Journal of Educational Sciences
Year:2009 | Volume:5 | Issue:1|Papers Count:7

The present research compared the contents of primary school science textbooks of Iran with those of the United state of America (Science Anytime). Content analysis was used as method of research. Furthermore, the following were used as the indicators of analysis: A: Taxonomy of education objectives: Cognitive domain. B: Mental functions dimension in Guilford’s structure of intellect. C: Taxonomy of education objectives by Merrill. The research findings indicate that the basic differences between school textbooks of the two systems lie in the questions and homework. That means the bulk and variation of scientific activities presented in the Science Anytime text books are more than those in the Iranian texts. Moreover, In Science Anytime textbooks, facts, concepts, procedures and principles are presented in a balanced way. Therefore, it is recommended that in Iranian science textbooks should be compiled in such a way to pave the way for the involvement of students in scientific activities. Moreover Science Anytime textbooks are more applicable than Iranian science textbooks.

For comparing the impact of Simple and Combined Process-and-Outcome of mental simulations on the educational performance and achievement of talented and normal students involved in it, experimental method were used. The results would be used in developing curriculum and educational methods.104 talented students and 104 normal students were chosen in a target sampling from the first-grade female students and were located in a random sampling in three groups of Process, Outcome and Combined mental simulations and a fourth control group.The research question was, whether or not the impacts of Simple and Process-and-Outcome Combined mental simulations were different among the normal and talented students. First, Educational Performance Test and the mid-term exam of chemistry were given to all the subjects. Then for five to ten-minute sessions, mental simulations were taught to the experimental groups with the control group receiving no instructions. At the end of the term, Educational Performance Test and final exam of chemistry were given to the subjects. The data were analyzed by using the following statistical methods: multiple analysis of variance (Manova), Multiple analysis of Co-variance (Mancova), Analysis of Co-variance, one-way anova and Post Hoc Test (Tuckey), based on distinguishing points. The results showed that mental simulations were effective in educational performance, and in its improvement, but weren’t effective in the educational achievement. Intelligence, as a moderating variable, didn’t have any impact on the relation between mental simulation and educational performance. In the case of talented students, Outcome mental simulation was the main cause of educational performance. In the normal students, however, process mental simulation was more efficient than other simulations.

The objective of this research was to investigate the relationship between Organizational Climate Dimensions and Creativity in Elementary School Teachers in Semnan. The required data was collected from a sample including 210 elementary school teachers and 32 elementary schools through a random sampling method and by OCDQ-RE and Randcip Test of Creativity. These instruments help us to assess teachers' creativity and their perceptions of organizational climate of schools. After gathering and analyzing data the following results were found: 1. The relationship between principal's behavior and teachers' creativity was positive and significant.2. There was a significant relationship between teachers' behavior and teachers' creativity.3. The relationship between teachers' collegial behavior and teachers' creativity was significant.4. The relationship between other five dimensions and teachers' creativity were non significant.

The aim of this research was to explore the main causes of Khuzestan's high school teachers' reluctance toward prepating and using lesson plans. A researcher-made question-naire consisting of 66 items with=0.97 was completed by 500 high school teachers.aa Cronbach validity index of Factor analysis of the data reached its optimal item combination and factor structure after 10 experimental rotations. Analysis of the data via using orthogonal (verimax) totation and a minimum factor loading of 0.40 yielded5 factors. These 5 factors with eigenvalues of 19.77, 6.07, 3.55, 3.21 and 2.26 respectively accounted for 53% of the total variance of the questionnaire. These factors in the order of the amount of variancethey expain represent: 1) the cognitive and professional issues of the lesson plan, 2) issues related to management of educational planning and curriculum building; 3) attitudinal issues of the teachers; 4) socio-economic problems of the teachers; and 5) cultural problems of teachers and their low motivation. The number of items under the 5 factors were 19, 12, 14, 6, and 9, repctively Cronbach coefficients and split-half measures were used to check the validity of the extracted factors all of which proved to be significant at (p<0.001). Male teachers, teachers with higher years of service, and teachers with heavier weekly teaching loads had significantly and more emphasis on factors 1, 2, 4, and 5. Whereas, teachers who had never used lesson plans were infuenced by factor 3.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the employees’ atitudes toward the importance of in-service training in Shahid Chamran University.256 employees compeleted a questionnaire with 66 Items and 5 sub-scales (fitness to the needs of job; successful administration; effects on personal development; effects on knowledge, skills & attitudes; management support) and then the data were analyzed by SPSS. The results indicated that, on the whole, many of employees are not satisified with training programs. Comparison of means indicated that the differences between men and women only in their attitudes about in-service training effects on the improvement of their skills and knowledges is significant (p<0.05). There are not significant differences between other groups of employees in terms of their degrees and the job fields (instruction, research, …) in all of 5 variables.

Concern for the quality of working life preoccupied social scientists for the past several decades. The basic objectives of an effective QWL program are improved working conditions (mainly from an employee's perspective) and greater organizational effectiveness (mainly from an employer's perspective). Also organizational commitment has three basic components including identification, involvement, and loyalty that influence employee’s absenteeism and performance. So, this study tries to investigate the relationship between QWL and organizational commitment among Yazd education department employees. This study statistical population contained all employees of Yazd education department. Using statistical methods, we select 120 people as our sample and according to study objectives; we used descriptive and analytical statistics. We found that there is a positive significant relationship between QWL and organizational commitment among these employees. In addition, our examinations about some personal characteristics show that there is no significant relationship between years of service and organizational commitment.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between shared leadership and team work from the point of view of faculty members at the University of Esfahan. Research method was correlative and statistical population was all faculty members at the University of Esfahan in academic year 1386-1387. Statistical sample consisted of 80 members who were selected randomly, through stratified method. To collect needed data, two questionnaires [shared leadership Konu & Vittanen (2008) and teamwork O' Neil (1998)] were used. They had proper reliability and validity with Cronach's Alfa 0.87 and 0.92, respectively. To analyze the data one-sample t test, Pearson's correlation and a multiple regression were used. Findings showed that average responses to shared leadership indices ranged from 1.91 to 2.38 and average responses to teamwork were 2/63. There was a significant relationship between shared leadership and teamwork (r=0.55, p<.05) that the highest correlation seen between cooperation and team work (r=0.383, p<.05). Also, a multiple regression showed that the components of shared leadership explained the variance of teamwork that the most beta belonged to cooperation and the least one belonged to motivation.