Mohammad Attaran | University of Malaya, Malaysia (original) (raw)

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Papers by Mohammad Attaran

Quarterly Journal of Research and Planning in Higher Education, Mar 15, 2009

مجله دانش و تندرستي, Jul 10, 2009

Introduction: Rapid e-learning is a new approach to developing e-content which, through changing ... more Introduction: Rapid e-learning is a new approach to developing e-content which, through changing the applied processes and tools, reduces the time and cost of producing the content. As there are few studies that compare rapid e-learning with traditional e-learning, this study was carried out in Tehran University of Medical Science in 1387 in order to compare learning rate, trainees' satisfaction and the time consumed to develop training courses in these two approaches. Methods: In this interventional study, 100 employees were assessed in two 50-staff groups by blocking randomization, one group learned through traditional e-learning and the other by rapid e-learning. The traditional e-learning content development was based on waterfall instructional design by Macromedia flash software. The rapid e-learning content development was based on parallel process of three stages of analysis, design and development by Adobe Presenter software. The data were collected by pre test, post test, final examination; self-report questionnaire of learning and questionnaire of trainees' satisfaction. Results: There was no significant difference between pre test, post test, final examination scores and self report of learning of the two groups nor was there significant difference between satisfaction of content, delivery method, e-learning program and overall satisfaction in the two groups. The consumed time for developing the course in traditional and rapid e-learning approaches was 141 working days and 24 working days, respectively. Conclusion: The staff learning and satisfaction were not different in these two e-learning approaches but the time needed for content development in rapid e-learning approach was much less, compared to the other approach. Therefore, it is recommended that rapid elearning be used in electronic staff in-service training in universities.

Journal of Research on Christian Education, 2015

ABSTRACT This article describes the concept of moral education and its foundation according to Ab... more ABSTRACT This article describes the concept of moral education and its foundation according to Abu Hamid Ghazali as one of the most influential scholars in the world of Islam. Ghazali equates moral education with habituation. Causality holds a prominent place in philosophical foundations of his theory of moral education. Even though Ghazali recommends educators to employ habituation to cultivate of virtues, he eventually maintains that there is no certain causal relation between moral education and habituation, and one must hope for God's assistance and relay on His Grace.

Professional teachers can guarantee the progress and the promotion of society because fostering t... more Professional teachers can guarantee the progress and the promotion of society because fostering the development of next generation is up to them and depends on their professional knowledge which has two kinds of sources; content knowledge and teaching skill. The aim of the present research was studying the effect of integrating problem-based learning with Information and Communications Technology (ICT) on developing content knowledge and teaching skill of trainee teachers. The research design was a quasi-experimental one, and the participants were elementary education trainee teachers of Shahid Bahonar teacher training center of Hamadan, Iran. Two groups were given tests of theory and practice on teaching mathematical concepts at elementary school, and then a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to compare the pretest-posttest scores. There was a significant difference, in both multivariate and univariate analyses, in scores. The findings suggest that trainee tea...

In this study using the narratives of the teacher of a nomadic tribe during his first year of tea... more In this study using the narratives of the teacher of a nomadic tribe during his first year of teaching, we tried to understand the learning culture of itinerant nomadic schools. This study is a narrative inquiry-based research, the one that is belonging to qualitative and interpretative paradigm. The teacher's diaries revolved around a series of interrelated subjects dealing with his educational setting. The focal point is the students' learning experiences, with other concepts being the conceptual peripheries. The data analysis shows that students' learning and corporal punishment are the main concerns of the nomadic teacher. This study shows that several features of nomads' lifestyle cause disruption in the teacher instruction, which leads to corporal punishment.

The aim of this study is to explore the situation of homeschooling in Iranian system of education... more The aim of this study is to explore the situation of homeschooling in Iranian system of education. The results of this study derive from a qualitative research performed in 2012. The research population was selected by snowball method. The participants were interviewed. The interviews were semi-structured. The concepts in each interview were extracted. Similar concepts were classified and primary and secondary contents were extracted. The data discussed was based on theoretical foundations. The study showed that all parents in the sample come from middle and upper-middle class of the Iranian society and are highly educated. Participants' involvement in the education of their children and risk-taking in this regard was high. They didn't have a positive view toward the formal system of education, but their decision for homeschooling their children was mostly educational (which is influenced by the ideas of Rousseau and Dewey), not ideological. They consider the formal system o...

Computers in Human Behavior, 2015

This exploratory case study reports on the findings of Persian teachers' motivation and use of Fa... more This exploratory case study reports on the findings of Persian teachers' motivation and use of Farsi-Web-based Learning Resources (FWBLRs) in classroom instruction. Data were inductively gathered from ten teachers' and five students' use experiences of FWBLRs in the context of a smart school in Tehran, Iran. Focus groups and face-to-face semi-structured interviews, repeated in several rounds, were used for data collection. Thematic analysis elaborate on the teachers' perceived pedagogical usability of FWBLRs. Five main motivations of pedagogical usability emerged from the findings: (a) desirability; (b) content accessibility; (c) student-centred teaching support; (d) multimedia interactivity; and (e) feasible classroom instruction via simulation. The study suggests that the effective use of Web-based Learning Resources (WBLRs) would require some considerations, including the use context and corresponding educational policies. This can be of value to the researchers in the field as well as stakeholders of WBLRs. In practice, this can support the development of effective and fun teaching-learning environments.

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2015

Since the 2000s, many universities have introduced virtual learning environments in their educati... more Since the 2000s, many universities have introduced virtual learning environments in their educational system to deliver "blended learning" (BL). The University of Malaya, in Malaysia, launched its BL system, named SPECTRUM in 2010. Five years after its implementation, this research aims to gain a more detailed and deep understanding of the lived experiences of postgraduate students in the faculty of education who have been using SPECTRUM for their learning practice. The research purpose required focusing attention on the qualitative aspects of the experience itself. So phenomenology is chosen as an appropriate methodology to answer the research question. We have used focus group and individual semi -structured interview for collecting data. Results show that students found SPECTRUM as a useful platform in their studies. Lecturers' styles of using SPECTRUM in the classroom contributed to students' experience. They perceive SPECTRUM as an online classroom for interaction and textbook when materials are uploaded weekly.

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2015

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2012

The philosophy, content and methods of teaching changed alongside developments in science and tec... more The philosophy, content and methods of teaching changed alongside developments in science and technology. In spite of this, Master -Apprentice method still cannot be changed. In some Manuscripts of Calligraphy Training is mentioned that to writing a well script, the three principles is necessary: master training, writing a lot and the purity of the conscience. This study aims to consider collaborative e-learning as the new model of learning instead of traditional education of the Iranian calligraphy by challenging of confined space of the traditional teaching of calligraphy training. After a brief mention of the history of calligraphy in Iran and its teaching methods, the process based on collaborative e-learning, which consists of four sections goal, content, implementation and evaluation will be expressed. The discussion shows how collaborative-learning could do as Improvable method in traditional education of calligraphy and added many advantages.

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2012

This research was aimed at studying the ICT integration in everyday life of one Iranian smart sch... more This research was aimed at studying the ICT integration in everyday life of one Iranian smart school. The model, which is used, considers the school as a whole and as a system. The research approach is qualitative. The research data was gathered by 3 months observation and interviews with teachers and students. The model of the examination has several elements including: ICT included in strategic planning, teaching and learning methods -participation for empowerment, flexibility of curriculum, investments in communication, leadership and management and teaching staff's capacity and commitment. According to research findings, ICT is not in the everyday life the school.

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2013

The purpose of this research is to understand in depth the perceptions and lived experiences of t... more The purpose of this research is to understand in depth the perceptions and lived experiences of the postgraduate students whose lecturers are using PowerPoint in the classroom. The sample of this research is the postgraduate students of the University of Malaya in the Faculty of Education. The sampling is purposive and they have passed at least one semester in the Faculty of Education. This study searched to describe what it was like for a UM postgraduate student in the Faculty of Education to learn through PowerPoint. Data collection was based on focus group and individual interviews. The results have shown that the research participants have opposite feelings toward PowerPoint. Some of the students consider PowerPoint interesting at the beginning of the lecture but boring and tiring a few minutes later. Others feel happy when lecturers refer to PowerPoint in delivering the lecture's content. However, participants hold PowerPoint does not support face-to-face interaction in the classroom. The analysis of the interviews shows that some factors like PowerPoint construction and management, subject knowledge and the teaching skills are potentially effective in using PowerPoint in the classroom.

Quarterly Journal of Research and Planning in Higher Education, Mar 15, 2009

مجله دانش و تندرستي, Jul 10, 2009

Introduction: Rapid e-learning is a new approach to developing e-content which, through changing ... more Introduction: Rapid e-learning is a new approach to developing e-content which, through changing the applied processes and tools, reduces the time and cost of producing the content. As there are few studies that compare rapid e-learning with traditional e-learning, this study was carried out in Tehran University of Medical Science in 1387 in order to compare learning rate, trainees' satisfaction and the time consumed to develop training courses in these two approaches. Methods: In this interventional study, 100 employees were assessed in two 50-staff groups by blocking randomization, one group learned through traditional e-learning and the other by rapid e-learning. The traditional e-learning content development was based on waterfall instructional design by Macromedia flash software. The rapid e-learning content development was based on parallel process of three stages of analysis, design and development by Adobe Presenter software. The data were collected by pre test, post test, final examination; self-report questionnaire of learning and questionnaire of trainees' satisfaction. Results: There was no significant difference between pre test, post test, final examination scores and self report of learning of the two groups nor was there significant difference between satisfaction of content, delivery method, e-learning program and overall satisfaction in the two groups. The consumed time for developing the course in traditional and rapid e-learning approaches was 141 working days and 24 working days, respectively. Conclusion: The staff learning and satisfaction were not different in these two e-learning approaches but the time needed for content development in rapid e-learning approach was much less, compared to the other approach. Therefore, it is recommended that rapid elearning be used in electronic staff in-service training in universities.

Journal of Research on Christian Education, 2015

ABSTRACT This article describes the concept of moral education and its foundation according to Ab... more ABSTRACT This article describes the concept of moral education and its foundation according to Abu Hamid Ghazali as one of the most influential scholars in the world of Islam. Ghazali equates moral education with habituation. Causality holds a prominent place in philosophical foundations of his theory of moral education. Even though Ghazali recommends educators to employ habituation to cultivate of virtues, he eventually maintains that there is no certain causal relation between moral education and habituation, and one must hope for God's assistance and relay on His Grace.

Professional teachers can guarantee the progress and the promotion of society because fostering t... more Professional teachers can guarantee the progress and the promotion of society because fostering the development of next generation is up to them and depends on their professional knowledge which has two kinds of sources; content knowledge and teaching skill. The aim of the present research was studying the effect of integrating problem-based learning with Information and Communications Technology (ICT) on developing content knowledge and teaching skill of trainee teachers. The research design was a quasi-experimental one, and the participants were elementary education trainee teachers of Shahid Bahonar teacher training center of Hamadan, Iran. Two groups were given tests of theory and practice on teaching mathematical concepts at elementary school, and then a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to compare the pretest-posttest scores. There was a significant difference, in both multivariate and univariate analyses, in scores. The findings suggest that trainee tea...

In this study using the narratives of the teacher of a nomadic tribe during his first year of tea... more In this study using the narratives of the teacher of a nomadic tribe during his first year of teaching, we tried to understand the learning culture of itinerant nomadic schools. This study is a narrative inquiry-based research, the one that is belonging to qualitative and interpretative paradigm. The teacher's diaries revolved around a series of interrelated subjects dealing with his educational setting. The focal point is the students' learning experiences, with other concepts being the conceptual peripheries. The data analysis shows that students' learning and corporal punishment are the main concerns of the nomadic teacher. This study shows that several features of nomads' lifestyle cause disruption in the teacher instruction, which leads to corporal punishment.

The aim of this study is to explore the situation of homeschooling in Iranian system of education... more The aim of this study is to explore the situation of homeschooling in Iranian system of education. The results of this study derive from a qualitative research performed in 2012. The research population was selected by snowball method. The participants were interviewed. The interviews were semi-structured. The concepts in each interview were extracted. Similar concepts were classified and primary and secondary contents were extracted. The data discussed was based on theoretical foundations. The study showed that all parents in the sample come from middle and upper-middle class of the Iranian society and are highly educated. Participants' involvement in the education of their children and risk-taking in this regard was high. They didn't have a positive view toward the formal system of education, but their decision for homeschooling their children was mostly educational (which is influenced by the ideas of Rousseau and Dewey), not ideological. They consider the formal system o...

Computers in Human Behavior, 2015

This exploratory case study reports on the findings of Persian teachers' motivation and use of Fa... more This exploratory case study reports on the findings of Persian teachers' motivation and use of Farsi-Web-based Learning Resources (FWBLRs) in classroom instruction. Data were inductively gathered from ten teachers' and five students' use experiences of FWBLRs in the context of a smart school in Tehran, Iran. Focus groups and face-to-face semi-structured interviews, repeated in several rounds, were used for data collection. Thematic analysis elaborate on the teachers' perceived pedagogical usability of FWBLRs. Five main motivations of pedagogical usability emerged from the findings: (a) desirability; (b) content accessibility; (c) student-centred teaching support; (d) multimedia interactivity; and (e) feasible classroom instruction via simulation. The study suggests that the effective use of Web-based Learning Resources (WBLRs) would require some considerations, including the use context and corresponding educational policies. This can be of value to the researchers in the field as well as stakeholders of WBLRs. In practice, this can support the development of effective and fun teaching-learning environments.

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2015

Since the 2000s, many universities have introduced virtual learning environments in their educati... more Since the 2000s, many universities have introduced virtual learning environments in their educational system to deliver "blended learning" (BL). The University of Malaya, in Malaysia, launched its BL system, named SPECTRUM in 2010. Five years after its implementation, this research aims to gain a more detailed and deep understanding of the lived experiences of postgraduate students in the faculty of education who have been using SPECTRUM for their learning practice. The research purpose required focusing attention on the qualitative aspects of the experience itself. So phenomenology is chosen as an appropriate methodology to answer the research question. We have used focus group and individual semi -structured interview for collecting data. Results show that students found SPECTRUM as a useful platform in their studies. Lecturers' styles of using SPECTRUM in the classroom contributed to students' experience. They perceive SPECTRUM as an online classroom for interaction and textbook when materials are uploaded weekly.

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2015

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2012

The philosophy, content and methods of teaching changed alongside developments in science and tec... more The philosophy, content and methods of teaching changed alongside developments in science and technology. In spite of this, Master -Apprentice method still cannot be changed. In some Manuscripts of Calligraphy Training is mentioned that to writing a well script, the three principles is necessary: master training, writing a lot and the purity of the conscience. This study aims to consider collaborative e-learning as the new model of learning instead of traditional education of the Iranian calligraphy by challenging of confined space of the traditional teaching of calligraphy training. After a brief mention of the history of calligraphy in Iran and its teaching methods, the process based on collaborative e-learning, which consists of four sections goal, content, implementation and evaluation will be expressed. The discussion shows how collaborative-learning could do as Improvable method in traditional education of calligraphy and added many advantages.

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2012

This research was aimed at studying the ICT integration in everyday life of one Iranian smart sch... more This research was aimed at studying the ICT integration in everyday life of one Iranian smart school. The model, which is used, considers the school as a whole and as a system. The research approach is qualitative. The research data was gathered by 3 months observation and interviews with teachers and students. The model of the examination has several elements including: ICT included in strategic planning, teaching and learning methods -participation for empowerment, flexibility of curriculum, investments in communication, leadership and management and teaching staff's capacity and commitment. According to research findings, ICT is not in the everyday life the school.

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2013

The purpose of this research is to understand in depth the perceptions and lived experiences of t... more The purpose of this research is to understand in depth the perceptions and lived experiences of the postgraduate students whose lecturers are using PowerPoint in the classroom. The sample of this research is the postgraduate students of the University of Malaya in the Faculty of Education. The sampling is purposive and they have passed at least one semester in the Faculty of Education. This study searched to describe what it was like for a UM postgraduate student in the Faculty of Education to learn through PowerPoint. Data collection was based on focus group and individual interviews. The results have shown that the research participants have opposite feelings toward PowerPoint. Some of the students consider PowerPoint interesting at the beginning of the lecture but boring and tiring a few minutes later. Others feel happy when lecturers refer to PowerPoint in delivering the lecture's content. However, participants hold PowerPoint does not support face-to-face interaction in the classroom. The analysis of the interviews shows that some factors like PowerPoint construction and management, subject knowledge and the teaching skills are potentially effective in using PowerPoint in the classroom.