JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND PLANNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Year:2007 | Volume:13 | Issue:2 (44)|Papers Count:7

Comparative analysis of quality assurance systems in higher education through out the world reveals that there are many convergence and consensus on the one hand and considerable diversity on the other hand.“Relation with the government”, “organizational structure”, “the roles and authorities”, “the mission”, “criteria for judgment”, “evidences”, “the formal and final decisions based on the evaluation” and “the manner of reporting” are among the points divergence among different systems. This indicates that those in charge of introducing such systems were able to overcome many structural, cultural and contextual obstacles by network building. By creative borrowing from global experiences, these systems have been able to initiate the relevant and indigenous evaluation of higher education systems.

Science and technology parks are new emergent in Iran as an important tool for moving toward knowledge-based economy. Potential benefits of science and technology parks in economic development could emerge actively if there is an appropriate market for them. The environmental factor is the most important factor in the success of science and technology parks.Previous surveys have implied on importance of scientific and technological infrastructure of host regions in attracting the talents (customers) to science and technology parks. The first group of park’s talents does have a determining role in creating identity of science and technology parks. In fact, existence of synergy potential is one of the most important attractiveness of parks. The first groups of park’s talents are from local markets and provide suitable circumstances for attracting other knowledge -based companies to park.In the present article, relative position of host regions of Iranian science and technology parks are studied through their R&D and manufacturing activities shares in the country. The paper will be concluded with some recommendations for establishing suitable activity models for parks.

The present research is based on the application of system dynamics in internal evaluation. It aims to present a model in which policies and factors affecting quality in educational departments are investigated and determined, using system dynamics methodology.In the first step, factors having an impact on the quality of departments are selected based on relevant research theories, previous studies and factor analysis of departments. The factors include: faculty members, students, … members of the department, students, graduates, admitted students, research, teaching and learning educational programs, budget and educational and research equipment and facilities.In the second step, a general model is suggested to simulate the behavior of a department according to variables relevant to each factor. Then, the structural and behavioral validity of the model is tested against departmental hypothetical data.Finally, the simulated model is applied over a four-year span of time.Results indicate an improving trend in the quality of the departments supposed. The model can be used for analysis of not only the efficiency and effectiveness of the policies proposed by decision-makers but also the effectiveness of each variable in Promotion of the quality of a department. Therefore, such a model provides a simulating tool for managers and decision-makers to test and assess their policies and strategies.

The Estimation of cost per-student has been addressed by policy makers of higher education sector and has drawn a great deal of attention in the Fourth National Plan for Development. Also, it is well known that the cost analysis in higher education institutions is one of major means of efficiency.However, there have been little efforts to present a model for estimation of cost per student in a way that could detect main causes of it. The aim of this study is to apply activity based costing approach for cost estimation of higher education institutions in Iran. This model can be used to follow-up and control expenditures along with providing means for operational verification and proper decision making.

Nowadays, Information Technology (IT) is the main axis in national development. According to this role, the information literacy of the human resources is the core of this axis.In this paper, defining the concept of information literacy from different points of view, and comparative study among four international models for information literacy, a benchmark has been selected to provide a reference model. In the main part of the research studying the characteristics of human resources of Iran Technical and Vocational Training Organization a new model for information literacy development in Iran has been developed and the results have been compared with some other international models.

This study examines the rate of obtaining information for academic fields of study among qualified applicants of universities national entrance exam. For this purpose a twelve item questionnaire based on the results of a preliminary research with open-ended responses about information accessibility for academic fields was designed. After reviewing and confirming the formal validity of the questionnaire, its reliability investigated through a pilot study conducted on 120 qualified applicants with a high Alpha coefficient (r = 0.80). The final questionnaire was administered among 1737 (949 women and 788 men) resident applications in Tehran.The main statistical methods for data analysis were Factor Analysis, Mean Confidence Interval Estimation, Independent Samples T- Test and Analysis of Variance. Using a factor analysis test, it was revealed that two factors (media/books and advising). The results of analysis showed that the rate of obtaining information for academic fields among applicants was low (48 percents) while there is a gap (of 52 percent). In addition, findings of t- test and ANOVA showed the higher mean of obtaining information through media- books among girls and humanities applicants. Also, there was no meaningful difference between the girls and boys in obtaining information through consulting. However, these findings address the importance of providing information gathering opportunities for university applicants.

The purpose of this study is to determine effective factors on IT application by faculty members. A descriptive-correlative research survey method was used. A total of 200 people had chance to participate in this investigation. For data collection an on-line questionnaire was designed and sent to participants’ e-mail addresses. Reliability and validity of instrument were respectively determined via opinions of specialists and application of Cronbach's Alpha. Findings show that there is significant correlation between IT application and age, years of services, number of dissertations supervised, computer and internet skills, English language skills, number of scientific publications and environmental, economic, technical and motive factors.Stepwise Regression Analysis showed that computer skills, motive factors, technical factors, internet skills and age predict 63.5 percent of variations of IT application by faculty members.