JOURNAL OF CURRICULUM STUDIES (J.C.S.)
Year:2018 | Volume:12 | Issue:47 |Papers Count:6

the present article aims to answer the following question: What success level was obtained by unofficial curricula of Teacher Training University from students' viewpoint, for training the required manpower to implement the national curriculum document in the realms of arts and culture? The statistical population of this article included all the students of Teacher Training University, and the methods used were "documentary research", "participant observation" (participant as observer) and "interview" (the General Interview Guide). 35 students and 5 cultural managers were selected for interview through purposeful sampling. Interviews were analyzed via Strauss and Corbin's grounded theory. In the course of our analysis, 695 issues emerged, which were arranged in 12 categories and under 3 main headings. To establish data trustworthiness, Lincoln and Guba's fourfold criteria for a qualitative research were used: "credibility", "transferability", "dependability", and "conformability". The findings show that University's informal curricula have been successful in training the qualified manpower for furthering the intended objectives in the realms of arts and culture. Teachers and students, who took active part in these programs, achieved the required skills in both direct and indirect ways.

The purpose of this study is to identify the characteristics of the curriculum content for training technology-oriented teachers. In this study, efforts have been made to study and compare the gap between the current and the desired situation in order to provide practical suggestions for improving the curriculum of Teacher Training University. Mixed-methods research with exploratory design was used to conduct the research. In the qualitative section, the data was collected through a semi-structured interview with faculty members, using a purposive sampling method in order to determine the desired situation. In the quantitative section, the questionnaires were distributed among 249 faculty members and 359 university students. The results of the qualitative section indicated that the desired content for technology-oriented teachers should include five features, including mixed content design, flexibility, consistency with the goals, technological approach governing the content, and practicability. In the quantitative section of the research, however, the results showed that from faculty members and students’ point of view, the status of the curriculum content at Teacher Training University is not suitable for educating technology-oriented teachers.

The aim of this study was to conduct a comparative analysis of content of the old and new versions of social education textbooks of old and new elementary 4th grade base on the education epistemological principles derived from structural realism. Therefore, initially the characteristics of the principles corresponding with social sphere (principles of associated with the study affair, relying on the evidence, wide view on science, relying on facts, hypotheses, contact with the needs and issues) were presented in within a theoretical framework. Then, the thematic, quantitative, inductive content analysis method was used for answering the research questions. The results of the study showed significance of the principle of relying on the facts and the high frequency of the principle of relevance with the subject under study in the mentioned textbooks. The results also indicated a significant lack of attention to principles of wide view in science and hypothesis making in both versions of the Social Education textbooks.

This study seeks to analyze the findings of the conducted researches about the effects of the teaching/learning patterns on educational improvement of the learners in empirical sciences field though meta-analysis method. For this purpose, 22 researchers were selected for conducting the analysis, using checklist for research selection considering technological and methodological aspects. CMA-2 software has been used for calculating the indexes. In order to analyze the primary studies, both constant and random effect models were used for finding the effect size factors. In order to analyze the publication bias, the sensitivity analysis was conducted through using funnel plot and the statistics of the number of safe destruction. For analyzing the heterogeneity, Cochran's Q test and I square were used. In order to convert the effect size, Fisher z-transformation was used. The findings of the study revealed that inquiry-based instruction has the maximum effects, while the traditional method of using software has the minimum effects on learning. In addition, learning cycle method has the maximum effects and the method of concept mapping has the minimum effects on the educational improvement of the learners in the field of empirical sciences.

The general purpose of this research is to identify the features of language and affection in elementary Persian books. Therefore, the current research seeks to provide a clear explanation through conducting a content analysis on the amount of attention paid to the components of language and affection in written content of the Persian textbooks of the elementary period. In addition, this study tries to differentiate among these measures of attention in different foundations with the purpose of offering relevant educational implications. The research method is descriptive using content analysis. The corpus of the study includes Persian textbooks from first to the sixth grades and statistical samples include the lessons of elementary Persian textbooks which involved poetries. The obtained data was then analyzed by SPSS software and descriptive statistics. Findings of the research indicate that the highest abundance of linguistic features is attributed to the components of simple words and short sentences, which was mainly observed in the textbooks of third and fourth grades. Also, the highest abundance of affection features has been focused on the components of consciousness and hope, which was mainly observed in the textbooks of first and third grades.

This study investigates the experience of elementary school students of the substitute teachers throughphenomenological method. Therefore, 31 students, who have had a substitute teacher at least during one term, are selected through purposeful sampling. The data is collected through semi-structured interviews and each student is interviewed about 30 minutes. Yin’ s five-step method is used for analyzing the data. The findings shows that the quality of students’ experience from class management and teaching strategies mainly depends on the characteristics of substitute teacher such as level of educational experience, knowledge and social and emotional competencies. In addition, most students are dissatisfied with the reduction of teaching hours of the main teachers. The results of this study indicate that the substitute teachers should be selected carefully and the reduction of teaching hours of main teachers should be reviewed and re-considered for the elementary grades.