NEW THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION
Year:2009 | Volume:5 | Issue:1|Papers Count:9

To identify the approach taken by the exemplary professors in evaluating student achievement, a total of 15 such individuals in three universities were interviewed. According to them, a valid approach to the evaluation of student achievement consists of four elements: 1- identified goals, criteria, and methods of evaluation; 2- continuous evaluation; 3- types of questions and ways of writing and scoring them; 4- giving feedback and assuring students. To explore the extent to which such an approach is used by the general faculty members, a questionnaire was distributed among a randomly selected sample of 1245 students. Results show that the general faculty members use this approach only to a moderate extent (mean score of 3.5 out of 5) and in doing so there were no significant differences between different faculties or different ranks if the faculty members. However, the work experience seems to have made a significant difference.

To assess the effectiveness of the health education program on maturation among female adolescents, a sample of 192 female students aged 12-14 in Mashhad was randomly selected and put through the program. Following the educational course, participants awareness and attitude toward the subject, as well as their general health, was measured using two questionnaires. Results show an increase in all three areas measured, indicating the effectiveness of the program.

Cinema could be considered an effective tool in observational learning, regardless of its genera. The war genera, the most significant one in post-revolutionary Iran, could be a tool for advocating both peace and violence. To determine the educational functions of this type of films, a sample of six war movies (two from each decade since the Iran-Iraq war) was selected and then content-analyzed. The instrument used was the researcher constructed Peace and Violence Inventory. The results show that most reviewed movies advocate violence rather than peace, as they are aimed at creating war heroes, depicting war as holy, and glorifying those involved in its machinery. Films exploring the devastation caused by the war, the destruction imposed on humans and their relationships, and the victory of compassion over animosity were in the minority.

To determine the contributions of different types of resources to the variability of performance in the elementary school system at the national level, initially the performance variable was defined. Then, utilizing the available figures on resources allocated to elementary schools in different provinces, a multiple correlation function was defined in which the correlation between performance and human resources was negative and that of performance and physical resources was positive. Together these two factors explain 65% of the variance in performance among provinces.

Concept mapping is a teaching-learning strategy that can help with meaningful learning. To assess the impact of its use in Biology, Psychology, and Physics classes, a sample of 12 classes was selected and then divided into two groups one of which learned through concept mapping while the other went through the regular approach to learning. Students achievement in the subject matter was measured using adequately valid and reliable tests. Results show that the impact of concept mapping on learning Biology and Psychology was significant as compared to the regular approach to teaching and learning. The students in Physics using this strategy did not show any superiority in achievement in relationship to the other group.

Job satisfaction and professional capabilities among teachers, especially those working with the exceptional students, are areas of great importance and as a result, in need of maintenance and improvement. In-service training, on the other hand, seems to be an appropriate way of doing just that. To show this, from among a group of 160 teachers and vocational instructors who had registered for an in-service course on occupational counseling for the mentally retarded, 120 who were low on job satisfaction and professional capabilities were selected using two measures constructed by the researchers to measure these constructs. Then, the selected group was enrolled in a 36-hour course on the employment of the disable and job counseling for the mentally retarded. The constructed measures were utilized again at the end of the course and in a follow up. The data show a significant improvement in both job satisfaction and professional capabilities of the participants at both junctures. A comparison of male and female participants yielded that women are higher in job satisfaction than men. Thus it is suggested that such courses are offered to all such teachers and instructors.

School-based management has certain prerequisites including accountability, responsibility, and professionalism of the staff, in addition to the financial feasibility. To assess the existence of such prerequisites from the perspective of teachers and principals, a categorical sampling method and a researcher constructed questionnaire were used to collect data. The results show that most teachers and principals consider their schools as being prepared to decentralize, cooperate, take charge, and make the curriculum more native and flexible. Although they considered their schools being ready to be accountable and responsible, when it came to taking financial charge, their view was not as positive.