This research focused on the design and implementation of the flipped classroom approach for higher mathematics courses in medical colleges. Out of 120 students, 60 were assigned to the experimental group and 60 to the control group. In the continuous assessment, which included homework and quizzes, the average score of the experimental group was 85.5 ± 5.5, while that of the control group was 75.2 ± 8.1 (P < 0.05). For the final examination, the average score in the experimental group was 88.3 ± 6.2, compared to 78.1 ± 7.3 in the control group (P < 0.01). The participation rate of students in the experimental group was 80.5%, significantly higher than the 50.3% in the control group (P < 0.001). Regarding autonomous learning ability, the experimental group spent an average of 3.2 hours per week on self-study, compared to 1.5 hours in the control group (P < 0.005). Other potential evaluation indicators could involve the percentage of students achieving high scores (90% or above) in problem-solving tasks (25.8% in the experimental group vs. 10.3% in the control group, P < 0.05), and the improvement in retention of key concepts after one month (70.2% in the experimental group vs. 40.5% in the control group, P < 0.01). In conclusion, the flipped classroom approach holds substantial promise in elevating the learning efficacy of higher mathematics courses within medical colleges, offering valuable insights for educational innovation and improvement.

Iran has one of the oldest civilizations in the world, and many elements of today’s urban planning and design have their origins in the country. However, mass country-city migration from the 1960s onwards brought enormous challenges for the country’s main cities in the provision of adequate housing and associated services, resulting in a range of sub-standard housing solutions, particularly in Tehran, the capital city. At the same time, and notably in the past decade, Iran’s main cities have had significant involvement in the smart city movement. The Smart Tehran Program is currently underway, attempting to transition the capital towards a smart city by 2025. This study adopts a qualitative, inductive approach based on secondary sources and interview evidence to explore the current housing problems in Tehran and their relationship with the Smart Tehran Program. It explores how housing has evolved in Tehran and identifies key aspects of the current provision, and then assesses the main components of the Smart Tehran Program and their potential contribution to remedying the housing problems in the city. The article concludes that although housing related issues are at least being raised via the new smart city technology infrastructure, any meaningful change in housing provision is hampered by the over centralized and bureaucratic political system, an out of date planning process, lack of integration of planning and housing initiatives, and the limited scope for real citizen participation.

This study explores the relationship between GDP growth, unemployment rate, and labor force participation rate in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries from 1990 to 2018. Furthermore, the study incorporates control factors such as government spending, trade openness, and energy use into the regression equation. We used panel dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) and Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) estimators to investigate the relationships between variables in this investigation. The econometric technique accounts for nonstationary, endogeneity bias and cross-sectional dependencies between country-year observations. Cointegration was found among GDP growth, unemployment rate, and labor force participation. Long-term, the unemployment rate has a statistically significant negative effect on economic growth in the GCC nations. Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate significantly influences economic expansion in the long term. The expansion of government expenditures and international trade reduces economic growth. Alternatively, it is discovered that energy consumption has a substantial and positive effect on economic expansion. Okun’s rule and the unidirectional causality from economic growth to unemployment indicate that the primary cause of unemployment in GCC nations is a failure to adequately expand their economies. When developing economic strategies to reduce unemployment, policymakers are particularly interested in determining whether or not economic development and the unemployment rate are cointegrated.

The rapid progress of information technology has made public online participation in policy formulation an inevitable product of modern government reshaping and reconstruction. However, compared with developed countries, citizens’ online participation in policy formulation in China started relatively late. Thus, in order to explore an effective and efficient method for Chinese citizens’ participation in policy formulation, this research made a brief review of the experiences from the typical developed country of United States of America at first, followed by some other developed countries such as Singapore, South Korea, and Japan in Asia with similar situations. Still, combined with the current situation of the China itself into consideration, this research further proposes targeted recommendations. It is expected that the findings in this research could provide some references for the Chinese government to form more effective and efficient theoretical frameworks targeted at the future development trends of the Chinese society and accordingly, to improve the construction of democracy in China.

This study explores the marginalization of a poor fishing community in Gwadar, Pakistan. The study provides an insight into how different levels of power, such as hidden, visible/pluralist, and invisible ideological powers, are used in policy arenas to hinder fishers’ access to participatory spaces, decision-making, and resource use. By employing Gaventa’s power cubes analytical model, we analyze fishers’ experiences and prevailing scenarios. Qualitative research methods were used to collect data, including in-depth interviews and participant observation. The finding shows that the interests of the fishing community in fishery policies and ongoing development projects are excluded both with intention and unintentionally. The exclusion of the local fisher community from key spaces brings interruptions and transformations that influence their lives. Due to this, they are induced to join insurgent groups to confront exclusion-based policies in Gwadar, Pakistan.