mixed-methods

This study was an attempt to explore the reading strategy use of Iranian M.A. students across three different fields of study. Eighty-two M.A. students of power engineering, physics, and communicationwere selected by a Nelson test and the reading comprehension section of a TOEFL. The reading comprehension section of the TOEFL served also as a specific task which helped participants report their strategy use. Both qualitative, think-aloud, and quantitative, SORS, procedures were used totap the participants’ use of reading strategies and to complement the findings. The results of these two procedures indicate that the use of overall, global, problem-solving, and support strategies by Iranian M.A. students was slightly different across different fields of study. Problem-solving and support strategies were the most and the least frequently used strategies, respectively. Moreover, reading strategy useof Iranian M.A. students,studying power engineering, physics, and communication was not related to their academic fields of study.

The digital information age requires skills and strategies that are crucial in comprehending online academic texts. Also, research has emphasized the crucial role of critical thinking (CT) in education. Thus, this explanatory sequential mixed-methods study aimed to (a) identify Iranian EFL students’ metacognitive online reading strategies and CT skills, and (b) investigate the possible relationship between Iranian EFL students’ metacognitive online reading strategies in academic texts with their CT skills. To these ends, 80 Iranian EFL university students, selected nonrandomly from Shahrekord University, took part in this study and responded to the Pookcharoen’s (2009) Online Survey of Reading Strategies and Facione, Facione, Blohm, and Giancarlo’s (2002) California Critical Thinking Skills Test. In the follow-up, to probe into metacognitive online reading strategy use, 10 Iranian EFL university students were selected to do think-aloud online reading tasks. The descriptive statistics indicated that the EFL university students greatly preferred to use problem solving strategies more, followed by different global and support reading strategies respectively. Also, evaluation and inductive (sub)skills of CT were used mostly by the university students. Moreover, the results of the think-aloud provided evidence in support of quantitative results, confirming various problem solving, global and support strategy use in online academic reading. Furthermore, Pearson correlations revealed a positive and significant relationship, though it was small, between metacognitive online reading strategy use and CT skills. Integrating the findings from the quantitative and qualitative components call for metacognitive strategy assistance and instruction and CT development to improve online reading comprehension.

Purpose: The objective of this study is to develop and validate a comprehensive coaching leadership model for elementary school principals. Methodology: This research employed a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative and quantitative techniques. The qualitative component involved semi-structured interviews with 15 experts in educational leadership to identify key components of the coaching model. The quantitative component included a survey distributed to 353 elementary school principals, with data analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) through SPSSwin20 and SMART PLS 8 software. The reliability and validity of the questionnaire were confirmed with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.85. Findings: The findings indicate that the proposed coaching leadership model significantly improves principals' competencies in instructional leadership, organizational management, and relationship-building. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated strong factor loadings and satisfactory model fit indices (GFI = 0.934, CFI = 0.944, RMSEA = 0.064). The model's effectiveness was further supported by enhanced teacher performance and a positive school climate, corroborating existing research on the benefits of coaching in educational leadership. The study identified key strategies such as professional growth, networking, and organizational support as crucial for effective coaching. Conclusion: The coaching leadership model developed in this study holds significant promise for enhancing the leadership competencies of elementary school principals. By providing personalized support and fostering a culture of continuous improvement, coaching can empower principals to effectively manage school operations, support teacher