JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL INNOVATIONS
Year:2005 | Volume:4 | Issue:13|Papers Count:7

Constructivism approach is one of the most important theoretical frameworks in the formation and development of the new instructional revisions and activities. The main focus of constructivism is the fact that individuals construct knowledge actively. Concept map is one of the modern instructional methods in the sense that it is closely related to constructivism. The concept map is the visual representation of meaningful relations between concepts. The main purpose of the present study is to improve the efficacy concept map as a learning-teaching strategy. Likewise the minor purpose has been to make an analogy between the effectiveness of the provision of pre-planned concept maps on one hand and the development of concept maps by learners on the other. The comparison of the effectiveness of individual and cooperative methods of preparing concept maps was also taken into account. The participants of the study were 55 primary school teachers who participated in three discrete in-service training classes. The research project was a quasi-experimental design with pre-test and pos-test. The participants were assigned to three experimental groups. The first experimental group was given pre-planned concept maps in the process of classroom education. The second experimental group prepared the concept maps individually. Meanwhile the third experimental group prepared the concept maps cooperatively. Research results revealed that the post-tests averages increased compared to pre-tests averages but the efficacy maximal was observed in the group of individually preparing concept maps. The least efficacy is observed in the provision of pre-planned concept maps.

In this research educational decision-making system was studied based on five (internal and external) factors including: environment of decision-making (supra-systems), structure of decision–making, process of decision-making, implementing of decision–making, and evaluation and feedback of decision–making. Data was gathered by questionnaire from two groups, members of the Faculties of Education settled in Tehran and staff managers and specialists of the Ministry of Education. Findings show that the educational decision–making system has many imperfections with structural factors being the most important and implementation factors the least of them. Furthermore, the study samples emphasize decentralization of educational decision–making system.

For the purpose of studying the effect of the course creativity development in children (that is one of the courses taken by third grade female students in the field of babysitting at the technical high school) on the creativity improvement of the same students, a semi-experimental method with the control group and pretest-posttest was used and a sample consisting of 108 third year female students of Shiraz technical high schools were selected based on GAP of 14-17( out of 20) and an IQ of 90-110. Of this group, 54 students in the field of babysitting were considered as the experimental group. They passed the same course unit during the school year.The other 54 subjects were selected from among other fields of study in the technical high schools as the control group.This group had not taken the course unit in question. The most important question was whether providing the course "creativity development in children" was effective upon creativity improvement of students in the field of babysitting.To answer the questions, both groups took a pretest by Torrance verbal creativity test (from A) at the beginning of the school year and at the end of the year. Again, both groups, the experimental and the control one were evaluated using form B of Torrance test (post- test).Creativity scores of the two groups and the scores of the experimental group (pretest and post-test) were compared by t-test. Findings showed an increase in the creativity score of the students in the field of babysitting (the experimental group). The scores of this group as compared with those of the control group showed significant superiority in the elements fluidity, expansion, and the total score as well. In addition, based on the multivariate regression findings of the independent variables, the field of study, mother, job and student's achievement (GAP) was better predictors for the dependent variable, which is creativity.

The aim of the present study is to evaluate the graduates' job ability in some fields of technical and vocational education. These graduates are employed by Iran-Khodro Company and the viewpoint belongs to the production units' managers. In this study, all of the 200 graduates are students of manufacturing and production, vehicle mechanics and electronics in technical-vocational high schools who are employed by Iran Khodro in 2004. Their data was collected through a Job ability questionnaire.The findings indicated that the managers of the production units believe that graduates of technical and vocational  education in the above-mentioned fields have desired levels of team work, communication skills and commitment and also comparatively desired levels of creativity, problem solving, specialized knowledge and technical skill and job ability. In the whole, the managers consider these graduates’ job ability to be comparatively at the desired level. No significant difference was found between manufacturing and production, vehicle-mechanics and electronic graduates in job ability, team work, communication skills, creativity, problem solving, specialized knowledge and technical skill. However, the results show that electronic graduates have more commitment than vehicle-mechanics graduates.

Any plan for education presupposes a particular view on human nature. The kind of approach to human and his/her place in society guides educational practices in social education. This research examines Rortyan neo-pragmatism with regard to human agency and social education. This theory concentrates on human action and regards the human agency as its central subject. As for the social education, by assuming two educational phases, it suggests a two-phase goal including convergence between the individual and the society before university and non-convergence thereafter. Accordingly, in the end, the person turns to an active agent, who accompanying the society can move toward the opposite direction of common sense and give new theories. In addition, it suggests some principles and methods for performing the mentioned aims. We criticize this theory and its educational implications because of reducing human being to an organism and denying any kind of innate components which is required for regarding the final goal. In addition, we argue that Rorty's view on the human as a contingent being in a contingent world leads to anxiety and passiveness. As for education, Rorty's view faces some problems. First, there is a gap between his two educational phases. Second, there is no criterion for evaluating "final vocabulary". Third, he suggested that individuality is empty.

The purpose of the current research was to investigate the relation of cognitive precedent variables (counting capability, visualizing, hearing perception and meta-cognitive knowledge) with mathematical competence in preschool children in city of Isfahan. Statistical population of the study was 199 children (ages between 5 and 6 years) who were randomly selected. Research instruments were Utrecht Mathematical Competency, Counting Capability Test, Visualizing Attention Test, Meta-cognitive Abilities Test, and Reading Comprehension Test. Findings indicate that counting capability %49, meta-cognitive knowledge %46, visualizing attention %41, and hearing perception %38 predict mathematical competence in children. It is suggested that preschool coaches reinforce mentioned skills in children.