Original Research Paper
Learning Environment
A. Montazeri; M. Shamsi; R. Dianat
Abstract
Background and Objective:Image processing is one of the most important issues in the field of artificial intelligence, which is used in various industrial, medical, military, and security systems. One of the most important applications of image processing is the extraction of different types of classification ...
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Background and Objective:Image processing is one of the most important issues in the field of artificial intelligence, which is used in various industrial, medical, military, and security systems. One of the most important applications of image processing is the extraction of different types of classification in the field of medical sciences. By using powerful algorithms in this field, intelligent systems can be invented that automatically understand and interpret the medical characteristics of individuals without the need to the physician supervision can discover useful information to help experts make good judgments. When the necessary parameters for the diagnosis of the disease increase, the diagnosis and prognosis of the disease becomes very difficult even for an expert, which is why computer diagnostic tools have been used in recent decades to help the physicians. This has led to a reduction in possible errors due to fatigue or inexperience of the specialist, and to provide the required medical data to the physician in less time and with more detail and accuracy. The purpose of this study is to improve the classification of new methods using a multi-layered model to address retinal diseases diagnosis. Methods: This paper presents a multi-layer dictionary learning method for classification tasks. Our multi-layer framework uses a label consistent in K-SVD algorithm to learn a discriminative dictionary for sparse coding in order to learn better features in retinal optical coherence tomography images. In addition to using class labels of training data, we also associate label information with each dictionary item (columns of the dictionary matrix) to enforce discrimination in sparse codes during dictionary learning process. In fact, it relies on a succession of sparse coding and pooling steps in order to find an effective representation of data for classification. Moreover, we apply Duke dataset for validating our algorithm: Duke spectral domain OCT (SD-OCT) dataset, consisting of volumetric scans acquired from 45 subjects 15 normal subjects, 15 AMD patients, and 15 DME patients. Findings: Our classifier leads to a correct classification rate of 95.85% and 100.00% for normal and abnormal (DME and AMD). Experimental results demonstrate that our algorithm outperforms compared to many recent proposed supervised dictionary learning and sparse representation techniques. Conlusion: The results of this study were to provide an automatic system for the diagnosis of some retinal abnormalities in a way that it could do data analysis with high accuracy in comparison to other modern methods to diagnosis delicate patterns of OCT, separate images of normal and patient the normal and in two age-related macular degeneration diseases (AMD), and diabetic macular degeneration (DME), and help the physician to diagnose retinal pathology with great care. As a suggestion for professionals and future research, by generalizing this method to the more classes, we can cover the entire retinal myopia and use it as a potentially effective tool in computerized diagnosis and screening for retinal disease or in the wider eye area.
Original Research Paper
Learning Environment
S.M. Behrooz; E. Zarghami
Abstract
Background and Objective:The child's healthy development is the path to achieving the necessary abilities to guide him to adulthood and participation in the mature life of the society. Child development includes biological, psychological, and emotional changes that occur from birth to adolescence. Neuronal ...
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Background and Objective:The child's healthy development is the path to achieving the necessary abilities to guide him to adulthood and participation in the mature life of the society. Child development includes biological, psychological, and emotional changes that occur from birth to adolescence. Neuronal pathways in the brain develop in childhood through the movement and stimulation of the senses, indicating the importance of daily experiences, social interaction, and physical activity of young children for their socio-emotional, physical, and linguistic development. More than half of the world's population now lives in urban areas. In the past, children spent most of their free time outdoors; this time was spent on activities in informal spaces, without monitoring and, in other words, unstructured. These spaces in ancestral life were the pure ancestral nature and the neighborhood, which has been an important place for children to play throughout the history all across the world. Yet, today's children spend most of their free time indoors, and most of their time outdoors in scheduled and structured activities. Children’s opportunities to have free and independent experience (the main prerequisite of natural learning) in outdoor space have declined in urban environments. Former research acknowledges the role of parents’ perception of safety. On the other hand, large cities have witnessed an unprecedented isolation from natural elements and processes. In this study, 3 to 12 years old children’s behavior was mapped in a Kavikonj Nature School, and the results were elaborated with staff interviews. Methods:. The behavior observation method was combined with the mapping of the GIS map to create a database of environment-behavior interactions that is directly related to spatial patterns. The initial stage included initial site observations to examine the main areas of observation and view of all sections of the site. Based on this, the site was divided into several areas for viewing, to make sure that each round of observations includes all sections of the site. Detailed data collection included systematic observations of all sections of the site in multiple and different situations. The observer observed all the desired ranges, which was in fact a 9-minute visual scan of all ranges. These observations were supplemented by additional data, including children's names, the intensity of their activity (static, moderate, and severe), and the elements involved in children's behavior. Weather conditions - temperature, wind, humidity, and sunlight - were recorded for each observation round. Then, to better understand children's behavior and interpret observations, a group-foused interview was conducted with six facilitators (the most experienced) at school. Findings: Our observations revealed some patterns of children’s behavior; while interviews revealed that children’s “imagination” is the foremost driver of their spatial choices and movements. We argue that children’s right to their everyday spaces should be acknowledged based on their own natural rhythms. Conclusion: Early findings suggest that the immediate spaces of "home" or "representation of the home," which we call "extension of the house," are of great importance to young children, where they spend most of their time and return many times during their long journeys. Further findings could help our knowledge of the environmental aspects of children's motor development. In addition, these findings will provide implications for the design of children's centers, and more importantly, housing in which children live, and are supposed to be the main source of community sense for them to make friends and establish their first true social connections.
Original Research Paper
Teacher Education
E.A. Salimi; M.M. Safarzadeh
Abstract
Background and Objective:Globalization and moving towards an interconnected international community has been facilitated through major changes in the field of technology such as the advancement of digital communications and the continuous transfer of large volumes of data around the world and the advances ...
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Background and Objective:Globalization and moving towards an interconnected international community has been facilitated through major changes in the field of technology such as the advancement of digital communications and the continuous transfer of large volumes of data around the world and the advances in the transportation industry for easy and fast transportation of passengers and goods. This globalization has created a level of interaction between people of different nationalities, cultures and ethnicities that is not comparable to the past. Although successful communication in the past has been one of the most important features of an effective social interaction, in recent years, this fruitful communication has become a vital feature. The present study, using a one-of-a-kind questionnaire, investigated Iranian English language teachers’ attitudes toward the phenomenon of language education glocalization for the first time. Methods: The participants of the study had different academic, age, teaching experience, and gender backgrounds. The study was conducted in two phases in the first of which a validated questionnaire was designed and developed. In the second phase, the questionnaire was employed to collect the information regarding the preferential attitudes of the teachers and descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data. Findings: The results of the questionnaire data analysis revealed that the teachers believe that there is no more only American or British English. There are, however, also varieties of English which have their own independent growth and special features according to the needs of their users. Furthermore, they think that the glocal needs of the users must be met in the process of English language education glocalization. Likewise, the teachers are for the idea that language education should not only be at the service of reflecting the native speaker English variety and culture, but it should serve all cultures to play their equal role in intercultural communication. Conclusion: Helping teachers to find their real role in their profession, the findings of the study increases the perception of language education glocalization leading to a more appropriate education program planning. The results of these studies can inform educators of teachers about their individual abilities and help to design and implement educational programs as well as possible. Access to teachers' attitudes and abilities can also help policymakers and syllabus designers develop and implement instructional materials to better perform their tasks.
Original Research Paper
Learning Environment
H.S. Shams Dolatabadi; F. Mozaffar; N. Malek; B. Saleh Sedghpour
Abstract
Background and Objective:The school yard plays an important role in the formation of the student's personality by providing opportunities for various activities, especially in the early stages of the formation of their social abilities. Creating a sense of belonging to the school can have a significant ...
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Background and Objective:The school yard plays an important role in the formation of the student's personality by providing opportunities for various activities, especially in the early stages of the formation of their social abilities. Creating a sense of belonging to the school can have a significant impact on the existence and identity of students. This feeling is created by repeated connection with the space and as a result of its coordination with the behavioral habits and mental pattern and potential and actual abilities of the person, the person feels belonged to the space more- this maximizes especially when the place belongs to a group (e.g. school). In other words, a person can only be socially and emotionally effective after meeting his or her needs and develop his or her existential capacity for growth. The aim of the study is to provide guidelines to design children’s open spaces in primary school based on promotion of learning and Emotional intelligence. Methods: An exploratory research is conducted based on both qualitative-quantitative methods, using Delphi in the primer part. Consequently, professionals were interviewed in an unstructured way in the field of landscape architecture and Psychology (emotional intelligence). Then, with the techniques of open and axial coding the content table is created. The questionnaire is also organized in two rounds. Network sampling method (snowball) on the sample size of 17 professionals is used. The data were analyzed using Q factor analysis. Findings: At the end, the most affecting elements on the Emotional Intelligence in process of learning in open primary school spaces are consist of; personal, social, design, physical spaces, Child Participation in design of their spaces and environmental psychology dimensions. Conclusion: Research has been formed around extracting the principles of designing the open space of the school according to learning and emotional intelligence. According to experts, some individual, social, natural and physical characteristics, participation in the creation of space, design and psychology of the environment are able to facilitate the conditions for the promotion of emotional intelligence and learning. In this way, by using some space features and attributes in the school yard, children's presence and belonging to the outdoor space can be aided. In the meantime, factors such as diversity of space and performance, using multifunctional spaces and flexibility also affect this process. It should be noted that the open space of the school is both a social and physical place. This means that not only does it create a space for the main function of the school, ie environmental and cognitive learning, but it also creates a space for a variety of social interactions, cultural learning and emotional learning skills through
Original Research Paper
E-Lerning
F. Rahmani; H. Ahmadi; E. Ghanbari; S.M. Khorasani Kiasari
Abstract
Background and Objective E-learning is a method of teaching that uses a combination of information and communication technology capabilities to facilitate and improve learning. The combination of these facilities provides opportunities for the learner to access the course and curriculum at any time, ...
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Background and Objective E-learning is a method of teaching that uses a combination of information and communication technology capabilities to facilitate and improve learning. The combination of these facilities provides opportunities for the learner to access the course and curriculum at any time, in accordance with their job and family commitments. The ability to access tools, the ability to choose the time and place of training, and the availability of different content formats in this environment put the learner in a position to make a variety of choices. In this environment, the learner can use different tools to communicate with classmates, teachers and other people at the same time and at the same time. Implementing quality and sustainable e-learning programs requires understanding the requirements for establishing and developing e-learning systems. Designing, setting up and maintaining e-learning environments requires a variety of knowledge and skills in the technical, educational and managerial fields. The purpose of this study is to evaluate and rank the effective factors in developing e- learning in higher education. In this study, the effective factors in developing e- learning in higher education were identified in terms of measuring factors of e-learning development including organizational, social, technical and human factors, based on previous studies and the opinion of experts. Methods: Statistical methods were used to test and confirm the research hypotheses and fuzzy AHP ranking method was used to rank the indicators. To this purpose two questionnaires were prepared. The first one is for evaluating the accuracy of the research hypotheses and the second one, a pairwise questionnaire, is for rating the indicators. The statistical population of the research is all students and professors of electronic unit of Islamic Azad University in academic year of 2016-2017. The statistical sample size was considered 384 individuals based on Cochran formula; and was selected through the random sampling method. The questionnaires were distributed among 384 individuals from which, 84 questionnaires were omitted due to different reasons such as wrong answers to the questions and the lack of enough time, and 300 questionnaires were accepted. Findings: A list of 8 indicators (student characteristics, teacher characteristics, content quality, structure management, training process, software infrastructure, hardware infrastructure, university image) is extracted based on technical, human, social, and organizational factors to evaluate the effectiveness of e-learning. The results showed that the introduced scale was a valid and reliable instrument for evaluating the effectiveness of e-learning. Conclusion: The results show that student characteristics are more important while software infrastructure is considered as the second influential factor in this regard. Also, the characteristics of the instructor, the quality of the content, the management of the structure, the infrastructure of the hardware, the teaching process and the image of the university were ranked third to eighth, respectively
Original Research Paper
Modern Educational Approaches
S. Rezaei Ashtiani; J. MahdiNejad
Abstract
Background and Objective:Architecture education is one of the most important issues in the development of architecture. In this decade, universities and colleges are increasingly committed to effective assessment of students to improve students' learning, and not just giving them a grade. The importance ...
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Background and Objective:Architecture education is one of the most important issues in the development of architecture. In this decade, universities and colleges are increasingly committed to effective assessment of students to improve students' learning, and not just giving them a grade. The importance of examining this issue is that the assessment methods for architectural education systems that are based on design and studio, need more research than other fields. In the field of architectural design, unlike other fields students do not take part in written, descriptive, or multiple choice tests, and it is much more difficult to turn what architecture students offer into a score in comparison to other disciplines. One of the important pillars of education is evaluation. The crit is the most common assessment method and having feedback in architecture. In research on the crit, little attention was paid to the sense and reception of students from the process of evaluation, while being recognized as one of the greatest student's dissatisfaction. The purpose of this research is to understand the students' viewpoints about the current methods of the crit, in addition of studying student designing capability, evaluate the design and process, in a way to judge architectural projects to improve the quality of arbitration and education in this field, شnd provides model for the correct measurement and judgment method, based on goals and design process, relying on criteria which are based on educational objectives. Methods: In this research, 40 undergraduate and postgraduate students at Sure university school of architecture were selected through cluster sampling as focus groups, and experts has been used to weight the criteria by AHP method. Findings: Among them, critical explanation with weight of 38% is more important, after that the development of the chosen idea with 21%, the concept and design solution, with 17% & 14% eventually the final design with 10% is the least important of the five criteria. Conclusion: In order to evaluate the architectural design based on the students' opinion and the previous methods of evaluation, a model was proposed. The proposed pattern correctly plays all four roles of evaluation - feedback, motivator, guide, evaluation-communication. With this model, students are graded based on the quality of their work and this have nothing to do with the performance of other students; and therefore there is no comparison between students. At the same time, because a number is presented in the end, the rank of the student is determined among the other students, while each person's work is compared to his own. In this model, the criteria are defined and prioritized based on the objectives of the course. The proposed model can provide strategies for practitioners of architecture education, such as lecturers and students to enhance their learning
Original Research Paper
Modern Educational Approaches
J. Nasiri; A.M. Mir; S. Fatahi
Abstract
Background and Objective:Internet and computer access have created opportunities for e-learning. Easier access to resources and freedom of action for users is one of the benefits of e-learning. However, e-learning is not as attractive and dynamic as traditional or face-to-face instruction, and in these ...
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Background and Objective:Internet and computer access have created opportunities for e-learning. Easier access to resources and freedom of action for users is one of the benefits of e-learning. However, e-learning is not as attractive and dynamic as traditional or face-to-face instruction, and in these systems the user's condition, such as learning rate and motivation, is not taken into account. Therefore, the developers of e-learning systems can help to solve the problems mentioned in these systems by considering the learning style and design of interactive user relationships. Automated identification of learning style not only increases the attractiveness of e-learning, but also increases the efficiency and motivation of learners in e-learning environments. Research shows that people differ in decision making, problem solving, and learning. Learning style makes people understand a story differently. For example, people with good visual memory prefer to present topics visually rather than orally. Applying a proper teaching method improves the learner's performance in the learning environment. Lack of attention to students' learning style reduces their motivation and interest in studying and engagement in educational courses. Students’ success is one of the prominent goals in the learning environments. In order to achieve this goal, paying attention to students’ learning style is essential. Being aware of students’ learning style helps to design an appropriate education method which improves student’s performance in the learning environments. In this paper, the aim is to create a model for automatic prediction of learning styles. Methods: Therefore, two real datasets collected from an e-learning environment which consists of 202 electrical and computer engineering students. Behavioral features were extracted from users’ interaction with e-learning system and then learning styles were classified using twin support vector machine. Twin support vector machine is an extension of SVM which aims at generating two non-parallel hyperplanes. This classifier is not sensitive to imbalanced datasets and its training speed is fast. Findings: In this study, increasing the attractiveness of e-learning is emphasized and the issue of automatic recognition of students' learning style has been investigated by MBTI model. Two data sets from the interaction of 202 electrical and computer engineering students with the Moodle e-learning system have been collected. The collected data set is very unbalanced, which has a negative effect on the accuracy of the categories. With this in mind, the twin support vector machine uses the least squares as a binder. The distinctive feature of this category is the low sensitivity to data balance and very high speed. The results show that the proposed method, despite the inconsistency of the data, has performed very well in the classification of students' learning style and accurately recognizes 95% of learning styles.Conclusion: Due to the excellent performance of the proposed method, a new component can be added to e-learning systems such as Moodle by identifying the learning style, content and appropriate teaching method for the learner. Future research could also gather more data from an e-learning environment and categorize learning styles with cognitive characteristics from the learner.
Original Research Paper
Curriculum Planning
G.A. Ahmady; H. Sheikholeslami; A. Assareh; E. Reyhani
Abstract
Background and Objective:The role of mathematics in various fields of science and technology and its usefulness in improving human life has been so effective and irreplaceable that it has been called the mother of sciences. Therefore, the development and improvement of mathematics curricula has always ...
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Background and Objective:The role of mathematics in various fields of science and technology and its usefulness in improving human life has been so effective and irreplaceable that it has been called the mother of sciences. Therefore, the development and improvement of mathematics curricula has always been on the agenda of curriculum planners. In such a way that these programs can provide more and more ground for the development of process, skills and attitudes of learners in mathematics and they lead to the growth and development of their understanding and logical reasoning. Therefore, achieving the goals of mathematics education should be monitored in different ways. International tests that are conducted for this purpose are designed and implemented to measure the mathematical literacy of students in participating countries and indicate the sensitivity of educational systems to the performance of students' mathematical performance. This paper evaluates the curriculum of 10th grade mathematics from the perspective of the respective teachers working in Tehran, Iran. Methods: The research is based on Aker’s curriculum elements and it also has emphasis on the mathematics context-based approach. The method is descriptive background study. The tool for the research is a self-constructed questionnaire which has been validated with the content validation method. The Cornbach’s alpha test has been utilized to test the consistency of the questionnaire which resulted in value equal to 0.910. The statistics sample size is equal to people all of which has been working as teachers throughout the 2017 academic year. To attain samples, we utilized multistage cluster sampling that carried out on a sample of 111 respective teachers. One sample t-test was used to answer the research question. Findings: The results reveal that the answer to the 6 research question were negative. That is, in curriculum of 10th grade mathematics have not been noticed to the context-based mathematical curriculum elements. Conclusion: Evaluative studies are the bases of change and transformation of curricula. Changing math curricula to a performance-based approach and link of school mathematics to everyday life and students' experiences can reveal the usefulness of mathematics to them. In this way, the interest and motivation of learning in learners increases. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct other research in the theoretical dimension to formulate the theoretical foundations of this approach in accordance with the culture of the country, so that using these fundamentals, extract principles to design appropriate mathematics curriculum. Also, in practical aspect, it is suggested that the organization of the content of the tenth human mathematics textbook be changed so that the book begins with an issue of students' daily lives to help students recreate mathematical concepts. Changing the content organization requires taking the time to teach as well as educating teachers so that they can guide students during the modeling process.
Original Research Paper
Educational Technology
R. Sharifi; Gh. Bazaee; H. Asadzadeh
Abstract
Background and Objective:Rail transport is one of the most important infrastructures for the development of the country due to its special advantages and adaptation to the environment. Article 24 and 25 of the economic affairs of the general policies of the Sixth Development Plan emphasizes the priority ...
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Background and Objective:Rail transport is one of the most important infrastructures for the development of the country due to its special advantages and adaptation to the environment. Article 24 and 25 of the economic affairs of the general policies of the Sixth Development Plan emphasizes the priority of the rail transport industry. In articles paragraphs 34 and 38 of the ICT affairs of this plan the development of communicative and intelligent systems is also referred to. The role of education in the implementation of these programs is very important, and the study, design of the model and the implementation of intelligent learning systems accelerate the development of learning in rail transport. Achieving organizational missions depends on the ability of employees to perform the assigned tasks and adapt to a changing environment. Implementing training and improving human resources allows people to effectively continue their activities and increase their efficiency in accordance with organizational and environmental changes. An Interactive Mobile Learning System (IMLS) can be designed as a tool for implementing the theory of Heutagogy. This approach is considered as a chain of andragogy and has a process look. Considering the importance of improving safety in the operation of railway, there are many facilities in the areas of infrastructure, fleet and operation of this task. The problem that the Railway Company has faced is the weakness in the safe operation of these equipment and the maintenance caused by the lack of effective training that can be identified as one of the major contributing factors to the disaster. Methods: In this research, the size of the population was 3000 drivers of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways; 280 were selected as the sample based on clustering sampling. By studying the models and learning approaches through the use of statistical tools, an intelligent model for moving from training to learning, participatory, ubiquitous and informed, and appropriate to the railway and the existing infrastructure was validated and implemented by Smart PLS software. The impact of this system on safety and the reduction of the actual workplace environmental hazards was studied. Findings: The results of the study indicated that the establishment of an interactive mobile learning system impacts the safety by influencing the drivers’ accountability, accessibility and performance. Conclusion: The intelligent interactive learning system as a potential tool for staff training and empowerment is examined. The role of education in the implementation of these programs is vital and can speed up the study and design of the model and the implementation of this system to develop the learning of the development of the country’s railing system.
Review Paper
Educational Robotics
R. Mansouri Gargar; A. Hoseini Khah; M. Alemi; Z. Niknam
Abstract
Background and Objective:As widespread changes have occurred in the community, the use of technology has also expanded. To effectively prepare for and cope with evolving of this century we need to design and develop special curricula. Educational robotics is an advanced technology that requires special ...
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Background and Objective:As widespread changes have occurred in the community, the use of technology has also expanded. To effectively prepare for and cope with evolving of this century we need to design and develop special curricula. Educational robotics is an advanced technology that requires special attention. In the past few decades, robotics has attracted the attention of researchers and teachers as a valuable tool in developing cognitive / social skills of students and in supporting the learning of subjects in science, mathematics, language, and technology. There are several important reasons why young students should be exposed to robotics. As our world becomes more and more technologically advanced, students need to early experience so that to feel comfortable with and be aware of technology. In addition, the inclusion of robotics in the school curriculum will help prepare students to enter the job market with technological literacy. Robotics is an attractive approach to technology training due to its interdisciplinary nature, which requires expertise in a wide range of fields from mathematics to aesthetics. This can attract the interest and engagement of students who have not been successful in traditional subject matters. The purpose of this paper is to explain the philosophical orientation and educational robotics foundations at the primary school level so that policymakers, engineers and curriculum developers can formulate curriculum models for implementation. Methods: In this research, educational robotics was analyzed and synthesized using the synthesis research method. Valid documents and research from the last four decades have been selected and categorized using a criterion-based purposive sampling technique. Findings: Synthesis findings indicate that robotics in schools work in two ways as an independent subject and as an educational enabler serving other topics. Logical justification of it is based on constructivist, including epistemological (personal and multidisciplinary), psychological (attention to motivation, creativity and etc.) and sociological foundations (interaction, predictability and etc.). Conclusion: In order to design a curriculum, a planner must first pay attention to the nature of the subject or knowledge and then proceed to develop a plan based on the orientations of the curriculum. Because the subject is robotics training in elementary school, the planner must pay attention to its nature first. The findings of this synthesis showed that robotics can serve in schools at all levels as an independent subject or as an educational enabler in the service of other subjects. Therefore, it is necessary to differentiate between the concepts of robotic training and training robotics. In robotics training, the subject is robot training; but in educational robotics, the robot is considered as a method, tool or technique that is used to teach other subjects.
Original Research Paper
Educational Technology
Sh. Ranjdoust
Abstract
Background and Objective:Test anxiety is one of the state stresses that is closely related to the performance and academic achievement of millions of students in educational centers. People with high test stress, unlike those with low test stress who often pay attention to homework-related variables, ...
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Background and Objective:Test anxiety is one of the state stresses that is closely related to the performance and academic achievement of millions of students in educational centers. People with high test stress, unlike those with low test stress who often pay attention to homework-related variables, pay attention to self-related variables. In other words, people with test stress are anxious during the exam. People with anxiety and high test anxiety are more alert and unhappy than those with low test anxiety and stress. When these people are in a position of evaluation, they show negative and self-centered responses that make the passage of time seem slower and causes disruption in the process of doing the task. Test stress consists of three important components: anxiety, excitement, and physical response. The negative effects of test stress on academic achievement have been confirmed in many studies. The main reason for the decline in performance is that people with test stress cannot pay attention to the tasks related to homework and irrelevant thoughts come to their minds that hinder their progress. Many factors can reduce test anxiety among Payame Noor students. One of the most important factors is the role of virtual tests. Virtual or e-learning is a new way of learning remotely, based on the Internet-intranet network. In this teaching method, the required resources are provided to the students through the Internet network, and the students can use the educational resources to learn at any time and in any place. In this way, tools such as interactive templates, simulation, online classroom, exercises, virtual tests, videos, and images and audios developed based on educational standards allow the audience to be taught. The goal of this study was to evaluate the relationship between virtual tests and stress reduction from the viewpoints of university instructors and students in Payam-e Noor University in academic year 2016-2017. Methods: This study is applied based on its goal; it is descriptive-survey based on its nature; and it is a field study based on its research method. The research population included instructors and students of Marand Payam-e Noor University (n=1896, 1740 students and 156 instructors). The sampling method is relational-stratified in both groups. The data collection instrument included two questionnaires. The first one was a standard questionnaire of virtual education and the second one is a researcher-made questionnaire. The validity of this questionnaire is approved based on experts’ opinions. In examining the reliability of this test, the level of internal consistency was estimated using Cronbach's alpha method. The Cronbach's alpha for the standard questionnaire of virtual education was 0.91 and the researcher-made questionnaire was 0.87, respectively. For analyzing the data, the graph, percentage and frequency have been used at descriptive statistics level; and the Pearson correlation test has been used for inferential statistics. Findings: The following results have been obtained: virtual tests are associated with reduced stress; conducting virtual tests is associated with reduced emotion; and conducting virtual tests is associated with reduced physical response. Conclusion: The results showed that virtual tests play a significant role in reducing anxiety, excitability and physical reactions. Therefore, to reduce stress in students and create the necessary conditions to reduce stress, it is recommended to develop the infrastructures of virtual test in universities.
Original Research Paper
Learning Environment
Y. Movahedi
Abstract
Background and Objective:Creativity, is one of the great features of human thinking. One of the creative support strategies in cognitive education and increasing creativity is designing educational space. The educational space designed to enhance creativity should provide students with the opportunity ...
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Background and Objective:Creativity, is one of the great features of human thinking. One of the creative support strategies in cognitive education and increasing creativity is designing educational space. The educational space designed to enhance creativity should provide students with the opportunity to learn by being in a position beyond the classroom. Accordingly, the educational space designed based on cognitive education should, while acquainting students with creativity in solving problems, invite them to discovery and search and encourage them to experience and manipulate phenomena. One of the main priorities of the cognitive education is strengthening students' creativity and increasing their ability to solve open problems. Also, creativity and initiative are very important for the scientific growth and development of the country. A society that can provide creativity for the younger generation, especially students, will certainly benefit from scientific growth and prosperity. As the authority, ministry of education can create a suitable platform for the intellectual development of students in this regard. The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal design of the educational environment for the promotion of creativity. Methods: The present study was a correlational design that was carried out using a precondition method. The statistical population of this study was all high school students in Tabriz during the academic year of 2017-18. 370 of them were selected as the sample and the questionnaire of optimal design of educational space and creativity was distributed among them. Data were collected using SPSS software version 19 cases were analyzed. Statistical analysis of the data was Pearson correlation coefficient and regression. Findings: The findings showed that there is a significant relationship between variation in space detail, the use of natural materials, variability in coloration, variety in lighting, flexible and flexible space, and the existence of flower and plant with cognitive creativity. This difference is significant at P Conclusion: The design of educational spaces, such as schools, is valuable because, on average, each person spends about 14,000 hours of their lives in the educational space, from elementary school to high school.However, many school buildings have been severely damaged for a variety of reasons, which is inconsistent with the attractive environment for increased creativity. In such educational spaces the physical space of the school and the environment of the students' souls and minds cause fatigue, disruption of concentration, and indiscipline in scholars, and therefore the realization of the desired goals in the field of creativity, encounter new problems. The diversity of natural elements has a great impact on promoting children's creativity. For example, plants with different shapes, colors, and sizes of flowers and leaves in different seasons contribute to space diversity, as well as different colors of the light spectrum using colored glass or creating pools of water, waterfalls, aquariums, and fountains would contribute to variety. Playing with water, planting plants by oneself and the like have a great impact on promoting motivation and releasing emotions and can be a good facilitator for student participation in group activities. Based on the findings of this study, educational providers are recommended to consider environmental components and external education in students' creativity, and take into account students' and students' environments
Review Paper
Gh. Azari Arani; J. Rezaeenour
Abstract
and organizations, each of which in turn is moving toward becoming a foundational science because incompatibility with global developments leads to failure. So organizations need to have the flexibility to change their structure, goals, strategies, and vision. One of the tools used to create a knowledge-based ...
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and organizations, each of which in turn is moving toward becoming a foundational science because incompatibility with global developments leads to failure. So organizations need to have the flexibility to change their structure, goals, strategies, and vision. One of the tools used to create a knowledge-based organization is to create the process of knowledge creation to gain a competitive advantage. As a result creation of the concept of the process of creating national knowledge will is not out of the reach. Today, countries need management of knowledge resources and, in particular, the knowledge creation for knowledge development. There are lots of studies in the field of organizational knowledge creation and so various models have been developed for this purpose. But, the important point is that the creation of knowledge has so far been at the organizational level and in some cases cross-organization and among the subset of a parent organization. The innovation of this article is identifying the process of knowledge creation at the national level. Methods: For this purpose, based on the literature review and analyzing the research gap, using the Delphi method and a survey of experts, possible processes at the national knowledge creation has been addressed. The panel of experts includes seven professors and experts in the field of knowledge management, who are both theoretically and experimentally familiar with this concept. Findings: The results of Delphi technique show that the processes of socialization, externalization, combination, culture creation, application, and internalization can be referred to as the processes of national knowledge creation. Using interpretive structural modeling, it was revealed that the processes of socialization, internalization and externalization are at level 1, the processes of culture and combination are in the second level and the process of application is at the third level of the model. Conclusion: The results of the National Knowledge Creation Model indicate that socialization, externalization, and internalization are the cornerstones of the model. This means that in order to successfully implement the creation of knowledge at the national level, one must first invest in these issues. According to the results obtained it is clearly seen that the processes of combination and culture making are independent dimensions and planning for combining knowledge among different organizations and organizational programming for culture building at organizational level can be done independent of other processes. It should be noted that the identification of the structures of the process of creating the national knowledge process has been achieved based on theoretical foundations and receiving the opinions and of a limited number of academic and experimental experts. Therefore, the scope for future research is the application of factor analysis method, path analysis and structural equation modeling approach to test the research model to examine the validity of the obtained model.
Original Research Paper
Educational Technology
G. Ali Bakhshi; M. Zeinali; M. Bakhtiarvand
Abstract
Background and Objective:One of the new developments in educational technology that is currently widely used in classrooms to increase students' learning and motivation is the smart board. Smart board is an educational tool that allows computer images to be displayed using video projector on the board. ...
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Background and Objective:One of the new developments in educational technology that is currently widely used in classrooms to increase students' learning and motivation is the smart board. Smart board is an educational tool that allows computer images to be displayed using video projector on the board. The teacher can then use his/ her finger as a mouse to directly manipulate and copy items on the board on the screen. The speaker can save the presented content. The smart board's technology capabilities and accompanying software encourage students to immerse themselves deeply in the educational content and to move forward step by step with high motivation with the teacher in order to learn the content of the lesson. Some of the strengths and weaknesses of this tool is understandable and its effectiveness can be revealed by further research.The use of smart boards in teaching English as a foreign language has been of much concern to English language teachers since a couple of years ago. However, the impact of smart boards on learning phrasal verbs and attitudes of Iranian learners of English language has not been appropriately investigated. Methods: The present study aimed at investigating the impact of smart boards on learning phrasal verbs and motivation of language learners for learning a foreign language. In doing so, 30 EFL learners at a high school in Khoramshahr were selected through convenience sampling. They received instruction on phrasal verbs through smart board within 8 weeks. The participants' scores on pretest, posttest, and follow up tests on motivation and phrasal verbs were submitted to two different repeated measures ANOVA. Findings: The results showed that there was a significant difference between the participants' scores on pretest and posttest of both phrasal verbs and motivation test. Therefore, it could be argued that the use of small boards can significantly contribute to the learners' motivation and learning of phrasal verbs. Conclusion: Smart boards as a tool have great potential to increase teachers 'educational performance and learners' educational achievements, and ultimately improve student achievement. However, the claim that the student's success can be automatically increased using this technology may be incorrect. Therefore, teachers need to think carefully about how to use this tool. Due to the spatial limitations of this research, its replication research in other schools may have different results. Therefore, the results may not be generalized to all high school students and other areas. The duration of this study was only eight sessions, which seems to be a limited time. In addition, the participants were high school seniors, and other high school levels were not considered, and only female students were recruited in the study. As a result, choosing a larger sample size consisting both male and female students can increase the validity of the results.
Original Research Paper
E-Lerning
M. Esmaeilnia; H. Kouhestani; A. Maghul
Abstract
Background and Objective:Higher education administrators are looking for ways to increase the number of courses and disciplines. While university budgets are steadily declining, they are forced to increase their distance learning courses to meet the growing needs of learners during budget constraints ...
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Background and Objective:Higher education administrators are looking for ways to increase the number of courses and disciplines. While university budgets are steadily declining, they are forced to increase their distance learning courses to meet the growing needs of learners during budget constraints and recessions. Because this type of training does not require a classroom and the nees less full-time instructors. Over the past two decades, the issue of quality and excellence in universities and higher education institutions has become one of the most important issues in the field of higher education, and especially in the newly-establisehd Farhangian University. National evaluation systems are designed to evaluate teaching and learning programs in universities; and they have attracted atttention at the international level in higher education research, and interest in improving education, both nationally and internationally has increased. An increasing number of universities in Iran have started virtual education courses. Farhangian University has also provided a good platform for these trainings, but so far it has not been able to institutionalize a proper and comprehensive quality education. Therefore, due to the fact that the quantitative growth of virtual education is progressing, yet no improvement has been made in the quality of education, the researchers have taken a step towards responding to these challenges and filling the gap in research literature of the field. The purpose of this study is to design and validate a quality improvement virtual learning model using a mixed method. Methods: In the quantitative section, 608 students and professors were using stratified random sampling method. In the qualitative section, 18 professors were interviewed. The quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive methods and the grounded theory was used for the analysis of the qualitative data. The data analysis was based on open and pivoted coding. Finally, 14 main categories including quality improvement of virtual education at the University of Farhangian were investigated as strategies, background conditions, intervening conditions and outcomes. Findings: Results suggested that learning-educating activities and human actors had a positive and significant effect on improving quality and deployment strategies. Moreover, deployment strategies exerted a positive and significant impact on quality improvement. Background features also affected deployment strategies and quality improvement in a positive and significant way. The effect of deployment strategies and quality improvement on individual, organizational and transactional outcomes was also significant. Conclusion: Considering the position of Farhangian University in the present models, the fair distribution of knowledge and ignorance of instructors’ character and the positive effect of recruiting distinguished instructors are emphasized in the results section. In causes section, in discussing strategies centralized decision making is referred to; and in strategy section, development of trust making and culture building for virtual learning is referred to that includes using the experiences of other countries. In intervening conditions section, using Web 2 and Web 3, prior knowledge of learners and the combination of face-to-face and virtual education at Farhangian University are mentioned.
Original Research Paper
Modern Educational Approaches
S.E. Beladi Dehbozorg; M.H. Kaboli; A.A. Heidari
Abstract
Background and Objective: Creativity is one of the basic and constructive features of human beings, that has an effective role in the growth and development of the individual and human civilization, and it is the basis of scientific and artistic inventions and achievements. Part of a person's creativity ...
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Background and Objective: Creativity is one of the basic and constructive features of human beings, that has an effective role in the growth and development of the individual and human civilization, and it is the basis of scientific and artistic inventions and achievements. Part of a person's creativity comes from the instruction they receive throughout their lives. This is especially projected in design-related professions, especially architecture and environmental design, in which the issue of creativity is of particular importance. Creativity is the missing link of contemporary tutorials in architecture. This topic in practical lessons, with an approach to creating an exquisite work, is more. Nevertheless, it seems the method of teaching in such courses could help them to grow their creativity. Methods: Two methods of teaching architecture based on teacher- and student-cetered were considered as the base models. The impact on understanding and expressing the environment (UAEE) during one semester by comparing student creativity was examined. For this purpose, 80 sophomores of Islamic Azad University, Tehran West Branch, were Selected as the sample of research and they were deployed in two studios (each studio containing 40 students), and were instructed by two methods "teacher-centered' and "student-centered” during one semester. At the end of the semester, with the Torrance test, their creativity was assessed and ANOVA and F tests were used to measure the significance of the results. Findings: The results indicated the student-centered approach to raise the students' creativity was the most successful way of UAEE through both methods. Conclusion: According to the results, in the student-centered teaching method, since the classroom is based on the active participation of students, the teacher goes from one group to another and manages the class by discussion and gives students the opportunity to take more responsibility for their own learning. In other cases, the students are given the opportunity to determine the style of teaching and to direct the class with their activities. The appearance of the class changes throughout the semester, and the students do things and ask others to help them complete that. Thus, the tasks are not instructed, but are created. Evaluation methods are also different in such classes. In these classes, special attention is paid to formative assessment, because in the classroom, students are not compared with each other, but each student is compared with themselves. Traditional forms of evaluation cannot be used. Therefore, evaluation with problem solving approach, preparation of checklist of skills and attitudes, evaluation according to the portfolios, evaluation based on oral expression and ... are different ways of formative evaluation. In this way of teaching, the student is free to express his / her mental image and search until he / she discovers and understands correctly.
Original Research Paper
Modern Educational Approaches
F. Rezaee; Rahil Hosseini; Mahdi Mazinani
Abstract
Background and Objective Learning disability is a neurological disorder. Simply, learning disabilities result from a person's misunderstanding of the brain. Children with learning disabilities are more accurate and intelligent than their peers, but they may have difficulty in reading, writing, pronouncing, ...
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Background and Objective Learning disability is a neurological disorder. Simply, learning disabilities result from a person's misunderstanding of the brain. Children with learning disabilities are more accurate and intelligent than their peers, but they may have difficulty in reading, writing, pronouncing, concentrating, reasoning, recalling, or organizing information. Reading is the most basic and essential tool of education. Because by acquiring this skill, one will be able to acquire the necessary information in the affairs of life. The advancement of science in the present century is so rapid that reading is one of the most important tools for understanding today's world. One can learn the results of others' research and studies in a short period of time. Reading is a complex process that involves many different components. Learning disability is very common in childhood. The most important disability is reading disorder which is related to reading skills. Among the skills a student learns in school, reading is especially important. Meanwhile, there are students in higher grades whose reading progress is significantly lower than the standard level compared to their calendar age. This research represents a hybrid scoring model using genetic algorithm and fuzzy set theory to manage uncertainty in diagnosis of reading disability. Methods: For this, fuzzy classification models were applied for diagnosis of the reading disability. In the fuzzy system, the knowledge was extracted from a group of experts who were teachers and specialists. In the proposed model, the knowledge of experts was automatically extracted using the learning process of the Genetic algorithm. A dataset of 260 girl students was collected from the Marefat High school in the Alborz province in the years of 1394 and 1395. The performance of the proposed model was investigated using the ROC curve analysis. Findings: The results show efficiency of the fuzzy classification model was increased to 98.51% after the rule learning with the Genetic algorithm. The proposed fuzzy classifier models uncertainty in the knowledge of expert to improve students’ progress. Conclusion: The results of this algorithm show that compared to several other methods, the fuzzy-genetic combination method performs better than other methods. The results of the performance characteristic curve also prove this. Comparing the efficiency of the system and its analysis using ROC shows that fuzzy classification system is able to identify reading disorders with high reliability. In the future, we can adjust the parameters of the membership functions and also use other meta-algorithms to improve the method. The prevalence of learning disabilities, especially reading in students, indicates the need to use strategies to reduce this disorder to prevent students' academic pathology. Another limitation of this study is the impossibility of examining the relationship between reading disorder and important variables such as parents’ education level and socio-economic status. It is suggested that these limitations be considered in future studies.
Original Research Paper
E-Lerning
Kh. Sarboland
Abstract
Background and Objective Implementing training and improving human resources allows people to effectively continue their activities and increase their efficiency in accordance with organizational and environmental changes. As a result of the increasing complexity and wast development of specializations ...
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Background and Objective Implementing training and improving human resources allows people to effectively continue their activities and increase their efficiency in accordance with organizational and environmental changes. As a result of the increasing complexity and wast development of specializations in the last century, the traditional education has been criticized for cost-effectiveness, being time-consuming, being prescriptive, having ack of creativity and poor focus on education instead of business results. This type of training is not enough to meet the needs of employees and manage complex affairs in organizations. In this regard, organizations have taken advantage of e-learning to be able to keep their employees up-to-date and active in terms of knowledge and skills required in line with the development of technology. The purpose of this study was to provide an e-learning model on teachers' satisfaction of learning in branches of Ardabil Islamic Azad University. Methods: The study was conducted on the basis of Delphi and survey models of research. In the first stage, the participants of this study were the lecturers and faculty members, and in the second stage, they were the faculty members of Management in all branches of Ardabil Islamic Azad University. Samples of the first stage were 136 subjects and in the second stage 20 subjects. The sampling method in the first stage was random-stratified and in the second stage it was purposive sampling. Data collection instrument was an e-learning researcher-made questionnaire. For data analysis Structural Measurement Model (Confirmatory Factor Analysis) was used and for specifiying e-learning, Delphi three-staged method was used. Findings: Findings included 77 concrete variables and 8 basic concepts (IT infrastructures, quality of educational system, self-learning, learners' support, identifying and recording educational needs, management of values, educational materials, society-based learning). In the first stage, the appropriacy of the model was approved and showed that the structures were in a satisfactory level of validity, and in the second stage, the quality of educational system, IT infrastructures, self-learning and learners' support, were identified as the dimensions of e-learning. Conclusion: Based on the findings of the research, it is suggested that the officials of the units of the Islamic Azad University of Ardabil Province implemented e-learning with a consistent approach in line with the organization's strategy and instructors’ satisfaction. In this regard, the units of Islamic Azad University of Ardabil can form a specialized department of human resources in relation to e-learning of professors and faculty members in addition to identifying talents, building e-learning processes, structures and systems to promote their e-learning processes. Eventually, all systems cannot sustain functioning without evaluation. E-learning does not work in a static environment and must be formed in a dynamic or organized way. Therefore, the units of Islamic Azad University need to adjust the e-learning of their professors based on its characteristics and to establish feedback and evaluation systems (internal and external evaluation system).
Original Research Paper
E-Lerning
Kh. Mirzaei; H. Saadi; M. Sepahpanah
Abstract
Background and Objective The issue of improving the quality of education has always been considered and is becoming more and more important in recent years. Recent advances in the computer and information technology industry, the introduction and emergence of information networks and communication technologies, ...
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Background and Objective The issue of improving the quality of education has always been considered and is becoming more and more important in recent years. Recent advances in the computer and information technology industry, the introduction and emergence of information networks and communication technologies, have introduced new methods to designers, programmers, managers and implementers of educational programs. The influence of new information technologies on educational centers has changed the simple teaching-learning relationship entirely. Thus, with the development and penetration of communication and information technology in the university, it is expected that learning patterns will change and the revision of curricula will be given more attention. The use of new technologies in agricultural education is also very important for the following reasons: because on the one hand, technologies related to agriculture, food and natural resources are constantly and rapidly developing, and on the other hand, the low quality of education of agricultural specialists, food experts and manufacturers are recognized as part of the world's food security problem. Unfortunately, in most countries, the training of human resources in agriculture section is one of the most important priorities in development projects, and as a result, educational programs have not been tailored to the needs of production and the demands of the agricultural labor market. The purpose of this study is to compare the views of faculty members and graduate/postgraduate students (MA and PhD) concerning the barriers and strategies for developing e-learning in the College of Agriculture, Bu-Ali Sina University. Methods: The required data for this study have been developed using a survey method by questionnaire technique. In order to determine the reliability of the questionnaire, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used. The amount of it for the 46 items of the faculty members of College of Agriculture' questionnaire was 0.84 and for the 46 items of the graduate/postgraduate students (MA and PhD)’ questionnaire is 0.85. Population samples of this research were 63 faculty members selected based on census sampling and 280 graduate students selected by multistage random sampling with appropriate assignment. To identify the barriers of developing e-learning in Faculty of Agriculture of Bu-Ali-Sina University, factor analysis was used. To compare the results of both comments Wilcoxon test was used. Findings: The results of comparing the groups indicate that the responses of faculty members and students conform together in 37 items out of 46 items in the questionnaire; and they were inconsistent with each other in 9 items. In other words, 80.43% of respondents in the questionnaire had relatively similar comments and 19.57 % have different opinions. Conclusion: In order to develop e-learning in universities and higher education centers in the country, it is recommended to invest in the training of human resources and the training of skilled manpower. Because the development of e-learning will fail without specialized and capable human resources, and thus the resistance of the traditional education system increases and make it more difficult for information technology to enter higher education. In addition, it is important to pay attention to the nature of various disciplines in planning e-learning. E-learning cannot replace traditional education and it must focus on courses and disciplines that the traditional education system is not capable to address, or those whose problems are tackled better with modern technologies and more success is observed.
Original Research Paper
E-Lerning
M. Zareei; E. Zaraii Zavaraki; Kh. Ali Abadi; A. Delavar
Abstract
Background and Objective: The opportunity to participate and interact more in the learning process on social media is a good incentive to use alternative social media tools, in addition to the usual LMS. In contrast, when using Web 2.0 tools such as social media, the learner is placed in a learning community ...
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Background and Objective: The opportunity to participate and interact more in the learning process on social media is a good incentive to use alternative social media tools, in addition to the usual LMS. In contrast, when using Web 2.0 tools such as social media, the learner is placed in a learning community that can reach a high level of meaning making and knowledge/skill building through interaction with peers and content. Communication formed on social networks provides the basis for the implementation of communication and defines education in terms of interactions in a network in which students exchange their knowledge; Therefore, social media represents a good option to be used as an additional learning resource. Hence, the creation and development of a scientific and trusted social network that can cover the educational needs of the learners and teachers in a digital society and is always available to users is felt. On the other hand, the legal requirements of higher documents such as the 1/17 solution of Fundamental Document of Change of Education that states the filling of the digital divide between educational areas and schools, unveils the need to create a social network of Iranian schools as a suitable platform for key users of learning-teaching environment. Therefore, in order to design a virtual social network model in schools, it is necessary to identify the main and sub-components of this model. The purpose of this study was to compile a model for desiging a virtual social network for Iranian schools. Methods This reseach utilized a mixed– quantitative and qualitative – method, and it was carried out with an exploratory design. The study population in the qualitative phase included the accessible 45 written and electronic documents in English and Persian selected by using purposive sampling. Data collection and analysis were done using inductive content analysis method. The quantitative phase was performed using a survey. The study population included the educational technology specialists of Iran from which a sample of 30 educational technology professors and Ph.D. Candidates were selected on an accessible basis. To collect data, a researcher-made questionnaire was used, the validity and reliability of which was determined by professional assessment and by Cronbach’s alpha (0.86), respectively. To analyze the data, a single-sample t-test was employed. Findings: The findings of the study led to the identification of four main features: network learning, network facilitation, network moderation, network technology, as well as sixteen sub-features, which were functionally and semantically similar to the main features. The results also showed that the extracted model has a high internal validity. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, integrating the existing social netwroks into the present LMSs as a learning environemtn can support network learning in alignment with cultural-constructivism and communicativism. In this context, it defines the active roles in the learning environment in accordance with their functions in this era. Regarding the results of the research hypothesis, it can be concluded that, the extracted model, which includes components such as network learning, network facilitation, network management, and network technology, makes it possible to support student learning in the context of network technology. These components make it possible to implement model patterns in schools. The clear and distinct definitions of the components lead to an accurate understanding of the users and their comprehensiveness. Therefore, the model in question was valid from the point of view of experts who had practical knowledge about the use of social networks in learning.
