teaching method

Abstract The present study aimed to design a curriculum pattern on the basis of critical thinking and its use among the undergraduate students of Isfahan University. This research is applied in terms of purpose using a mixed method in data collection. The research method in the qualitative part is content analysis and the tool used to collect data was note-taking. As the statistical population of this study, in the qualitative section, of all written sources gathered by targeted sampling method, only critical- thinking related sources were selected as the research samples. In the quantitative part, the research method was descriptive-survey and the tool was a researcher-made questionnaire whose content validity was examined by experts and its reliability using Cronbach's alpha was 0.94. The statistical population in this section included the faculty members of the University of Isfahan, and based on Morgan and Krejcie tables, 230 of them were selected by sampling method appropriate to the size of the statistical population. According to the results of this study in the qualitative part, the characteristics of the elements of the curriculum model based on critical thinking were extracted and in the quantitative part the results showed that the curriculum model on the basis of critical thinking is used by faculty members among undergraduate students.

Purpose: Since the prevalence of Covid-19 increased the use of e-learning and its dual importance in teaching methods, this study aimed to compare the effect of two teaching methods of brainstorming and group discussion by e-learning on learning level and interest in teamwork in social studies course. Methodology: This was an applied study in terms of purpose and semi-experimental with pre-test and post-test design in terms of implementation method. The study population was the third-grade elementary school students in district 20 of Tehran in the academic year of 2020-2021. The sample size was 60 students in two classes with 30 ones who were selected by available sampling method. One of the classes was considered as a teaching group with brainstorming method in a random way and the other class was considered as a teaching group with group discussion method. The teacher-made test of learning level in the social studies course and the teamwork interest questionnaire (Evans & Jarvis, 1986) were used to collect the data. Findings: The results of paired t-test showed that both methods of teaching brainstorming and group discussion by e-learning enhanced the level of learning and interest in teamwork in social studies course (P <0.001). The results of univariate analysis of covariance showed that the group discussion teaching method in comparison with the brainstorming teaching method enhanced the learning level and interest in teamwork in the social studies course (P <0.001). Conclusion: The results showed the effectiveness of both methods and the greater impact of group discussion teaching method compared to the brainstorming teaching method in both variables of learning level and interest in teamwork. Therefore, the use of group discussion teaching method should be prioritized to improve academic performance in social studies course.