Development and validation of a questionnaire for teacher effective communication in Qur’an learning

ABSTRACT

A student’s perception of teacher effective communication influences the learning atmosphere. The measurement of perception indicates how students view the quality of learning. As few studies have explored the development of an appropriate measurement tool of students’ perception of learning to read the Qur’an, this study aims to develop such a tool. Conceptual analysis and a survey using open-ended questions resulted in dimensions and items. Six experts and three instructors evaluated the content validity. The questionnaire was then administered to 421 participants – 201 for Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and 220 for Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The results successfully identified four dimensions that explained 64.6% of the variation. The instrument consisted of 13 items with satisfactory reliability and validity. The dimension with the highest coefficient path was ‘understanding and friendliness’ (UF), while the dimension of ‘learning media’ (LM) was the lowest. There was a significant influence of gender on the dimension of UF, as well as verbal (V) and non-verbal (NV) communication, while there were no differences in the dimension of LM. The questionnaire can be effectively used as a measurement device of dimensions related to students’ perception of teacher effective communication in Qur’an learning.     

Attitudes of special education teachers towards using technology in inclusive classrooms: a mixed‐methods study

The purpose of this mixed‐methods study was to explore special education teachers’ attitudes towards using technology in inclusive classrooms in Oman. The sample consisted of 428 special education teachers working in Omani public schools (250 teachers of students with learning disabilities (LD), 90 teachers of students with intellectual disability and 88 teachers of students with hearing impairment). Participants responded to the attitudes towards computers questionnaire. For the qualitative section of this study, three semi‐structured group interviews were conducted with a group of special education teachers: 15 teachers of students with hearing impairment, 15 teachers of students with intellectual disabilities and 15 teachers of students with LD). Also, the teachers responded to a survey of educational technology which encompassed seven questions about computer technology. Results of the study indicated that the special education teachers’ attitudes towards using computers were generally positive. The most notable positive attitudes were in the following subscales: special education considerations, staff development considerations, computers use in society, and computers and quality of instruction issues. The analysis of variance results showed that experience and type of disability did not have a significant effect on teachers’ attitudes towards technology.     

未来的巴基斯坦地质公园——盐岭

盐岭包括六个峡谷,具有出露充分的地质学和古生物学特征,并且交通便利。这些特点吸引了研究者对这个独特地区的地质时代测定方面的浓厚兴趣,开始对寒武纪三叶虫、二叠纪腕足类、三叠系下统菊石、下第三系大型有孔虫和上第三系及第四纪脊椎动物产生的古地理进行了研究调查。在地质学家眼中,这些盐岭峡谷充满着如此美妙的地质遗址,堪称为世界上独特的野外自然历史博物馆,同时也可能被建设为巴基斯坦的一个地质公园。     

Puberty Predicts Approach But Not Avoidance on the Iowa Gambling Task in a Multinational Sample

According to the dual systems model of adolescent risk taking, sensation seeking and impulse control follow different developmental trajectories across adolescence and are governed by two different brain systems. The authors tested whether different underlying processes also drive age differences in reward approach and cost avoidance. Using a modified Iowa Gambling Task in a multinational, cross‐sectional sample of 3,234 adolescents (ages 9–17; M = 12.87, SD = 2.36), pubertal maturation, but not age, predicted reward approach, mediated through higher sensation seeking. In contrast, age, but not pubertal maturation, predicted increased cost avoidance, mediated through greater impulse control. These findings add to evidence that adolescent behavior is best understood as the product of two interacting, but independently developing, brain systems.     

MRI and PET images fusion based on human retina model

The diagnostic potential of brain positron emission tomography (PET) imaging is limited by low spatial resolution. For solving this problem we propose a technique for the fusion of PET and MRI images. This fusion is a trade-off between the spectral information extracted from PET images and the spatial information extracted from high spatial resolution MRI. The proposed method can control this trade-off. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to build a multiscale fusion model, based on the retinal cell photoreceptors model. This paper introduces general prospects of this model, and its application in multispectral medical image fusion. Results showed that the proposed method preserves more spectral features with less spatial distortion. Comparing with hue-intensity-saturation (HIS), discrete wavelet transform (DWT), wavelet-based sharpening and wavelet-à trous transform methods, the best spectral and spatial quality is only achieved simultaneously with the proposed feature-based data fusion method. This method does not require resampling images, which is an advantage over the other methods, and can perform in any aspect ratio between the pixels of MRI and PET images.     

Relationship between social capital and lifestyle among older adults

ABSTRACT

Objective: This study was designed with the purpose of determining the relationship between social capital and lifestyle and their sub-variables among older adults.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study using interviews that was conducted in 2017. This study was performed with randomly selected older people over 60 years of age in an urban area of Iran. Data were collected using a questionnaire in 3-month duration. The relationship between the study variables (lifestyle and social capital) was assessed through correlation analysis (in the case of non control of the underlying variables) and general linear modeling (in the case of control of the underlying variables). Data were analyzed using SPSS v.24 software at a 0.05 significant level.

Results: A total of 512 questionnaires were filed out. According to the Pearson correlation test, all social capital variables were associated with lifestyle components. However, in the general linear model test, feeling of trust and safety (p < 0.001), value of life (p = 0.030), and social participation (p = 0.004) had a significant relationship with the lifestyle.

Conclusions: The results indicated that social capital and lifestyle in the older adults were interconnected. Therefore, there is a need to improve social capital factors, especially social participation, feeling of trust and safety, and value of life, which is in-line with the strategies of achieving healthy older population. The results can be used to learn how to increase lifestyle in older adults.     

An exact analytical solution for convective heat transfer in rectangular ducts

An exact analytical solution is obtained for convective heat transfer in straight ducts with rectangular cross-sections for the first time. This solution is valid for both H1 and H2 boundary conditions, which are related to fully developed convective heat transfer under constant heat flux at the duct walls. The separation of variables method and various other mathematical techniques are used to find the closed form of the temperature distribution. The local and mean Nusselt numbers are also obtained as functions of the aspect ratio. A new physical constraint is presented to solve the Neumann problem in non-dimensional analysis for the H2 boundary conditions. This is one of the major innovations of the current study. The analytical results indicate a singularity occurs at a critical aspect ratio of 2.4912 when calculating the local and mean Nusselt numbers.     

Respect in principal–teacher relations at primary schools in Turkey

Respect means consideration of actions and requests of others and confirmation of values of others. School is a social institution where students are equipped with knowledge and skills, as well as fundamental character attributes. Respect among students, teachers, administrators, parents, and other staff at schools is of importance. In this study, the focus group method, including 12 principals and 10 teachers at state primary schools, was employed to explore respect in principal–teacher relations. According to the findings, the participants generally developed professional respect understanding. The teachers presented different definitions of respect associated with hierarchical relations. The participants’ respect behaviors were commonly observed in positive communication and self-improvement. The principals displayed respect for teachers through some guarding behaviors, and the teachers displayed profession-related respect behaviors. The common respect expectations of the participants were as follows: self-improvement, establishment of positive social relations, and unbiased behavior. While the school principals expected obedience and complete fulfillment of assigned tasks from teachers, the teachers expected civility, justice, and guarding administration from principals. The participants regarded improper appearance, behaviors contradictory to rules of good manners and bad habits as disrespectfulness. The school principals regarded abuse of goodwill and false excuses by teachers as disrespectfulness; whereas the teachers regarded oral or behavioral insults by school principals and intervention in their private life as disrespectfulness.     

The effect of a conceptual change approach on understanding of students’ chemical equilibrium concepts

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of a conceptual change approach over traditional instruction on tenth‐grade students’ conceptual achievement in understanding chemical equilibrium. The study was conducted in two classes of the same teacher with participation of a total of 44 tenth‐grade students. In this study, a pre‐test/post‐test control group semi‐experimental design pattern was used. During teaching the topic of chemical equilibrium concepts in the chemistry curriculum, a conceptual change approach was applied in the experimental group whereas traditional instruction was followed in the control group. Data were analysed with an independent samples t‐test, and an analysis of covariance using the pre‐test scores as the covariate. The results showed that the conceptual change approach was statistically more effective than traditional instruction in terms of students’ conceptual understanding. After the six‐week intervention, interviews were conducted with 18 selected students in the study. In the interviews a prevailing alternative conception was detected beside many alternative conceptions. When they were asked to compare equilibrium constants of two different reactions they mostly responded to mean that ‘the bigger the mol number of the products, the bigger the equilibrium constant’ without considering what proportions the reactants were transformed into products in a reaction. Also, in this study a two‐tier multiple choice test was developed related to chemical equilibrium to detect students’ concepts and alternative concepts.