Showing 49 results for University
Volume 0, Issue 0 (2-2024)
Abstract
Pre-service teacher education programs play a pivotal role in the formation and evolution of teachers' identities, wherein both formal and hidden curriculums exert significant influences (Beauchamp and Thomas, 2009). This qualitative study delves into the development of Language Teacher Identities (LTIs) among student teachers at Farhangian University, with a particular focus on the reformed curriculum.A qualitative research method was used. A total of 27 female student teachers shared their experiences through individual and focus group interviews. Thematic analysis was used for analyzing the interviews. The findings revealed mismatches between the student teachers’ envisioned identities and the curriculum’s expected identity, leading to feelings of cognitive unpreparedness. The study also highlighted the significant roles of both formal and hidden curriculums in shaping teacher identity, with both positive and negative changes observed in cognitive, social, and emotional aspects. The implications drawn from the study’s findings provide insights into curriculum design and teacher education programs, offering guidance on how to effectively support the construction of teacher identity and raise student teachers’ awareness of this transformative process.
Volume 0, Issue 0 (1-2024)
Abstract
This research aimed to explain and validate the green curriculum’s (GC) characteristics based on the critical competencies of education for the 21st century. Hence, a mixed research method was used. In the qualitative section, being used for identifying characteristics of GC, experts who have scientific experience(s) related to sustainability in Iran's higher education system were selected using snowball sampling, data were collected and analyzed through semi-structured interviews and content analysis, respectively. The validity of the identified GC characteristics was examined quantitatively based on the Lawshe method. In this section, based on the Lawshe method, 40 faculty members and doctoral students in educational sciences were selected using simple random sampling to evaluate the characteristics’ appropriateness by a three-level scale. Based on the results, 50 characteristics were extracted from the interviews and the documents. However, two of them were not acceptable based on the Lawshe method. Moreover, results revealed that each of the five competencies defined for education in the 21st century (including learning to know, learning to be, learning to do, learning to live together, and learning to transform oneself and society) is aligned with several characteristics of the green curriculum. Finally, some of our suggestions to operationalize the mentioned competencies in the format of GC can be offered as follow; considering environmental management in academic curricula in various fields, defining practical projects for students to apply whatever they have learned, encouraging students to communicate with environmental organizations, and also global research communities to widen their horizons toward environmental issues.
Volume 1, Issue 1 (10-2011)
Abstract
Contextualism refers to an approach to urban planning, which considers the city in its totality. It also emphasizes on the role of social, cultural, geographical and historical influences on individual development, because of the increasing interest in understanding environment in post-modernist architecture. It is also the degree to which new architecture is sensitive to its site and location. It farther varies from building to building and place to place. Moreover, architecture in context is neither a brief attention nor a radical innovation; rather it is a strong and expressive visual relationship to the surroundings. Individual building is always seen first as a part of the whole. Creating places and spaces that enrich the lives of the people who use them is the foundation of architect’s work. Every building can and should engage in a dialogue with the history, beliefs and needs of a particular place and time. In fact, current architecture in metropolitans of Iran including Tehran has an attitude based on ignoring the environment and the context of projects, including climate, history, geography, culture, etc. This attitude leads contemporary architecture to a sort of chaos and disorder. It also brings about contemporary architecture to lose its distinctiveness, besides increasing tendency and willingness of young generation of architects to imitate foreign works and projects without any attempt to adjust them to the context and environment of local projects. It means that this attitude can face contemporary architecture with a serious danger and threat, which enjoys no identity and character. The aim of this paper is to elaborate how correct and effective designing approaches in contextual architectural design can be obtained in architectural studios in order to provide designing with a dialogue to their context and environment, to have more successful designing, and also to illustrate a clear vision for contemporary architecture. Design studios in Iran, where architectural design lessons are being taught, are the main and fundamental part of architectural education. Considering that most of undergraduate students in Iranian architectural departments are ignoring the context without paying attention to its influences in their designing, we are going to figure out how context can be reflected and used in architectural designs in this paper. For this purpose, architectural designs in 4 different studios including Educational space, Cinema, Hospital, and Residential Space in Sooreh University in two semesters during a year (2009-2010); were evaluated among 20 groups, which were divided into two controlled and uncontrolled units. The evaluation was based on 9 examinations, which the authors had already extracted from the architectural designing principles. It is worth mentioning that the only difference between those two units (controlled and uncontrolled) was the constructed site model that the controlled units could adjust and adapt their designing to. Final evaluation, which was the average score of each designing group in each examination, showed that controlled unit’s designing gathered higher score; consequently, their approach in designing was more successful and effective. It means that contextualized approaches in studios can improve architectural designing and result with architecture in context. In addition, professors at architectural departments should pay more attention to the context and environment and their role in designing process. They further should integrate their teaching with contextualism. To this end, they may utilize many innovative solutions including a model of the project site.
Volume 1, Issue 4 (10-2016)
Abstract
Background: Back pain is one of difficulties in communities that has negative effect on various aspect of life. The purpose of this study is to assess the aspects of life quality and its relationship with disability due to low back pain among students.
Methods and Material: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 200 eligible students were enrolled through purposive available sampling. Data was obtained based on demographic data questionnaire, the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire and SF-36 inventory. All data were entered into SPSS version 19 and analyzed.
Results: Results of this study showed that 60.3 percent (114 people) of students were living with low back pain. Based on Roland-Morris disability questionnaire, 80 percent (91 people) of those with low back pain were suffered from disability. The chi-square test showed there was a significant relationship between quality of life (QOL) (mental health and social function) and disability due to low back pain,. It also was shown that indirect relationship between all aspects of QOL and disability due to low back pain was existed.
Conclusion: This study indicated low back pain could affect not only on students' physical aspects of quality of life but also psychological and social aspects of quality of life could be decreased. Considering these effects of low back pain among students, multidimensional interventions regarding bio- psychosocial dimensions recommended to improve the quality of life of this target group.
Volume 2, Issue 2 (6-2017)
Abstract
Background: Studies indicate that Muscularskeletal Disorders (MSD) are among the first ranks in terms of economic and healthcare cost of which back pain is in the first place.
Methods and Materials: This study was a cross-sectional study. The study participants were 100 students who were studying at the Tarbiat Modares University in the year of 2016. Data on back pain was collected via the standardized Quebec questionnaire. Quebec questionnaire contains 20 questions with 6 options by which pain intensity is ranked between 0 and 100. Collected data was analyzed using SPSS software version 16. In order to determine the status of musculoskeletal disorders and associated factors, descriptive statistics and chi-square test were used.
Results: Totally 100 students who living in Tarbiat Modares University with mean age of 26.1 ± 3.1 were participated in the study. According to the results, 84% of the students (N = 84) were single, 15% (N = 15) were married, and 1% of the students (N = 1) was divorced. Eighty seven percent of the students (N = 87) were studying in Master degree and 10% of the students (N = 10) were studying in PhD degree. The majority of the students (60%, N = 60) did not report any musculoskeletal pain. However, forty students (40%) suffering from MSD.
Conclusion: This study was designed to investigate the musculoskeletal disorders among the students. As this study revealed a high percentage of the students were suffering from a kind of MSD, designing more researches to confirm these findings and also to design proper preventive intervention are strongly recommended.
Volume 2, Issue 3 (6-2010)
Abstract
This article discusses the democratization of access to higher education opportunities in Iran. Access to educational opportunities was studied through exploring the scores the national university entrance exams. The main research question was: "How the inequality in access to higher education opportunities is explained?"
To solve this problem, we constructed a theoretical model on the basis of capital theory:
Access to higher educational opportunities is the function of modernization of parents’ economic and cultural capital. The results showed that cultural capital weight in access to educational opportunities, is more than that of economic capital.
Volume 2, Issue 3 (1-2022)
Abstract
Aims: there is a need for educational studies due to the 21st-century paradigm shift in higher education toward the social responsibility of universities and the changing challenges of urban design and planning. This article aims to provide the background for redesigning and adapting the educational program of urban design to the social responsibility approach, and it also identified the current teaching and learning methods applied in urban design master’s programs.
Methods: the study reviews the university social responsibility and urban design pedagogy literature to propose a social responsibility-based model for urban design education through expert discussion.
Findings: with regards to pedagogical approaches, there are four teaching-learning methods, including traditional education, project-based learning, service-learning, and sustainable education. Besides, the social-responsibility-based model for urban design education includes four steps, namely, values, management, practices, and impacts.
Conclusion: the fundamental difference between this approach with the current educational approaches of urban design is the matter of morality so that its underlying philosophy should be considered responsibility toward society and the environment, regardless of time and place boundaries.
Volume 2, Issue 7 (12-2021)
Abstract
Volunteers are an organization's most complete human resource to hold a successful sporting event. Maintaining a volunteer workforce and motivating volunteers to continue their activities is one of the most important tasks of sporting event managers. This study aimed to investigate how volunteers' involvement in the 14th Sports Olympiad for University Students in Iran affected their behavior. For this purpose, 157 volunteers present at the 14th Sports Olympiad for University Students in Iran were randomly selected as the research sample. Researchers collected data using the Zitsmal et al. (1996) Modified Scale of Behavioral Intentions, Doherty's community involvement scale (2009), and Zaichkowsky's Event Involvement Questionnaire (1994). In order to test the hypotheses, structural equation modeling was used. The results showed that the measurement model has appropriate internal consistency, convergent validity and Discriminant validity. It was confirmed that all variables used in the study were accurate. In the structural model results, the index for determining the coefficient of behavioral intentions was 0.44. Showed that social participation and event participation had a moderate and positive correlation with each other (0.40), and community involvement and event involvement, respectively, with path coefficients of 0.45 and 0.34, had an effect on behavioral intentions, so it can be concluded that understanding the psychological and behavioral aspects of volunteers, such as types of involvement, helps sports organizations in attracting volunteers. In this way, they can maximize the willingness of volunteers to involvement in the future.
Volume 2, Issue 8 (12-2009)
Abstract
Volume 3, Issue 3 (9-2015)
Abstract
Aim: Identification of contributory factors in smoking and gaining insight into the roles played by each of these factors including health literacy (HL) may account for quitting or decreasing the prevalence of smoking. The aim of the current study was to identify the effects caused by different HL levels on smoking.
Methods: 347 students inhabiting the dormitories of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences were included in a cross-sectional correlational study. Random cluster sampling was used for the selection of participants. HELIA questionnaire (used for HL measurement in Iranian urban population between 18-65 years of age) and a researcher-made questionnaire (for determining the status of smoking in individuals) were used to collect information from the participants. All data were statistically analyzed by SPSS software.
Findings: The mean and standard deviation of HL score was 70.52±14.12 out of 100. The results indicated that among the university students, 59.7% (201 people) were non-smokers, 23.1% (78 people) were smokers, and 17.2% (58 people) had experienced smoking. These findings reveal that HL is significantly correlated with smoking in university students. Also different levels (insufficient, relatively sufficient, and sufficient) of HL show its significant correlation with smoking, meaning that less HL levels are accompanied by a higher chance of smoking.
Conclusion: The relatively high prevalence of smoking in university students and the impact of HL on smoking highlight the need to increase the level of HL in university students and develop an efficient tool for measuring smoking literacy in all age groups.
Volume 3, Issue 3 (10-2022)
Abstract
Background: Entrance spaces are one of the most important parts of buildings, public utility complexes and cities, which in addition to the function of traffic, control and supervision, show the identity of that complex. In the past, most of the cities and public buildings in the entrances included entrances with distinctive and visual and cultural identities derived from the native background. Nowadays, some public complexes, such as universities, have a design entrance, and many buildings and complexes lack quality without an entrance or entrance portal.
Failure to pay attention to the necessity of designing and constructing the entrance gate and its qualitative requirements in the development of public utilities is a problem of this research.
Objectives: Therefore, the present article aims to explain the position of the entrance gate in the identity of public buildings and the do's and don'ts of designing them and examining the relevant criteria in the desirability of Tabriz University gates.
Method: This article has been done with descriptive and analytical research method and field survey with interpretive strategy and logical reasoning and interdisciplinary studies and with library and documentary study methods.
Result: The results indicate that the entrance space is the main and inseparable element of the building, especially public complexes, and the larger the scale and generality of the user, the more prominent, appropriate and distinctive the entrance needs. In designing the entrances, it is better to use the background ideas of the circuit related to the culture and function and the relevant native environment. In this regard, it is necessary to pay attention to the qualities of efficiency, responsiveness, readability, socialization and event management, memory and symbolic and symbolic aspect. The results of the field study indicate that in general, in terms of experts, safety and security criteria, identification, strong signs and symbols, and ease of access have a high coefficient of importance in the desirability of ports. The head of technology and information was ranked at the top and the main head of the head was ranked at the bottom, which indicates that the head of technology is relatively high.
Volume 3, Issue 9 (5-2022)
Abstract
Students are the country's future makers and the university's existential philosophy. Participation in sports activities can positively affect students' liveness and vitality. The purpose of this study was to present a constructivist theory in line with student participation in sports and physical activities, which was done with a qualitative research method and a heuristic-fundamental nature. Through the purposeful sampling method and snowball sampling technique and based on interviews with 17 experts with experience in university sports, research data were collected, and data were coded and analyzed based on the theoretical foundation of data and with Charms' constructivist approach. The findings showed that four operational factors: budget allocation, management, human resources, technology, and infrastructure, and two mediators of development environment and development resources have a significant role in student growth and desire to participate in sports. As a result, a baseline theory based on medium-range data, which is the essence of the theoretical foundation of data, called " general to specific growth pattern of student in sport, "was explained aiming at changing behavior and institutionalizing a desirable habit based on the active participation in sports for students. It was found that the components of university sports become in the form of the university sports components roles, taking into account the development of stimuli through mediators and operational factors, and the development of university sports in Iran is not far away if this cycle is implemented properly.
Volume 4, Issue 1 (3-2013)
Abstract
Fair assessment of language proficiency and use is one of the challenges language assessment experts have faced. In Iran, according to the parliament’s ‘Act of Student Admission to Universities’, University Entrance Examination (UEE) should be gradually substituted by the students’ schooling backgrounds mostly reflected in their high school exam performances. In spite of this upcoming change, however, various English language exams students take during high school have not been assessed in terms of their ethical effects. In the present study, 80 students who had graduated from high school determined the degree to which teacher-made exams in the second grade and pre-university level, national third-grade exam and English part of UEE can be regarded as fair. The data obtained were analyzed by ANOVA. In addition, the contents of students’ essay-type responses to the items of another questionnaire were analyzed and qualitative data were collected. The results showed the extent to which students could remember cases of unfair assessment associated with each type of high school English exam. It was finally concluded that the English part of UEE and national English exam are perceived as the most ethical forms of assessment. It also seems that authentic assessment of the language, which is the most noticeable in the pre-university English examination can contribute positively to fair assessment. The findings can be utilized for filling the fairness gap after UEE is removed from the educational system.
Volume 4, Issue 4 (12-2016)
Abstract
Aim: Addiction to smoking is considered a primary challenge in human communities and has afflicted both the educated and uneducated population. Its prevalence among the educated people involved in the healthcare system of the country is of a particular significance as it negatively influences the entire system. The present research aims to investigate how smoking is correlated with the students’ general health in Bandar Abbas University of Medical Sciences.
Methods: The present cross-sectional research was conducted on 600 students affiliated with Bandar Abbas University of Medical Sciences selected through a proportionate sampling method in 2016. The data collection instrument was a standardized trip-artite questionnaire comprised of demographic information, smoking status and general health items. SPSS (ver. 16) was used to analyze the data using descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, frequency and percentage) as well as Chi-squared test and Spearman’s correlation test. The level of significance was set at p˂.05.
Findings: The mean age of the participants was 21.14±2.33 years, 51.5% of the participants aged ≤20 years while 48.5% were above 20 years of age. Statistically significant correlations were estimated between age, place of residence, sex and smoking (p˂0.001). However, no statistically significant correlation was found between the field of study and smoking (p=0.44). The same was true for marital status and smoking (p=0.318). Smoking and general health showed to be significantly correlated (p˂0.001).
Conclusion: Consideration of non-native students’ problems, providing for their welfare and convenience, the authorities’ supervision of non-dormitory residents, and adding anti-smoking content to the educational materials and formal teaching can all contribute to the reduction of smoking in this susceptible population.
Volume 5, Issue 4 (1-2020)
Abstract
Aim: Back pain is a common disabling chronic problem that burdens individuals, families and societies. Chronic Low Back Pain (CLBP) has a significant effect on functional status and limiting work activity. This study aimed to assess the status of CLBP and disability among individuals who referred to Zanjan University of Medical Sciences (ZUMS).
Methods and Materials: This descriptive study was performed on individuals with CLBP who referred to the teaching hospitals of ZUMS. In this study, the demographic questionnaire and the Oswestry Lumbar Disability Questionnaire were used to collect information to assess disability and change in life activities. The questionnaire of Van Korf et al. was used to measure pain intensity with Numerical Pain Rate (NPR). Finally, the data were entered into SPSS software version 26 and statistical analysis was performed in frequency / percentage.
Findings: Totally 238 individuals including 159 (66.8) women with a mean age of (40.06±13.22) and 79 (33.2) men with a mean age of (35.56±16.12) participated in the study completed the questionnaires. According to the results, 56.3% (N=) of participants have disabilities and 34.5% (N=) have low disabilities.
Volume 6, Issue 1 (5-2025)
Abstract
Students on university campuses constantly encounter a variety of teaching and learning environments in addition to a range of difficulties, such as social and academic demands that are detrimental to their mental and physical well-being. This issue is heightened by the significance of creating healthy and restorative areas in universities to lower stress levels and restore concentration for more effective studying. The present research therefore aims to explore the students’ needs and preferences for restorative areas in the Faculty of Science at Ferdowsi University Campus in Mashhad, as well as to develop a conceptual framework demonstrating key urban design components of a restorative university campus. The present research is qualitative. 33 students from Ferdowsi University`s Faculty of Sciences participated in the structured interviews to collect data, which was then analyzed utilizing a qualitative content analysis of the conducted interviews. The study`s findings demonstrate that, from the students' viewpoint, the university campus environment has been restored through the following qualities: serene and refuge, walkability, high-quality public space, linkage to nature, coherence and extent, compatibility, and sociability. Therefore, there is a spatial component to health, and students` mental restoration can be aided by being in open and semi-open places near natural features like trees, plants, and other qualities of urban design that promote health.
Volume 7, Issue 2 (4-2019)
Abstract
Aims: Professional ethics plays an important role in all professions; however, it has more importance among faculty members of universities. The aim of the current study was to explore the components of professional ethics in teaching from the perspective of faculty members in Iran.
Participants & Methods: This qualitative study was conducted in Sanandaj, Iran, in 2017. Using purposive sampling, 15 faculty members of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences with educational experience were included in the study. Data were collected through individual interviews, group discussions, and field notes; and they were analyzed by conventional content analysis. To confirm the accuracy and strength of the data, acceptability, confirmability, and transferability factors were taken into account.
Findings: The results of data analyses yielded four major themes, including “characteristics of professors”, “professors' capabilities”, “protect of respects”, and “promoting the university”.
Conclusion: The results of this study showed that in teaching, there are different aspects in the field of professional ethics of professors.
Volume 7, Issue 2 (6-2021)
Abstract
Prof. Mahmoud Shojaei, a prestigious professor of entomology at Tehran University and Islamic Azad University, passed away at 93 on November 25, 2018. Prof. Shojaei's contribution to entomology was profound and enduring, 63 years of teaching and research. He was former Dean of Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tehran and manager of Jalal Afshar's Zoological Museum, at Karaj campus of the University of Tehran.
Volume 7, Issue 4 (12-2023)
Abstract
Research subject: The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the degree of compatibility of research topics in the field of chemical engineering in Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz with Iran and the world. Also, prominent engineering issues in the field of chemistry have been identified.
Research approach: The research is considered a type of scientometric applied studies. The statistical population is made up of researches related to the field of chemical engineering in the Web of Science database. Taking into account the key words of sources that were extracted from the Web of Science database, the information was transferred to the PreMap program and by applying restrictions, the terms were unified for all three files of the world, Iran and Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz. In order to check the thematic alignment, the clustering method was done with VOSviewer software. The index of structural similarity of subjects has also been used to determine the level of research alignment.
Main results:The researchers have searched for the subject areas of the chemical engineering department in Shahid Chamran University, Iran and the world. With the percentage of structural similarity, it was found that over time, the subjects of chemical engineering in Shahid Chamran University have aligned with Iran and the world, as well as Iran with the world, but the percentage of alignment with the world is low. To increase the alignment of chemical engineering subjects, platforms for sharing information and learning can be created for students, professors, researchers and experts in the field of chemical engineering. Also, a comprehensive approach to monitoring and evaluating research processes, including their alignment with leading research institutions, can provide research policymakers with valuable insights to improve research policies and foster scientific and technological innovation.
Volume 9, Issue 3 (2-2020)
Abstract
Despite the important role of a university employees in attaining university and higher education objectives, the motivational factors for university employees has not received enough attention. This study aims at developing a model for university employees’ motivation and prioritizing the programs for improving the employees’ motivation at Imam Sadiq (as) University. It is an applied study using mix methods. The qualitative study was conducted using thematic analysis and the quantitative one was conducted using descriptive-survey method. Confirmatory factor analysis by Smart PLS software was used to assess the fitness of the proposed model. Importance-performance analysis technique was applied in order to prioritize the practices and programs related to improving the employees’ motivation.Based on the thematic analysis, 125 basic themes, 25 organizing themes and 8 global themeshave been extracted. The proposed model has eight dimensions: university’s orientation, organizational climate, leadership, compensation, HR functions and Proccesses, work environment, co-workers and job factors. Managers of universities should concentrate on the recognized factors offered in the proposed model. Results of the quantitative data analysis show that the proposed model has good fitness. Also, priorities of Imam Sadiq(as) University for improving the empoyees’ motivation include: cash payments, professional developments and job security, university managers’ employee oriented behavior, financial aids and university managers’ personal attributes, recruitment and performance management.