JOURNAL OF NEW APPROACH IN EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION
Year:2014 | Volume:5 | Issue:2 (18)|Papers Count:12

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of constructivist education on participants’ satisfaction and learning in web-based continuing medical education courses. The study followed an experimental pretest-posttest control-group design. The sampling frame of the study included general dentists (N 1750) who participated in web-based continuing medical education in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (MUMS). They enrolled in one of the 30 Web-based continuing education courses in the summer of 2012. From among the participants, a sample of 40 was selected randomly and then using random numbers were assigned to two groups of 20 as the experimental and control group. A trainer-made test with approved face and content validity and Kuder-Richardson reliability of 0.80 was used to evaluating the participants’ learning rate. In addition, in order to assess their satisfaction, a use was made of a validated researcher-made questionnaire with Cronbach’s alpha of 0.93. Data was analyzed employing descriptive and inferential statistics (MANOVA and ANCOVA). The results revealed that there was a significant difference between the posttest scores of the control and experimental groups. Thus, it was concluded that applying the constructivist theory for medical education in a web-based continuing education could enhance the learning rate and satisfaction of participants. It was indicated that the constructivist education could make the course more effective because of its capability to create an attractive, interactive and cooperative learning environments and also by taking into account the learning needs of participants and their characteristics.

This study was carried out to define the tendency of the faculty members to quality culture in Islamic Azad University. The design of the study was basically descriptive survey. A sample of 208 full-time faculty members of Tabriz Branch of Islamic Azad University (n=456) was randomly selected. Data were collected employing a researcher-made questionnaire, with a reliability index of 0.83. The results indicated that the rate of the faculty members’ tendency towards all dimensions of quality culture including quality goals and criteria, senior management’s commitment to quality, development and empowerment, participation, and gratitude, and in general their tendency to quality culture were desirably higher than theoretical average.

This study investigated the relationship between the organizational intelligence and high school principals’ performance in Yazd. A sample of 285 principals was selected using stratified sampling. In this descriptive-correlational study a use was made of two research instruments of organizational intelligence questionnaire (Albrecht, 2003) and a researcher-made questionnaire of Principals’ performance. They both enjoyed high reliability indexes. Kolmogrov Smirnov test, Pearson correlation coefficient, and stepwise multiple regression inferential analyses were used to analyze the data. The results indicated that there was a significant positive relationship between organizational intelligence and the principals’ performance (p £0.01, r=0.747). In addition, stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that from among the organizational intelligence components, “knowledge deployment” could predict most the principals’ performance (p£0.01, R2=0.455). They, altogether, could account for 58.3 percent of common variance of the principals’ performance (p£0.01, R2=0.583). Therefore, organizations that attend to these components in their educational environment are more likely to attract capable and expert human resources.

The purpose of the present research was to study the role of self-assessment in predicting empowerment and organizational commitment of personnel. The variables of interest in this study were self-assessment, empowerment, and organizational commitment. The research method was correlational. The population included all the employees of cooperative companies and unions (n=255). One hundred and fifty five respondents were selected using cluster sampling. The instruments of the present study were three questionnaires: (1) Self-Assessment Questionnaire of Judge et al. (2003), (2) Empowerment Questionnaire of Spritzer (1995), and (3) Organizational Commitment Questionnaire of Allen and Meyer (2004). Using Cronbach’s alpha, the reliability of the questionnaires was calculated to be 0.73, 0.82, and 0.76 respectively. Data were analyzed using descriptive (frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and variance) and inferential statistics (Pearson’s correlation coefficient and analysis of variance). The findings suggested that there was a significant and positive correlation between self-assessment and empowerment, self-assessment and organizational commitment, and empowerment and organizational commitment.

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of management styles (relationship-oriented and task-oriented) to organizational health and job stress in education organization personnel in the fourth district of Shiraz. This correlational study included 144 participants selected through stratified sampling. Data were collected employing three questionnaires of management styles, organizational health, and job stress. Their Cronbach’s alpha reliability indexes were 0.83, 0.73, and 0.68 respectively. To analyze data, descriptive statistics and correlational coefficient, and multi-stage regression were used. Data analysis revealed that there was a significant and positive relationship between relationship oriented management style and organizational health but there was a significantly negative relationship between task oriented management and organizational health. In addition, there was a significantly negative relationship between relation oriented management style and job stress but there was a significantly positive relationship between task oriented management style and job stress. A significantly negative relationship was further found between organizational health and job stress. Additionally, regression analysis indicated that management styles could significantly account for organizational health and job stress.

This study aimed to study the relationship of empowerment and work life quality to working exhaustion of personnel in education organization in Tehran city. The study population comprised all the personnel (n=1027) working in the organization in 2010. Through simple random sampling 260 respondents were selected and after excluding incomplete questionnaires the sample size reduced to 250. A use was made of four research instruments including a demographic, empowerment, work life quality, working exhaustion and job stress questionnaires whose reliability (through Cronbach’s alpha) and validity (through factor analysis) were approved. Data analysis involved both descriptive and inferential statistics (Pearson correlational and regression analysis) were employed. The results indicated that there was a statistically negative relationship among empowerment, working life quality and working exhaustion. In addition, both working life quality and empowerment components could predict reversely working exhaustion.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship of perfectionism, goal achievement orientation and academic performance to academic burnout. The study was descriptive-correlational, and the population of the study was a student body of 8000 (including both males and females) studying at University of Mohaghegh Ardabili in the academic year 2010-2011. A sample of 110 participants was selected from among the above students, using a stage randomized sampling method. Data were collected through taking the advantage of Bereso’s academic burnout questionnaire, Terrey-short’s perfectionism questionnaire, and Elliot & McGreygory’s achievement goal orientation scale. The accumulated data were analyzed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis. The results indicated that perfectionism, goal orientation mastery and academic performance could significantly predict academic burnout. It was also indicated that negative perfectionism had a significantly positive relationship with academic burnout, whereas academic performance, goal orientation mastery and positive perfectionism had significantly negative relationship with academic burnout.

The present study aimed to investigate the pathology of English course curriculum in high schools of Bushehr, Iran, employing a descriptive survey method. The population of the study included the language instructors and students respectively teaching and educating at state high schools in Bushehr in the academic year 2010-2011. The sample of the study included 343 female students who were randomly selected on the basis of their grades from among 3187 students along with the 27 instructors. Data were accumulated through questionnaires developed by the researchers. t-tests indicated that educational factors (including using improper teaching methods, lack of required educational materials, illogical English curriculum evaluations, and failing to have practical views on English learning) along with curricular factors (including lack of cultural background, inabilities to utilize the most recent teaching methods, using improper texts and contents, and insufficient educational hours) were of the most critical faults in the studied curriculum. Therefore, it is tempting to suggest that these eight factors, as the most critical faults in English education system, should be taken into account to improve the English education in Iranian schools.

This study examined the relationship of organizational learning capability and organizational intelligence to organizational citizenship behaviors among employees of Islamic Azad University of Khourasgan, Isfahan, Iran. The method of the study was causal correlation and structural equation modeling. The study population was 321 employees of Islamic Azad University of Khourasgan. Consulting Krejcie and Morgan’s table of sampling (1970), 176 respondents were selected through simple random sampling. Research instruments were three questionnaires of Chiva et al. (2007) of organizational learning capability, Albrecht’s organizational intelligence (2003), and Kernodle’s organizational citizenship behavior (2007). The results suggested there were significantly positive relation between organizational learning capability and its components and organizational citizenship behavior. As regards organizational intelligence and its components and organizational citizenship behavior a similar finding emerged. The results of structural equation modeling revealed that the organizational learning capability had a direct impact on organizational intelligence and an indirect impact on organizational citizenship behavior.

The present study was undertaken with the purpose to develop a model of empowering managers in Islamic Azad Universities of Mazandaran (IAUM). Including 750 managers working at 17 branches of IAUMs in 2012-2013, the population of the study consisted of the branch directors and deputes, college directors and deputes, heads of faculties, office managers and staffs (administrative, educational and research officers). Using Krejcie and Morgan’s table of sampling and stratified sampling method, 253 respondents (216 males and 37 females) were selected as the sample of the study including. In order to collect data, both library and field research methods were employed. A use was made of a close-ended questionnaire with 100 Likert scale items to measure the components of manager empowerment. Collected data were feed into SPSS and the confidence coefficient was calculated through Cronbach’s Alpha. In order to construct the model, LISREL software was used. The research findings indicated that vision, purpose, and mission components, training methods, ways of acquiring skills and knowledge in structural dimension, component of job satisfaction and the feeling of safety management in managerial dimension, components of self-esteem and self-actualization, the payment and bonuses in motivational dimension, components of the division of power, delegation and ethics, and professional behavior in participation dimension had the highest average load factor. In managers’ views, managing these factors plays a significant role in manager empowerment. Therefore, regarding the results and their approval by previous researches along with the available theories, we could conclude that the suggested model had theoretical and empirical validity. Hence, it is suggested that it be implemented to empower managers of different branches.

The current study was purposed to investigate the relationship of introversion- extraversion personality type to job satisfaction and organizational commitment among teachers of the Education Organization in Delphan, Iran. The study utilized descriptive survey method. The study population of the current research included 1800 teachers of the Education Organization in Delphan. Employing Krejcie and Morgan’s table of sampling and simple cluster sampling, 316 subjects were selected as the study sample. The research instruments were Eysenk’s personality, Minnesota’s job satisfaction, and Allen and Mayer’s organizational commitment questionnaires. The result revealed that there was a significantly positive relation between job satisfaction and organizational commitment and introversion and extroversion personality types respectively. Further, the results were suggestive of no significant relation between introversion and organizational commitment. Additionally, no significant difference was detected between the males’ and females’ introversion and extraversion personality types.

The incentive behind the present study was to explore the relationship between school organizational culture and organizational commitment of high school teachers in Varamin, Iran. This study was of a descriptive and correlational research type. The selected population of the current study included 415 male and female high school teachers in Varamin in 2010-2011. On the basis of Krejcie and Morgan’s table of sampling, 201 individuals were selected as the study sample through cluster sampling. To measure organizational culture and organizational commitment, a use was made of organizational culture questionnaire developed by Hosseini (2005) and organizational commitment questionnaire developed by Mowday, Steers and Porter (1979). The collected data were subsequently analyzed using SPSS. For checking the relationship between organizational culture and organizational commitment variables, Pearson correlation coefficient method was used. The research findings revealed that there was a significantly positive correlation between organizational culture and organizational commitment. Moreover, analyzing the relationship between each of the components of organizational culture and organizational commitment suggested that there was a significantly positive correlation among them.