مطالب

Theoretically drawing on Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of mind (SCT) and following a sequential exploratory mixed method design, this study probed into the impact of Group Dynamic Assessment (GDA) on the short and long-term Iranian high school students’ grammar ability. Also, a focus group interview was conducted to explore students’ attitudes toward concurrent GDA. This study used a convenient sample of 42 Iranian third-grade students in a private high school who prepared to participate in the Iranian University Entrance Exam (IUEE). The students of the two groups (i.e., GDA and Non-GDA) followed the same procedure (i.e., DIALANG test, pre-test, three conventional teaching sessions and one enrichment session, focus group interview (for GDA group), post-test and transcendence test). Quantitative findings using three independent sample t-tests and two repeated measure ANOVAs revealed that the GDA group significantly outperformed the non-GDA group regarding grammar ability and could apply them in more demanding circumstances. Besides, the thematic analysis of qualitative data showed that the concurrent GDA assisted students to improve their grammar ability. The study's findings highlight the importance of applying GDA as a mediational procedure that assists students in developing their grammar ability in L2 contexts. The findings of the study may assist L2 teachers to apply GDA procedure in their classrooms to save time for teaching and assessing grammatical structures.

Purpose: The growth of Smartphone applications has led to the development and transformation of business sector. The present work aimed to assess factors influencing the intention to use shopping applications.Method: A structural model was formulated for analyzing and testing the existing factors among shopping application users. The statistical population of the research comprised of the users of shopping applications in a public university in Iran. This study employed a questionnaire survey, which consisted of two sections. The first section included general demographic details of the target respondents, while the second section comprised 30 items to measure the constructs of our conceptual model. All items of constructs were adopted from previous literature. A total of 288 questionnaires provided usable data.Findings: The results revealed that factors such as Convenience, Perceived Ease of Use, Trust, and Perceived usefulness affect the intention to use shopping applications, while factors such as Perceived Innovativeness, Perceived Risk, Perceived Enjoyment, and Social Influence were found to be non-influential.Conclusion: This research was conducted based on a comprehensive review of the research literature and identification of influential constructs with the approach of creating an integrated model of factors affecting the intention to use shopping applications. Based on the research results, focusing on ease of use and creating the experience of perceived usefulness along with the use of tools that lead to the improvement of trust is critical for practitioners.

The positive effect of social networking, particularly social networking sites (SNSs), on improving the process of learning has been acknowledged by many recent types of research. The relationship between features and characteristics of SNSs and the development of students' social networking was of interest to past researchers. As social networking is primarily perceived as intelligent thought and action in both real and virtual environments, there seems to be a need for a qualitative exploration of the influential factors of students' social networking. The study has been conducted using the case study method to look at the identified factors retrieved from previous research. A semi-structured in-depth interview was used to investigate the viewpoints and experiences of socially proactive and successful students at Iranian universities. Findings explain students' social networking due to three factors categorized as central, causal, and contextual. The personal learning system has a critical position among the various factors affecting students' social networking. Therefore, despite the facilitating role of social networking in promoting the learning process, students' social networking would be useless without utilizing a personal learning system. We can see a dynamic and interactive cycle of learning and social networking in the university context. The research has been founded on critical consideration of previously studied factors affecting social networking that were mainly limited to online technologies according to qualitative exploration. As a result of this research, different learning and social networking levels regarding diverse meaning, function, and complexity were identified.

During the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, the villa business in Bali was significantly affected by a decrease in tourist arrivals. Despite the post-pandemic recovery in 2022, the industry had not yet fully regained its momentum. In this challenging situation, this business encountered new challenges, including the implementation of health protocols and the incorporation of information technology. These challenges led to additional costs, further straining the already diminished income due to the decrease in inbound tourism. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the adaptation of villa business to retreat centres during the post-pandemic era and its contributions. Data were collected using literature study, observations, and interviews, then analysed descriptive and interpretative qualitatively. The results showed that villa businesses adapted to the post-pandemic challenges by transforming into retreat destinations. This adaptation was rooted in a product-orientated strategy based on market demand, income optimization, and health needs. Furthermore, the approach used necessitated collaboration with local communities and a commitment to environmental preservation, as these destinations majorly depended on local community assets and a healthy setting. Based on these findings, this adaptive approach had several contributions for sustainable tourism development in terms of empowerment local community, supporting the economy, and ensuring environmental conservation.

Today, using new technologies is considered a vital factor in the sports tourism area. Tourist destinations try to use these technologies to create a competitive advantage to be a leader in this area. The use of these technologies brings lots of advantages. This research aims to identify the consequences of using new technologies in sports tourism. The research method is mixed with a sequential exploratory approach. In the first phase, the main indicators and components are identified using the online focus group research method, then in order to confirm them, a quantitative survey method was used. The data collection tools are semi-structured interviews collected from two focus groups including academic and executive participants related to the fields of sports management, sports tourism, and information technology. According to the research findings, 67 primary codes, 27 open codes, 13 axial codes, and 4 selective categories were extracted. In the quantitative phase of the research, all the values ​​related to the components and indicators were confirmed.  From the results of the present research, we can point out the benefits such as "smart health, smart sports tourism, green technologies, sustainable development (healthy and sustainable environment, dynamic and healthy economy, etc.), smart and sustainable sports tourism destinations" that were found to be the main advantages of using new technologies in sports tourism.