فصلنامه پژوهش و برنامه ریزی در آموزش عالی
سال هجدهم شماره 3 (پیاپی 65، پاییز 1391)

The current study aimed to examine religious and questioning orientations of students in Amirkabir University. A descriptive-survey method was used to determine the orientations. The statistical population included all students who were enrolled in Amirkabir University in 2009-2010 academic year. A total of 430 individuals selected by stratified random sampling. The Religious Orientation, Measurement of Multi-Dimensional Questioning (Cronbach's alpha coefficients (0.74), Measurement of Alport Religious Orientation (Cronbach's alpha coefficients. 73) and Measurement of Practicing Religious Beliefs questionnaires (Cronbach's alpha coefficients(0/94). were used for data collection. The findings showed that the level of inner religious orientation and questioning orientation were higher than average level among students. In order to acquire a more accurate evaluation, micro indicators of questioning orientation were examined as well. Significant differences were not found between inner religious orientation and the level of practicing religious beliefs. However, there were significant differences between inner religious orientation and the level of practicing religious beliefs, and questioning orientation. In addition, students rated questioning orientation significantly lower than did inner orientation and level of practicing religious. Significant differences were not found between religious orientation and level of practicing religious belief, and educational level. The other dimension of research examined the level of practicing religious among students. This dimension was higher than average among Amirkabir University of Technology students.

Quality promotion of universities performance depends on competent and powerful educational departments. Hence, evaluation of performance concerning educational departments is one of the most important responsibilities of academic directors and managers in order of professional development and to maintain and promote higher education. So purpose of present research is to explain impact factors on educational performance of educational departments by use of qualitative method. Statistical society of the research consists 15 members of the faculty of Tehran University faculties and other 75 educational departments including more than 1186 the faculty members. To select proper sample, 20 educational departments that were on highest and lowers level of educational performance as two standard deviations, were selected as high and low limits by use of limited sampling method. Then in order to recognize and analyze dissimilarity in educational performance of educational departments, required data were gathered by semi-structured interview and they were analyzed by contents analysis and coding process.Obtained results show that the factors which are influential on educational performance of educational departments are not the same and they are different. Moreover, it was specified that factors such as stakeholder's participation to provide financial sources, entrepreneurship, collective efficacy, participation management and active competitive environment are considered as effective factors on high educational performance and factors such as dependency to governmental financial sources, improper work conditions, low spirits and Laissez-Faire Style management are considered as impact factors on low educational performance.

Dissertation supervisor selection is one of the most important and crucial decisions in doctoral programs. Typically, selection process is based on a set of criteria such as supervisors’ reputation, number of dissertations guided, continues supervision, etc. However, the application of these criteria is often subjective and intuitive and it can cause dissatisfaction, delay on completion time, and quality reduction of dissertations. This article proposes a new model for doctoral dissertation supervisor selection by using multi criteria decision making (MCDM) method. In order to identify the key criteria, a review of literature and purposive sampling were used. By means of purposive sampling 37 senior doctoral students of Tarbiat Modarres University were selected and key criteria were identified through a questionnaire. Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) approach were utilized for prioritization and identification of criteria’s level of importance. The finding showed significant differences between priority expectations of sample and selected sample. In addition, the findings revealed that supervisor’s reputation was first priority for the sample and continuous supervision was main concern for selected sample.

Modern economic growth is a consequence of systematic knowledge development that mainly more consequences of efforts made by nations’ higher education institutions. Such a development in the context of knowledge, led to a new concept entitled Organizational Intelligence (OI) that is translated as organization’s intellectual abilities in solving organization’s problems by utilizing human resources and technical abilities. The purpose of this study was analytical comparison of OI in two Iranian universities. In this descriptive survey, an archival study for the purpose of identifying institutions’ intelligence indicators and their effective factors was completed. Then, all indicators were categorized and survey questionnaire was developed by using factor analysis. The research was conducted among faculty members and staffs of a university in capital and a university in other metropolis. A sample of 270 individuals was selected to participate in the study. The results indicated that overall score regarding OI of the university located in the capital is higher than university located outside the capital because of organizational dependency and developing general understanding and trust among faculty and staff. This might be because of better conditions and more opportunities in the capital. But in the scope of application of knowledge and desire to change the situation was better for university located in outside the capital. That might be due to greater competition to improve prestige and attract more resources.

The majority of studies in rural fields are done in forms of thesis and dissertations by geography and rural planning graduate students. First prerequisite for maximization of efficiency in the researches requires selection of suitable topics. Therefore, the purpose of this current research was to identify effective factors on the selection of scientific research topic of graduate students majoring Rural Geography and Planning. An analytical– descriptive method was used in this study by combining documentary and survey procedures. Population of study included university professors (20 people) and students (161 people) in Geography and Rural Planning field in Tehran’s public universities. A total of 100 students were selected by quota sampling method and 20 professors through convenience approach. Research tool was a researcher made questionnaire that its reliability was establish through experts in Geography and Rural Planning (Cronbach's alpha=. 79). For Statistical analysis of data, tests such as frequency distribution, means, factor analysis, t tests and Wilcoxon test were used. The results of factor analysis showed that five factors including the academic environment, student's personal interests, time and ease of access to resources, relation with institutions and organizations and place attachment had most effects on student’s selection of thesis and dissertation topics. Among these factors, university environment had the most effect. The results indicated that the students had less attention to the issues, problems and needs of rural communities.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between education and employment status of Psychology and Educational Sciences’ Alumnus in University of Tehran during 1998-01 years. A descriptive co relational method was chosen for this study. The population consisted of all alumnus of Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences majored in Exceptional Children Education, Educational Technology, Psychology, Library and Information Sciences, Educational Administration and Planning, and Counseling(N=904) that have graduated during 1998-01 academic school years. A sample size of 136 students were randomly selected by using Cochran formula.. Data were collected through a questionnaire. The questionnaire validity and reliability was confirmed by a group of experts and test-retest respectively (98/0).The data analyzed by using Chi- square test, Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test, and t test. Results indicated that there were a significant relationship between alumnus’ majors and employment with occupations. Students reported that the condition of employments in majors like Clinical Psychology, Counseling, Library and Information Sciences and Special Education were superior. On the contrary, in majors like Educational Technology, and Educational Administration, status of employment relation’s and majors were inappropriate. However, there was a significant relation between parent education and employment status.

The purpose of this correlational research was to assess students’ attitude and behavior on plagiarism. The research instrument was a structural questionnaire including close-ended questions and its validity was established through a panel of experts. The reliability of questionnaire was determined by calculating the Cronbach's alpha coefficient (α=.81-89). The target population included all Faculty of Agriculture’s master and doctoral students in Tarbiat Modares University who were enrolled at least two terms (N=559). A sample size of 225 was selected using Krejcie & Morgan’s table and stratified sampling techniques. The descriptive finding of this study indicated that the majority of the students’ attitude and behavior were relatively unfavorable and moderate respectively. Moreover, findings revealed a statistically significant difference between students’ plagiarism behavior of those who participated and those who did not participated in the article writing workshops.