JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT AND EVALUATION STUDIES
Year:2019 | Volume:9 | Issue:25|Papers Count:8

This paper aimed to investigate the Item Parameter Drift (IPD) in the TIMSS among Iranian 8th grade students and its impact on estimating their capability parameter. The statistical population of this study included all Iranian 8th grade students who participated in the TIMSS in 2003، 2007 and 2011; 1224 students (408 students per test course) who responded to 40 trend items in the current test. The presence or absence of IPD was tested using SPSS (Version 23) Software and Logistic Regression method. The result showed that، among 40 trend items، 2 items were diagnosed with IPD which were characterized with a uniform IPD and 1 item had a non-uniform IPD. However، given the criteria of Goodwin-Gill's effect size، both items were characterized with little effect size. The students' capability (θ ) in the presence of all trend items was calculated to address the impact of ID on students' capability. Having identified and deleted the items with IPD، the capability parameter (θ ) was calculated using BILOG-MG Software. Next، the Dependent T-test was used to examine the difference between the means and their significance. The results indicated that that rate of drift did not last a significant impact in determining the students' capability.

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of students' competencies and organizational climate on their academic achievement using a multilevel approach. In this analysis، students’ competencies and the organizational climate were analyzed at the first and second levels، respectively. Given the purpose of study، this was an applied research that was categorized among descriptive correlational research in terms of data collection method. The research population was consisted of students (N = 13000) and faculty members as Heads of different academic departments (N = 57) at Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman. The research sample included 1140 students and 57 faculty members who were selected and analyzed using stratified random sampling method. The data collection tools included three questionnaires، including Interpersonal Competencies Questionnaire، Systemic and Applied Competencies (Ismaili، Mahani، et al.، 2016) and Organizational Climate Questionnaire (Halpin and Kraft، 2000). Students’ total grade point averages were also evaluated for their overall academic achievement. The fluctuation range of Cranbach’ s Alpha Coefficient for each of the four scales was between 0. 55 and 0. 84. The results indicated that academic climate at the second level affected the impact of students' competencies on their academic achievement at the first level.

The purpose of this study was to predict academic achievement based on the goal orientation and perception of classroom with the mediating role of academic emotion in the form of causal model in path analysis. The statistical sample of this study included 380 students studying in the 9th grade at Tabriz city who were selected by cluster random sampling method. The data collection tools included such questionnaires as Achievement Goal Questionnaire (Elliot & McGregor، 2001)، Perception of Classroom (Gentry، Gable and Rizza، 2002) and Academic Emotion (Pekrun، 2005). The results showed that the components of goal orientation (tendency domination، avoidance domination and tendency performance) and the components of perception of the classroom (interest، choice، pleasure) had a direct and positive impact on academic achievement but the avoidance performance had a direct and negative impact on academic achievement. The components of tendency domination، tendency performance، avoidance performance، interest and pleasure had an indirect significant impact on academic achievement through positive emotions. However، the components of tendency domination، tendency performance، avoidance performance، interest، challenge and pleasure had the same impact through negative emotions. Overall، the results showed that، in comparison with components of classroom perception، the components of goal orientation can be considered good predictors of academic achievement.

The aim of the present study was to examine the psychometric characteristics of Self-directed Learning Scale among students. The design of the present study was a correlational one. The statistical population of this research included all students in Tehran city، among whom 315students of Islamic Azad University were selected through available sampling method. The concerned population responded to such scales as Self-directed Learning Scale، Midgley’ s Achievement Goal Orientations Scale and Barron's Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire. The SPSS (Version 22) and Lisrel (8، 54) software as well as factor analysis method، Chronbach's Alpha and Pierson's Correlation were used to analyze the data. The results of factor analysis showed that this scale was consisted of 4 factors، including motivation for learning، planning and implementation، self-monitoring and interpersonal relationships. Having examined the validity of the scale، it was indicated that this construct had a positive significant relationship with mastery goals، approach functional goals and all components of emotional intelligence. However، the former construct had a negative significant relationship with avoidance approach goals. The reliability of the scale was determined 0. 91 for the whole scale using Cronbach's Alpha. Besides، the reliability of each subscales were determined as 0. 81، 0. 82، 0. 75 and 0. 75، respectively. The latter results indicated high capability of this instrument. The findings of the study indicated that the Persian version of Self-directed Learning Scale was characterized with acceptable psychometric characteristics among university students.

The present study aimed at formulating a framework for research mentoring functions among Ph. D. students using the qualitative synthesis research method. The research population included all related studies in international databases from 2000 to 2017. Given the forenamed studies، 83 studies were selected and examined after three stages of screening based on the subject، abstract، and content of the studies. Finally، 20 studies were purposefully chosen as the research sample. The research data were extracted and analyzed using the thematic analysis method. As a result، 128 basic themes were identified for the functions of research mentoring، which were categorized into 22 sub-components. Ultimately، the sub-components were categorized and presented in terms of five main items، including (1) relational function، (2) scientific and research function، (3) psychological function، (4) social function، and (5) professional function.

The purpose of this paper was to identify and weight factors and criteria for accreditation of curriculum of Electrical and Computer Engineering fields from the viewpoints of faculty members. In this regard، researchers used the mixed research method. Regarding the identification and weighting of the concerned factors and criteria، two Delphi (qualitative) researcher-made questionnaires and a 92-item researcher-made questionnaire (quantitative) were used، respectively. Its content validity coefficient was determined as 0. 87 and its Cronbach's Alpha Coefficient was calculated as 0. 89. The statistical population of this study included all faculty members of Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty of University of Tehran in 2017-2018 Academic Year. The sample size was 30 individuals in the qualitative section and 80 individuals in the quantitative section. Given the identification and determining the weight of the factors and criteria of accreditation of the concerned curriculum، it was decided to make use of such descriptive statistical methods as quartile range، mean، standard deviation and the weighted averages. The faculty members determined 8 indigenous factors and 26 criteria. Such factors as "teaching-learning methods" and "content of the curriculum" as well as such criteria as "appropriateness of the teaching-learning methods with other dimensions of the curriculum" and "proportionality of the objectives of the curriculum with the needs and facilities of the university، students، society and industry" had the most impact weight on the validity of curriculum of Electrical and Computer Engineering fields.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of causal effect of core self-evaluation، job autonomy and occupational hardiness on teachers' job performance. A causal correlational design was used in this research. The statistical population of this study consisted of all teachers working in Education Administration of Chaipareh City (West Azarbaijan) in the Academic Year 2017-2018 (N=306)، among whom a total of 306 individuals were selected using random cluster sampling. The research tools used in the present study included Occupational Hardiness Questionnaire (Moreno-Jimé nez، Rodrí guez-Muñ oz، Herná ndez and Blanco، 2014)، Job Performance Questionnaire (Patterson، 1990)، Core Self-evaluation Scale (Judge، Erez، Bono and Thoresen، 2003) and Job Autonomy Scale (Ganster، 1989). The content validity of the questionnaires was confirmed by experts. Besides، internal reliability of the forenamed tools was examined through Cronbach's Alpha Test (0. 79 for Hardiness، 0. 84 for Job Performance، 0. 79 for Core Self-evaluation and 0. 85 for Job Autonomy). Data analysis was performed using Pearson Correlation Test and Path Analysis method to evaluate the causal model using SPSS and AMOS software. The results showed a positive، direct and significant relationship between job performance and occupational hardiness، job autonomy and core self-evaluation (P<0. 001). In addition، the research data fitted with conceptual model of research and the structural equation model showed that it was possible to explain the teachers’ job performance through occupational hardiness and job autonomy.

The present study was conducted to assess the impact of different dimensions of academic burnout on students’ academic achievement in Iran's higher education system. The statistical population of the study consisted of all students of public universities and institutes of higher education affiliated to the Ministry of Science، Research and Technology of the I. R. Iran. Having used a multi-stage cluster sampling method، it was tried to distribute and collect a total of 2635 questionnaires. The main research instrument was a questionnaire whose validity and reliability were assessed and confirmed by thematic experts and Cronbach's Alpha Coefficient (α >0. 70)، respectively. The data analysis was conducted in terms of descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS (Version 23) and SmartPlS (Version 3). The results of Structural Equation Modeling showed a negative and significant impact of academic inefficacy on students’ academic achievement in higher education system of the country. However، the negative and significant impact of academic exhaustion and academic cynicism on academic achievement was not confirmed. Based on the results of the research، it is suggested that administrators and educators of the higher education system endeavor to increase the communication between universities and industry، services and agriculture sectors in order to sign contracts in order to deliver service-oriented education. As such، they can improve student's job skills and academic and practical self-efficacy.