CURRICULUM RESEARCH
Year:2018 | Volume:8 | Issue:1 (15) |Papers Count:6

Using a grounded theory approach, the present research aims to identify the type of student teachers’ practical curriculum orientation and explain how it develops in them. The research population consisted of student teachers admitted in 2012-2013 to Shahid Hashemi Nejad University of Mashhad. Through purposive (judgmental) sampling, 27 student teachers were selected and the sample efficiency was decided based on theoretical saturation. Data was collectd through open-ended interviews and participant observation. The results of first question showed that student teachers’ practical curriculum orientation is an inconsistent mixture and lacks an integrated practical orientation for curriculum and there is no similarity and consistency among curriculum orientations. Among them, mostly the subjective/disciplinary, humanistic and social curriculum orientations formed the majority and the practical curriculum orientation is inconsistent with that of Iran’ s Ministry of Education. The results on how the practical curriculum is developed in student teachers show 7 general items which were formed on three levels of personality traits, learning experiences, and practical experiences. The inconsistent learning experiences as the main subject of this process are the result of a mixture of different conflicting learning experiences that evolve before and after the student teachers are admitted to the Teacher Education University, thus leading to the formation of practical, eclectic, and inconsistent orientations in them.

The current investigation is a pathological study of the teaching– learning system in Tehran technical and vocational colleges. This is a descriptive study using survey as the data collection technique. The statistical population included 17437 students in the stated colleges, of which 376 students were selected as a sample using Cochran’ s formula and systematic random sampling method. Data collection involved employing the comprehensive teaching– learning system scale, designed based on five-point Likert scale. It included conceptual, structural, and functional dimensions to examine the comprehensive system of teaching– learning in the stated institutes. The conceptual dimension included “ subject and content of the teaching-learning, nature of teachinglearning, teaching– learning style and teaching– learning principles"; the structural dimension comprised “ strategic orientation, teaching-learning system design, and teaching– learning culture” , and the functional dimension encompassed “ the implementation of the teaching– learning process, leadership, management of teaching– learning process, and evaluation of teaching– learning effectiveness” . Having used Kolmogorov– Smirnov test to test the normality of the data, one sample t– test was employed to analyze the data using SPSS. The results demonstrated that such factors as teaching– learning style and teaching– learning principles (conceptual dimension), strategic orientation, teaching-learning system design, and teaching– learning culture (structural dimension), and the implementation of the teaching– learning process, leadership and management of teaching– learning process, and evaluation of teachinglearning effectiveness (functional dimension) are not in a desirable condition. The finding accentuates the presence of defects in the aforementioned dimensions. It was only in the conceptual dimension that the components of "subject and content of the teaching-learning, and nature of teaching-learning" were in an acceptable condition. This highlights the presence of deficiencies in the three conceptual, structural and functional dimensions of the teaching-learning system in Tehran technical and vocational colleges.

Positive psychology has provided a fertile ground for the study of such ethical issues, as prosocial behavior in recent years. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of teaching emotional intelligence on the student’ s prosocial behavior. Among all the prosocial behaviors, helping, cooperating and sharing were selected and studied for the effect of emotional intelligence on them. The study used a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design with control group. Population of this study consisted of all the 6th level elementary school female students, 30 of whom were selected through random sampling and were randomly assigned to experimental (15 students) and control groups (15 students). Data was collected using children's prosocial behavior questionnaire. Emotional intelligence training was presented in six, 90-minute sections. At the end of the teaching program, posttest was administered in the two groups. Data was subjected to ANCOVA; the results showed that with the effect of the pretest being controlled, emotional intelligence training increased prosocial behaviors like helping, cooperation, and sharing. This indicates that the perception and recognition of one’ s and others’ emotions and abilities for suitable reaction are important for moral behavior.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of the teachers’ guide books for the sixth-grade science and mathematics courses in primary schools in Iran, according to the eight elements of curriculum development. This research was an applied and descriptive survey. The statistical population included all the educational experts and sixth grade primary school teachers in state schools in the second educational zone in Urmia. Of this population, 173 individuals (135 teachers, 38 experts) were randomly selected as the participants in the study. Data was collected using a researcher-made questionnaire. Data analysis involved both descriptive (frequency, frequency percentage and average) and inferential (repeated measures ANOVA, and t-tests) statistics. The results revealed that both teachers and experts found the teachers’ guide books not equally effective with respect to the eight elements of curriculum development; purpose, content, teaching method, and evaluation method were respectively the first four significant elements to the participants and “ educational materials and resources” , and “ space and educational facilities” were correspondingly the seventh and eighth important elements. The differences between teachers' and experts point of views on the efficacy of math teaching guide book was significant at p ≤ 0. 05 level but for the science teaching guidance book it was not significant.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of happy and neutral classroom atmospheres on the students' attitude toward mathematics curriculum. The research method was quasi-experimental with pre-test, post-test and control group. The statistical population of the study included all the male high school students (grade two) in the field of mathematics and physics in Urmia. Given the nature of the research, purposive sampling method was used. For this purpose, two classes of 20 students from two non-public schools were selected and assigned randomly to the experimental and control groups. To collect data, Aiken questionnaire for assessing students’ attitude towards mathematics curriculum was used. The results of the research showed that there is a significant difference between the attitudes toward the math curriculum of students in both groups and based on the results of Mancova analysis 0. 86 of attitude change was related to changes in the learning environment.

The present study was aimed at evaluating the quality of e-learning in the curriculum of universities and institutions of higher education in Iran. For this purpose, a scale was developed by the researchers to measure the seven elements of e-learning curriculum (i. e. the purpose, content, media, design, organization of learning materials, teaching and learning strategies and assessment). Participants in the study were 702 students from Amir Kabir, Shiraz and Isfahan Universities, as well as the School of Oloum-e Hadith in Ray. The data was subjected to an independent samples t-test; the results suggested that the stated universities are above the average level with respect to the quality of elearning curriculum. In addition, the findings indicated that the “ design of presentation context” , and the "pedagogical" dimension were the two most optimal aspects of e-learning in higher education. Nevertheless, this finding does not necessarily imply a desirable situation for the stated dimensions in the e-learning system in our country.