مجله آموزش عالی ایران
سال پنجم شماره 3 (پیاپی 19، تابستان 1392)

Various methods are applied for planning of higher education (HE). One of these methods is spatial planning-based planning method (SPBPM) which is backed by global remarkable background. Although SPBPM has been considered in recent decades, but in the late 2009 it was re-emphasized by Ministry of Science, Research and Technology seriously based on which the higher education future development and expansion must be settled. Although this can be seen as a promising development which may have desirable outcomes for the country’ HE, undoubtedly various complications in HE of the country encounters this kind of planning with different challenges. In order to study this problem, the first part of this analytic-descriptive paper deals with conceptualization of SPBPM and its history in the country, and HE and also the composition of members of Esfahan SPBPM‘s working group and their most important goals and duties. In the second part of the paper the current status of HE of Esfahan and its strengths and weaknesses have been taken into account. The third part of the paper discusses the estimated HE situation of Esfahan Province for the period of 2011 to 2015 which has been resulted by the pilot implementation of SPBPM in the Province. Finally, prerequisites, challenges and strategies for optimal implementation of SPBPM in the HE are discussed.

Iran’s higher education has been confronting deep-routed challenges in last two among which the increasing graduates’ rate of unemployment is very critical. Therefore, as a survey research study, this paper aims to discuss the most important issues and dilemmas of the graduates’ employment including the importance of work-based curriculum development, employable skills, socio-economic needs in higher education and why skills and qualifications such as team work, problem solving, communication skills, and… should be emphasized in higher education’s curriculum. Additionally, the paper tries to review other countries’ successful and failed experiences in regarding their employment rates in economic activities. Furthermore, employability opportunities and challenges of the country’ higher education was discussed in which a particular reference was given to the women skill requirement for entering labour market.

This research aims to study the relationship between cognitive-social factors and research self-efficacy in students by a causal model. Using a descriptive and advanced correlative method called SEM, 126 PhD students of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad and Medical Sciences University of Mashhad were asked to complete the self-efficacy questionnaire. Reliability and validity of scale was verified. Pearson correlation coefficients, CFA and SEM were applied for data analyzes. The findings relevant to the Pearson correlation coefficients showed that some of research self-efficacy and some of cognitive-social factors components are significant statistically (p<0/05). SEM findings revealed that purposed model about relationships between cognitive-social factors and research self-efficacy was fit to data (NNFI=0/90, RSMEA= 0/06) and some of path coefficients are significant statistically (p<0/05). Environmental factors such as research experience, encouraging, academic atmosphere can be effective in increasing student's research self-efficacy. Therefore, it seems that changes in the university’s management practices, training programs aimed at increasing self-efficacy and academic research, motivational beliefs and perceptions of useful and constructive environment to encourage research are inevitable.

Resource-based theory has led organizations’ attention to obtain and bring in sustainable competitive advantage and outlined the relationship between organizational resources and performance. At present organizations create and maintain their sustaining value of intangible assets. Intangible assets included experience, talent, the right to register, invented right, copy right, the trade marks and names, the secret formula, knowledge and information which have critical role in the realization of the mission of knowledge creation and innovation. This research therefore, aims to study and compare intangible assets in higher education system and the industry system. An ex-post facto method was applied. Participants included 171chancellors and deans of faculties of both public and private universities, and industry’s general directors. Participants were selected via stratified sampling method. In order to collect data Bontis questionnaire was used. Descriptive statistics, variance analyses, differences among means and t-test were applied for analyzing data. Findings indicate that higher education and industry’s intangible assets are different from each other. Additionally, at present obtaining, creating, managing and protecting the assets are among the most important challenges of the higher education system.

This study tries to examine the conceptual aspects of spatial planning and also the status of higher education in spatial and strategic plans. Using a qualitative research method, the dominant viewpoints on spatial planning in the field of higher education were analyzed. For this document analysis, content analysis and secondary analysis were applied. The findings illustrate that the approach to higher education activities, as a sector, differs from those of other sectors as far as spatial planning is concerned. Yet, it is to be noted that although administrators in the area of higher education and universities emphasize on the importance of spatial planning in higher education, they do not seem to consensually conform on a certain concept of "development," "spatial planning" and " spatial planning in higher education". On the other hand, this is aggravated by the fact that the sector planners and administrators are not enough acquainted with such concepts which has resulted mainly by the lack insufficient theoretical information and poor relevant literature on this agenda as well as the lack of interaction between land use spatial planning and spatial planning in higher education. The unbalanced and uneven distribution of universities and higher education institutions during last decades and the present time can be considered as the typical proof of this claim. Given these trends and the strategies were emphasized by the country’s Development Vision Document as well as and its Comprehensive Map of Science towards the country’s science and technology development, especially in higher education, a number of recommendations have been offered.

Most scholars admit that cheating has become an epidemic phenomenon across universities and higher education institutions. Moreover, the widespread act of cheating among students has almost created a mindset which in turn developed a change of attitude. The purpose of this survey study was to explain factors influencing cheating among a proportional random sample of 298 graduate and undergraduate agricultural students at Razi University. A questionnaire underwent content validity using valid resources and an alpha coefficient of 0/78 proved to be a reliable research instrument. Exploratory factor analysis revealed four factor structures explaining 62.84% of cheating variance: Weak educational planning, institutionalization of cheating among students, lack of effective management leading to weak approach towards those caught in act of cheating, and environmental factors. Moreover, results showed that there was no relationship between the act of cheating and students’ age, gender, major field of study, and their level and course of study. However, there was a negative and yet significant relationship between the act of cheating and students’ year in college and GPA. Based on the results, it is recommended that university officials take preventive measures in order to control the diffusion of such unethical act of cheating across universities.

Over the past two decades, many researchers have examined the relationship between metacognitive strategies and academic achievement variables through experimental and correlational studies. The reexamination of the result of these studies shows that their findings have not been the same. Thus, the necessity of using meta-analysis study to resolve discrepancies and present the overall result of all of them is needed. Therefore, this paper aims to combine the quantitative results achieved by correlational and experimental studies on the relationship between metacognitive strategies and academic achievement. Regarding this, the findings of 56 researches in this field within Iran was used by which the effect size of 114 was achieved. Studies that were used in this research have been collected from various universities, research centers and scientific databases. Using CMA software and after examining of the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the quantitative findings of selected studies were analyzed. The combined results showed that metacognitive strategies in all studies (correlational and experimental) had meaningful relationship with learners’ academic achievement and the size effect of the relationship of these two variables, according to Cohen’s criterion, in high experimental studies (ES=0.70) and in medium correlational studies (ES=0.44) was assessed. Also, other results of this study showed that among metacognitive strategies variable, planning variable has the most impact on academic achievement.