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Showing 4 results for Tavassoli
Ramin Akbari, Kobra Tavassoli,
Volume 14, Issue 2 (9-2011)
Abstract
Nowadays, teachers are receiving more attention in the studies done in mainstream education since it is believed that they play the most important role in educational settings, and therefore their different aspects, such as teacher efficacy, burnout, teaching style, and emotional intelligence, have received great attention. Moreover, demographic characteristics of teachers are more examined these days since they are thought to play major roles in teachers’ performance in the classroom. Despite great attention to different aspects of teachers and their demographics in mainstream education, such studies are rare in the English Language Teaching field. This study was therefore designed to explore possible relationships among English language teachers’ sense of efficacy, burnout, teaching style, and emotional intelligence on the one hand, and to document probable differences among them with respect to teachers’ gender, degree, and experience on the other hand. To this end, four different instruments, one for each of the variables, were administered among 264 Iranian English language teachers. The findings showed significant even though not high correlations among some of the components of teacher efficacy, burnout, teaching style, and emotional intelligence, as well as significant differences among some the components of these variables with respect to teachers’ gender, degree, and experience. The results of this study can help teacher educators in dealing with different teachers since they will know about the variations among teachers’ performances in the classroom and the problems any teacher with certain characteristics may have.
Shohreh Esfandiari, Kobra Tavassoli,
Volume 22, Issue 2 (9-2019)
Abstract
| This study aimed at investigating the comparative effect of using self-assessment vs. peer-assessment on young EFL learners’ performance on selective and productive reading tasks. To do so, 56 young learners from among 70 students in four intact classes were selected based on their performance on the A1 Movers Test. Then, the participants were randomly divided into two groups, self-assessment and peer-assessment. The reading section of a second A1 Movers Test was adapted into a reading test containing 20 selective and 20 productive items, and it was used as the pretest and posttest. This adapted test was piloted and its psychometric characteristics were checked. In the self-assessment group, the learners assessed their own performance after each reading task while in the peer-assessment group, the participants checked their friends’ performance in pairs. The data were analyzed through repeated-measures two-way ANOVA and MANOVA. The findings indicated that self-assessment and peer-assessment are effective in improving young EFL learners’ performance on both selective and productive reading tasks. Further, neither assessment method outdid the other in improving students’ performance on either task. These findings have practical implications for EFL teachers and materials developers to use both assessment methods to encourage learners to have better performance on reading tasks. |
, Farid Ghaemi, Natasha Pourdana, Kobra Tavassoli,
Volume 22, Issue 2 (9-2019)
Abstract
| Quality of Classroom Life is considered as a serious issue in academia around the world, and it has recently received global inquiry in EFL and ESL contexts. However, no questionnaire has been developed to assess the Iranian students’ and teachers’ attitudes towards the quality of life in the classroom. After developing a conceptual framework, the final draft of the developed questionnaire with 71 items was administered to the main sample of participants (n=150). An Exploratory Factor Analysis was performed to identify the components of the instrument, followed by Confirmatory Factor Analysis to measure its construct validity. As a result, the final draft of the Quality of Classroom Life Questionnaire comprised 71 Likert-point items. In phase 2, a number of EFL students and teachers (50 teachers and 322 students) participated in the study which was intended to observe the impact of Modular Instruction on the Quality of Classroom Life. Findings of the study suggested that: (a) the Iranian students and teachers had highly positive attitude towards the Quality of Classroom Life, and believed that educational view, teaching quality, classroom environment, classroom management, quality of classroom interactions and puzzle content played a crucial role in exploratory practice; and (b) the modular instruction which was the descendant of Postmethod instruction had a positive impact on the Quality of Classroom Life. The findings promise implications for teachers and teacher educators as well as the materials developers as the knowledge of classroom quality and modular instruction can enhance their understanding of the nature and conditions of learning. |
Fateme Nikmard, Kobra Tavassoli,
Volume 24, Issue 2 (9-2021)
Abstract
| To explore the characteristics of the items of the Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) MA Admission Test (henceforth TMAAT) as a high-stakes test in Iran, the current research utilized a three-parameter logistic Item Response Theory (IRT) calibration of the test items. The three-parameter logistic IRT model is the most comprehensive among the three models of IRT for it takes into account all the three effective parameters of item difficulty, item discrimination, and guessing simultaneously. The data were a random selection of 1000 TMAAT candidates taking the test in 2020 collected from Iran’s National Organization of Educational Testing (NOET). The software used to analyze the data was jMetrik (Version 4.1.1), which is the newest version so far. As the results indicated, the TMAAT worked well in discriminating the higher and lower ability candidates and preventing the candidates from guessing the responses by chance, but it was not much acceptable regarding the difficulty level of the items as the items were far too difficult for the test-takers. The most important beneficiaries of the present investigation are test developers, testing experts, and policy-makers in Iran since they are responsible to improve the quality of the items in such a high-stakes test. |
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