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Smart Classroom Management (SCM) is an approach proposed by Linsin (2013) that takes into account students' needs and interests in class. It has four main strategies: Planning, Organization, Leadership, and Control. This study investigated experimentally the role of English as a Foreign Language teachers' use of SCM in response to learners' second language (L2) anxiety, engagement (behavioral, emotional, and cognitive), and language achievement. To gauge the students' L2 anxiety, six items out of the Dörnyei's (2005) L2 Motivational Self System were used. To measure student engagement, the Student Engagement Scale (SES) was employed. To conduct the research, a mixed methods design (integrating experimental and interview methods) was utilized. In the experimental phase, two classes at the same level were selected. In the experimental group, a treatment that was prepared based on SCM strategies was utilized. In the qualitative phase, four students of the experimental class were voluntarily interviewed about the effects of using SCM strategies on their learning. The results demonstrate that using SCM strategies as a treatment, that was prepared based on students' needs and a humanistic approach, had a significant impact on learners' engagement and its subscales up to 46%. Moreover, applying SCM was influential in reducing students' L2 anxiety and enhancing language achievement. The findings of this study are expected to inspire policy makers, teacher educators, and supervisors to facilitate the implementation of SCM in language classes.

Purpose: Storytelling is a method for training essential life issues as storytelling can assist learners to consider the story not just as a source of entertainment but as a practical lesson. In fact, teachers can encourage even the most unwilling students by engaging the students in storytelling while maintaining students' attention through narration using sounds and gestures. The present study aims to examine the effect of the university instructor's narrative on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) student's sustained attention, emotional involvement and cognitive learning. Design/methodology/approach: To do so, the study adopted a quasi-experimental research design with the aim of focusing on the students' performance within two different virtual classes. University students' sustained attention, emotional involvement and cognitive learning were assessed in control and experimental groups before and after the treatment. To measure students' sustained attention, Wei et al.'s (2012) scale, which comprises six items, was used. Besides, emotional involvement was assessed through Golestani's (2017) engagement questionnaire. To check students' cognitive learning, the scale designed by Richmond et al. (1987) was utilized. The summaries and conclusions in the experimental class were ingrained in instructors' pedagogical repertoires, as the repertoires offer students an alternative way to understand course material beyond a straight lecture. Students in the experimental group were also asked to ponder over the materials presented to the students each session, and the students were supposed to present a one to two-paragraph note on the possible implications of the materials instructed at each session. Findings: The results of independent samples t-test indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups regarding the degree of their sustained attention, emotional involvement and cognitive learning. The findings of the present study can raise instructors' awareness toward the application of narratives in their instructional methodologies, as well as putting forth significant strategies to enhance students' sustained attention, emotional involvement and cognitive learning through narratives. Originality/value: The theoretical framework of the study derives from Kromka and Goodboys (2018) conceptualization of instructor narrative (IN), defined as the explicit presentation of the lessons conclusion at the end of each session. Previous studies on narrative have primarily focused on learners' narrative as an educational tool. Later studies on teacher narratives conceive this as the teachers' personal anecdotes and story-like accounts of others' experiences; nonetheless, the position which is taken in this study is more academically laden and is based on the information instructed in each session.

Abstract The dynamic analysis of municipal solid waste (MSW) is essential for optimizing landfills and advancing sustainable development goals. Assessing damping ratio (D), a critical dynamic parameter, under laboratory conditions is costly and time-consuming, requiring specialized equipment and expertise. To streamline this process, this research leveraged several novel ensemble machine learning models integrated with the equilibrium optimizer algorithm (EOA) for the predictive analysis of damping characteristics. Data were gathered from 153 cyclic triaxial experiments on MSW, which examined the age, shear strain, weight, frequency, and percentage of plastic content. Analysis of a correlation heatmap indicated a significant dependence of D on shear strain within the collected MSW data. Subsequently, five advanced machine learning methods—adaptive boosting (AdaBoost), gradient boosting regression tree (GBRT), extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), random forest (RF), and cubist regression—were employed to model D in landfill structures. Among these, the GBRT-EOA model demonstrated superior performance, with a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.898, root mean square error of 1.659, mean absolute error of 1.194, mean absolute percentage error of 0.095, and an a20-index of 0.891 for the test data. A Shapley additive explanation analysis was conducted to validate these models further, revealing the relative contributions of each studied variable to the predicted D-MSW. This holistic approach not only enhances the understanding of MSW dynamics but also aids in the efficient design and management of landfill systems.

Abstract Bitumen, aggregate, and air void (VA) are the three primary ingredients of asphalt concrete. VA changes over time as a function of four factors: traffic loads and repetitions, environmental regimes, compaction, and asphalt mix composition. Due to the high as-constructed VA content of the material, it is expected that VA will reduce over time, causing rutting during initial traffic periods. Eventually, the material will undergo shear flow when it reaches its densest state with optimum aggregate interlock or refusal VA content. Therefore, to ensure the quality of construction, VA in asphalt mixture need to be modeled throughout the service life. This study aims to implement a hybrid evolutionary polynomial regression (EPR) combined with a teaching–learning based optimization (TLBO) algorithm and multi-gene genetic programming (MGGP) to predict the VA percentage of asphalt mixture during the service life. For this purpose, 324 data records of VA were collected from the literature. The variables selected as inputs were original as-constructed VA, $${VA}_{orig}$$ VA orig (%); mean annual air temperature, $$MAAT$$ MAAT (°F); original viscosity at 77 °F, $${\eta }_{orig,77}$$ η o r i g , 77 (Mega-Poises); and $$time$$ time (months). EPR-TLBO was found to be superior to MGGP and existing empirical models due to the interquartile ranges of absolute error boxes equal to 0.67%. EPR-TLBO had an R2 value of more than 0.90 in both the training and testing phases, and only less than 20% of the records were predicted utilizing this model with more than 20% deviation from the observed values. As determined by the sensitivity analysis, $${\eta }_{orig,77}$$ η o r i g , 77 is the most significant of the four input variables, while time is the least one. A parametric study showed that regardless of $$MAAT$$ MAAT , $${\eta }_{orig,77},$$ η o r i g , 77 , of 0.3 Mega-Poises, and $${VA}_{orig}$$ VA orig above 6% can be ideal for improving the pavement service life. It was also witnessed that with an increase of $$MAAT$$ MAAT from 37 to 75 °F, the serviceability of asphalt concrete takes 15 months less on average.

The present study aimed at investigating the effect of Teacher Technology Enhanced Scaffolding (TTES) on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' grammar achievement, Directed Motivational Currents (DMCs), and mastery goal. This investigation was conducted among 50 participants in two classes, with a population of 25 EFL students for each group (control and experimental). The participants were all female junior high school students. They were administered a grammar test and two questionnaires once at the beginning and once at the end of the course. To gauge students' DMC, the Persian version of the DMC Disposition Questionnaire which was designed and validated by Muir (2016) and translated into Persian and revalidated by Ghanizadeh and Jahedizadeh (2017) was utilized. To assess the students' mastery goal, six items of the translated version of Achievement Goal Orientation Inventory designed by Midgley et al. (1998) was employed. Teaching in both groups was provided through "Eitaa" messenger. The treatment was presented in accordance with the principles of the process approach comprising three stages, "noticing," "retrieval," and "generation." These are the three basic principles in the process approach adapted from Nation (2001). However, in the control group, the grammar was taught in the traditional method in the way that the same structure was presented to the learners, and then they did some exercises. The results of independent samples t-test demonstrated that using TTES had a significant impact on learners' grammar learning, DMC, and mastery goal.

Resilience of the power system against natural disasters is a vital need for sustainable energy supply. As a result of global warming, lakes and rivers have dried out, resulting in dust hubs that threaten the normal operation of outdoor power system equipment. Unlike other events like hurricanes and blizzards, the impact of extreme salt dust on power system insulator failures and network resilience in affected areas remains unexamined. In this paper, to avoid power curtailment caused by insulators breakdown in electricity distribution networks, the resiliency assessment and enhancement of these networks against salt dust is investigated. Failure mechanism analysis of insulators and fragility curves extraction of them in face of salt pollution and relative humidity are done using mathematical modelling and experimental tests to extract the breakdown probability; Experimental tests are conducted in the High Voltage Laboratory, University of Tehran (HVLUT) and a novel method is proposed to extract 3-dimensional fragility curves of insulators. A Monte Carlo-based resiliency assessment method is then employed to obtain resiliency curve against the salt dust. Some suitable indicators are introduced for this purpose. In addition, several resiliency enhancement measures are proposed and ranked using a benefit to cost ratio (BCR) index. Numerical simulations are conducted on two real distribution feeders in a distribution grid around Urmia Salt Lake, Iran. Numerical results confirm the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed method.

Student evaluation apprehension as one of the detrimental factors in an English as a foreign language (EFL) context, reduces and gradually diminishes student participation in classroom activities, since learners are mostly concerned with how others (teacher and classmates) evaluate/judge their performance. Due to the fact that the studies considering the important role of student evaluation apprehension are scarce in number, this study was conducted to validate the newly-designed questionnaire via exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and find the relationship between student evaluation apprehension and academic achievement, gender, and educational level of 258 EFL students. The results from EFA, CFA, and reliability analyses revealed that the new questionnaire is a valid and reliable instrument measuring EFL students' evaluation apprehension. Moreover, a significant negative correlation was observed between student evaluation apprehension and academic achievement. Besides, it was found that females experience evaluation apprehension more than males, and BA students were also found to have more evaluation apprehension than their MA counterparts.

Teaching can be considered as an extremely demanding and stressful occupation and being a language educator brings about its own distinctive challenges. In the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, teachers worldwide experienced fundamental changes in their profession and their lives as a whole. Coping with such an unprecedented situation and responses to it have created new and extra stressful factors for teachers to cope with, including the difficulties created by quick transition from direct teaching to virtual and remote teaching. This study examined EFL teachers' coping strategies during the COVID-19 virtual education and their association with work engagement and teacher apprehension. A total of 296 language instructors contributed to this study by participating in a survey in January 2021. To determine what coping strategies teachers use in virtual teaching during COVID-19, the researchers adapted the Brief-COPE scale designed and validated by Carver (Int J Behav Med 4:92-100, 1997) to make it appropriate for virtual education. The survey measured 11 coping strategies divided into two broad types, approach and avoidant. For measuring work engagement, the Work and Well-being Survey (UWES) scale designed and validated by Schaufeli and Bakker (Test manual for the Utrecht work engagement scale, vol 3. Utrecht University, The Netherlands, pp. 44-52, 2003. http://www.schaufeli.com) was utilized. To assess teachers' apprehension, the research employed the Sources of Teachers' Apprehension Scale (STAS) developed by Ghanizadeh et al. (Asia-Pac Educ Res 1-14, 2020). The result demonstrated that the adapted coping strategies scale enjoys acceptable reliability and validity indices. The results estimated via structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that EFL teachers' approach coping strategies positively and significantly predicted work engagement ([beta] = 0.72, t = 10.56). Work engagement was negatively predicted by avoidant coping strategies ([beta] = - 0.29, t = - 3.36). Teacher apprehension was negatively influenced by approach coping strategies ([beta] = - 0.44, t = - 5.57) and positively by avoidant coping strategies ([beta] = 0.43, t = 5.29). The study proposes some practical recommendations for overcoming the Covid-19 related challenges which could further deliver valuable guidance for supporting future training of teachers.

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) equips learners in all settings with the knowledge, skills, attributes, and visions essential for coping with the diverse challenges they will encounter in their educational endeavors. The emergence of COVID-19 influenced different aspects of human life including education. Thanks to technology, especially ICT, Virtual Education (VE) provides the opportunity to continue education in such crises. Amidst this pandemic, many students, especially university students, encountered various challenges and impediments that resulted from VE. One of the factors which can affect VE is learners’ resilience. Therefore, it is of high importance to measure university students’ Resilience in Virtual Education (RVE) to recognize the advantages and disadvantages of this type of education and support ESD. The main purpose of this study is to design and validate a comprehensive instrument for measuring university students’ RVE. Furthermore, to confirm the validity and reliability of the instrument, its nexus with a closely related construct, i.e., second language (L2) buoyancy was explored. To measure students’ RVE, a new scale (RVE Scale), comprising 33 items, was designed. It was designed based on the operational definition of academic resilience and was adapted to accommodate the requirements of VE. It measures six aspects of learners’ resilience: emotional, motivational, cognitive, metacognitive, persistence, and sociability. To measure L2 buoyancy, a relevant scale designed by Jahedizadeh et al. (2019) was utilized. It consists of 27 items with four factors; the factors include sustainability, regularity adaptation, positive personal eligibility, and positive acceptance of academic life. A total of 412 university students participated in the present research. The results obtained via Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) substantiated the validity of the newly designed scale and all the factors and items. The results attested to the criterion-related validity of the scale.

A successful teacher manages the classroom in a way to meet all the potential challenges. In effect, classroom management skills are the cornerstone of the whole process of successful teaching. This survey-based study assessed the interrelationship among EFL teachers’ smart classroom management (SCM), their students’ learning approach, positive orientation (PO), and language achievement (LA). SCM implies using different strategies including appropriate planning, organization, leadership, and control based on humanistic approaches to education. The population of the study consisted of about 307 Iranian university, institute, and public school students, out of which 279 were sampled. This study used the Persian forms of three questionnaires: Smart Classroom Management Questionnaire (SCMQ), Revised Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F) measuring deep approach (D), surface approach (SA), and Positivity Scale (PS). The results obtained via Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) demonstrated that the expected model including the variables under study had a good fit with the data. The results demonstrated that EFL teachers’ SCM positively and significantly influenced the three student-related factors: DA. LA, and PO. LA was positively predicted by DA, while SA had no significant influence on LA. PO positively and significantly impacted LA. It can also be concluded that LA is positively predicted by SCM via its influence on DA and PO. The major implication of the present study should inform teacher educators to incorporate SCM strategies in their programs.

Chemical stabilization is used to enhance and increase the strength characteristics of soft and problematic soils. In this research, Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) is employed to estimate the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and the Young’s modulus (E) of lean clay soils stabilized with iron ore mine tailing (IOMT) and hydrated lime (HL) percentage. In this regard, four inputs including the moisture content (MC), IMOT percentage, HL percentage, and curing time (CT) were used. The value of R2 for estimating the UCS and the E were 0.9825 and 0.9633 for all data, respectively. The RMSE for predicting the UCS and the E were 0.1875 and 19.868 for all data, respectively. The result of the sensitivity analysis demonstrated that MC, CT, HL, and IOMT percentage have the highest contribution to the UCS of the stabilized lean clay, respectively. Also, MC, HL, IOMT percentage, and CT have the highest impact on the E of the stabilized lean clay, respectively. The parametric study also revealed that increasing the HL content and the curing time led to an increase in the UCS and the E of stabilized lean clay, while IOMT content and the moisture content has an inverse relationship with the UCS and the E of stabilized lean clay soils.

An innovative approach for creating customized dosage forms and supporting patient populations with specific requirements who need additional support to improve drug adherence is 3D printing. This work introduces liquid crystal display (LCD) 3D printing as a means of developing melatonin (MLT) tablets. For patients who are blind or visually challenged, Braille patterns were displayed on the tablet surface in addition to the optimization of printing hydrogel inks. Owing to the great printing accuracy, blind patients could validate the Braille patterns that provided the required information. Upon further examination MLT was found to be present in the photopolymerized resins in an amorphous state. The choice of poly(ethylene glycol)-diacrylate (PEGDA) with varying molecular weights and the inclusion of surfactants or solubilizers interfered with the photopolymerization of the resin, hence controlling the rates of MLT dissolution towards the sought sustained release. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis showed that photopolymerization of the PEGDA resins in the printed dosage forms has taken place. A small batch scale-up investigation showed that LCDs could print a significant number of tablets quickly—about twenty-four minutes.

Soil pollution by heavy metals is a serious environmental concern globally. Hexavalent (VI) chromium (Cr) is one of the main pollutants causing groundwater and soil heavy metal pollution. Miscanthus sinensis is a C4 perennial grass species with a high level of heavy metal tolerance. This species can effectively remove Cr from soils and maintain desirable biomass production under Cr stress. This research aimed to characterize and compare Cr accumulation in 58 genotypes of M. sinensis and to develop Expressed Sequence Tag–Simple Sequence Repeat (EST-SSR) markers associated with Cr tolerance. The results show that the pattern of translocation of Cr in plants differed among the 58 M. sinensis genotypes following treatment of 200 mg/L of Cr6+; however, in most genotypes, the Cr was primarily accumulated in roots. A total of 43,367 EST-SSRs were identified, and 88 EST-SSR primer pairs corresponding to candidate genes involved in Cr accumulation in M. sinensis were selected for validation. Subsequently, 170 polymorphic loci generated from 24 validated EST-SSRs were used for the population structure and marker–trait association analysis. Based on a general linear model (GLM), a total of 46 associations were identified (p < 0.05), with 14 EST-SSRs markers associated with target traits. Among them, four genes related to ABC transporters, wall-associated receptor kinases, as well as two high-affinity sulfate transporters (ST), were identified under Cr stress (p < 0.05). The results of this study help to accelerate the screening across M. sinensis genotypes for desirable traits under Cr stress and provide a platform for M. sinensis genetic improvement and molecular-marker-assisted breeding.

This study elucidated how humanistic teaching as manifested in teachers' error correction influences EFL learners' engagement, motivation, and language achievement. the present study was carried out in a language Institute in Mashhad, Iran. The population comprised 42 advanced female learners. To investigate how error treatment will affect EFL learners' engagement, intrinsic motivation and language achievement, a mixed-methods design incorporating both quantitative (experimental design) and qualitative (interview & observation) methods (QUAN[\rightarrow]qual) was employed. The participants were divided into control and experimental groups. Speaking errors of the participants of the experimental group were corrected by three methods of corrective feedback including peer-correction, elicitation, and repetition, whereas, speaking errors of the participants of control group were directly corrected by the teacher. To measure the intrinsic motivation, the MSLQ questionnaire (Pintrich, et al., 1991) was employed. Students' engagement was determined through Tool-school engagement scale, which was assesses behavioral, emotional, and cognitive aspects of academic engagement (Fredericks, Blumenfeld, Friedel, & Paris, 2005). A Babel test was utilized to assess language proficiency. To examine the effect of corrective feedback on intrinsic interest, an independent samples t-test was run. The results substantiated the efficiency of corrective feedback in enhancing intrinsic motivation. A one-way between-groups multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was utilized to investigate the role of corrective feedback in Cognitive, Behavioral, and Emotional Engagement. It was revealed that all three types of engagement were influenced and the highest difference was observed in Emotional engagement and the lowest difference was obtained for Behavioral engagement. Regarding language achievement, the results implied that corrective feedback utilized in the experimental group resulted in higher language achievement. Twenty-five percent of the whole participants were interviewed after the term. The findings analyzed via MAXQDA software were in line with the results of the quantitative phase.

This study assessed the impact of teachers' assertive classroom management on the students' perception of classroom activities and their goal orientations. It adopted a mixed method approach (QUANTITATIVE? qualitative.). The population consisted of about 590 consisted of Iranian university and institute students out of which 147 were sampled. They were administered three questionnaires and five were interviewed. To gauge teachers' assertive classroom management, we utilized a questionnaire developed by Shawer (2010). It includes 37 items measuring four components of teacher's assertive classroom management (organization, teaching strategies, teacher-student relationship strategies, teacher's punishment-reward strategies). To assess students' perceptions of classroom activities, a scale designed and validated by Gentry and Gable (2001) was utilized. It comprises 31 items and consists of 4 components (interest, challenge, choice, and joy). The students' goal orientations were measured via 'achievement goal orientation inventory' designed by Midgley, et al. (1998). The inventory comprised three subscales (mastery-approach, performance-approach, performance-avoidance approach) and a total of 18 items. In the quantitative phase, the results demonstrated that teachers' assertive classroom management strategies predicted students' perceptions of classroom activities exhibiting the highest influence on challenge and interest respectively. Mastery goal was influenced by teacher assertive classroom management strategies. The results of the quantitative phase confirmed the findings of the quantitative phase.

The quality of granular base materials plays a key role in the enhanced performance of inverted pavement systems (IPSs). Typically, premium-quality materials are required for the construction of IPS structures. This study investigates the feasibility of geocell reinforcement of lower quality materials to be used as an alternative when premium base materials are not available. To this end, 16 different pavement structures were studied using nonlinear finite element (NL-FEM) models in ABAQUS. The results are validated using those of a full-scale field project, which confirms the reliability of the developed FEM model. It was concluded that geocell reinforcement of granular base layer can increase the fatigue and rutting performances. In all the cases, lower quality aggregates with reinforcement exhibited better performance than the non-reinforced base materials with premium aggregate quality. The findings confirm that in the absence of premium-quality aggregates, good-performing inverted pavement structures can still be achieved. Key words: inverted pavement system, geocell, nonlinear FEM, fatigue life, rutting, 1. Introduction 1.1. Background Inverted pavement system (IPS) is a relatively modern pavement construction technique that was first developed in South Africa in 1970, where it currently comprises about 70% [...]