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In peer observation of teaching, an experienced colleague in the educational environment of a faculty member observes the educational performance of that faculty member and provides appropriate feedback. The use of peer review as an alternative source of evidence of teaching effectiveness is increasing. However, no research has been done in the field of tool design and development to peer review in classrooms that use a learning management system (LMS). This study used mixed methods. In the qualitative stage, after studying sources and interviewing professors active in virtual education, a question bank was prepared and a 26-item initial questionnaire created. In the quantitative stage, the psychometric properties of the developed instruments, such as the face, content, and structural validity, were examined, and reliability tests were performed. IBM SPSS Statistics (Version 20) was used for analysis. Five categories, including content preparation, content presentation, effective interactions, motivation management, and support services, and 26 subcategories were determined to be effective indicators in peer observation in LMS-based classes in medical sciences. During content analysis, 9 items were removed due to lack of necessary criteria. Then, using principal component analysis and varimax rotation in the present mode (Watkins, 2018), 5 components with eigenvalues higher than 1 were extracted, which explained a total of 70.55% of the total variance. The inter-cluster correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0.88. Thus, the peer observation measurement tool, designed with 17 expressions using the answer method "yes/no", showed good validity and reliability. The research results demonstrate that the evaluation of virtual classes of professors by their peers is effective and that the results can be used in e-learning promotion plans.

Effective classroom management methods are well known, but effective ways of managing classes of beginner teachers remain elusive. Classroom management refers to the wide range of skills and techniques that teachers use to ensure that classes are conducted without destructive student behavior. The present study is applied nonexperimental research. The purpose of this study was to design a tool to measure the effective management of the virtual classroom from the perspective of professors and students in e-learning and evaluate its validity and reliability. The research sample was taken randomly from all universities that make use of e-learning in Tehran, Iran, during the 2019-2020 semesters. The results show that the professional development of online classroom management is necessary for preparing teachers to teach in digital environments. The results of this research in the form of a validated questionnaire can be considered as an indicator for educators and students working in online environments, and this tool can be used for effective teaching and learning in the digital age.

Information literacy lies at the core of lifelong learning. It empowers people in all ages of life to seek, evaluate, use, and create information effectively on their personal, social, occupational, and educational goals. It is a fundamental human right in the digital world and promotes the social inclusion of all nations. The prime focus in this article is on views of the effect of the distance education system on the information literacy of higher education students at the University of Tehran. This article attempts to draw out some key themes and offer a systematic and comprehensive review of all the relevant literature.

This article describes a method for the assessment of professional student outcomes (performance-type outcomes or soft skills). The method is based upon group activities, research on modern electrical engineering topics by individual students, classroom presentations on chosen research topics, final presentations, and technical report writing. Assessment activities include application of a checklist that measures professional student outcomes of teamwork, life-long learning, and communication skills including oral and written communication and presentation skills. The results are discussed with the students and faculty for feedback purposes to establish a stronger relationship between quality assurance and continuous improvement of professional student outcomes crucial for engineers to be successful in their profession.

Accreditation criteria of programs require effective learning outcomes, assessment with documented procedures, tools, results, and actions to close the assessment loop with broad faculty involvement. This article describes a methodology for providing quantitative measurement of a course's learning outcomes. The methodology uses a linkage matrix that associates each course learning outcome to one or more course assessment tool. The approach adopted provides a numeric score between 0 and 1 for each learning outcome with respect to each assessment tool and a combined score be calculated for each learning outcome from the tools associated with that outcome. The proposed methodology also provides insights into the consistency of the various assessment tools used to measure the achievement of a particular course learning outcome. The methodology described here has been successfully adopted in obtaining accreditation and reaccreditation to all programs offered by College of Computer Engineering at University of Tehran. (Contains 1 table and 2 figures.)

This study investigated the effects of linguistic simplification and content schemata on reading comprehension and recall. The participants, 240 Iranian male students of English as a foreign language (EFL), were divided into 4 homogeneous groups, each consisting of 60 participants (30 with high proficiency and 30 with low proficiency). To elicit data, the study used 2 types of texts: content-familiar and content-unfamiliar. Each type appeared in 4 versions: original, syntactically simplified, lexically simplified, and syntactically-lexically simplified. Each participant group was tested on 1 of the linguistic versions of the content-familiar and content-unfamiliar texts. Data analyses showed a significant effect of the content and EFL proficiency, but not of the linguistic simplification, on reading comprehension and recall. The effect of the linguistic simplification on reading comprehension and recall is interpreted in the light of the interaction of content and linguistic simplification. (Contains 9 tables and 2 figures.)

Purpose: Insufficient physical activity leads to an increase in chronic diseases. Skills-based health education methods are supposed to be more successful than traditional methods to promote healthy behaviors. Skills-based health education is an approach to create healthy lifestyles and skills using participatory methods. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of skill-based education method on physical activities of female adolescents. Design/methodology/approach: This was an experimental study on 80 female public high school students aged 12-14 years old in Tehran. The participants were randomly divided into two groups: experimental group of 40 girls who were educated using "Skills-based education method," and control group of 40 girls who were educated by lecture as a routine educational method for health promotion. Data were collected using a valid and reliable questionnaire to assess physical activity-related knowledge, attitudes and behavior. Data were gathered three times; before, immediately after (Phase 1) and two months after educational intervention (Phase 2). Data analysis was performed using SPSS 20. Findings: Intra-group comparison demonstrated that both educational methods can increase knowledge, attitude and behavior of the students after intervention comparing to before intervention (RMANOVA; p<0.05). However, the comparison between groups demonstrated a significant higher increase of knowledge (t-test; p<0.01 and p<0.0; phase 1 and 2, respectively), and behavior (t-test; p<0.01 and p = 0.002; phase 1 and 2, respectively) but not attitude (p = 0.083 and p = 0.125, phase 1 and 2, respectively) among the students participated in the experimental "skilled based health education" group rather than the control "lecture" group. Originality/value: Skill-based health education comparing to routine lecture-based education creates deep and long lasting knowledge and behavior and is highly recommended for promoting physical activity and other health-related knowledge and among adolescents.

In a Distance Education (DE) system, students must be equipped with seven skills of computer (ICDL) usage. This paper aims at investigating the effect of a DE system on the computer literacy of Master of Arts students at Tehran University. The design of this study is quasi-experimental. Pre-test and post-test were used in both control and experimental groups to undertake the study. The populations of this study were students, those who participated in traditional and online education at the University of Tehran. In order to gather required data, the researchers made questionnaires consisting of 59 items. To sum up, it can be stated that DE has a more significant impact on Concepts of IT, Internet and Presentation regarding computer literacy than traditional education. It can be stated that traditional education has a more significant impact on Concepts of File Management and Databases (Access).

Objectives: The study aimed to assess 1) the attitudes of medical students in the sixth and seventh years (known as interns in Iran) toward psychiatry as a career choice, and 2) the degree of attractiveness of psychiatry as a career choice, with regard to various defined aspects, before and after an undergraduate psychiatry internship (similar to the medical school psychiatry rotation in the United States, but mandatory in Iran) in three major medical schools in Tehran, the capital of Iran. Method: Sixth- and seventh-year medical students (locally called interns, N=347) at Tehran, Shahid Beheshti, and Iran Universities of Medical Sciences were consecutively invited to complete anonymous self-report questionnaires designed to assess their perceptions of careers in psychiatry before and after internship in psychiatry wards. Also, students evaluated psychiatry in terms of the factors that reflected the degree of attractiveness of this specialty. Results: Positive responses toward choosing psychiatry as a career were seen in 18.8% before and 20.0% after psychiatry rotation. No significant differences were observed in the positive responses before and after psychiatry internship. The students' opinions changed to a more attractive degree in terms of only 3 out of the 13 defined aspects. There was also no significant difference in the total score on attractiveness of psychiatry before and after the psychiatry internship. Conclusions: The study indicated that undergraduate psychiatry internship might not induce more students to consider psychiatry as a possible career. The present pattern of psychiatry education in Iran seems not to positively affect most aspects of medical students' attitudes toward psychiatry. (Contains 3 tables.)