented by any educational institution that is going to use peer learning to create a productive learning environment. Since the current Moodle's tools have been used in the design of the proposed mechanism, its implementation does not require additional skills other than those of working with the Moodle, and any instructor with the knowledge of using the Moodle space can easily use the GT-Moodle mechanism.
