JOURNAL OF HIGHER EDUCATION CURRICULUM
Year:2017 | Volume:7 | Issue:14 |Papers Count:7

This study aims to investigate the application of constructivist curriculum elements in higher education. The research design is a sequential-explanatory mixed method. The instruments employed in this study include a researcher-made questionnaire as well as observation for the quantitative phase and (narrative and qualitative) observation for the qualitative phase. In the quantitative phase, the population includes all the post graduate students of Shiraz University studying humanities. From this population 302 students are selected as the sample through stratified random sampling. For the quantitative observation, one class is selected from each major (n=46) in the faculties under study. For the qualitative observation, three classes from each facility are selected and two sessions are observed. In the first phase, the validity and reliability of questionnaire is examined before implementation. From descriptive statistics, mean and standard deviation and from inferential statistics, one-sample t-test and independent t-tests are used for the purpose of data analysis. The correlation coefficient of 90% is obtained for the observation which confirms the reliability. The validity of qualitative observation is evaluated through the mastery of subject by the researcher. The results indicate no significant difference regarding the target element, content and teaching-learning strategies. However, evaluation element is lower than the standard level. The results obtained by quantitative confirm the results of the questionnaire. The results of the qualitative observation could explain the features of classes.

Mathematics education as an independent discipline at the graduate level was developed as the response to the specific needs of mid-20th century. In this paper, we first have a glimpse of the idea of university and its distinction with schooling. The authors then, discuss the necessary characteristics of a discipline and in particular an interdisciplinary one. For this purpose the development process of the discipline of “mathematics education” is considered as a sample. Finally, the formation of the master and doctoral programs of mathematics education in Iran would be discussed as one of the first interdisciplinary graduate programs that was established at the basic science branch of higher education in Iran in 1999.

The development of information and communication technologies and web-based learning has made simulation games an effective educational tool for active and problem-based learning as well as improving entrepreneurial competencies of students. This study aims to examine the application of simulation games in entrepreneurship education in the social and behavioral sciences. The present study is conducted within a qualitative framework through phenomenography and semi-structured interviews. The population for this study includes students majoring at social and behavioral sciences in Tehran University. Twelve students are selected through snowball sampling as the sample for study. The interviews are analyzed by q ualitative content analysis. The results reveal that four categories need to be addressed in the application of simulation games in entrepreneurship education for social and behavioral sciences that include human categories (6 subcategories), education (7 sub-categories), management (5 subcategories), and technological (5 subcategories).

This study is conducted with the purpose of evaluating the production of scientific works through mentoring for faculty members of higher education abroad. This review study seeks to underline the discussions and elements addressed in these studies. The present study is a descriptive-analytic research. Accordingly, all papers published from 2000 to 2016 in the Faculty of Education and Psychology database of Shahid Beheshti University are reviewed (ProQuest, Springer Link, Taylor & Francis, Sage, Wiley Online Library). The papers that are extracted from 28 scientific documents include 20 articles and 8 theses in the field of mentoring for faculty members that are analyzed through descriptive-analytic method. The findings are presented in two parts: the results of the first part regarding the discussions and factors considered by the researchers indicate that topics including the characteristics of the role of faculty members as mentors or mentees and different positive effects of mentoring program for newly hired faculty members are the main topics underlined by researchers. In the second part, the results of formal and descriptive analysis of the studies show that 43% of the studies used qualitative research and 17% used the quantitative method, interviews, questionnaires, and only 14% employed library method. In terms of cooperation and partnerships, 39% of studies are group research and 61% are individual research.

This paper investigates the professional components of curriculum knowledge of faculty in viewpoints of professors / academic expert in the field of basic sciences, engineering sciences, humanities and medical sciences. Consequently, the perspective of curriculum theorists about the role of faculty in the curriculum development, and the role that they have in this field are discussed in the present study. These are the phenomenon that requires serious consideration in the higher education system, but they have been neglected for various reason. Professional competencies in the field of curriculum facilitate the participation of faculty in decisions regarding curriculum in college. In this regard, qualitative method is employed and initially 24 higher education faculty members in the fields of expertise including: Medical science, Engineering, science and humanity were selected by purposeful sampling and interviewed using standardized open-ended interview. The findings highlighted basic knowledge (nature and different aspects of curriculum elements, structural relations among elements, principles of balance and coherence among curriculum elements) and knowledge/curriculum principles (domain of expertise - scientific and related domains, epistemological domain, psychological domain, cultural-social identity, lingual and aesthetical domain).

The present study aims to rank the components of hidden curriculum (including teaching methods, evaluation methods, teacher-student interaction in the space of physical and social atmosphere of the university, the scientific spirit of the students, the course and the rules and regulations) in terms of their importance in the formation of academic identity. For this purpose, the viewpoint of students studying at the faculty of education and psychology in Shahid Beheshti University in 2015-2016 educational years are gathered and analyzed. This is a survey research and the statistical population include all the male and female students of educational science (n=95). From this population 76 students are selected through Morgan table and simple random sampling as the research sample. The data are collected through a researcher-made questionnaire that includes 32 items on a five-level Likert scale. The face and content validity are confirmed by experts and reliability coefficient of 84% is calculated through Cronbach's alpha. The obtained data is analyzed through descriptive statistics (frequency counts, mean, and percentage) and inferential statistics (Spearman correlation coefficient, simple linear regression, Mann-Whitney test, Friedman test). The results indicate that, according to the participants, there is a significant relationship between hidden curriculum components and academic identity formation. In addition, most of the participants rank social atmosphere of university higher than the other components in terms of influencing scientific identity and component of scientific spirit was ranked lower than other components. The results show no significant difference between the two genders regarding mean difference of the components.

The main purpose of this study is to explain the curriculum components authors' orientations of the textbook "Elementary Differential Equations and Boundary Value Problems". This study seeks to identify the theoretical foundations of teaching differential equations. The analysis of the content of this book, based on the grounded theory, suggests that the context conditions of the authors include “applied differential equations” with the subcategories of "raising students’ interest" and "attending to students’ basic needs." In addition, there are "educational innovation" and the use of "technology" as intervening conditions. With regard to abovementioned circumstances, the authors adopted strategies including: “integrating algebraic, numerical and geometric approaches”, “integrating horizontal mathematization and vertical mathematization”, “integrating differential equations and modeling” and “integrating traditional and modern methods of teaching”. The "integrated curriculum" is a consequence of using these strategies. In fact, the authors of this book are oscillating between the two spectra: “pure structures” and “industrial applications”.