علیرضا قاسمی زاد

This study aimed at scrutinizing the mediating role of critical thinking in relation to higher education students' metacognition and self-efficacy in Islamic Azad University, Nourabad Mamasani. Samples were collected through random sampling method and it was equal to 248. Instruments used in this study were three standard questionnaires including critical thinking, metacognition and self-efficacy. Cronbach's alpha was employed to estimate the instruments’ reliability, based on which critical thinking was found to be 0.88, metacognition 0.89 and self-efficacy 0.87.  Findings revealed that meta-cognition could significantly predict students' self-efficacy and critical thinking. Also, it was found that meta-cognition and critical thinking could significantly predict students’ self-efficacy. This study also showed that critical thinking had a mediating role in relation to students’ meta-cognition and self-efficacy. The dimensions of meta-cognition and critical thinking could significantly predict students’ self-efficacy.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to present a model of professional development of teachers with a qualitative approach. Methodology: In this study, in order to identify the teacher professional development model, a qualitative interview was determined. The statistical population of the study in the qualitative part was all experts and experts in educational management and planning with 10 people and in the quantitative part included all teachers and principals working in primary schools in Shiraz. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire. To collect the data in the second stage, a closed questionnaire with a Likert scale of five was used. Findings: The results showed that the results of semi-structured interviews during several stages of coding and also inspired by the research background, led to the identification of the initial code. In the second step, the identified concepts were categorized into the following categories. These fourteen categories are; 1. Management of learning and teaching 2. Creating a conducive learning environment 3. Assessment and curriculum 4. Outline vision 5. Continuous school improvement 6. Effective communication and collaboration 7. Relationship with society and stakeholders 8. Operations management 9. Resource management 10. Guidance and leadership of individuals and teams 11. Professional ethics 12. Islamic ethical principles and norms 13. Develop your career 14. Finally, the fourteen professional standards of school principals were divided into several key areas or categories: educational leadership, strategic leadership, ethical leadership, management and organizational leadership, communication management, and professional development. Conclusion: The results showed that the results of semi-structured interviews during several stages of coding and also inspired by the research background, led to the identification of the initial code.

This study aimed to compare the effect of using conceptual map and traditional instruction on cognitive learning of Senior high school students in thinking and media literacy course. This is a quasi-experimental research using experimental and control groups. Three classes were chosen randomly (one for conceptual map teaching, one for the combination of lecture-based and conceptual map teaching (combined) and one as the control group).  In the combined group, learners were taught though conceptual mapping while the experimental group was exposed to both teacher-made conceptual map and combined method in eight sessions and the control group experienced traditional instruction. All the three groups completed the teacher-made academic achievement test in both levels of knowledge and high level of thinking.  The validity of the instrument measured through S. H. Lawshe formula was 0.78 and the reliability measured through Kuder - Richardson was 0.807. In order to analyze the data, covariance analysis was used. The findings of this study showed that the instruction was not effective at the level of knowledge, but there was a significant difference in the high level of comprehension which means that the highest effect was observed in the lecturing and conceptual mapping group (combined) while the lowest effect was attributed to the control group.  Keywords: Presentation and construction of concept map, Bloom cognitive levels, Concept map, Meaningful learning