فصلنامه فناوری آموزش
سال هفدهم شماره 4 (پیاپی 68، پاییز 1402)

Educational technology, as an interdisciplinary field, is affected by the advances in science and technology and the use of their findings to facilitate the education process and improve the quality of learning. With the aim of using “Design Thinking” as a new approach for innovation and creative problem solving and a source of effect in instructional design issues, the current research is in search of design and validation of design thinking instructional model in educational technology in order to improve instructional design, create rich experiences and innovative issues in education. The lack of formation of the designer's identity in the instructional designer and the lack of equipping the mind with creative design and design thinking can lead to superficial and low-quality instructional designs, boredom and reduced motivation, and reduced effectiveness of educational plans. In this regard, paying attention to thinking designerly and design thinking can respond to the challenges facing instructional design and solve them. The basic gap in this field is the lack of effective design thinking instructional model for educational technology students, which is the aim of this research.

In conducting the research, a mixed method was used in the form of a sequential exploratory design with two main qualitative and quantitative parts. In order to identify the components of design thinking in the model of instructional design, a systematic review method was used by examining research from 1980 to 2021 in various multidisciplinary and scientific databases in Latin and Persian. 294 researches were identified and after reading the summary of articles and preliminary review and removing irrelevant articles, 21 articles were subjected to qualitative content analysis with inductive design. The components of design thinking, social constructivism, design-instructional design thinking were extracted and based on the findings of the qualitative part, the proposed model of education was designed inspired by Janasen's model and was subject to internal and external validation in the quantitative part. For the internal validation of the model, a descriptive survey method was used with the statistical community of experts in the field of educational technology. The external validation of the model was done through the quasi-experimental method (pre-test and post-test groups, experimental and reference groups) with the participation of 32 master's and doctoral students in educational technology, and the results were used to modify and finalize the model.

Inductive analysis of the content of the qualitative part of the research showed that the instructional pattern of DT is a mixture of the theoretical and practical components of DT, instructional design, and social constructivism. Identification of the components, their relationship, and their combination to conform to the pattern of the instructional design of DT resulted in the presentation of a conceptual model and a proposed pattern for instructional design. In the quantitative part of the research, the internal validity of the proposed pattern was confirmed by 29 educational technology experts and university instructors.  The descriptive results and the t-test of each of the groups regarding the variables and the mean and standard deviation of the results of covariance of the experimental and control groups after intervention showed that using the pattern, that is proposed for DT, was significant at the alpha level of p<0.01 with the score for students’ DT qualification. The null hypothesis was rejected in the confidence interval level of 99 percent and the research hypothesis was confirmed on the condition of validity of the proposed pattern for teaching DT and its impact on the instructional design performance of the MA and Ph.D. students of educational technology.

Confirmation of the research's internal and external validity testifies that the proposed pattern can be suitable for teaching DT to students of educational technology while providing a safe and flexible environment for DT learning. Furthermore, it may promote qualifications for instructional design in the areas of professional foundations, planning, and analysis, compilation, assessment, instructional evaluation, and betterment of instructional design. However, there are certain challenges in the way of enforcement and some exigencies for successful DT teaching, which need to be taken into consideration. The pattern can be used in the centers for training and recruiting instructional designers, thus contributing to better performance of the instructional design.

Background and Objectives:

 Flipped classroom is an educational strategy or a model for teaching and learning in which the traditional and common structures of the learning process are reversed, that is, in a word, what used to be done in the classroom is assigned to the home. And the processes that students used to do at home are transferred to the classroom. As a new method, this method can be effective on the psychological variables involved in learning, one of which is self-efficacy. The current research was conducted with the aim of comparing the effectiveness of flipped instruction and traditional teaching of English language on the self-efficacy of the 10th grade students

The research method was semi-experimental with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group. The statistical population of the research consisted of the tenth-grade male students of Qom. The sample of this study included 60 students (30 in the experimental group and 30 in the control group) who were selected via available sampling. The experimental group underwent reverse training for 12 sessions, and the participants in the control group were trained with the traditional method for the same period of time. In the flipped classroom group, videos and podcasts prepared in the form of CDs were used, and pamphlets were also prepared in the printed form so that if the students did not have access to the Internet, they could access the materials. The content used in this research included two lessons from the 10th grade English book. To collect the data, the English self-efficacy questionnaire of Wang (2014) was used. This questionnaire had 32 items that measured the components of listening self-efficacy, reading self-efficacy, writing self-efficacy and speaking self-efficacy. Multivariate covariance analysis method was used to analyze the data. To analyze the data, SPSS (21.00) was used.

The results of this study showed that flipped instruction had a significant effect on dimensions of self-efficacy such as reading self-efficacy (F= 335.48 sig= 0.001), speech self-efficacy (F= 91.69 sig= 0.001), and writing self-efficacy (F= 125.63 sig= 0.001), except for the auditory self-efficacy (F= 0.692  sig= 0.506).

Learning English is the result of interwoven factors such as the learning environment, necessary facilities and equipment, learning conditions and suitable educational methods. The results of this research showed that conducting the class in a reversed manner can be effective in increasing English language self-efficacy as one of the important cognitive skills in learning English. In flipped classroom, increasing the duration of learning at any time and place other than the classroom and the possibility of doing more exercises will make the students master the material and thereby, will create a context for them to be successful. By relying on the educational technology, the flipped classroom makes the contents of the textbooks, especially the English book, more attractive for the students and makes learning more enjoyable. The findings of this research can encourage educational planners to use the flipped classroom approach to improve the cognitive skills and academic performance of language learners by highlighting the role of reverse teaching on students' English language self-efficacy.

The ever-increasing expansion of virtual education and the access of more and more people to mass communication tools, including mobile phones, caused this tool to be favored in order to increase the ease of learning and the optimal transfer of information. Since these media provide the role of a communication bridge between the teacher and the learner, their timely and correct use can play a significant role in the desired transfer of information and a better and easier understanding of the course materials by the learners. Learning with the help of programs that can be installed on smart mobile phones has been one of the teaching-learning methods in recent years, which is expanding dramatically as the advantages of technology in teaching and learning. The effectiveness of computer-aided learning on mathematical academic progress has been investigated in various studies.  This research was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of teaching MATLAB graphic calculator that can be installed on a mobile phone on the performance and attitude towards mathematics among the 10th-grade humanities students.

The current study was applied in terms of its purpose and quasi-experimental in terms of method, with a pre-test and post-test design with experimental and control groups. The statistical population includedt the 10th-grade female students in the field of humanities in Khorramshahr in the academic year of 2021-2022 and the available sampling procedures were used The sample consisted of 46 students who were randomly assigned to each of the experimental and control groups, including 23 students. In order to collect the data, the short version of Lim and Chapman's (2013) math attitude questionnaire was used. The reliability of this questionnaire was checked by Cronbach's alpha. The value of Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient in the pre-test for the general scale of attitude towards mathematics was 0.87 and for the post-test, the alpha coefficient was 0.91. Also, math performance was measured by a teacher-made test. Its content and form validity were confirmed by the experts in the field of mathematics education, and the criterion validity of the math performance questionnaire was calculated by determining the Pearson correlation coefficient of math performance and attitude towards math in the pre-test at 0.42, which was consistent with the expectation of a positive relationship between performance and attitude towards mathematics. In order to check the reliability of the math performance test, due to the explanatory nature of the test questions, the reliability method of the correctors was used. Before the training, a pre-test was administered in two classes; then the experimental group was taught how to use MATLAB software and graphic calculator for seven sessions and each session lasted fifty minutes. But the control group received no training on this software. At the end, a post-test was given to both groups. Due to the non-normality of the data and the non-fulfillment of all the covariance analysis conditions, the data were analyzed using the normalized-gain method and Mann-Whitney test.

The results showed that the average attitude and math performance in the experimental group were higher than those of the control group and there was a significant difference between the two groups at 5% level of confidence. The effect size of the Mann-Whitney test was reported to be 0.22 for math performance and 0.21 for math attitude. Using Cohen's criterion, the size of this effect was moderate.

According to the results of this research, it appears that the use of MATLAB graphic calculator can play an effective role in creating a positive attitude as well as increasing the mathematical performance of humanities students in the tenth grade of high school. The use of programs that can be installed on mobile phones and graphic calculators in the curriculum, as well as content compilation in this field and its impact on evaluation has provided an opportunity to make changes with the aim of responding to the students' learning demand and create this possibility for constant learning without connection to a specific place or time.

Due to the changes in education, online learning has become the predominant mode of instruction. There may be a gap between what students learn in school and what they need to survive in the real world. This is due to the constant change in the world and educational system. This puts schools under a lot of pressure to develop their educational instruction processes in an innovative manner that helps students to acquire and develop the needed life skills. These skills can help individuals in leading a meaningful life. One of these strategies is project-based learning. As the name implies, project-based learning involves students refining and honing their language skills by completing projects in and out of the classroom. To accomplish this, teachers must cultivate a culture of creativity and engagement in the classroom. By sharing their work and reflecting on their processes, students can improve their work. This style of teaching moves away from teacher-centered methods, where students sit passively in a classroom and are rarely given opportunities to express themselves or practice their language skills. The act of inquiry is what engages students in project-based learning. This instructional approach is designed to give students the opportunity to develop knowledge and skills through engaging projects and set around challenges and problems they may face in the real world. The purpose of this study was to compare the impact of technology-integrated and traditional project-based instruction on vocabulary development and social identity of English language learners.

In the current quasi-experimental quantitative study, two intact classes were assigned to traditional and technology-integrated project-based learning. The independent variable in this study was technology integration, and the dependent variables were learners' social identity and vocabulary development. Over 6 months, two groups of 30 learners (15 students in each group) were exposed to two forms of project-based instruction: traditional and technology-integrated. The instruction in both groups was based on doing projects. In the technology-integrated group, the projects were done using technology potentials, and in the traditional group, the projects were done using classroom potentials. Pre-tests and post-tests were used to measure learners’ improvements in vocabulary development and social identity level.

The results revealed that the learners involved in technology-integrated instruction proved superior compared to the traditional learning group in their English vocabulary and social identity. It showed that projects done in technology-integrated environments surpassed the projects done in traditional learning contexts. The findings suggested that technology-integrated projects were more effective than traditional ones, possibly due to the enticing features of technology that enhance learners' motivation and interest.

PBL has been regarded as influential in the development of vocabulary development and social identity of students but integrating projects with the power of technology provides opportunities for more effective vocabulary development and identity construction. Implementing technology in projects in the current study is beneficial to the realm of school health and adds to a growing body of work exploring how technology-integrated projects impact school students’ academic achievements and identity construction. Inspired by the advantageous effects of technology interventions on learners and the paramount significance of becoming emotionally engaged and accountable during the process of learning, we hope the current study contributes to the realization of technology-engaging school pedagogical agents.

In the digital age, literacy does not only include individual skills, but also includes a set of social actions in real or digital space that uses new and digital technologies to communicate. Therefore, to complete the topic of media literacy, a new type of literacy called digital literacy has been proposed. Since students need a complete set of literacy to make the most of social networks, participate in post-industrial economies and play the role of global citizens, digital literacy as one of the new and multi-dimensional literacies is the best and most useful approach to understanding the changing landscape. It is the world that cannot be separated from education and the development of it must be provided among students, especially at the elementary level because childhood learning is the foundation of all subsequent education. In fact, understanding the dimensions and development of digital literacy among students is an answer to face the challenges of the digital age. In this regard, the aim of this research was to identify the dimensions of digital literacy of primary school students.

The current research method was applied in terms of its purpose and its method was combined (qualitative and quantitative) so that in identifying the dimensions of digital literacy of primary school students, a combined research method was used for validation. A descriptive method with Delphi technique was used for the identified dimensions. The statistical population of the qualitative part of this research included all books, articles, master's theses, doctoral theses that were published in the period from 2013 to 2014 on this topic. The digital literacy of primary school students was determined by a statistical sample of 36 documents in a targeted and criteria-oriented way. In the quantitative part, 17 experts were selected as a sample from the statistical community of educational science and educational technology experts and elementary school teachers. In order to collect data and information and analyze the findings to identify the dimensions of students' digital literacy, theoretical coding process was used in three stages of open coding, central coding and selective coding. In this step, to ensure the coding method, in addition to the self-review technique, two experts in the field of digital literacy were used to recode the findings. In order to validate the dimensions identified using the questionnaire made by the researcher, the data obtained from the survey was evaluated with Kendall's formula.

After analyzing the extracted data with MAXQDA11 software, the coding chart was drawn. Based on the results obtained in the coding process, in the open coding stage, 66 codes were extracted, 13 subcategories were obtained in the axial coding stage, and finally, in the selective coding, after combining the concepts, four dimensions were obtained.  The results obtained from the research indicated that four operational, critical, cultural and transitional dimensions could be considered for the digital literacy of primary school students and each of these dimensions had components that were appropriate to their age characteristics and needs. Operational dimension included technical literacy, digital content literacy, and information literacy. The critical dimension included the components of media literacy and critical literacy. The cultural dimension included the components of digital participation, social literacy, digital ethics and digital security, and digital creativity and innovation, problem solving, digital entertainment and digital intelligence were components of the critical dimension. In the expert validation section, the value of Kendall's correlation coefficient (0.658) was obtained.

Conclusion:

 In this research, the dimensions of digital literacy for primary school students were identified according to their characteristics and needs and based on the study of the experiences of leading countries in the development of digital literacy for children, which showed a balance between protection against online risks and nurturing digital opportunities and it can be a guide for the development of policies and curricula related to digital literacy among Iranian primary school students.

In order to solve the problem of education in complex and unstructured domains, Spiro and his colleagues proposed the theory of cognitive flexibility, in which they advocated multiple forms of pedagogical models, analogies, multiple representations, and multiple information displays. Cognitive flexibility is the ability of humans to adapt to cognitive process strategies in order to cope with new and unexpected conditions in the environment, and can help learners gain a deep understanding of complex concepts. In cognitive flexibility, the transfer of information from one situation to another allows the learners to apply the constructed knowledge to solve current problems. Electronic and virtual learning environments have capabilities that can better enhance learners' cognitive flexibility. Multiplicity in content, activities, interaction, and active participation are among the criteria for cognitive flexibility that can be accessed through electronic and virtual learning environments. Therefore, the aim of this study was to provide a framework for designing electronic and virtual learning environments based on the principles and criteria of cognitive flexibility.

This study was qualitative research that was conducted in a Meta-Synthesis method. To collect data, keywords such as cognitive flexibility theory, electronic and virtual learning environments, cognitive flexibility, principles and criteria of cognitive flexibility, etc. were selected and articles, theses, and related texts were searched in reliable databases, from 1992 to 2020. Finally, 30 related sources were found. Among these sources, 25 of the most relevant texts related to the research questions were selected. After the detailed study of the texts, according to the research questions, the necessary information was extracted.

The results of the findings in response to the first question of the research were to present the principles and criteria of the theory of cognitive flexibility, and in response to the second question of the research, based on the principles and criteria of the theory of cognitive flexibility, the necessary framework for the design of electronic and virtual learning environments was presented. In this framework, two parts of different forms of learning and different views about learning were proposed and in each part, content dimensions, pedagogical tools, human interactions, and evaluation and criteria related to each dimension were introduced. According to the criteria raised in the dimension of different forms of learning, it can be said that to increase the cognitive flexibility of learners in electronic learning environments, variety of content, variety of methods and activities, variety of interactions and variety of assessment tools were of particular importance. Also, according to the criteria raised in the dimension of different perspectives of learning, we can also conclude that to increase cognitive flexibility in electronic learning environments, the variety of examples, exercises, and examples, the variety of mutual relationships between the concepts, diversity in people's points of view, review, analysis and combination of diverse points of view, diversifying the points of view on the discussed topic were important. The diversity of methods and solutions in the process of problem-solving were highly important. These environments should be prepared in such a way that they could provide the context for the learner's involvement and activity so that the learner could have an active involvement in the learning process and build knowledge that would meet the needs of different situations and could be used to solve real problems.

Based on the results of the study, the principles and criteria of cognitive flexibility were extracted and based on those principles and criteria, the necessary framework for designing electronic and virtual learning environments was presented, which can be a guide for planners, designers of electronic and virtual learning environments, teachers, and other educators to strengthen the cognitive flexibility of learners through the design of suitable electronic and virtual learning environments.

Due to the evolving nature of medical sciences, it is necessary for medical students to acquire life-long learning skills such as self-direction in addition to professional knowledge so that they can keep up with the ever-increasing advancement of knowledge in this field. Using the jigsaw approach, as a collaborative method, provides an opportunity to overcome the limitations of traditional teaching approaches and can increase students' voluntary participation in class, self-directed learning, and learning quality. In the Jigsaw method, each group studies a specific topic and then teaches a larger group of classmates about it. Although different aspects of the jigsaw approach, flipped classroom and self-directed learning have been studied, the effectiveness of the jigsaw method in a virtual flipped classroom on students' self-directed learning skills has not been well studied. Therefore, the current research examined the effect of this teaching method in the virtual flipped classroom on students' self-directed learning skills.

The current research was semi-experimental research with pre-test, post-test, intervention group (jigsaw group) and control group, both of which participated in a virtual inverted classroom. The participants were 50 people (25 people in each group) who were master's students in the field of medicine in the course of research methods. Self-directed learning evaluation questionnaire in the e-learning environment was used in this research. For this purpose, the content was first prepared and all the resources including texts, curriculum and timetable were loaded by the teacher in a customized content management system (LMS). Students were required to review course material, complete assignments, and submit in a pre-planned schedule. The instructor used the problem-based learning method in virtual sessions where a problem or scenario was presented and the students had to solve the problem individually based on their knowledge and through private chat. In the last stage, all the students talked with each other to reach a common understanding of the problem. In the intervention group, students were divided into 5 groups of 5 and the content of the lesson plan was divided between the groups. Jigsaw groups assigned topics to expert groups and learned collaboratively, and then in home groups, they used the virtual inverted teaching method to teach other students. At the end of each training session, the members of the groups had the opportunity to exchange opinions and discuss the learned material. In the control group, all steps were performed by the teacher. In the evaluation stage, each member of the group was evaluated based on all educational materials.

The results showed that self-directed learning enhanced in both virtual inverted classes managed by the teacher or the student, but a significant difference was observed in the intervention group (Jigsaw).

Considering the advantages of virtual education and its effective capabilities in medical education, the integration of this approach in the current curricula of universities seems inevitable. This study showed how face-to-face educational approaches could be effectively implemented in a virtual environment. Educators can use the method used in this research to strengthen student collaboration in order to make more use of e-learning facilities and reduce the shortcomings of virtual education in attracting student participation. If the virtual flipped classroom is implemented along with the jigsaw approach, students' self-directed learning skills would improve.

In recent years, the use of technology and educational media in education has been one of the focus of studies. These media both improve the accuracy of the operation and increase the speed of learning and transfer of concepts. Considering the graphic and spatial nature of the content of the geometry course and the problems related to accurate and correct drawing and visualization of shapes, it seems necessary to use new methods and tools in education. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of teaching the geometry lesson with electronic educational media methods (teaching with dynamic and static graphic images) and teaching in the traditional way , on the academic progress and geometrical academic self-efficacy of the students.

According to the nature of the work, the research method was quasi-experimental. To conduct the research, a pretest-posttest with a control group design was used. The statistical population of this study included all male students in the tenth grade of mathematics in a District 1 of Tabriz in the academic year 2020-2021. The statistical sample consisted of 79 male students in the tenth grade of mathematics, including 3 classes, which were selected by availability sampling method and were randomly divided into three class groups. There were 26 people in the teaching group using dynamic graphic images electronic media class group, 26 people in the teaching group using static graphic images electronic media class group, and 27 people in the traditional teaching class group. The intervention tool of this research included the software for electronic teaching dynamic graphic images (Geo Gebra) and a set of educational slides designed by the researchers for teaching static graphic images. The study groups were trained for 6 weeks, 1 session per week and 90 minutes per session. In order to collect data related to academic progress, all three groups before and after the intervention, were assessed by using two parallel tests made by the researchers, including 14 questions, in the form of open-ended questions (explanatory) about the concepts of drawing and geometric reasoning from the geometry book of the 10th grade of the mathematics field. The first test was used as a pre-test and the second test was used as a post-test. Also, the participants answered the math self-efficacy questionnaire before and after the training. The data obtained from the pre-test and post-test stages were analyzed using one-way covariance analysis (ANCOVA) after checking the assumptions.

The results showed that the studied teaching methods had different effects on academic progress. With regard to the academic progress, the difference between electronic educational groups (P<0.009), between electronic education group with dynamic graphic images and common education group (P<0.001) and between electronic education group with static graphic images and common education group (P<0.001) was significant. Also, the results showed that the studied teaching methods had different effects on geometry academic self-efficacy. Regarding academic self-efficacy, the difference between electronic educational groups (P<0.02), etween electronic education group with dynamic graphic images and common education group (P<0.05) and between electronic education group with istatic graphic images and common education group (P<0.001) was significant. Among the studied groups of this research, the best results of academic progress and academic self-efficacy were related to electronic education group with dynamic graphic images.

The results of this study showed that the use of teaching methods with graphic images by teachers in teaching geometry can have a positive effect on students' academic achievement and academic self-efficacy. The use of these tools can play the role of an educational facilitator in improving the students’ academic performance.

Traditional teaching methods do not prepare students to live in the 21st century. Students in the 21st century must move beyond the basic knowledge in the subject field and look for more important issues such as acquiring skills. Having self-efficacy skills and creating academic conflict by current students are considered as achallenges of the educationl system. Many top universities in advanced countries consider the training of such students at the level of higher education among their goals. Therefore, it is necessary to examine appropriate teaching methods that improve these two skills in learners and use all the available capacities in online education to improve self-efficacy skills and academic engagement, because teaching strategies are changing with the significant advancement of technology. And education should gradually shift its focus from the physical space of the classroom to virtual environments. Project-based learning is a deep and comprehensive learning approach for teaching and learning in the classroom, and it can be combined with e-learning and be used to achieve basic skills such as self-efficacy and academic engagement. The purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of project-based e-learning on self-efficacy and academic engagement of the sixth-grade students.

The research method was a quasi-experimental pre-test-post-test design with a control group. The statistical population included all the sixth-grade students of Savadkoh in the academic year 2019-2019, among whom, 34 ones (17 ones in the experimental group and 17 ones in the control group) were selected as a sample via the available sampling method. Data collection tools included Appleton et al.'s (2006) academic engagement questionnaire and Jing, and Morgan's (1999) academic self-efficacy questionnaire.

 The results showed that there was a clear indication that project-based learning can motivate students to learn and stimulate their self-efficacy and academic engagement for better performance in this field. The findings of the research demonstrated that project-based education in the online environment was generally effective (P<0.05 and F=4.46). In addition, students' academic involvement had a positive effect (P<0.05 and F=7.97).

Considering the positive impact of project-based education in the online environment on the effectiveness and academic engagement of students in this research, as well as the increasing popularity of project-based learning, teachers should shift their teaching approaches to project-based education in order to improve education. One of the requirements of this action is empowering teachers in the field of electronic education system and designing appropriate textbooks for learning skills and project-based education. It is also suggested that teachers give students responsibility for learning and assign them active roles, because through project-based learning, they can understand their learning, present their products that show their learning and effort.

In recent years, the emergence of information and communication technology has affected the world of education. As some experts believe, the previous methods, models and theories of learning and education are not able to explain learning and education in this era. Connectivism theory is one of the new theories of the digital age that tries to explain learning from a different perspective. The purpose of this research was to explore the elements of a suitable educational model based on connectivism in teaching and learning.

The research was qualitative in terms of paradigm and among the types of qualitative research, it was qualitative content analysis. The research population included original research articles related to connectivism teaching and learning for the last 10 years (from the beginning of 2013 to the end of 2022) available in 4 databases (1) Eric (2) Emerald Insight (3) Springer (4) Science Direct. There were 592 articles, which were reduced to 194 articles after the initial review of the abstract and full text in two stages and the removal of irrelevant items. After organizing the remaining articles and using targeted sampling, 28 of these articles were analyzed, and due to the repetition of the obtained codes and the achievement of theoretical saturation, the analysis of the remaining articles of the studied population was stopped. Free coding with inductive approach was used to analyze the texts.

From the content of the analyzed works, three layers called "theoretical and technological foundations", "principles and assumptions of connectivism" and "learning networks" were extracted as the main components for a connectivism-oriented learning environment. The first layer included 14 theories, approaches, movements and technological developments as sub-components. Each of these theories, movements and approaches with their principles and assumptions had aa direct and an indirect influence on the next layers. The second layer was related to the general and specific principles, characteristics and assumptions about knowledge, learning and network phenomena, and its sub-components contain facts that strongly affected the executive layer of the connectivism-oriented environment, and the learning environment was designed based on this. It distinguished the theory from other theories. In this layer, four sub-components with the titles (1) connectivism principles of Siemens and others (2) connectivism assumptions about learning (3) connectivism assumptions about knowledge (4) features and principles of the network/learning environment were also identified. In the third layer, there were networks, each network had 9 sub-components :(1) types of tasks, actions and learning activities (in 6 overlapping forms of cooperation, interaction, evaluation, communication, involvement and participation) (2) the role of the teacher (3) the role of the student (4) the place of learning (5) the stages/steps of learning (6) the levels of learning (7) the required skills (8) the materials/resources/appendices/media or nodes learning, and (9) building new networks.

The results of the research showed that the connectivism-oriented learning environment is an open, non-targeted, chaotic environment that lacks an organized framework and fixed elements. Two theoretical levels and basic assumptions as layers influence the operational environment of connectivism learning. Theories, as the first layer, are the theoretical and technological foundations of connectivism, which dominate the other two layers like an umbrella and determine the assumptions and activities of this environment. The assumptions and principles of connectivism, which are considered as the second layer of this environment, affect the third layer and determine the framework and types of scientific activities of this environment.

. Learning management systems are one of the most important platforms for virtual education, and usability is the most important feature that determines their quality. In the conducted research, various factors have been proposed as factors affecting the usability of learning management systems, but shortcomings in the field of usability of these systems and determining the factors affecting it in a comprehensive and practical guide map, based on which usability of learning management system can be evaluated and improved, is the challenge of various educational institutions in virtual education. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to extract the most important factors affecting usability and then present these factors in a comprehensive and practical framework.

In this research, the qualitative method and meta-synthesis approach were used. Based on the stages of the meta-synthesis approach, after stating the research questions and purposes, the systematic review method was used to search for research reports in the field of usability of learning management systems, which were the statistical population of this research, and the sample - the documents available in Scopus and Web of Science databases - was selected through purposive sampling. Then, the quality of research resources was examined through individual appraisal and comparative appraisal; the findings from the research were classified, these findings were synthesized by the taxonomic analysis approach, and finally, to examine the validity of the findings, the audit trail, consensual validity, and expert peer review methods were used.

The findings of this research included the usability factors of learning management systems and the presentation of these factors in a framework. In this framework, factors were categorized based on the responsible of each factor. Factors included navigation, visual design, learnability and memorability, efficiency, accessibility, errors correction, privacy and security, ease of use, ethical issues and compliance in the tasks of IT specialists and content, Instructor’s knowledge, and learning orientation in the task Instructors/instructional designers. Factors that both IT specialists and instructors/instructional designers were in charge of encompassed interactivity/interaction, assessment and feedback, help and documentation, usefulness, and satisfaction and enjoyment.

Based on the findings, by considering usability factors in designing and evaluation of learning management systems, it is possible to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of these platforms in virtual education and ultimately the level of learners' satisfaction. The results of this research, while enriching the research literature in the field of usability of learning management systems, help these systems to be used efficiently, effectively and satisfactorily by learners and teachers. The results also help system developers, instructional designers, and evaluators to adopt a more effective approach to improving system usability by designing and evaluating learning management systems based on the framework presented in this research. The time-consuming nature of testing the usability of learning management systems used in Iranian universities based on the proposed framework was one of the limitations of this research, and other researchers can focus on doing this test in future research. It is also suggested that future research, in addition to the Scopus and Web of Science databases, which have been selected as the sources for research reports, consider the resources available in other databases, such as ERIC and Google Scholar. In addition, increasing the number of reviewers of research in the systematic review and the number of evaluators in the phase of evaluating the quality of resources and validating findings make the results more generalizable. Finally, applying quantitative research methods as well as heuristic evaluation of usability factors can complement this qualitative research.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of gamification-based test on exam anxiety, interest and learning of mathematics lesson of the sixth grade of elementary school students.

The method used in the current research was quasi-experimental with a pre-test and post-test design with a control group, and was applied in term of puropos. The statistical population in the present study included all the male students of the sixth grade of elementary school in Asadabad in the academic year of 2021-2022. Among these, two classes of 17 students were selected through convinience sampling method and were randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups. During eight training sessions, after the end of each session and the teacher's training in the virtual classroom, the test was conducted normally for the control group, but for the experimental group, the test was conducted as gamification. In this way, questions were designed based on the content and topics that were taught in each session and uploaded to the Kahoot platform. After the end of each session, the teacher provided the link to the students, the students entered Kahoot and answered the questions. While answering the questions, they could see their status compared to other students. Students chose avatars and competed with others in an attractive and multimedia environment. Also, the teacher shared the leader board after the exam in the Shad software and the names of the best ones were recorded. In order to collect data, Abolghasmi et al.'s exam anxiety questionnaire, Nemati's math interest questionnaire and a researcher-made learning test were applied. In order to determine the validity of the form and content of the test, the opinions of 12 subject expert teachers were used. For content validity, CVR indices were used, and these values were checked in each question and they were greater than 0.7; so, the content validity of the test was also confirmed. The reliability of the math learning test in the study was obtained using the Kuder-Richardson method, 0.81, which indicated the appropriate reliability of this test. In order to collect data, Abolghasemi et al.'s test anxiety questionnaire, Nemati's math interest questionnaire, and the researcher's learning test were used. Data were analyzed using analysis of covariance

The results of covariance analysis showed that the experimental intervention could not significantly reduce the exam anxiety, or increase interest in mathematics and the learning rate of experimental group students (P<0.05).

According to the results, it can be argued that there is stress and anxiety in the nature of tests and these variables are influenced by various cultural, family and environmental factors, and changing the test process using gamification had no significant effect on the variables of test anxiety, interest in mathematics and learn math. On the other hand, due to lack of internal systems related to gamification, the well-known international system of Kahoot was used, which may be one of the reasons for its lack of effectiveness due to its incompatibility with some cultural components. According to the results of the research, applying the principles of gamification in tests at the elementary level needs to examine different aspects and dimensions that future researches can pay attention to.

Blended learning approach uses a face-to-face learning environment with the capacities of an electronic environment. This approach has attracted the attention of researchers for more than 15 years due to the significant advantages it brings by compensating for the disadvantages of both face-to-face and e-learning environments. However, today, after the spread of the epidemic of Covid-19 in the world, it has become a necessary choice not only for researchers but also for managers and business owners, including educational systems. Therefore, researchers worldwide are increasingly trying to provide the best ways to benefit from the advantages of face-to-face and e-learning approaches in the form of blended learning models for the educational system, including universities. Therefore, the current research was conducted to explain the dimensions and components of the model of the blended teaching-learning system in the university.

The qualitative research method was grounded theory and of emergent type. The research field included 15 university instructors selected through purposeful sampling based on predetermined criteria. The selection criteria of experts included "member of e-learning association and more than five years of active presence in this field" and "authors of outstanding scientific works and operational experience in e-learning". In order to collect the findings, a semi-structured interview was used and continued until theoretical saturation. Then, the findings were analyzed using the content analysis method in three stages open, axial and selective coding. Finally, the validity of the research findings was evaluated using Lincoln and Guba's four criteria, including credibility, confirmability, transferability, and reliability; its reliability was checked by re-coding and two coders.

The results of the analysis of the findings led to the identification of 219 key phrases, then in the form of 29 principal components including change management, support from senior management, strategic plan, action plan, attracting, developing, retaining, technical resources, financial and physical resources, information and knowledge resources, teaching strategies and scenario writing, interaction, educational package, evaluation of students, required beliefs and attitudes for stakeholders, required skills for stakeholders, required knowledge for stakeholders, common attitudes, shared values, common meanings and concepts, psychological support, process and pedagogical support, technical support , intra-university communication, extra-university communication, evaluation, monitoring, protection of intellectual property, respect for privacy were categorized and finally 11 factors including transformational leadership, planning, human capital management, resource provision, teaching-learning process management, required competencies stakeholders, culture-building regarding new approaches, support system for main and internal stakeholders, internal and external university communication, university assessment and quality assurance system, and ethical considerations were obtained in order to implement a blended approach in the university.

The results of this research can be a practical guide for senior managers of universities and higher education institutions in order to implement the blended learning approach in the said institutions, especially first-level universities; in this way, they can keep themselves aligned with the latest changes, especially the new developments in the approaches of the teaching-learning system, and have an effective performance in the direction of educating students with the qualifications and competencies required for the society, and turn the threat of using the electronic environment into an opportunity to transform educational approaches and establish a blended learning system using the online environment.

As the result of a rapidly evolving, technology-saturated world, individual development has become increasingly noteworthy. This development makes education systems accountable to incorporate 21st-century skills, especially critical thinking skill into their experiential learning curricula. There may be a divergence between what students learn in school and what they experience to get through the real world and to handle the real-life participations conforming to the unpredictable changes in the world and educational systems. This pressurizes educational sectors to improve and expand their educational instruction processes in an innovative and creative design which helps students to acquire experiences and develop the required life skills. To prepare students to be sufficiently constructive in their personal and social life, education should change its focus from merely content and academic development to individual and non-academic development according to different methods and diverse theories. One of these theories is experiential learning. As the name implies, learning by doing involves students acting and honing their language skills in and out of the classroom. To manage this, teachers must cultivate a culture of creativity, problem-solving and engagement in the classroom by the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from or generated by observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication as a guide to belief and action. The purpose of this study was to find out the impact of technology-integrated experiential leaning on reading comprehension and critical thinking of English language learners (aged 10) in one of the primary schools in Kerman.

This study was quasi-experimental in terms of research method, using pre-test and post-test design with experimental and control groups who were chosen randomly. The independent variable in this study was technology-integrated experiential learning, and the dependent variables were learners' critical thinking and reading comprehension. Over four months, two groups of 60 learners (30 students in each group) were exposed to experiential learning in two forms of technology-mediated and traditional classrooms. The instruction in both groups was based on experiential learning theory by Kolb (1984). In the experimental group, the activities were done using technology potentials, and in the control group, the activities were done using classroom potentials. Pre-tests and post-tests were used to measure learners’ improvements in reading comprehension and Naieni’s (2005) questionnaire was acquired to assess learner’s level of critical thinking.  

The results of the Shapiro-Wilk test showed that the equality of variances was established, and the normality of the data distribution was confirmed. According to the findings obtained from the homogeneity of variances test, the assumption of homogeneity of variances was also confirmed. The results of covariance analysis showed that there was a significant difference between the post-test scores of reading comprehension in the technology-integrated experimental group and the traditional control group. Therefore, experiential learning based on technology had a significant effect on improving students' reading comprehension (P < 0.01). Because the square of partial Eta, which is equal to (partial ɳ2= 0.81), expressed the tremendous effect of experience on the basis of technology. In addition, there was a significant difference between the average scores of the technology-integrated group and the traditional control group in connection with the post-test of critical thinking. Although both groups improved in the level of critical thinking, but combining experiential learning with technology had a more significant effect on improving critical thinking. Learners in the experimental group (P < 0.01) with the partial square root equal to (partial ɳ2= 0.90) indicated a significant effect.

The present research showed that learning by experience through the integration of technology is extremely significant for language learning. Additionally, it highlights the possibility of research and its effectiveness not only for school achievement but also for developing personal skills and critical thinking in primary school students. Even though experiential learning is effective in improving students' comprehension and critical thinking, combining classes with technology through learning management systems is a more effective way to increase students' understanding and critical thinking. It is hoped that the present research play a significant role in helping identify effective educational factors based on experience.

There is a large gap between education in architecture schools in Iran and modern educational methods in advanced industrial countries. Iran educational methods are still the same as in the past, which unfortunately have not kept pace with the changes of the new era, and this can be one of the reasons for the ineffectiveness of architectural education in Iran. The architecture schools need to be changed due to the changes in the educational system and the increasing needs of students to communication and modern technologies. In other words, the pervasiveness of new technologies has affected the educational system and the educational environment must continuously adapt to the improvements and developments of today's world. The most important goal of the educational system is to educate capable and competent individuals and produce extensive knowledge to meet the changing needs of the modern world for life and a growing society. In fact, the educational system must constantly strive to respond to the educational innovations and evolutions and prepare students for a rapidly changing world. The need for change, modernizing and updating the educational spaces is important in parallel with the new educational flow in architecture and urban planning faculties. This research comparatively examined the curriculum, spaces and new educational technologies in the architecture education system in selected universities of the world. The purpose of the research was to identify solutions for reforming the university architecture education system in Iran.

The present study was descriptive, analytical and applied. Content analysis was based on an inductive approach. The research sample was purposefully selected from among the leading architectural schools in the world, which were selected by valid evaluations. The research method was comparative with qualitative approach and based on the stages of George Bereday's comparative Method in education: Description, Interpretation, Juxtaposition and Comparison. The data and documents were collected from library studies, books and articles, web-based information that were categorized and analyzed in tables and charts format and the common qualitative characteristics of the top schools of architecture in the world were determined.

Analyses performed on the samples showed that the use of new educational technologies would play a central role in the curriculum of the educational system and was effective in improving the level of education and learning of students. Also, some of the innovations of this field were recognized in the top universities of the world. Among the most important of these innovations were frequent revisions of the curriculum, working in workshop environments with advanced equipment, holding educational trips, preparing students for the job market, holding lectures and exhibitions with the presence of contemporary architects, working in work environments with real employers and prominent architectural offices.

A comparison of the strategies of MIT, Harvard, Rice, Sci-Arc and Cooper Union universities showed that MIT and Harvard offer the most flexible curriculum among the universities, while using a suitable educational environment with advanced and up-to-date architectural equipment and facilities. Rice University increases the creativity of students with the possibility of apprenticeship in the offices of prominent architects and holding classes and courses about current and future architectural issues and challenges. With the approach of creating flexibility and dynamism in the teaching method, Sci-Arc School emphasizes the innovative innovations and creative solutions in architectural design, holding lectures and exhibitions with the presence of world-renowned professors and architects, and emphasizing the interaction between professors and students. Cooper Union School, in addition to providing a suitable educational environment, focuses on the sociability of gathering spaces and increasing social interactions between the general public, students and professors. As a result, the university architecture curriculum must be in line with new developments in the education process. Technology and its advanced tools and critical thinking are considered as essential and vital factors for success in architecture education. It is necessary to take a step towards improving the quality of architecture education by using technologies and making all necessary changes to revise and reorganize the educational system.