Journal of Management and Planning in Educational Systems
Year:2008 | Volume:1 | Issue:1|Papers Count:7

This research as aimed at exploring the effects of international academic relationships on curriculum in higher education. Four factors including subject matter, teaching strategies, assessment methods and instructional equipment’s and facilities were considered. A questionnaire was administered to a total sample of 322 faculty members of state universities, comprising the entire target population. The validity of the questionnaire was verified by a panel of experts. The Cronbach alpha for the overall scale was.95 resulted from a pilot study on a sample of 35. Results indicated that both groups assumed that the current international relationships had a little effect on curriculum in higher education. Meanwhile, both groups were in favor of increasing international academic relationships in higher education. They also suggested more revision and change in some components of the curriculum. Of particular interest were teaching methods and strategies of foreign languages, development of required skills in communication, internet, technology and research as well as knowledge about different cultures and world issues through the integrated curriculum

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between transformational and transactional leadership style among high school principals based on the learning organizations factors (personal matters, mental model, shared vision, team learning and system thinking). A randomly selected sample of 90 principals and 120 teachers from Isfahan participated in the study. The instruments included two questionnaires; one with 41 and the other with 44 items. The Cronbach alpha was 0.96 for the learning organization scale and 0.94 for transformational and transactional questionnaire. Results showed a positive relation between transformational and transactional leadership style with indices of learning organization. It was also found that in view of high school principals the elements of learning organization were above average. As far as the learning organization indices were concerned no difference was found between principals of different sexes, qualifications, and years of experience. Meanwhile, as for the leadership style a significant difference was found between teachers of different qualifications.

One of the most important and challenging task of human resources management (HRM) is measuring the effectiveness of training programs. Training effectiveness is a multidimensional and complex concept that consists of many organizational variables and processes. This article reports main results of a descriptive research study on effectiveness of short term courses offered for technicians and engineers of the Western Regional Power Company (WLPC), affiliated to Power Ministry of IRAN (1383/2004-2005). A questionnaire was administered to a randomly selected sample of 172 (124 trainee and 48 managers) from four western provinces of the region. The questionnaire was based on the Kirkpatrick model for measuring training effectiveness. The Cranach alpha for the trainees' and managers' questionnaire were .93 and .89, respectively.Results showed that the effectiveness of courses ranges from 70.2% to 88.4% at different levels of the model. Finally, given the strengths and weaknesses, some solutions and recommendations were suggested to improve the planning and management processes in WLPC training programs.

The main objective of the present study was to investigate the obstacles in the development of E-learning in Iran educational system. Firstly, this research investigated the obstacles, using the Delphi method to prioritize them while suggesting some strategies to tackle the problems. A questionnaire with the Cronbach alpha of .86 was administered to a sample of 46 E-learning experts. Results showed the rank of the obstacles as follows: 1) technological 2) socio-cultural, 3) pedagogical 4) legal/administrative, 5) strategic, and 6) economic.

The purpose of this study was twofold: to investigate the use of educational research finding among the administrative staff in local education authorities and to describe their perceptions of barriers to research utilization. A total of 68 practitioners were asked about 41 recently published research studies. Results indicated that only 12.25% of them were aware of the published studies through specialized journals. Media, bulletins, abstracts periodicals, and seminars. The main barriers to research utilization were described as a lack of mutual relationship between practitioners and researchers, insufficient funding, and inadequate competence among the practitioners

This study aimed to investigate the effect of Leader Member Exchange (LMX) on organizational climate, using the quasi-experimental approach. The sample included 60 employees selected at random from Sooreh University to participate in this research. For pretest the participants responded to Preziosi's (1980) Organizational Diagnosis Questionnaire (ODQ) which assesses seven dimensions of organizational climate (Purpose, Structure _ Leadership_Relationship-Rewards- Helpful mechanism_Attitude toward change). After an interval of eight months all sample responded to the ODQ once again as the posttest. Results showed significant differences between pretest and posttest scores in terms of Purpose, Leadership, Relationship, Helpful mechanism and Attitude toward change. Pretest scores of men and women were found to be significantly different in terms of Rewards.

This study was carried out in East Azerbaijan province in Iran to survey the employment situation of the work-based and vocational education graduates and to explore the probable factors affecting their employment. Data were collected using a questionnaire administered to a stratified random sample of 633 individuals (386 from vocational and 247 from work-based courses).Findings showed that only 17.4 percent of vocational education graduates and 15 percent of work-based graduates were employed in positions related to their fields. The proportion of employment varied in different regions of the province. The maximum percentages of field-related employment belonged to the graduates of the central region. Finally, it was concluded that problems of employment were partially related to the limitations of labor market and also to the quality of educational program. It was suggested to integrate the employability skills with the career and technical programs.