JOURNAL OF HIGHER EDUCATION CURRICULUM
Year:2015 | Volume:6 | Issue:11 |Papers Count:7

Nowdays management of development requires social capital more than physical, economic or human capital. Without social capital, other investments could not be optimized and the development or cultural and economic evolution would face barriers. Scholars believe that one of key institutions affecting the formation of social capital is educational institutions through the curricula implemented. Changing curricula could result in the improvement of social capital. Accordingly, the present research aims to design objectives for developing social capital within the higher education. To do this, qualitative and grounded theory was used. In order to obtain the data, 10 scholars in the field of curriculum and social capital were interviewed. Next, the content of interviews was analyzed and in the process of coding, the presented ideas were classified and the common ideas were placed in the same groups. In this part, objectives were identified as a major issue. Finally, the way this factor affects social capital was examined. So, for the major factor of the current research, its casual conditions, strategies and hypotheses were separated and provided within a paradigm model. The ultimate model was designed thorough generalizing the paradigm segments to social capital.

Citizenship behavior of academics could promote the effectiveness of teaching. Therefore, investigating the factors affecting this new constrcut is important. The present study has investigated the predictive role of academics' professional ethic. To this purpose, a representative sample including 383 students of Islamic Asad University branches in Tehran have completed two valid and reliable questionnares including professional ethic in teaching (Murray et al, 1996) and citizenship behavior in teaching (Rego, 2003). The data obtained have been analyzed through Pearson correlation coefficient and standard multiple regression. The results showed that some dimensions of professional ethic have significant correlations with citizenship behavior in teaching and explain 0.61 of variance of this variable. Among these dimensions, the roles of content competence, pedagogical competence, dealing with sensitive topics, confidentiality, respect for colleagues, and valid assessment of student were significant. Along with the importance of citizenship behavior of academics, this study highlighted the predictive role of professional ethic in teaching. The results have been discussed in the final section of the paper.

This study investigated the effects of the quality of teaching on students' efficacy beliefs. This study took a descriptive-correlation approach and involved humanities studntes of Ferdowsi university of Mashhad, Iran in during academic year of 2011-2012 as the statistical population. From this population, 366 students were selected through stratified sampling method and based on Morgan and Kerjcie's table. The instrument for this study included a questionnaire which the samples were asked to complete. The data was analyzed by descriptive statistic and regression analysis. The quality of teaching, predicted students' efficacy beliefs (F (364, 1) =30.12, P=0.000) and explained 8% of the self-efficacy variance. The components of assessment (t=3.008, p=0.003) and interpersonal relationships (t=2.197, p=0.029) were positive predictors and lesson plan (t=-3.329, p=0.001) was a negative predictor for students' efficacy beliefs. Nonetheless, the implementation of teaching (t=-0.924, p=0.356) did not predict students' efficacy beliefs. Thus, according to the teachers' lesson plans and teaching performance, self-efficacy beliefs played a small rol. Accordingly, it is recommended that teachers use problem-based teaching methods which improve students' engagement in the learning process.

The purpose of this research was to analyze identity dimensions in students of Kashan University and its relationship with internet addiction. This study was conducted within a descriptive-correlation approach. The statistical population included the students in Kashan university, from which 220 individuals were selected through classified random sampling. The "identity questionnaire AIQ" with 45 item in four components and "test of internet addiction (IAT) " with 20 items in terms of Likert 5 scale were used as the research instruments. The content validity of the questionnaires were confrimed. The obtained data were analyzed by SPSS in infrential level. The findings showed that the mean of identity components were above the average and mean of internet addiction was lower than average. In addition, there was a significant relationship between identity dimensions (personal, communicative, collective and social) and internet addiction.

The present study aims to describe the innovation indicators in aims of curricula and their application in Isfahan Art University. This study was conducted within descriptive-analytical survey framework through qualitative and quantitative methods. The statistical population in the qualitative part included the experts in curriculum and Art education from whom 19 individuals were purposefully selected as the samples. The statistical population in the quantitative part included 1110 MA and PhD students studying at Isfahan Art University from whom 300 individuals were randomly selected. The research data was collected through semi-structured interview and researcher-made questionnaires. The results of the qualitative part showed that the most important innovation indicators in goals of Art Curricula consist of: Islamic approach toward the goals of Art curricula, attending to self-direction in the development of aims, training of the thinking skills: inductive, deductive, problem solving and critical students, training students to understand the theoretical foundations of aesthetics (patterns, dimension, and components). In addition, the results of the quantitative part indicated that the application of innovation indicators for “aims” was above the average. And there was a significant difference between the scores for the innovation indicators in the area of aimes in terms of gender and faculty.

University teacher training is one of the neglected subjects in higher education which might be results from the place given to teaching compared to research within the higher education. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the current status of university mathematics teacher training curriculum in higher education to find implications for university teacher training in Iran. To do purpose, first the relevant literature on university mathematics teacher training curriculum in Iran was reviewed and then the milestones were specified. This caused a focus on four kinds of university mathematics teacher training curricula which two of them were born in mathematics department and later mixed with the culture of this discipline and the others have almost similar conditions for all higher education disciplines. The two specific cases of mathematics discipline are “teacher assistant “ (TA) which could be found in universities such as Sharif University and Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, and “mentoring” which specifically exists in Mosaham Mathematics Institute. Finally, experienced curricula of these two specific curricula of mathematics disciplinary culture were analyzed through a phenomenological approach in order to present more explanation of reality of them.

The present study aims to examine predictors for engineering students' satisfaction from the quality of the differential equations curriculum through a factor analysis. This descriptive-analytic study was conducted in 2014-2015 for students of Engineering at the University of Ahar. At first, a questionnaire was designed in order to study the causes of satisfaction from teaching differential equations. A sample of 316 students who were sekcted through cluster sampling responded to the questionnaire. On the one hand, the reliability of the questionnaire was examined through a test-retest method and the Cronbach's alpha and on the other hand the validity was evaluated by through measuring face, content and construct validity. Exploratory factor analysis resulted in eight factors: modeling, teaching, usefulness, purpose, evaluation, teamwork, interaction and facilities. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that these eight factors, as the strongest fitness model, could prevent the dissatisfaction of students from the quality of the differential equations curriculum. Based on the results of this study, the 27-item questionnaire regarding the predictors of satisfaction from differential equations curriculum enjoyed acceptable validity and reliability and the proposed model could be employed in designing educational programs.