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This study aimed to evaluate the effect of Neurofeedback (NFB) Therapy with Play Therapy in improving attention and cognitive function in students with Learning Disorder (LD). This study was a quasi-experimental research with a pre-test and post-test design. The statistical population of the research was about 600 elementary school students with LD in Lar city in 2017 (N=212). A sample of 60 LD children who were identified in schools was selected by multistage cluster random sampling and randomly divided into four groups fifteen-three experimental and one control group. The tools used in the study were the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-R) (Wechsler, 2003) and integrated visual and auditory continuous performance (IVA) (Sandford and Turner, 1995). NFB training was done according to the guidelines recommended by Monastra et al. (2005) in 20 sessions and play therapy cognitive performance and attention therapy were done according to the guidelines recommended by Drewes (2009) in 20 sessions, while no intervention was performed in the control group. Data were analyzed by the covariance analysis method. The results showed that NFB and play therapy were effective in increasing cognitive performance (p<0.01) and attention (p<0.01) compared to the control group. The combination of play therapy and NFB intervention was more effective on cognitive performance and attention rather than the two interventions separately. According to the results, it is recommended that therapists and clinical psychologists use NFB and play therapy to increase the sustained attention and working memory of students with LD.

The hidden constructs underlying teachers’ professional identity at a given point of teaching life are presumed to account for their practical qualities. The current study explored the cognitive skills of three groups of Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers with scant, moderate, and considerable teaching experience. To this end, a convenience sample, including 382 Iranian EFL teachers from 660 branches of five countrywide English language institutions, participated in a sequential explanatory mixed-method study. In the quantitative phase, a multivariate approach to comparison was adopted, and the three groups were compared in terms of a linear combination of nine subscales representing teachers’ pedagogical knowledge base. As shown by the results, the between-group differences in four of the nine sub-domains yielded a significant between-group gap in the overall level of teacher cognition. These differentiating knowledge areas included knowledge of learning, teaching, classroom management, and professional self. A qualitative follow-up phase was then launched in which a 95-member sample of the participants attended a retrospective interview to delve deeply into the nature of the four differentiating subdomains. The qualitative results divulged the processes and reasons underlying the four differentiating knowledge areas. The findings may have new insights into the exact nature of Iranian EFL teachers’ intellectual peculiarities at different stages of a teaching career.

The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated a rapid shift to online learning, making the community of inquiry (COI) framework increasingly relevant for creating meaningful and effective online learning experiences. However, the impact of COI presences (i.e., teaching, social, and cognitive presence) on students' learning outcomes has been inconsistent in the literature, and a recent meta-analysis has identified a publication bias in this relationship suggesting the need for further investigation. This study aimed to enhance our understanding of how the COI presence influences college students' learning outcomes and whether it has a mediating role in the effect of self-efficacy and motivation on e-learner’s academic achievement. In this cross-sectional study, using a correlational research design, among all graduate students studying in online courses, a total of 269 graduate students were selected from online programs in seven public universities in Iran between April 2022 and June 2023, to be the sample of the study. The data were obtained from the answers to the community of inquiry (COI) scale, self- efficacy scale, academic motivation scale and students’ last semester grade point average. To examine the questions of the study, a path analysis was applied whose results showed that motivation and self-efficacy affected the community of inquiry positively (p<0.000). Also, the community of inquiry affected learning performance positively (p<0.000). The outcomes can provide significant theoretical and practical contributions to the key stakeholders to design a satisfying and successful online curriculum for the post-COVID-19 era and offer valuable insights into the design of productive online learning communities.