Iranian Journal of Learning and Memory

Considering the recent change in teaching methods from teacher-centered to student-centered, and the existence of a gap in student-centered education models, this research aimed to design a reverse learning model and investigate the effectiveness of the resulted educational program on the academic engagement and the sense of belonging to the school of the senior high school students. The research was developmental in nature, with a sequential exploratory mixed-method design adopting meta-synthesis and quasi-experimental approach. The research scope included all scientific articles and documents published from 2011 to 2021. The validity of the articles was checked via the CASP, the validity and reliability of the meta-synthesis was checked by the Laushe and the Scott’s pi tests respectively. Finally, to implement the educational intervention, 40 male and female senior high school students of Bukan were selected by standardized random sampling method and assigned to two groups of experimental and control. The research instruments included Rio's academic engagement questionnaire (2013), Brown and Evans' (2002) sense of belonging to school questionnaire as well as the researcher designed reverse learning package. Based on the meta-synthesis of the related studies, 4 categories, 8 concepts, and 23 codes for reverse learning were discovered, labeled, and confirmed based on which, a training package was designed and implemented in 10 sessions of 45 minutes. The results showed that reverse learning model has a positive and significant effect on students' academic engagement and belonging to school (sig<0.05).

This study quantitatively explored a causal model of the association between two focal self-regulation constructs (executive functioning and effortful control) and social school readiness in preschoolers. The population comprised all preschool children and their mothers who resided in Tehran (2018-2019). With the help of their mothers, 342 children with a mean age of five years completed the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB; 1994), the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire (Very Short Form) – (CBQ-VSF; 2006), the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; 2001), and the Social School Readiness Scale (1982). The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) in AMOS 22. Effortful control and socio-emotional competence significantly affected social school readiness (p<0.01). Moreover, executive functioning affected social school readiness, mediated by effortful control in the alternative model (p<0.01). These findings expand the existing early childhood research by specifying the link between two major aspects of self-regulation and social-emotional school readiness. An integrative approach considering the behavioral and neuropsychological measurements of self-regulation would help elucidate the predictors of social school readiness in early childhood.

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.

This study aimed to investigate mindfulness's effectiveness on the problem-solving styles of secondary school students of Garmsar city. The statistical population of this research was all second-year high school students of Garmsar city in the academic year 2022-2023. The sample included 341 students who were selected by random cluster sampling. The research tools included a standard questionnaire on mindfulness and a questionnaire on problem-solving styles. The data was analyzed by Lisrel and SPSS software. Considering that the effect of the mediator variable is considered, structural equation modeling was used for data analysis. The results showed that the five components of observation, description, action, awareness, non-judgment, and non-reaction affected the problem-solving styles of secondary school students of Garmsar city. Based on the obtained results, mindfulness can affect problem-solving techniques. Based on the obtained results, mindfulness can influence problem-solving styles. Therefore, the results of this study can have important implications in the field of education, such as the effectiveness of mindfulness on problem-solving for educational professionals.

This study followed discussion-based techniques using mobile phone technologies in order to compare Iranian EFL teachers' perceptions with their practices in higher education. Applying Convergent Parallel Mixed-Method Design, 73 English for Specific Purposes (ESP) instructors, teaching technical English courses to Law students at Islamic Azad University (IAU), South Tehran, Qods and Eslamshahr branches, completed a questionnaire, assessing teachers’ perceptions versus practices on the use of mobile phone technologies in discussion-based classes. Through typical-case purposive sampling, out of 73 ESP instructors, eight instructors (four traditional and four communicative), extracted through the questionnaire, joined semi-structured interviews, and their classes were observed during the semester by two observers completing the observation scheme. Afterwards, applying the grounded-theory-instigated analytical framework of Onwuegbuzie and Teddlie (2003), the triangulated observation-interview data were thematically analyzed through open, axial, and selective codifications congruent with Mishra and Koehler’s (2008) TPACK model components, i.e., technology, pedagogy and content knowledge. The results demonstrated EFL teachers' interest in interactional mobile phone technologies and in the content constituent, i.e., the second component of the questionnaire as well as the third module of TRACK model. Additionally, the results signified EFL teachers’ use of comparative translation activities for the reading comprehension skills via collaborative/cooperative reading strategies. Finally, this research represents some pedagogical implications for administrative executives in the Iranian Ministry of Science, Research and Technology to revise Law students’ curriculum, and positively alters material providers’ and ESP instructors’ attitudes toward using mobile phone technologies in discussion-based classes.

The purpose of the present study was to model the structural relationships of job stressors and teachers' autonomy support with mediation of emotional exhaustion. This research was descriptive of the correlation type by the method of structural equations. The statistical population included all the teachers of first and second grade of secondary schools in Noor’s and Chamestan’s public schools in the academic year of 2019-2020, that based on Cochran’s formula and stratified random sampling method, 240 people were selected. The tools of this research were the job stressor factors questionnaire of Otero-Lopez et al. (2006), the teacher as social context questionnaire Welborn et al. (1992) and the teachers’ burnout inventory of Maslach et al. (1996). All analyzes were done by structural equation modeling method. The findings indicated that the structural relationship model of job stressors and teachers' autonomy support with the mediation of emotional exhaustion in teachers of first and second grade of secondary schools has favorable fit and significance. In this research, all the direct and indirect paths that lead to the prediction of teachers' autonomy support have been significant. The research’s results indicate that job stressors have a direct and indirect effect, through emotional exhaustion, on teachers' autonomy support and also emotional exhaustion directly affects autonomy support. Addressing these variables can be effective in solving the problems of teachers' autonomy support and increasing it.