Showing 164 results for Sme
Volume 0, Issue 0 (2-2024)
Abstract
Writing assessment literacy(WAL) for second or foreign language (L2) teachers, which refers to teachers’ knowledge, conceptions, and practice of writing assessment in L2 contexts, has lately received attention from scholars. Although there has been significant debate about the impact of contextual and conceptual factors on teachers’ assessment literacy, studies focusing on how such factors influence teachers’ WAL are lacking. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the way Iranian English writing teachers' conception of assessment, and macro, meso, and micro contextual variables impact their writing assessment practice. It also looked at how writing teachers make assessment decisions in order to negotiate and find a compromise when their assessment views and beliefs diverge from the assessment policies in their local contexts. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews with ten in-service l2 writing teachers in Iran. The findings show that participants had positive conceptions about formative writing assessments but they stated that they mostly used summative assessment in writing classes. Macro level contextual factors turned out to mostly impacted teachers’ writing assessment practices and conceptions. The results underscored the role of school and work experience in shaping and changing writing assessment conceptions. The findings of this study contribute to our current understanding of WAL development and provision of more efficient assessment training for language teachers in teacher education programs.
Volume 0, Issue 0 (2-2024)
Abstract
The present study aimed to investigate the elementary and advanced teachers’ formative assessment literacy of speaking skill in Teaching Persian to Non-Persian Speakers context. To this end, 26 teachers of teaching Persian to non-Persian speakers, mostly female, took part in this study. To collect data about their speaking assessment practices, they were primarily involved in a semi-structured interview related to the components of aims, contents, and methods of their speaking assessment. Afterward, they answered five scenarios. The interviews were based on Xu and Brown’s (2016) framework, and the scenarios were based on Chappius and Stiggins’ (2009) assessment quality and standards. In this phase, in addition to aims, content, and methods, and two additional components of giving feedback and students’ participation in assessing the speaking skill were examined. The interview results in relation to the aims for the instructors of elementary and advanced levels shed light on six criteria including comprehension, learning and progress, teaching method and curriculum efficacy, weak and strong points, communicative and practical competence, self-confidence and feedback; in relation to content, grammatical accuracy, pronunciation, fluency, interaction and communication, pragmatics, content, turn taking and participation, and spoken and written differences were recognized; and in relation to methods, class conversation, audio and video files, modeling and memorizing, game and competition, summary telling, question and response, playing roles, giving speech, problem solving and authentic activities were identified. Quantitative analysis of the interviews and scenarios indicated statistical differences among the two groups of elementary and advanced teachers.
Volume 0, Issue 0 (2-2024)
Abstract
Grammarly software is one of the most popular software for automatic recognition of grammatical errors in texts translated from Persian to English. The study aims to evaluate the efficiency of Grammarly and propose some suggestions for upgrading the software. To achieve this, a corpus including the English translation of the booklets introducing the works of Resistance-literature was studied. After the grammatical errors were extracted by the researchers (human evaluator), the electronic file of the booklets was provided to the software to detect the errors by Grammarly. Grammatical errors were then categorized and the extracted data were matched by researchers and software. After the qualitative and quantitative analysis of errors and the presentation of the findings, suggestions were made to improve the efficiency of Grammarly. According to the findings, out of 98 cases being specified by Grammarly as errors, 16 of them were not actually errors. In 4 cases (4.9%) Grammarly failed to accurately identify the "type" of error. The weakest grammatical performance of the software occurred in the misdiagnosis of ‘word spelling’ and ‘misuse of masculine and feminine pronouns’. Regarding the efficiency of Grammarly, it was found that the software has an excellent performance with a diagnosis of 82.8% of errors.
Volume 0, Issue 0 (2-2024)
Abstract
One of the challenges and important dimensions of assessment and evaluation in language teaching is test fairness, a broad concept that includes several factors and components. In the standards of educational and psychological assessment, test fairness means that there is no bias and advocacy and the same treatment with all subjects regardless of their race, religion, gender and age. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perception and attitude of Persian language instructors to non-Persian speakers about the definition of the concept of test fairness, essential components for a fair test and the general concept of test fairness. This research has been done by field and combined methods (quantitative and qualitative). 58 Persian language instructors for non-Persian speakers were selected by available sampling and participated as a statistical sample from the Persian language instructor’s community. Homayouni standard questionnaire (2015) was used to collect data, and SPSS version 23 were used for analysis of descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. In the qualitative part of the research, 9 semi-structured interviews were conducted with the instructors and the opinions of the instructors were extracted based on the content analysis of Krippendorff (2004). The analysis of descriptive statistics findings showed that experienced instructors have a better and deeper understanding of the general concept of test fairness, the definition of the concept of test fairness and the components necessary to conduct
Volume 0, Issue 0 (2-2024)
Abstract
The present case study had as its aim to uncover the diagnostic and instructional potential of dynamic assessment (DA) in the context of L2 writing during asynchronous computer-mediated communication (ACMC). More precisely, the study investigated the role of ACMC-based DA through e-mail in diagnosing and promoting low-proficiency L2 learners’ writing abilities in an Iranian EFL context. To this end, a case study design was adopted and three low-proficiency students of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) were selected to participate for a time span of ten weeks. The error analysis of learners’ performances in the pretest and posttest sessions led to the detection of a number of writing problems including the content, structural organization, grammatical accuracy, lexical appropriateness, and mechanics. A posterior examination of computer-mediated offline interactions led to the detection of a number of mediational strategies namely ask to revise, identify a problem area, specify the problem area, clarify the error kind, offer a choice and provide an explicit explanation as well as reciprocity patterns including unresponsive, growing autonomy and full autonomy which together helped diagnose the students' writing problems and trace their developmental trajectories. On implication side, it is argued that the ACMC-based DA serves as a strong diagnostic tool that makes a genuine understanding of L2 learners' writing abilities.
Keywords: dynamic assessment, sociocultural theory, asynchronous computer-mediated communication, writing
Volume 0, Issue 0 (2-2024)
Abstract
Diagnostic Formative Assessment (DFA) has already established its applicability and necessity in second language teaching practice and research as a legitimate supplement to summative assessment. However, examples of practical implementations of DFA informing SLA research and an investigation of the detailed processes involved, especially when it comes to productive skills such as speaking in tertiary educational settings are rather scarce. Therefore, focusing on the formality dimension, as a rather neglected component in DFA, the present quasi-experimental study set out to compare the effects of formal and informal DFA on Iranian EFL learners’ oral fluency and accuracy at university level. For this purpose, a homogeneous group of 52 male and female L2 learners were assigned to two experimental conditions and after a speaking pre-test developed and scored based on IELTS speaking tasks, went through four months of formal and informal DFA based on four reiterative stages of Observation, Initial Assessment, Hypothesis Checking, and Decision Making. Upon the post-test, the results of ANCOVAs showed that both treatments equally contributed to learners’ development of oral fluency and accuracy, indicating that traditional skepticisms towards informal DFA must be revisited and they can serve as appropriate supplements to more formal approaches whenever necessitated by the instruction. EFL practitioners are recommended to take these rather broad, flexible, and convenient informal DFA practices into consideration and decide on their exact choices based on the particularities of the context, situation, and individual learners, which leads to an expansion in their pedagogical options.
Volume 0, Issue 0 (1-2024)
Abstract
The agricultural ecosystem provides various functions and services for humans. So, investigating their role and importance in the agricultural land programming and management is one of the goals research. In this research used Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES) for the identification of the Agricultural Ecosystem Functions and Services (AEFS). Also, Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) models used for weighting and prioritizing of the AEFS like Step wise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis (SWARA) for calculating of their weight, and Simple Additive Weighting (SAW), Additive Ratio Assessment (ARAS), and Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) used for prioritization them. The research data extracted with field survey, random sampling and completing the Delphi questionnaire of the 40 agricultural specialist experts in the north of Iran. Also, the R2 coefficient was used to compare the AEFS prioritization models. The SWARA technique findings showed that provisioning, regulation, and cultural functions with weights of 0.0298, 0.0286 and 0.0250 have the highest weight, respectively. Also, the results indicated that the SAW model with the R2=0.90 was chosen as the prioritization appropriate model. Provisioning, regulation, and cultural functions with marginal weights of 0.6319, 0.5448, and 0.5092 were ranked the first to third priority respectively. Also, food supply, employment, genetic material supply, and educational and research services were important positive services of the agricultural ecosystem compared to other services. it is suggested that more appropriate programming and more research be done by relevant organizations for the sustainable management of agricultural ecosystems in northern Iran.
Volume 0, Issue 0 (1-2024)
Abstract
Extension field staff is the group of people who are responsible for managing activities related to agricultural information dissemination and farming community is the recipient or audience of that knowledge by implementing this knowledge on farm, farming community may enhance their farm productivity and uplift socio-economic situation. The Present study was based on primary data, collected from agricultural extension field staff (EFS) using interview schedule in cotton belt of Punjab province. Three hundred and fifty-nine (359) extension field staff workers were selected from population of five hundred and forty (540) by using Cochran sampling technique. Moreover, Borich needs assessment model was implied to prioritize the training needs of EFS about climate adaptation. Study found that majority of the EFS seek trainings in specific areas regarding climate variability including; skills to use meteorological instrument, ability to comprehend early warning system, serving and mapping of climatic variability areas, management of ICT tools for weather forecasting, disaster management skills, and integrated soil management skills by acquiring these competencies they can effectively and efficiently work for minimizing the consequences of climate variability on cotton crop. There was significant positive correlation of 0.608 between specialization and possessed competencies regarding climate adaptation which shows that specialized extension staff possessed competencies regarding climate adaptation. On the basis of findings study suggests that the training needs of the extension field workers should be assessed regularly regarding various latest techniques and technologies. Training sessions regarding climate variability adaptation should be arranged for extension workers of cotton belt.
Volume 0, Issue 0 (8-2024)
Abstract
Nowadays, the seismic performance-based design of structures has been widely noticed by the engineering community. So, different methods for performance-based design have been presented by different researchers. This attitude has been included in the design code and regulations for seismic design of new buildings and retrofit of existing buildings. The FEMA P-58 performance-based design method presented by the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research (PEER) can quantify the consequences related to the seismic response of buildings. Therefore, using this method, the seismic performance of buildings can be directly evaluated. In addition, this performance-based design method can define simpler criteria such as repair cost, repair time, and casualties for seismic evaluation and decision-making process. The method is based on considering different sources of uncertainty in earthquake input and its intensity, structural response, associated damage, and repair cost, using the concepts of conditional probability and total probability theorem. In this method, the building is designed in such a way that it meets the expected and predetermined performance level in a specific level of seismic excitation. Since the performance levels of the building are determined based on the amount of damage caused to structural and non-structural members, one of the practical and effective ways to evaluate performance is to estimate the building repair cost. In the approach presented in FEMA P-58, the repair cost is defined in a probabilistic approach, as the cost needed to restore the damaged parts to their original state in the form of expected annual loss. In this research, first, three 4-, 12-, and 20-story office buildings with the lateral force resisting system of reinforced concrete special moment frames were selected in a high seismic risk area. Then, the nonlinear model of structures was provided in OpenSEES software. In order to reduce the computational cost and analysis time, the single-bay Substitute Frame model was used to simplify the multi-bay reinforced concrete moment frames. All four structures were subjected to Incremental Dynamic Analysis (IDA) for 30 earthquake records. A probabilistic relationship between the spectral acceleration of the earthquake and the main damage parameter (i.e. the inter-story drift), as well as the collapse fragility curve, was obtained. Then, the repair cost including the cost of repairing structural members as well as beams and columns, the cost of repairing non-structural members as well as partition and curtain walls, and the cost of replacing collapsed structures was calculated as expected annual loss. The results show that the repair costs at the Design-Based Earthquake (DBE) for 4-, 12-, and 20-story buildings are 3%, 2.5%, and 10% of the building replacement cost and at Maximum Credible Earthquake (MCE) are 22%, 23%, and 38% of the building replacement cost, respectively. In addition, in short buildings, most of the cost is caused by repairing structural and non-structural members, and in tall buildings, most of the cost is caused by replacing collapsed or severely damaged structures. Considering two nonstructural elements (i.e. partition and curtain walls) in repair cost, the analysis results show that the cost of repairing structural elements is more than the cost of repairing non-structural elements.
Volume 1, Issue 1 (12-2018)
Abstract
Volume 1, Issue 1 (5-2025)
Abstract
Chlorination, owing to its low cost and ease of application, remains one of the most prevalent disinfection strategies for treated drinking water, particularly in developing regions. Nevertheless, trihalomethanes (THMs), the principal class of chlorination by-products, have been implicated in both carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic adverse health outcomes. This study employs the RAIS framework to conduct a comprehensive health risk assessment of THMs in the effluent of the Pardis drinking-water treatment plant between 1396 and 1401, Separately for children and adults .
Carcinogenic risk was quantified by calculating the chronic daily intake (CDI) for ingestion, inhalation, and dermal exposure pathways,, then multiplied by the appropriate oral slope factors and inhalation unit risk coefficients. Non-carcinogenic risk was evaluated by computing the hazard index (HI), based on reference dose (RFD) and reference concentration (RFC) parameters, for both ingestion and inhalation scenarios
.Findings reveal that inhalation contributes approximately 90 % of the total lifetime carcinogenic. Dibromochloromethane and chloroform contributing the largest and the smallest share respectively.. In the non-carcinogenic assessment, the ingestion‐based HI values for both children and adults were below 1, confirming that the treated water meets acceptable safety criteria for consumption. Conversely, in four sampling events, the inhalation‐based HI for chloroform exceeded 1, signaling a potential non-cancer health concern associated with inhalation of chloroform during treated water use.
Volume 1, Issue 4 (12-2023)
Abstract
Since in recent decades the world population increased, it causes to ascend the municipal solid waste (MSW) production. Therefore, to manage this and control its damages that affect the environment, some applied techniques are needed. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is one of the techniques used in this research for selecting and arranging one or more scenario. The presented scenarios were composting, incineration, landfilling and recycling which were chosen by considering their implementation in the case study site. Each scenario was analyzed in terms of ten environmental indicators that include abiotic depletion potential, ozone layer depletion potential, global warming potential, human toxicity potential, fresh water toxicity potential, marine toxicity potential, terrestrial toxicity potential, acidification, photochemical oxidation and eutrophication. The employed software for this analysis was Simapro. Results indicated that the landfilling scenario had the highest pollution ratio in eight environmental indicators and after that, the incineration scenario was the most polluting in two ozone layer depletion potential and global warming potential indicators. Recycling was the best scenario in point of lowest effects on global warming potential and human toxicity potential indicators. Composting was the scenario that had the lowest footprint on seven environmental indicators in comparison to other scenarios. In addition, this scenario showed the lowest environmental pollution burden in ozone layer depletion potential among all indicators. In general, according to the findings of this study, composting scenario is recognized as an appropriate method for municipal solid waste management in Urmia metropolis of Iran.
Volume 2, Issue 2 (6-2013)
Abstract
Sclerotinia stem rot (SSR), caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, is one of the most important diseases of canola (Brassica napus) in Golestan province, the leading canola producer in Iran. In order to assess the yield loss of canola caused by SSR, 80 fields were surveyed in four different regions of the province (Gorgan, Ali Abad, Kalaleh and Gonbad) during 2006-2007, and SSR intensity was recorded weekly in the fields. Study of yield loss-SSR severity relationships by linear, nonlinear and multiple regression analyses with final intensity (Sf), time to initial symptoms (tis), Gompertz rate of disease progress (rG), and standardized area under disease progress curve (SAUDPC) as independent variables indicate that single point and integral models were significant (P < 0.05) only in three cases. Results of multiple point models which were performed using weekly recorded SSR intensities (S1, S2, …), were significant in two cases and a general model for 2007 survey was developed using S3 to S6. Eventually, response surface models were developed for each region by integrating tis with SSR intensity variables (Sf or SAUDPC).
Volume 2, Issue 3 (12-2013)
Abstract
In this study, the human health risk of mercury due to consumption of croaker (Otolithes ruber) in Mahshahr, the Persian Gulf, , was evaluated using atomic absorbtion spectrophotometer)and cold vapor techniques to measure the mercury concentration in muscle samples of 30 fresh croakers . A. Result showed the average concentration of mercury in croaker muscle was 0.354±0.09 µg/ g of fresh wet weight, which was less than the allowable amount for human consumption determined by the international organizations such as USFDA and WHO, but more than the allowable amount for human consumption determined by MAFF and the USEPA. HQ Index was above 1 (1.18). In addition, the calculations indicated that daily and weekly mercury uptake for the Iranian consumers, according to Statistical Yearbook of Iran Fisheries organization (the amount consumed per capita), is lower than the guideline values (PTWI and PTDI) provided by WHO, USFDA and more than USEPA. Therefore, the consumption of the croaker might be associated with some threat to the consumer’s health particularly pregnant women, fetuses and children from mercury but consumption permitted rate of 20gper dayand138 gper week is recommended for other people.
Volume 2, Issue 3 (9-2014)
Abstract
The objectives for this study were first to understand and estimate energy consumption in each stage of production and processing of milk using regional data and second, suggesting improvement opportunities. A cradle to gate assessment of market milk was performed by separating the system into three stages: agronomy, animal farm and processing plant. Data were collected from multiple sources e.g. questionnaire, published papers, national and international databases, and the processing plant database. Throughout the study, ISO framework and International Dairy Federation guideline on life cycle assessment were used. The functional unit (FU) was one liter of pasteurized milk packaged in plastic pouch at the processing plant gate. The average energy demand for producing 1 kg of fat-protein corrected milk at farm-gate was 10.8 MJ, although for the final packaged milk, it was 12.5MJ. Main stages in overall energy use of FU were agronomy 68 %, animal farm 19 % and processing plant 13%. The average energy use for raw milk production was 2-5 times higher than previous European reports. To enhance efficiency in this sector, we need to assess other regions’ potentials for feed and milk production and then to focus on agronomy stage for lower energy use by optimization of irrigation, or even importing energy intensive feed such as barley and alfalfa from other countries.
Volume 2, Issue 3 (9-2014)
Abstract
Aim: School bullying is a worldwide problem and crosses national boundaries. Students involved in bullying have a greater chance of developing emotional and behavioral disorders, as well as a higher risk of engaging in criminal behavior later in their lives. This study aims to examine the prevalence of bullying behavior and some of its associated factors among male middle school students in Tehran, Iran.
Methods: Overall, 1803 middle school students, aged 11 to 15, were enrolled in the study between January and March, 2012. Bullying behavior of and on participants was evaluated using Persian version of the revised Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire (OBVQ). Findings: More than 55% of students reported being involved in bullying behaviors in school, either as a victim (51%), a bully (31%) or both a bully and a victim (18%). The most common subtypes of bullying were verbal (61.3%), physical (47.6%), and indirect (50.3%) bullying. In a regression analysis, the number of students' close friends, their age, their father's education level and home atmosphere were the only significant predictors of bullying behavior.
Conclusion: The prevalence of bullying among Iranian middle school students is highly concerning; hence, implementation of a comprehensive, school-based anti-bullying program is an urgent need because students, who are involved in bullying behavior, are at higher risk for developing psychosocial disorders and engaging in criminal behavior later in their lives.
Volume 2, Issue 4 (12-2017)
Abstract
Background: Identifying the health problems of governmental organizations staff, their health needs, and prioritizing these needs are the first step in intervention planning in order to improve their health. This study was conducted to identify health problems and health-related needs of Mellat Bank employees in Yazd, Iran.
Methods and Materials: For this cross sectional study, 179 eligible employees were selected from 34 branches of Mellat Bank in Yazd province. The data collection tool was a questionnaire containing an open question as "What problems affect your health in your workplace". The questionnaire was sent to all employees of the Mellat Bank through official automation system, to which 167 people ultimately responded. Then the problems were combined, listed, and sorted based on their frequency.
Results: In this study, from a total of 167 employees (92%) responded to the questionnaire, of which 152 (91%) cases were man and 15 (9%) cases were woman. Most of the studied subjects had a bachelor's degree of education. A total of 86 (51.4%) subjects suffered from musculoskeletal problems, among which low back pain (n = 61, 71%), neck pain (n = 39, 45%), and knee pain (n = 26, 30%) were the most frequent. In addition, about 47 (28.1%) and 32 (19.1%) cases suffered from stress and psychological disorders, respectively.
Conclusion: According to the results of this study, the most important identified health problem was musculoskeletal pains. Therefore, in addition to further research to be carried out in order to confirm these results, it is suggested that the causes of these problems be investigated in analytical research in order to be able to design and implement appropriate interventions to address these problems.
Volume 3, Issue 1 (2-2018)
Abstract
Aims: Manual tasks and load carrying and handling are the most important tasks in a sofa making workshop. Evaluation of these types of tasks is very important for identifying the health risks to which workers are exposed. The aim of this study was the ergonomic evaluation of occupational tasks in a sofa making workshop based on KIM and presentation of corrective actions.
Instruments and Methods: The present descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in a sofa making workshop in Ardabil in 2017. All tasks of the sofa making workers (n=22) were examined, among which 7 main tasks were identified. The identified tasks were analyzed, using KLM-MHO and KLM-LHC methods. Manual tasks and load lifting and carrying tasks were evaluated, scored, and checked out, using EXCELL 2010.
Findings: Among the tasks examined, the tasks of woodcarving, preparation for coloring, and sofa dressing showed the highest final score (Risk Grade 4), followed by jointing wood parts with glue and coloring (Risk Grade 3). Most items with high workload were related to grips status, repetitive movement in the hand-finger area, position and repetitive movements of the joints at the end of motion range, and curved forward trunk posture.
Conclusion: In carving, preparation for coloring, and dressing tasks, the amount of workload is high. In jointing wood parts with glue and coloring tasks, the amount of workload increases dramatically. And, in designing layout on wood and cutting tasks, the amount of load increases.
Volume 3, Issue 2 (9-2013)
Abstract
Abstract
Empowerment is considered to be one of the useful tools for improving employee quality and increasing organizational effectiveness. The purpose of this Research is to survey the impact of knowledge management enablers on employees empowerment through the knowledge management process as variable, from the perspective of small and medium enterprise managers in east of Mazandaran province. The research sample are small and medium enterprises from the east of Mazandaran province which has more than 42 months of working background, which includes 307 companies. The statistical technique of structural equation modeling represents that in small and medium enterprises in east of Mazandaran province, knowledge management enablers have meaningful direct impact on employees empowerment. Also it have meaningful indirect effect through the knowledge management process. The process of knowledge management has meaningful direct impact on employees’ empowerment as well as knowledge management enabler on knowledge management process. The results of this study represents the impact of the knowledge management process role in the knowledge management enablers on the employees’ empowerment of SMEs.
Volume 3, Issue 2 (9-2014)
Abstract
Three types of fish fingers prepared from common carp (Cyprinus carpio) meat (chopped fillet, minced, and surimi) were organoleptically compared. After the molding, glazing and coating, fish fingers were fried in oil at 180°C for 8 minutes. Organoleptic indicators in terms of texture, taste, smell, color and general acceptability were assessed by panelists. The fish finger from surimi in terms of organoleptic indicator was significantly different (p<0/05) from other samples. The results of general acceptability showed that the fish fingers from surimi had higher quality than other samples. Therefore, surimi is recommended in preparation of fish finger from common carp.