JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL INNOVATIONS
Year:2009 | Volume:7 | Issue:28|Papers Count:14

In this study, we tried to investigate the feasibility of implementing philosophy for children program at primary school curriculum. The population of this Study consisted of the whole primary school teachers of Kerman who were 1770 male and female in two districts (working during 2007-2008 academic year). The sample included 237 male and female who were selected by stratified random sampling. The data was gathered using a researcher-made questionnaire, and it was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results showed that the studied teachers have enough knowledge, positive attitude and insufficient skill for implementing the philosophy for children program. Also, the primary schools in Kerman don't have the required facilities. Based on these findings, it is recommended that to pave the way for implementing philosophy for children program, reinforcing teachers' skills and providing facilities for schools should be seriously considered.

The purpose of the present study was to examine a predicting model of high school students' mathematics achievement based on the role of achievement goals and different dimensions of academic engagement. For this reason, 500 third grade high school students (250 male and 250 female) in mathematics field from Shiraz were selected using cluster sampling method. They completed a questionnaire consisting of 4 subscales: achievement goals, effort, task value, and cognitive and metacognitive strategies. Their mathematics academic performance was also assessed by total score average in mathematics courses. The results were analyzed using path analysis technique and it showed that different dimensions of academic engagement influence the relationship between achievement goals and mathematics achievement. Mastery goals influence mathematics achievement through metacognitive strategies, task value and effort indirectly and positively. The effect of performance-approach goals on mathematics achievement are indirect and negative and through the mediation of cognitive strategies. Also, Performance-avoidance goals influence mathematics achievement directly and negatively. The mediating role of academic engagement in the relationship between achievement goals and mathematics achievement is confirmed.

The present article emphasizes the experiential function of language introduced by Halliday's "Systematic Functional Grammar" and the importance of introducing this language function to elementary school students from two perspectives: 1. introducing all processes of this function as a complementary stage in language learning process, 2. introducing the processes of this language function on the basis of cognitive development of children. For these two purposes, we statistically and semantically analyzed the "Reading" books of the 1st to 5th grades of elementary school. The classified proportional allocation and systematic random sampling have been used as sampling methods. The results of the research suggest that all language processes are NOT introduced to students. Meanwhile, the processes included in the studied textbooks are NOT distributed according to linguistic and psychological principles. The irregular distribution of processes proves this claim.

Effective schools have teachers, who voluntarily go beyond their formal responsibilities and they do their best to improve the school effectiveness. Today, these behaviors are called «Organizational Citizenship Behavior». Considering the increasing need of schools to teachers with high «Organizational Citizenship Behavior» and also the shortage of knowledge about this important issue in Iran, in this study, we tried to analyze the content of some important internationally published researches about «Organizational Citizenship Behavior» of teachers. The analysis was done according to the researches' nature (necessities , origins, definitions, new impressions and indicators), methodology (research method and instruments), antecedents (individual and organizational factors ,principal leadership behaviors and contextual factors), consequences (with emphasis on students 'academic achievement) and also regarding the principals' role.

The purpose of the present research was investigating the secondary school students' needs to non-academic reading materials. Data was gathered by survey method using questionnaire and interview. The sample was consisted of 6068 boys and girls who were selected via cluster sampling among high school students of the whole country. After gathering and analyzing the data, the following results were obtained: 1-The percentage of students who had read 1 non-academic book during the previous year was fewer than that of students who had not read nonacademic books.2- The highest priority of students' reading material was books on boys and girls' relationship, and the lowest priority of them was books on economic field.3- There was a significant difference among girls' needs towards reading materials at different grades except for religious, technological, historical and occupational information.4- There was a significant difference among boys' needs towards reading materials at different grades, except for physical health and social information.

In this research, we tried to investigate the methods for effective use of practical works in secondary school science education. 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, based on problem solving activity, is in harmony with physics, chemistry and biology 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 presons). The reliability of interviews was investigated and confirmed through the Cronbach Alpha method (a = 0.79). The research sample for accrediting the presented model included educational experts (120 persons in the field of physics, chemistry and biology), and curriculum planning especialists (10 presons). 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 practical works in secondary school science education classes and it is valid according to educational experts and curriculum planning specialists.

One of the new methods in designing the organization and implementing a curriculum is integrative method that is now considered by modem countries. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of integrating the content of the main four chapters of guidance school first grade science textbook based on the integrative organization approach (project type) on the same grade girls' educational development and social growth. This research is applied according to the results, and it is experimental according to the procedure. The participants were of two groups (control and experimental) who were selected by cluster sampling from among the first grade guidance school girls of two school districts (3 and 6) of Mashhad. All in all, the sample consisted of the first grade students of 4 girls' guidance schools (students of two first grade class in each school and in total students of 8 class). Also, the experimental design was of pre-post test type. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, specially t-test and mann whitney (u) test. The findings showed that the integration and organization of the contents of first grade guidance school science textbook based on the integrative approach (project type) had a significant effect on the above mentioned students' knowledge, ability, understanding and application of materials (about the heat issue) and also it had a significant effect on their social growth.