JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL INNOVATIONS
Year:2011 | Volume:9 | Issue:36|Papers Count:7

This research deals with the national language curriculum of Iran and compares it with the national language curriculum of our neighboring countries' including Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan. In fact, in this article we have tried to manifest the advantages and disadvantages of the curriculum of national language teaching in Iran. The comparison was done through four stages method of George Broody.In all countries, there was emphasis on knowing the society and environment, increasing their ability and understanding of language, reinforcing the cooperation among students' self–confidence, enhancing the prosperity of student's interests' and stimulating the curiosity of students. Regarding the teaching methods of language skills, there are many approaches in Iran which are followed by teachers and students. However, such approaches are different in the other countries. In Iran the educational content is consisted of series of textbooks for reading which are aimed at promoting the oral skills of language, and a textbook on writing that deals with written aspect of language. Meanwhile, in Pakistan the main part of the educational time is spent on reading and writing, translation, teaching grammatical points, knowledge of vocabulary, sentence construction or phrasing and comprehension. In Afghanistan, the educational content includes materials for reading and writing, speaking, listening and teaching the alphabet, notation, composition and handwriting, and calligraphy. However, in the other country, i.e., Tajikistan, the educational content includes materials for reading and writing, dictation, familiarity with alphabet, familiarity with vocabulary, fluent reading, listening and speaking.In Iran materials include textbooks on reading and writing skills, teacher's book, a book on teaching methods of Farsi, a book on learning skills of Farsi, pedagogical journals, films, cassettes and CD's . In Pakistan, materials are mainly textbooks, flash cards, pictures, cassettes, and slides. Textbooks, pictures, slides, posters, geographical maps, laboratories and libraries are used in Afghanistan and Tajikistan as materials. Finally with regard to the evaluation procedures, in all of the mentioned countries the written and spoken (oral) methods and behavior observation is used.

In this paper, we try to determine how much third and fourth grade elementary school Farsi textbooks involves with comprehension process, retrieving explicitly stated information, making straightforward inference, interpreting and integrating ideas and information, examining and evaluating content, language and textual elements based on PIRLS' study. Research method is descriptive and we used the content analysis devices for content analysis of textbooks. Also, the teachers' views on the adjustment of selected sections with each of these processes was gathered through questionnaire. The results showed that in third and fourth grade textbooks more emphasis has been on the "examination and evaluation of content", with less emphasis on "interpreting and integrating ideas" in third grade textbook and "making straight forward inferences" in fourth grade textbook. In third grade Farsi textbook in section on "listen and say" more emphasis is on "concentration and retrieving information" and less emphasis is on "interpreting and integrating ideas and information". In "true and false" section, more emphasis is on the "examination and evaluation of content" process and less emphasis is on "making straightforward inference" process. In "looking for and finding" section, more emphasis is on the "examination and evaluation of content" process and less emphasis is on "making straightforward inference" and "interpreting and integrating ideas and information" processes. In "understanding and perception" section of fourth grade Farsi textbook, more emphasis is on the "focusing on and retrieving explicitly stated information" process and less emphasis is on "interpreting and integrating ideas and information" process. In "listening" section, more emphasis is on the "examination and evaluation of content" process and less emphasis is on "making straight forward inference" and "focusing on and retrieving explicitly stated information" processes. In sum, In third grade Farsi textbook more emphasis is on "focusing on and retrieving explicitly stated information", "making straightforward inference", "examination and evaluation of content" processes and in fourth grade Farsi textbook more emphasis is on "interpreting and integrating ideas and information" process.

The present research is aimed to identify the prevalent methodologies of research on e-learning conducted in Iran and other countries. Research methodology can be defined as a set of perceptions and decisions which influences the identification of the problem, the choice of methodology, data collection and analysis by the researcher. The research sample consisted of papers published in four foreign journals, namely British Journal of Educational Technology, Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, Computers & Education and Educational Technology Research & Development, and also the entire set of papers published on this subject in Iranian accredited academic journals that were selected through a criteria-based sampling method. In all cases, to identify the papers' research methodology, the abstract, statement of the problem, research question(s), data collection instruments, sampling method and data analysis sections were analyzed using the quantitative content analysis method. Findings showed that in research carried out in other countries, quantitative, qualitative and mixed methodologies comprise 46.94, 27.26 and 25.79 percent of methodologies respectively, while these figures were 67.44, 13.95 and 18.60 percent in Iranian papers. The study on the shift taken place in methodologies in foreign countries research on e-learning within a span of ten years (2000-2009) indicated the relative prevalence of quantitative methodology vis-a-vis its qualitative and mixed counterparts. However, the overall trend was slow and towards further adoption of qualitative and mixed methods.

The main purpose of this study was to examine the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) that Iranian smart schools were confronted with. Another purpose was conducting a comparison between SWOT of governmental and private smart schools. The research methodology was descriptive survey. To collect the required data, two researcher-made questionnaires were distributed among teachers and students. The questionnaires included questions on four domains of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) with Likert scale and 5 multiple choice questions for demographic information. The research sample included 110 students and 77 teachers from four smart schools in Tehran city. Results of the study indicated that the average mean of four domains of SWOT were higher than average of 3 in both types of smart schools. This indicated that despite strengths and opportunities, there were weaknesses and threats in such schools. The most important strengths of these schools were increasing the teachers' and students' informational and media literacy and changing the teachers' role from transmitter of information to a facilitator. Weaknesses and threats for these schools were lack of structure and appropriate culture for implementation and use of information and communication technologies in those schools. From the students' point of view, the strengths and opportunities in private smart schools were more than governmental schools.

In this paper, we tried to investigate the methods for effective use of information and communication technology (ICT) in context-based instruction of chemistry. To do this, the available theoretical and research literature in the field was carefully studied. Furthermore, to achieve a suitable model, the various viewpoints were categorized and analyzed. Then, the most applied elements of the theories were brought forward and combined into one model. This innovative model, that make use of applied contexts as a relevant environment for learning chemistry, is harmony with chemistry curriculum and high schools' facilities, and could be implemented in Iranian educational system.The research method has been of descriptive-survey type. Data collection was done using a special questionnaire which was developed using available resources and it was validated and adjusted according to Iran's conditions, using interviews with experts (6 persons). The reliability of interviews was investigated and confirmed through the Cronbach Alpha method (a=0.89). The research sample for accrediting the presented model included chemistry teachers and educational experts (50 persons), and curriculum planning specialists (10 persons).In order to analyze the data, the descriptive (mean) and inferential (t-test) statistics were used. In general, the research findings show that the recommended model has an important role in introducing ICT in context-based chemistry instruction and it valid according to chemistry teachers, educational experts and curriculum planning specialists.

Every decade is accompanied with new descriptions of the concept of education,responsibilities,new demands and new challenges and a new call for innovation. For the qualitative and quantitative promotion of educational activities in various fields,educational officials are required to pay due attention to educational innovations. The present research represents a descriptive study aimed at recognizing fertile grounds for educational innovations. Analysis of the content of 50 selected plans in the academic year, 2009-10, showed that teachers accounted for 90 percent of educational innovations of which 88 percent pertained to curriculum and 12 percent to other areas of education. Innovations in curriculum were limited to teaching method and they have not been observed in other aspects of curriculum such as educational content and assessment methods applied to innovations by teachers. The most frequent innovation in teaching method (with a frequency of 13) was related to integration of arts into curriculum and the less frequent innovation (frequency=2) pertained to the method used for playing a role, advance organizers, memorization, and curricular teaching. The present research proved that teachers constitute the most important pillar of innovation and prosperity of education and their potentials should be used in developing various aspects of curriculum.

The aim of this study was to establish performance based budgeting using Activity Based Costing technique ABC in Organization of Educational Research and Planning (OERP) of ministry of Education. Curriculum development center, which is one of the main offices of this organization, was chosen as research sample and the above-mentioned technique was used in the pilot study. This research was descriptive. To answer the research questions, the required data was gathered through studying the related documents, research reports, searching through internet, interview and the designed tables. Also, the collected data was analyzed using Activity Based Cost method ABC. Activities, activity centers, cost drivers and resources was identified in this research. The results of this study computed the costs of Curriculum development center through the identification of outputs of this center.