UNIVERSITY TEXTBOOKS, RESEARCH AND WRITING
Year:2014 | Volume:17 | Issue:31|Papers Count:6

The objective of this research is to study and compare the effectiveness of rhetorical patterns on reading comprehension of Islamic Azad University students. The sample group includes 180 students of East Tehran Branch who were selected randomly. The subjects were randomly assigned into experimental groups. The instrumentation of the study included the texts and text comprehension questionnaire. The text included three versions of a single text, i.e. they had identical content but different schemata: descriptive (listing) pattern, explanation pattern, and analysis pattern. The collected data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA test. The results of this study failed to confirm the effectiveness of text type on reading comprehension.

This research aims to develop and validate an Academic Textbook Review Measurement Scale (ATRMS) using specialized texts and consulting with experts. The research has been carried out through library research method and Delphi study. Library research method was applied to identify indicators and items, and Delphi study was utilized to assess the consensus of the group (on the basis of the viewpoints of Library and Information Science experts and book reviewers). Findings showed the ATRMS covers 4 indicators including content parameter (21 items), writing parameter (8 items), physical parameter (9 items) and other factors (19 items). The literature review showed that no valid and reliable tool was designed for the evaluation of textbook reviews. This study has been accomplished to develop and validate the ATRMS. This scale not only evaluates the academic textbook reviews, but also with a minor modification can review other books as well.

In this article, “cohesion” and “coherence” as two textual properties are reviewed in the major discourse theories, and on the basis of the results a preliminary model for evaluating readability in discourse level is proposed. This article tries to provide answers to such questions as to what extent different discourse theories have given weight to textual cohesion and coherence and which theories may have simple practical procedures to evaluate readability in discourse level. To this end, seven discourse theories were extensively reviewed and their encounters with textual cohesion and coherence were evaluated. The evaluation of discourse theories indicated that their conceptions of text cohesion and coherence have not been consistent and different theories have focused on different aspects of these textual phenomena. Based on the proposed model and the evaluation of theories it is concluded that the theories of Kintch & van Dijk (1978) and of Danes (1974) provide a practical and simple framework to develop or assess discourse readability systematically.

Academic training of carpet industry specialists makes it necessary to publish valid and up-to-date scientific and educational resources in this regard. This study aims to analyze the research and publication on carpet area with analyzing the scientific publications of Science Direct database. All the resources indexed in Science Direct database including the word "carpet" in titles, abstracts or keywords were extracted, and 635 published works in this area in terms of subjects and countries of publication were examined separately. Results showed that Iran has 10 articles, and ranked 15 in the world, after the US, England, Germany, Italy, China, Australia, Canada, France, Spain, Japan, Turkey, India, the Netherlands and Sweden. The subject area of carpet, its weavering, maintenance, cleaning and hygiene with 159 Articles and a percentage of 37.32 was in the first place. Activity index of the subject area of carpet shows that research activity had an increase in the field of carpet weavers and their health, while it shows a decrease in the subject area of carpet cleaning, maintenance, washing and hygiene, since 1990. Although Iran has a long history in carpet industry, unfortunately, in terms of scientific production is not in a proper position in the world. Regarding the findings of the present study, we suggest that the relevant authorities must support and encourage research and writing of scientific resources in the field of carpet industry.

The objective of the present study was to determine the dimensions of the hidden curriculum of Islamic education courses in higher education from students’ point of view. This study was conducted through a descriptive survey method. Therefore, using proportionate random stratified sampling, 326 undergraduate students were selected from Islamic Tabriz Azad University. The data collection tool was a 30-itemed researcher-made questionnaire about hidden curriculum. Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance and one sample t-test. Results of exploratory factor analysis indicated that the dimensions of the hidden curriculum in Islamic education courses could be classified in four categories: teacher-student reciprocal relationship, teaching method, interpersonal relationships, and religious attitudes; these factors are effective in the formation of the hidden curriculum in Islamic education courses. The results of the study showed that there was no difference between male and female students in terms of dimensions of the hidden curriculum (p>0.05).

This article aims to study Iran's theoretical books in sports science on the basis of book features and practical representation of information for authors and publishers. The research was carried out through descriptive-survey method. The statistical sample included all the sports science theoretical books that are listed in the latest descriptive bibliography of the National Library up to the September of 2012. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, Chi-squared test, and K-S test. The results showed that among 3132 books, the percentage of compiled books, translated books and reprinted books were respectively 72.48%, 27.52%, and 10.22%. Payame Noor University (2.55%) and Bamdad Ketab Publication (6.70%), were respectively the most active university and publication. All the books were divided in three categories (main course-books, inter-disciplinary course-books, and general course-books) including 74 secondary subject areas. Sports medicine (19.63%) and sports facts (0.61) were respectively the most and the less subjects covered in the sample books. The best-seller books were university textbooks, physical fitness books, and health and well-being books. Therefore, production of book in the specialized subcategories of sports science must undergo a proper modification and policy-making on the basis of the sport requirements of the country.