collaboration

Learners can collaborate with each other to achieve a lesson objective. In the collaboration, they can provide each other with guidance in order to identify mistakes and improve their achievements. With the rise of online instructions, this small-scale exploratory study aimed to see how proficient learners guided their less proficient classmates in correcting the grammatical accuracy of sentences. Twenty three learners who were taking a blended-learning grammar class were assigned to post brief essays on Edmodo and the more able learners were instructed to help their weaker classmates find and correct the errors in their essays. A total of 18 essays and 15 lines of comments were generated in their online interactions. A coding was done to identify the moves of the learners as they gave and received peer corrections. The results indicated that the more able learners made seven types of moves for guiding their classmates, with only three sequences incorporating a relatively complete scaffolding moves. The weak learners, however, hardly responded to their more proficient classmates. Reluctance to prolong the discussion in online setting and the difficulties in dealing with detailed grammatical items in such setting may have been responsible for this low rate of responses.

Aim of this paper is to search and find ways and methods of constructivism teaching and learning ideas in teaching the architectural design studio. The objective is to extract all the positive things constructivism has to offer the architectural design studio for efficient teaching and effective learning. Although there are similarities in the curricula of training architects all over the world, but educators go about it in their own convenient and suitable ways and styles. And this is leading to inadequacy in the standards of teaching the arch-design studios in the contemporary world. The topic has become very relevant and timely as arch-educators and other stakeholders are of the opinion that something has to be done to improve the ways and methods of training architects, especially the teaching of the arch-design studio. Through exploration of critical analytical review of literatures and interviews, this paper finds ways and methods of constructivism in teaching the arch-design studio. These ways and methods are critically explored through the research themes of collaboration, integration, adaptability and motivation. By teaching and learning with constructivism ideas in the arch-design studio the students would be grounded in designing with creativity ideas and therefore we can have professionals that design and build creatively, functionally, satisfactorily and safely. It means we can have real buildings and places that satisfy our clients, the society and in harmony with the environment.

This paper aims to inform design strategies for regulating privacy in coworking spaces. Coworking spaces are growing at a high rate, yet studies related to the social, psychological, behavioral and physical needs associated with these environments are limited. The growth of coworking spaces is in greater part facilitated by a drive towards greater interaction and collaboration among the workforce. With this apparent intent to promote collaboration and interaction, this study argues that there is need to focus on the conflict between interaction and privacy in coworking spaces. The paper synthesizes extensive environment and behavior literature and extends a conceptual argument of privacy regulation in coworking spaces. The article focuses on privacy regulation through the physical environment and behavioral mediums. The findings demonstrate that features of the physical environment comprising of barriers and fields are powerful tools that can be used to regulate users’ privacy within coworking spaces. The findings also show that understanding behavioral mediums such as personal space and territoriality and their conscious consideration in the design of coworking spaces may allow supportive working environments that respond to a wider range of users’ privacy needs. The ideas discussed in this paper seek to provide architects and interior designers with a guide to address numerous privacy issues, not only in coworking spaces but also other comparable innovation centers that may emerge in future economies.

The flipped classroom is one of the new approaches to learning and innovative teaching methods worldwide. Given the conditions created in the Corona pandemic and the production of the initial content of many courses, a practical experience of holding a flipped class is examined. Accordingly, the present analysis aims at assessing perceptions, experiences, quality of participation, learning performance and student satisfaction with in a flipped classroom. 18 students participated from the field of electrical engineering in this case study. The data were analyzed using statistical methods of one-sample t-test, Pearson correlation, regression coefficient, and SPSS software. The results revealed that students' access to information and resources and teachers' support and motivation significantly affected students' satisfaction. Furthermore, access to information and resources and teacher support and motivation significantly affected student-perceived learning outcomes. Finally, supporting students' participation and collaboration with each other in flipped classroom also had a significant effect on their satisfaction and perceived learning outcomes. The knowledge gained by students during the class had a significant impact on students' satisfaction and perceived learning outcomes.

The present study aimed to develop writing skills by using the blogging technique. This experimental research used a pre-post group design. The study had two groups; a control group (23 male students) and an experimental group (24 male students). The students in the control group were taught traditionally through paper-and-pencil assignments. On the other hand, blogging was taught in the experimental group. The topics focused on current global events, which were prepared and posted by the researcher. The learners were asked to search for photos, videos, or articles related to the assigned topic and write about these events in their own words. They also had to post comments and feedback on their classmates’ blog posts. The learners worked on their blog posts individually, in pairs, or in small groups. The researcher worked as a facilitator. Comparing the posttest scores using SPSS analysis of learners who blogged about current global events and those who only used paper-and-pencil tasks on the same topics showed significant differences in writing improvement in favor of the blog group. Moreover, students in the blog group showed positive attitudes toward the blogging activity. They enjoyed interacting and cooperating with their peers and reflecting on their performance in writing in response to the feedback and comments they got from other classmates’ blog posts. The study ended with some recommendations for intensifying the blogging activity of EFL students in writing courses. Also, blogging about current global events was confirmed to be efficient in raising students’ global awareness and promoting their writing skills.

Sino-US Relations in the Persian Gulf during Obama’s AdministrationAbstract:The Persian Gulf is one of the most important regions of the world that has been vital for the great powers since long time ago, not only for its energy resources but also its strategic location. After the British withdrawal from the region in 1971, the United States filled the vacuum and tried to preserve the status quo during the cold war. Since 1980s China was also attracted by the huge energy resources and the vast market of the region. But in the 21st century and the rise of China as the second largest economy of the world, the importance of the Persian Gulf enhanced in China’s view to manage its energy needs and benefit from its lucrative market and possible bilateral capital investment. This article intends to examine the relationships between China and the United States of America during the Obama’s administration. By using the “Power Cycle Theory” it is concluded that the United States has accepted the Chinese position as the rising power in the Persian Gulf region; and that their relationships were based on collaboration and competition, not confrontation or hostility; which seems to continue in the foreseeable future as well. Key Words: The Persian Gulf, China, The United States, Collaboration, Competition, Confrontation, Hostility.