ع. عباسی

Fisheries tourism is one of the types of tourism that has not received much attention in Iran, despite its good status. The benefits of the tourism industry with the high potential of the fisheries and fishing industry can provide an ideal option to connect the two industries in order to leave the difficult conditions of the fishery areas and move toward development. The first step in planning for fisheries tourism development is to accurately identify the potentials and fisheries' attractions to absorb tourists. Thus, the present study aimed to identify the tourists’ attractions of fisheries using a qualitative methodology with an exploratory approach. This research was applied in terms of purpose, and is descriptive and survey in terms of nature and method. The statistical population of this study was relevant subject experts. Using the purposeful snowball sampling method, 23 experts were selected to determine the panel of the experts based on their subject expertise, experiences, and the theoretical adequacy principle. In three rounds, the attractiveness and attractive fisheries activities for tourism were identified using the Delphi technique. In the first round of Delphi, 30 attractions and attractive activities for fisheries tourism were introduced by experts. After the removal of the less important items in the second and third round of Delphi, finally, the consensus was reached about 12 attractions of fisheries tourism, in three categories of fishing and fishery, fisheries industries, and coastal aquaculture.

Among the key strategies in higher education is to prioritize the development of the entrepreneurial university. In this regard, the University of Applied Sciences and Technology (UAST) is one of the main institutions involved in vocational higher education, especially in the agricultural sector, which aims to help graduates acquire the knowledge and skills they will require. To this end, the university needs to plan for and develop entrepreneurial educations in its training system. Accordingly, the present study aimed to strategically analyze entrepreneur UAST in the agricultural sector. The statistical sample included 19 individuals, who were presidents, deputies, and managers of a university or managers of agricultural applied science and technology centers. After interviews and reaching theoretical saturation, the strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities of the agricultural applied sciences and technology centers were specified. The results of the SWOT matrix show that the aggressive strategy (SO) is the most appropriate strategy for the agricultural centers of UAST. The most important strategies within this approach included ‘organizing and developing agricultural applied sciences and technology programs in a balanced manner’; ‘designing and implementing a province-wide educational need assessment model for the agricultural sector’; ‘developing agricultural modular curricula and getting involved in new labor market potentials with the aid of the executive agencies’; ‘enhancing the quality of agricultural training components’; ‘developing financial resources and the use of the existing potentials of the agricultural sector with no financial burden on the government’; ‘basing decisions on research’; and ‘setting policies based on the modern agricultural and natural resources’ technology’.

The present research aimed to investigate the mediating role of the rural entrepreneurial ecosystem in linking the pluriactive rice farmerschr('39') motives to pluriactivity consequences in the Haraz Watershed in a descriptive-correlational study conducted through a survey technique. A sample of 182 pluriactive rice farmers in the Haraz Watershed participated in the study. The results of descriptive statistics showed that in both pull and push motive variables, the means were higher than the medium level. However, concerning the variables of rural entrepreneurship ecosystem and pluriactivity consequences, the means were lower than the medium level. In path analysis, the direct effects of the independent variables showed that the pull motive and rural entrepreneurial ecosystem had a significant and positive effect on the consequences of pluriactivity, while these consequences were not affected by the push variable significantly. The indirect effects of the independent variables revealed that the push motive had a significant and positive effect on the rural entrepreneurial ecosystem. However, the pull motive had no significant impact on the rural entrepreneurial ecosystem. The study has practical implications for institutions related to rural development, in general, and institutions related to rural business development, in particular. The latter institutions, especially educational and extensional centers in public and private sectors that are involved in rural regions, could encourage rice farmers to establish and develop their business based on their motives.

Lean production system is a new management approach and a business strategy that results in the elimination of waste (costs and time) and improvement of the performance and overall value of an organization. The main objective of this study was to investigate factors influencing implementation of Lean Production Principle (LPP) and its relation with the performance of Small and Medium-sized Food Industry Enterprises (SMFIEs) in Khuzestan Province. This study was a kind of descriptive-correlation and causal-relation that was conducted through a survey technique. Statistical population of the study consisted of all managers in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Khuzestan food industry (N= 307). By using Krejcie and Morgan’s tables and stratified random sampling method, 170 person were selected as sample, of which 161 person completed the research questionnaires (return rate 94.7%). The results show that among the eight factors that influence the implementation of LPP, three variables of “customer relationship management”, "human resource management”, and “employees’ empowerment” have the most direct effects on LPP and, ultimately, the highest total effect on SMFIEs performance. The implementation of LPP could explain about 31 percent of variances in SMFIEs performance. Conducting justification and education workshops not only enhances the knowledge of SMFIEs managers, but also helps implement the LPP and, subsequently, improves the performance of SMFIEs.

This study adopted a survey approach to address and determine the effects of educational system components on strengthening the teamwork behavior of students in the agricultural higher education system of Iran. The statistical population consisted of all agricultural students in five universities of Iran. A sample of 291 students was selected using random stratified sampling method with proportional allocation. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data. The data were analyzed by structural simulation technique using Smart PLS software. The results showed that there was a positive and significant relationship between teamwork behavior of students and the components of the higher education system, which included the teacher, student, curriculum, and the learning environment. The results also showed that the curriculum component had the most impact compared to other components. Also, the presented Applied Structural Equation Model is a strong theoretical model for predicting the teamwork behavior of the students.

At the colleges of agriculture in Iran, lecture is used as a dominated teaching method. Team learning is one of the most commonly used educational methods in the present erea. The aim of this study was to compare the Team Member Teaching Design (TMTD) and the regular lecture method on the academic achievement and teamwork behavior of agricultural students. A within-subject design was followed for two courses in which students first attended a series of lectures and then participated in team teaching. Differences between lecture and team teaching methods were examined for their academic achievement and teamwork. The study samples were taken of Agricultural Extension and Education Department of the University of Tehran during the academic year of 2017-2018. The mean scores of academic achievement and the teamwork behavior of students were compared. In compared coursess, the effect of TMTD method on the academic achievement of students was shown. The results of means comparison tests indicated a significant difference between the two methods of teaching in the field of academic achievement and the strengthening of the teamwork behavior of students. The paper further discusses team method implementation and its implication for teaching and proffers the way forward for an effective use of teaching methods for better results in the classroom teaching and learning process.

Nowadays, a paradigm shift can be observed from economic and technical investments to social-behavioral dimensions in order to increase efficiency of exploiting water resources. The purpose of the present study was to identify and analyze factors affecting Farmers Active Participation in Water Conservation (FAPWC). In this regard, a theoretical framework was developed for analyzing farmers participatory behavior. This study was a descriptive-correlational and causal relationship research which was conducted through a survey technique. The statistical population of the study included irrigated farmers in southern regions of West Azerbaijan Province in Iran. A sample of 378 irrigated farmers was selected using proportional stratified random sampling method. Data were collected using eight 5-point Likert-type scales. Validity of the scales was confirmed by a panel of experts, and their reliability was demonstrated by Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients which ranged between 0.60-0.89, indicating internal consistency of the study scales. Parametric tests were used to analyze the data. The results of this study showed that the variables of moral norms of water conservation, social pressures, place attachment, social responsibility towards consequences of activities, quality of agricultural extension services, and satisfaction of water resources management had significant impacts on FAPWC. Moreover, the independent variables could predict 43.6% of variance changes in FAPWC. An attempt was made to examine the factors affecting FAPWC beyond the psychological individual-based (micro) analyses in order to develop the research framework and consider factors such as the effect of farmers’ social environments and, consequently, present policy implications at micro- and macro-levels separately.