NEW THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION
Year:2006 | Volume:1 | Issue:4|Papers Count:10

Evaluation is an inseparable part of any program, especially that of a university teaching. That's because universities are the very bastion of science and scientific culture, and evaluation and improvement are among the very values of which this culture is consisted. Hence, in a country like Iran it can be expected from the university curricula to help with the development of scientist attitude in students in order to uphold the scientific values. Assessing the scientist attitude of the newly admitted students and comparing it with that of the senior year students could reveal the value of the university curriculum. 236 first-year and fourth-year students from four colleges of economics, engineering, physical education, and the arts were randomly selected and, in 16 sessions, their scientist attitudes assessed, utilizing the "bood" instrument that measures cognitive, affective, and behavioral aspects of the attitude. The findings, however, in supporting the research hypothesis, did not show a significant difference between the two groups attitude scores. Nevertheless, some colleges were significantly different than the others, which means they don't stress on the scientific values equally. Review of the curricula and the evaluation of methods and instruments in university teaching could lead to improvement in scientist attitude.

The present paper reports the results of an investigation conducted on the effectiveness of a training course in marital conflict resolution skills in improving the intra-couple relationship. Subjects were 35 women who had volunteered to participate in the training course. The subjects were divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group was not only interviewed, but also responded to a questionnaire. The research hypothesis was that learning a set of marital conflict resolution skills improves intra-couple relationships. The collected data were analyzer using the t-test for independent groups. A significant difference was observed between the obtained scores on pre- and post- tests by both the experimental and control groups. Furthermore the data drawn from the interviews and observations made during the training sessions supported the notion that the conflict resolution skills training course was effective.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the validity and reliability of Perception of Parents Scale: Child for use in Iran. To achieve this end the scale was first translated from English to Farsi. Then it was administered to a sample of 452 female 4th and 5th graders in Shiraz. The reliability of the scale was found through test-retest and Chronbach's alpha methods. The validity of the scale was determined by means of factor analysis which resulted in six factors being derived. The convergent validity was studied by finding the correlation between the POPS scores and those gathered using the Family Environment Questionnaire. Based on the results, the validity and reliability of the adapted form of the POPS is considered suitable for use in Iran.

Considering the extent of conflict in today's organizations (especially schools), the use of effective strategies for conflict management is essential. The key point, and the main purpose of this study, is the extent to which the principals' self- awareness impacts their use of effective strategies for conflict management. 63 principals in primary schools were selected systematically from among 132. To measure their self-awareness, Rogers' Questionnaire and to determine their conflict management strategies, Putnam and Wilson Standard Questionnaire was used. Results indicated a significant relation between the principals' self-awareness and conflict resolution strategies. No significant relation was observed between the principals' self-awareness and the control or inaction strategy.

One of the underlying assumptions that has found popular acceptance is that attitude of people toward entrepreneurship which effect on its level of action. Attitude is the best predictor of entrepreneurial tendencies. Attitudes are learned, and while they do deepened to some degree on one's upbringing, family values, work, and social environment, they can and do change over time as the individual interacts with the environment in which he/she lives and works.The purpose of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of career counseling based on social learning theory in changing the entrepreneurial attitude of the Isfahan University students. 30 students from among those who had come to the Entrepreneurship Centre for counseling were randomly selected and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The entrepreneurial attitude scale was administered for all subjects as pre-, post-, and follow-up test. The experimental group received career counseling based on the social learning theory and Krumboltz' career decision making theory, while the control group was awaiting the treatment. The results of covariance and MANOVA analyses show that the two groups weren't significantly different in entrepreneurial attitude in post-test (P < 0.1), however they were significantly different in entrepreneurial attitude in the follow-up (P < 0.01).

The aim of this research has been to evaluate and prioritize educational needs of the personnel at Tehran vocational centers personnel. 310 employees (208 males, 75 female) participated in this study. A questionnaire was used to gather the necessary data. The results show that the administrative and financial personnel need to know more about effective administrative methods and the governing regulations. The technical-engineering staffs needs include more knowledge of the governing regulations, as well as more familiarity with educational and research methods especially in relation to industry and technology. Furthermore the administrative and financial staffs needs to acquire skills in how to deal with the personnel complaints, how to run regular meetings and promote active participation in them, and how to plan for personnel training. The technical and engineering personnel, on the other hand, need skills in not only monitoring factors affecting education, employment condition, and educational and research standards, but in the use of computer, foreign languages, and educational and research methods.

In this survey the similarities between the marital conflicts of the first and second generation couples (parents and their married children) were studied. The women participating in training courses at the Isfahan Cultural Centers along with their husbands constituted the second generation population while their mothers formed the first generation group. To select a sample the snowball sampling method was used. Second generation sample consisted of 120 couples and the first generation sample included 120 mothers and 120mother-in-laws.The data were gathered using the Marital Conflicts Questionnaire which probes couples' conflicts in seven areas To analyze the data statistically the t-test for independent groups was used. The findings confirm the similarity of marital conflicts in parents and their married children. Moreover, in all of the marital conflict subscales wives were similar to their mothers. As for the husbands and their mothers, the marital conflicts were not significantly different only in 2 subscales (attaining children's support, and reduction in sexual relationship), but in the other 5 subscales a significant relation was observed.