Regression Analysis

There has been a burgeoning of research in teacher, peer, and self-assessment in terms of reliability and validity, the use of rubrics, the implementation of these kinds of assessments in different academic settings, the effect of demographic variables in these assessments, and the benefits of these assessments. However, the effect of these assessments on subsequent learning has rarely been explored. To fill that void, this study set out to examine the effects of these kinds of assessments on subsequent learning as evidenced by students’ final exam scores. Two intact classes were chosen and teacher, peer, and self-assessments were employed in a general English class. The scores achieved on the students’ oral presentations exhibited a statistically significant correlation between the teacher awarded scores and those on the final examination of general English proficiency as a course. Peer awarded scores could also predict final exam scores, though not as good as teacher awarded ones. Self-assessment failed to correlate significantly with final exam scores and teacher/peer assessments. The reasons for the findings are discussed further in the paper.

The advent of Web 2 tools and their features have allowed Internet users not only to seek information but also to generate and edit on-line information. However, excessive reliance of students, particularly EFL students, on the Internet has raised the issue of information credibility or quality of the information found online. This study sought to investigate the relationship between Iranian EFL university students’ credibility judgment and their learning styles and critical thinking. It also intended to examine the extent to which the learners employ credibility judgment strategies to verify web-based information. To this end, 212 Iranian EFL students, 165 female(s) and 47 male(s) (or add) students, received three questionnaires: Honey’s (2004) Critical Thinking questionnaire, Kolb's (1984) Learning Style inventory, and the adapted version of Credibility Judgment questionnaire originally developed by Metzger, Flanagin, and Zwarun (2003). The results of descriptive as well as bivariate and multivariate correlation analysis revealed that, first, Iranian EFL students employ credibility judgment strategies at a moderate level, and second, critical thinking is a better predictor for credibility judgment behavior of EFL students than learning style. Moreover, three learning styles were significantly related to the currency sub-scale of credibility judgment. The findings can assist curriculum planners, policymakers, and instructors to develop plans for empowering EFL students with the skills they need to evaluate on-line information for accuracy, objectivity, authority, and currency.

Disaster Management and current approaches in this field in one hand only has focused to physical vulnerabilities and in the other hand has included consequential action to reduce vulnerability and improve physical preparation as well as resistance institutional insignificant during the disaster. Therefore, these approaches usually have ignored the capabilities and capacities of residents to reduce vulnerabilities and consequently losses and damage. While recent approaches have entered, the field of disaster management emphasized that at first vulnerability is beyond the physical vulnerabilities and second vulnerabilities have an inverse relationship with the resident’s capacity in the face of disaster. So, community-based disaster risk management need to recognize indicators of vulnerability and community capacity and its relationship is essential. Accordingly, in the first step, the indicators of community capacity and community vulnerability are provided and in the second step based on these indicators, community capacity and vulnerability have been assessed. The assessment of community characters is based on GIS capabilities, spatial analysis tools and SPSS and correlation regression is used for analyzing the relationship of the variables. The results and findings of this research indicate that the vulnerability of urban areas is not only influenced by physical factors, but also social and organizational factors like community organizing and community educating have affected strongly the vulnerability.