درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

IELTS preparation courses have gained significant popularity in Iran in the past decade. Although teachers in such an exam-oriented context have started to use formative assessment to improve their writing instruction, their knowledge and beliefs about assessment for learning are still a myth. This mixed-methods study investigated Iranian IELTS teachers’ beliefs and knowledge about the four main aspects of formative assessment of writing in preparation courses for IELTS Writing task 2. Thirty-nine IELTS teachers provided answers to a 23-item questionnaire focusing on four areas: feedback, self-assessment, peer-assessment, and using assessment results for day-to-day classes, to illustrate how frequently they use such techniques. In the next stage, six of the teachers sat for an interview to provide their reasons for using/not using such techniques. The results showed that the teachers have good feedback literacy and make use of some self-assessment techniques such as rubric orientation while they did not value or know enough about how they can involve their students in their own learning process. The teachers seemed to overestimate their role in their students’ learning process while considering the students as somewhat incapable of monitoring their own progress and achievement, which is a crucial aspect of formative assessment. These findings have implications for teacher professional development and further formative assessment programs to be conducted in Iran.  

With the rapid growth of online education, many language teachers are seeking to gain the necessary skills and knowledge to teach English language courses online. This study investigates the effectiveness of an online training program designed to enhance the pedagogical competencies of teacher trainees in online environments. A qualitative approach was adopted, and four experienced teacher trainers and 25 student-teachers who participated in the program during different semesters were selected as participants for in-depth, semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal that while both trainers and student-teachers expressed some level of satisfaction with the program's quality, some areas required improvement. The program's strengths included its well-organized course structure, comprehensive training on online platforms, and effective development of online teaching materials. However, participants reported a lack of training on different teaching methods, writing skill, and adequate real teaching practice for future online teachers. These results have significant implications for online teacher training programs in general. Although the online format has numerous advantages, it also poses particular challenges for teacher education. To better prepare teachers for the unique demands of online teaching, future online language teacher training programs should address these challenges. The insights gained from this study can inform the development of more effective online training programs and contribute to the advancement of online educational policies and reforms.

Supervising teachers, as a basic component of an  educational plan,  has positive effects on teachers’ classroom behaviors. Following the tenets of  Sociocultural theory of mind, this qualitative  study  delvd into  the perception of EFL teachers regarding their worldviews of what supervision is and what it must be like. For this purpose, 25 participants (10 supervisors,10 in-service teachers, and 5 pre-service teachers) were recruited and interviewed. Their responses to a semi-structured interview were recorded by mobile phone, transcribed, and then translated into English for ease of interpretation. To analyze the data, thematic analysis was used. The emerged themes showed that the participants preferred supervision with feedback which is constructive, timely, with effective solution in challenging situations, effective in identifying tecaher’s strengths and weaknesses, suggestive and non-judgemental. They also believed that supervision must be with no imposition, with prior notice, with a checklist, in a relaxed atmosphere, with a competent supervisor and without supervisor presence.  Criticizing the running model of supervision, they believed that the feedback offered is judgemental and inappropriate, offers no solution to the problems, and has no purpose for improvement.  Finally, some valuable implications for TTC holders, supervisors, and on-the-job mentors, and also several recommendations for further research are presented.                                                                                                                                     

Objective : Health psychology focuses on health promotion and disease prevention. One of the factors that is related to the promotion of mental health is the sense of humor which can be influenced by the components of psychological capital. This study aims to predict the psychological capital dimensions based on the humor styles among the medical students of Tarbiat Modares University. Method : This study is descriptive correlational and the statistical population consisted of all medical students of Tarbiat Modarres University. The participants of the study were 120 who were selected through volunteer sampling. Data were collected by the Luthans Psychological Capital Inventory and Martin’s Humor Style Scale. Data were analyzed through Pearson’s correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis. Results : Results showed that self-efficacy and hopefulness have a positive significant relationship with adaptive humor styles, but the relationship between self-efficacy and hopefulness with maladaptive humor styles was negative. Also, there was no significant relationship between resilience and all four humor styles. Conclusion : By strengthening adaptive humor styles, it is possible to increase the psychological capital of students to help their mental health.