Studies in Learning and Instruction
Year:2012 | Volume:3 | Issue:2 (61-2)|Papers Count:8

Introduction: Radical changes in the global socioeconomic environment associated with the transition to post-industrialism and the postmodern era have had a significant impact on working conditions and on organizational and job design throughout the world. The consequences of such changes are evident in many aspects of societal, organizational, and individual life, including careers and career counseling.

Introduction: Students attitude toward help seeking behaviors can affect some of their social, psychological and educational behaviors (Freyer et al., 2005). When students do not have enough information to solve a problem independently, help seeking can be an effective strategy for successive learning (Ryan et al., 1997). In fact, through achieving this strategy, students become independent learners (Newman & Schwager, 1995). Help seeking is a multiple construction which encompasses meta-cognitive strategy (Roll et al., 1991).

Introduction: Zajacova, Lynch, & Espenshade (2005) first reported the results of the factorial structure and psychometric properties of the academic self-efficacy beliefs questionnaire. In their study, result of the principal component analysis using oblimin rotation showed that ASEBQ consisted of four factors: confidence in academic performance in class, confidence in academic performance outside of class, confidence in interaction at school and confidence in ability to manage work, family and university.On this basis, being aware of the necessity of careful investigation of the dimensional structure of the Persian version of ASEBQ in the process of recognition of the organized factors of academic selfefficacy beliefs among university students, the researchers of the present study aimed to investigate the factorial structure of this questionnaire among Iranian university students.

Introduction: Optimal social functioning and having healthy peer relationships are considered as two important conditions for children' s development. Many children who have difficulty in social relations are prone to behavioral disorders and cannot do well in their academic studies (Parker & Asher, 1987, qtd. in Yousefi & Khayyer, 2002). It could be argued that the main cause of social problems may be attributed to improper functioning of social behaviors such as interaction with the peer group (Dodge, 1985 and Gresham, 1986, qtd.in Deboo & Prins, 2006). Relation with others is multifaceted. Some of the obvious manifestations are acceptance or non-acceptance.

Introduction: Religion as a set of musts and must not, beliefs and generalized specific values is accounted very vital for most effective psychological support and is able to save a person from suspension and meaninglessness by providing explanatory support (Bahrami- Ehsan, 1999). So, the role of religion is important in supporting human beings and providing psychological tools for coping and adaptation in daily life events (such as changes, loss and death) (Levin, 1994). On the other hand, the concept of attribution style is a way of explaining daily life events, particularly in stressful situations which could play an important role in mental health (Terry, 1994). The purpose of attribution style theory is to investigate how causal explanation and how people answer questions beginning with why.So, attribution style theory explains events and emotional and behavioral consequences (Rothman, Salvoverg, Turvey, & Fishkin, 1993(.

Introduction: The main purpose of any educational system is to help students to become lifelong learners. One essential method to achieve this goal is to equip students with critical thinking ability. Critical thinking is defined as a thoughtful judgment or reflective decision making (Facione, 2011). A critical thinker possesses both critical thinking skills and dispositions. Dispositions toward critical thinking are tendencies that motivate the person to apply her/his critical thinking skills in the target situation. In order to help students learn how to think critically, educators must value both critical thinking skills and dispositions. However, only a few studies have focused on investigating the field of dispositions toward critical thinking.

Introduction: Numerous parents, educators, community leaders want young people to:• Be fully literate, able to benefit from and make use of the power of written and spoken language, in various forms;• Understand mathematics and science at levels that will prepare them for the world of the future and strengthen their ability to think critically, carefully and creatively;• Be good problem-solvers;• Take responsibility for their personal health and well-being;• Develop effective social relationships such as learning howto work in a group and how to understand and relate to others from different cultures and backgrounds;• Be caring individuals with concern and respect for others;• Understand how their society works and be prepared totake on the roles that are necessary for future progress;• Develop good character and make sound moral decisions.All of these are aspects of what some refer to as the "education of the whole child".Educating the whole child is not a new idea. It is rooted in the writings and teachings of many ancient cultures. Yet, achieving the 2 8Studies in Learning & Instruction kind of balance that encourages all children to learn, work and contribute to their fullest potential has been a continuing challenge as our world has grown more complex and our communities more fragmented.