CURRICULUM PLANNING KNOWLEDGE & RESEARCH IN EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES
Year:2016 | Volume:12 | Issue:20 (47)|Papers Count:25

This study aimed to investigate the epistemological foundations of multicultural education. Qualitative method of the kind of philosophical research and conceptual analysis was applied. Related books, magazines, and writings included the realm of the research for collecting the information; moreover, accessible published writings and electronic books were used, too, due to the vast numbers of the sources in the field. In order to collect the data, researcher-designed receipts were utilized. By means of content analysis, content interpretation, and theoretical inference, data were analyzed. The research findings indicated that the two major philosophical and fundamental roots of multicultural education were as: Post-modernism and Critical Theory. The research' results, also, suggested that believing in relativism, rejecting any fixed (absolute) truth, believing in local truth based on public observation or methodological principles or scholars' and scientists' researches, rejecting the idea of objective knowledge or objectivity and accepting the theory of mutual understanding, rejecting absolutism and accepting positivistic methodology in the realm of scientific methodology, neglecting  the artificial boundaries between the disciplines of human knowledge and supporting the interdisciplinary approach were the epistemological foundations of multicultural education.

This study investigated the relationship between gender inequality and hidden curriculum among the university students of Gilan. A descriptive-correlational research method was used. The statistical population consisted of 30489 male and female students in the universities of Gilan during the academic year 2011-2012. 379 students, including 190 women and 189 men, were selected randomly as the research sample. The researcher- made questionnaire was utilized to check the elements of the hidden curriculum as the social atmosphere of the university and university organizational structure. By means of Cronbach's alpha coefficient, the reliability of the researcher-made questionnaire regarding the gender inequality was calculated as 0.9. In the descriptive statistics part, frequency diagram, frequency percentage, mean, and standard deviation were applied and Regression's multivariate test and Pearson's correlation coefficient were used in the part of inferential statistics. Due to SPSS software, data were analyzed. The findings showed that there is a significant positive relationship between the hidden curriculum and gender inequality. It was also indicated that organizational structure of the university, the variables of gender socialization, gender stereotypes, and gender role play are significantly related, too (with 95% certainty). Significant relationship also was observed between social atmosphere of the university, the variables of gender socialization, gender stereotypes, Gender roles, and the ideology of patriarchy (with 95% certainty). That is to say that the dimensions of hidden curriculum have the capability of predicting gender inequality in the universities.

The aim of this research is to study about the validation of the model of interdisciplinary curriculum of environmental literacy teaching of secondary education system in Iran. The research type is of descriptive-survey one. The proposed environmental literacy education framework is developed in the form of the four curriculum elements (objectives, content, teaching/learning methods and assessment) and the three components of environmental knowledge, skills, and environmental attitude. It is, then, offered to the environmental experts and curriculum developers. The results of binomial distribution test and one-group t-test, at the level of (P≤0.05), indicates the significance of items from the viewpoint of the experts of the field. The confirmed environmental literacy curriculum framework is, then, assessed, in the form of a questionnaire; by 108 male and female teachers of biology, chemistry and geography in Amol city .the obtained results have been validated using confirmatory factor analysis. The results of validation suggest suitable fitness of the proposed model based on Chi-square test (P=0.000001) and X2=1062.38) and error indicators of the mean square error indicators (RMSEA=0.065) and residual variance (RMP=0.054).

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of positive thinking skills on pessimistic documentary style among primary school male students. The statistical population was consisted of all 9 to 11 year- old male students, totally as 450 boys, in Isfahan in academic year of 2013-2014. Being selected through accessible sampling, the research sample included 42 students who were randomly categorized into control and experimental groups (each group of 21 members). Each group completed the Children's documentary Style of Thompson et al questionnaire (1998). Considering the convergent validity, this questionnaire was in an acceptable level and its reliability also, as estimated by Cronbach' alpha, was as %61. Then the experimental group received 12 sessions of  education (each 90 minutes) about positive thinking skills based on Chamzadeh Ghanavati' book as "me and my thought" (2014). In order to analyze the data, descriptive statistics as frequency table and frequency percentage were used and multivariate analysis of covariance, also, was applied for inferential measurement. Data were analyzed by means of SPSS software 18th version. Findings indicated that the both groups in terms of pessimistic documentary style were meaningfully different based on personalization dimension (p<0.05) and permanence dimension (p<0.01); however, no significant difference was observed considering the pervasive dimension (p>0.01). Generally, the pre-test and post-test scores showed that there was a significant relationship between the both group (p<0.01) and teaching positive thinking skills had an great effect on decreasing the level of pessimistic documentary style.

The objective of this research is to investigate about the relationship between self –efficacy and educational satisfaction with the academic achievement in math between third grade of second cycle of secondary school students. This research is of a kind of descriptive – correlative one. Multi-stage random sampling technique has been applied among the third grade students in the second cycle of secondary school in ISFAHAN in 2013-14. A total of 364 individuals have been selected based on to inclusion criteria. Data collection tools include the children and teenager self –efficacy questionnaire, Morris 2001, (p=%83) and satisfaction questionnaire (p=%72) as well as final student's records. The first two questionnaires have been completed by students. For statistical analysis of data, Pearson's correlation coefficient and Regression's multiple analysis are utilized. The findings reveal that self-efficacy (r=%48) and student's satisfaction (r=%35) have a meaningful relationship with the achievements of students. According to the results of this research, it can be said that self –efficacy and student satisfaction can predict the achievements of student.

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of brain - based learning on the attitude and academic achievement of 5th grade primary school students. The method of this study was semi - experimental, and the non - equivalent control group design was used. The participants were 52 boys who were categorized into experimental and control groups based on the researcher's preference. The teacher of experimental group received five sessions of education. On the other hand, parents of students and other School's administrative members received 3 training session based on brain-based learning.  Based on effective factors as color, nutrition, music, water and natural smell, the learning environment had also changed. Then, focusing on brain-based learning method, the teacher of experimental group provided students with mathematic education during a three month program. Both groups received the attitude and academic pre and post tests. The results indicated that brain - based learning meaningfully affected the students' attitude and academic Achievement in mathematics.

This study seeks to determine the level of students’ active involvement with the sixth grade science and math books. The method is content analysis based on Wiliam Romey technique and according to student involvement in three components as "text", "questions" and "image". The statistical population is consisted of sixth grade science and math books' contents including all texts, questions and images that are contently analyzed based on Wiliam Romey technique. In the analysis of text, questions and images of science book, 320, 100 and 140 units have been studied and rate of students' involvement with text, questions and images are calculated as 0.84, 9 and 0.19, respectively. 182, 862 and 97 units of math book have been studied, too; Students' involvement with text, questions and images are estimated as 0.85, 13.26 and 0.30, respectively. The results show that text of math and science books are actively developed; however, their images are inactive and their questions are over active which would cause students’ fatigue and lack of motion. Since the contents of these two books in the case of questions and images are not successful enough to encourage students to think and analyze well, better design and development seem so essential.

The purpose of this research is to analyze the social skills and its necessities in curriculum focusing on students of Eastern Azerbaijan Province. The method of this study is of descriptive-survey type. The statistical population consists of male and female elementary and high school students. Being selected through multistage cluster random sampling, 800 students include the research sample, 320 elementary students and 480 high students. Social skill evaluation questionnaire has been applied as the data collecting instrument. Data, then, have been analyzed by means of Anova and Manova and an independent t-test. The results indicates that considering the social skills and their components ,there is a significant difference between girls and boys in public, semi-public, and private schools as well as in enjoying, half enjoying and less enjoying regions. Students' social skills, also, have been meaningful different based on their social status, their major, and their parents' education. Such differences emphasizes the need to revise and change the curriculum so as students can acquire social skills

This study intended to explain the university social status and cultural reproduction for the purpose of the university applicable consideration based on the opposite factors of the hidden curriculum.  This research was carried out based on the analytic-descriptive method; during which deduction was according to context analysis and re-contextualization. The research population was consisted of those theoretical textbooks which were related to the purpose of the study. Data, then, were gathered using indexing forms. The findings showed that the opposite elements of hidden curriculum in high education could be effective in establishing the position and attitude of social status and cultural reproduction of the student of special classes; whereas, it could be effective in disappointing middle and low class students from changing their present situation and condition. This happening which is under the effect of the opposite factors of high education hidden curriculum is conspicuous in some of the present research documents. Hence, at the end, a list of the practical sample considerations on the different dimensions of the opposite factors of the hidden curriculum is presented; among which are: making educational justice, emphasizing the critical and dialectic methods, decreasing the bureaucracy to display the capabilities of the different classes in the university activities (scientific, research, cultural, and student centered activities), emphasizing on the multicultural curriculum, focusing on the qualitative evaluation instead of quantities evaluation, applying active teaching strategies and changing the educational environments.

The purpose of this study was identifying pathologies in teaching methods in Isfahan high school. Hence, descriptive- survey method was used. The statistical population of this research included teachers and students of Isfahan high schools, who had been educating in academic year 85-86 whose number were as 8097 teachers and 140250 students. By means of cluster sampling and stratified random sampling as well as evaluating the falling measure of the test; sample size was estimated as two groups of 110 and 240. Then, by eliminating problematic questionnaires, 95 teachers and 206 students were selected as the statistical sample. The research tool was a researcher-made questionnaire which included 20 closed questions in Likert range and an open question. Reliability coefficients of the teachers' and students' questionnaires were measured as 0.99 and 0.98, using Alpha Corn Bach, respectively. Also to measure the questionnaires' validity, content-dependent method was used. In order to analyze data, descriptive statistics and inferential ones were utilized. The findings showed that measure of pathology teaching methods from the view points of the teachers and the students was more than the average level. From the teachers' view points, the most destructive factors were as "lack of teachers' care to teaching practical skills" and "teachers' professional and scientific low level". Most of damages from the prospective of the students, also, were related to "the teachers' high expectation of students", "disregarding the spontaneous responses of students", and "lack of attention to the interests of the students". Further results also showed that there were significant difference between the teachers' and the students' attitude toward existing issues. Based on their gender and educational background, the teachers expressed different idea, too, but no significant difference was observed based on the teachers' degree. Also, there was a significant difference between students' opinion based on their majors and the area of their education, but no significant differences was found based on their gender and grade.

The present study examined the impact of active teaching method on academic performance of students in science classes in Andimeshk city. The statistical population included all science teachers and students. Among whom 12 teachers and 288 students were selected by systematic sampling and were categorized randomly into the control and experimental groups. Self-evaluation questionnaire specialized for active and passive teaching methods as well as researcher-made questionnaire focusing on students' academic performance were used to collect the data. The validity of the researcher- made test was verified by means of the experts of the field and its reliability was calculated by Cronbach's alpha as 0.93. By means of analysis of variance and factor analysis of variance and Scheffe post hoc tests, data were analyzed. The results indicated that active teaching methods comparing to the traditional ones had more effect on the academic achievement of students. However, considering the gender, no significant difference was found between male and female students.

The educational, supportive, and punitive schedules in the Islamic Legal System and in the International Law with respect to the Juvenile delinquency are compared in this article in a qualitative and content- analytic manner. Here through interpreting and analyzing Quranic texts and teachings and regarding the juvenile delinquency, both systems are assessed. Analyzing the data is based on rational and scriptural approaches with respect to the conceptual analyses. The results indicate that Islamic Legal approaches regarding juvenile delinquency are centered on both preventive and corrective measures as axioms. The Islamic preventive measures include moderation, prevention of discrimination, supervision and care principles; whereas, the punitive measures include punishment, negligence and ect., in accordance with the circumstances. Though the Juvenile Delinquency Convention Law has rejected punishment, in Islamic Order Punishment is resorted to as the last corrective measure with a perception that it is a measure to make the subject aware and educate human to follow the right path. That is to say that, here, punishment is more regarded as an informative case.

The present study was conducted to measure the effect of teaching Time Management on self-directed learning in the first-grade high school girl students. The research method was semi experimental and the research design was pretest-posttest with the control group. The used sampling method was randomized cluster. To this end, two classes, with 30 students each, were randomly selected as “Experimental” and “Control” from a girls’ high school in Falavargion region. The data collection instrument comprised a self-directed learning questionnaire (Fisher et al, 2001) which its face, content, and construct validities had been measured. the reliability of which, also, by means of Cronbach's Alpha, was calculated as 0.81. Both groups responded to the self-directed learning questionnaire as pretest. Then, Time Management was taught to the experimental group, in eight sessions of 1.5 hours each, over a one-month period. Next, both groups were administered a post-test. The data were analyzed using Analysis of Covariance. The findings indicated that the mean scores for self-directed learning and their elements (i.e. self-management, motivation to learn and self-control) increased in the experimental group on the post-test compared to those on the pre-test. Consequently, teaching Time Management improved self-directed learning and its elements.

Creating equal educational opportunities as well as students' fidelity to Islamic fundamentals has been one of the chief aims of establishing residential schools. The aim of this study is to compare the students’ fidelity to Islamic rites in Charmahal-o-Bakhtiari in 2013.Descriptive method has been used for this research. The statistical population of this research includes 54961 junior high school and high school students who study in both boarding and ordinary schools. Through randomly sampling, 520 of them are selected. A researcher- made questionnaire is used for collecting data. To determine the validity, both content and construct validities are applied. In order to check the internal consistency of items, KMO of the questionnaire has been calculated as 0.907. The questionnaire's reliability, also, using in Cranbach’s alpha has been measured as 0.92. Data have been analyzed with paired T-test, ANCOVA, and SPSS software 18th version .Based on the findings, no significant difference between the students’ tendency toward Islamic rites in the both groups is observed; however, there exists a significant difference considering their fidelity to perform obligatory actions, supererogatory actions, and social and religious activities. There is, also, a significant difference in students’ attitudes to perform the Islamic rites in guidance and high school students. The students in guidance school were more committed than students in high school.

The aim of this very study is investigating the components of financial and economic literacy in the contents of the primary-school textbooks in Iran. The research method is of the content analysis type and the research population is the primary- school textbooks of the academic year 1391-1392. The sample size includes all the contents of the mathematic books (grade 1 to 6), social studies books (grade 6), and social teaching books (grade 3) as well as the civil parts of the social teaching books (grade 4& 5). In order to gather the required data, encoded content analysis forms with focus on the four fundamental components of financial literacy and four fundamental components of economical literacy are used. The face and content validity of the instruments have been verified by the experts of the field. Based on Holsti's method, the reliability of the instrument is also estimated as 95% for economic literacy and 93% for financial literacy. The results reveals that the components of economic and financial literacy are differently paid attention in these textbooks; in that, the economic literacy components are considered more than financial literacy components. According to results of this study and the prominent role of the financial and economical literacy in these days, more emphasis on financial and economic components in the contents of the primary school textbooks is required.

The aim of the research was to study about the experts' viewpoints about the major components (as object, title, pictures, and text) of Hedyehaye Asemani textbook of grades 2 of elementary school. The used method was evaluation type. The population was consisted of 46 teaching experts who were selected purposefully. The applied instrument was context verifying checklist which was designed according to curriculum, painting, and Islamic educational criteria. Specialized purposes, titles, pictures, and contents included the units of analysis. the validity of the instrument was determined through content validity and confirmation of some specialists of the field and its reliability was verified by cronbach' alpha. Quantitative data were analyzed with calculating mean and by means of SPSS software and qualitative data were analyzed through analytical method. The findings showed that the very experts evaluated specialized goals and titles of lessons suitable; whereas, they assessed the context as normal and suitable. Concerning the pictures, there was no consensus among the experts about drawing the pictures of infallible Imams. There were also disagreements between them about direct teaching, mismatch with mental development of students, and lack of opportunity for thinking.