Current status of educational technologies at Omani higher education institutions and their future prospective

The purpose of this research was to address the current and prospective views on educational technology (ET) in order to discover the difficulties and develop its utilization in Omani higher education. The main instruments used to carry out this research were two questionnaires: the faculty members’ questionnaire, and the technical/administrative staff questionnaire. One hundred and fifty-nine participants were involved in the study. They represented all educational technologists who have been with the public and private Omani higher education institutions. The findings show a tendency for future expansion with less expensive technologies and the need for training. Some impediments of ET use were also found. Important recommendations from this study include: the need to support Omani higher education institutions with technical and human resources to increase and activate the use/number of new instructional media and equipment.     

Exploring relationships among TPACK constructs and ICT achievement among trainee teachers

Teaching in the classroom today can no longer sustain the interest of students and be effective if the process involves traditional approach - teachers as sole provider of content information. In recent years technology has played a significant role in transforming education to more progressive and interactive activities. However the use of technology itself does not produce positive results in quality of learning and students’ achievement. Teachers must be competent in subject knowledge, pedagogical skills and technological know-how. The Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge or TPACK as a conceptual framework can guide teachers to understand the complex relations between the six components of the model. There has been numerous studies on TPACK in international contexts beyond cultural and language boundaries. This paper examined recent studies on TPACK in various countries and reports findings from a study conducted with student teachers in the UAE.     

Construction of some hypergroups from combinatorial structures

ＩＮＴＲＯＤＵＣＴＩＯＮＷｅｗｉｌｌｆｉｒｓｔｒｅｃａｌｌｓｏｍｅａｌｇｅｂｒａｉｃｄｅｆｉｎｉｔｉｏｎｓｔｈａｔｗｉｌｌｂｅｕｓｅｄｉｎｔｈｅｐａｐｅｒ.ＡｈｙｐｅｒｓｔｒｕｃｔｕｒｅｉｓａｓｅｔＨｔｏｇｅｔｈｅｒｗｉｔｈａｆｕｎｃｔｉｏｎ·∶Ｈ×Ｈ→Ｐ     

Teachers' Cloud-Based Learning Designs: The Development of a Guiding Rubric Using the TPACK Framework

This study aimed to develop, validate, and trial a rubric for evaluating the cloud-based learning designs (CBLD) that were developed by teachers using virtual learning environments. The rubric was developed using the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) framework, with rubric development including content and expert validation of its items and levels. The rubric was revised based on various types of input including content validity and expert review. After many iterations of rubric implementation using two raters, the final version of the rubric was found to be reliable with high and substantial inter-rater reliability. This study provides a methodological contribution by developing and validating a rubric for teachers' cloud-based learning designs. It also provides a useful tool for evaluating the quality of teachers' CBLD, and assessing training needs.     

Muslim women meme-ing citizenship in the era of War on Terror militarism

ABSTRACT

Facebook meme groups created by Muslim students at American universities are sites of intensive daily productivity, where members post memes they create, or share memes they find elsewhere, joking about the everyday lived experience of practicing Islam as part of a family, a community, and a society. Through the practice of making memes about Muslim piety, members of these groups articulate a form of cultural citizenship in Western liberal secular society through humor. Young Muslim women engaged in meme-making must contend with the intersections of gender and religion while making claims to American citizenship, doing the work of re-shaping belonging both in terms of American citizenship and in terms of Islamic practice and belief.     

The effect of different initial densities of nematode （Meloidogyne javanica） on the build-up of Pasteuria penetrans population

Pasteuria penetrans will build-up faster where there is a high initial nematode density and can suppress root-knot nematode populations in the roots of tomato plants. The effect of different initial densities of nematode (Meloidogyne javanica) (150, 750, 1500, 3000) and P. penetrans infected females (F1, F3) densities (F0=control and     

Vocational Schools in Turkey: An Administrative and Organizational Analysis

The data used in this paper were derived from a larger project which had the aim of critically evaluating the Turkish vocational education system on a number of different levels. This article examines the administrative and organisational practices in a selected group of secondary vocational schools in Turkey from the point of view of school administrators, teachers and industrial managers. The results indicate that the Turkish vocational education system is characterised by a centralised, top-down bureaucracy, which inhibits innovative capacity. The authors argue that a degree of decentralisation is necessary at various levels of the system.     

Factors mediating the effect of gender on ninth‐grade Turkish students' misconceptions concerning electric circuits

This study was designed to identify and analyze possible factors that mediate the effect of gender on ninth‐grade Turkish students' misconceptions concerning electric circuits. A Simple Electric Circuit Concept Test (SECCT), including items with both practical and theoretical contexts, and an Interest‐Experience Questionnaire about Electricity (IEQ) were administered to 1,678 ninth‐grade students (764 male, 914 female) after the completion of a unit on electricity to assess students' misconceptions and interests‐experiences about electricity. Results of the concept test indicated that general performances of the students were relatively low and that many students had misconceptions in interpreting electric circuits. When the data were analyzed using MANOVA and follow‐up ANOVAs, a gender difference for males was observed on the dependent variable of total scores on the 10 practical items; however, there was no significant gender difference on the dependent variable of total scores on the six theoretical items. Moreover, when the same data were analyzed using MANCOVA and follow‐up ANCOVAs, controlling students' age and interest‐experience related to electricity, the observed gender difference was mediated on the total scores on the practical items. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 41: 603–616, 2004     

Instructional Planning in a Centralized School System: Lessons of a Study Among Primary School Teachers in Turkey

The purpose of the study described in this article was to assess teachers' planning practices at the primary-school level in Turkey. Altogether 210 schools were surveyed, a questionnaire was distributed to all teachers in these schools, and 1194 teachers responded to the questionnaire. The results indicated that the main sources of influence on daily and unit plans are teachers' experience, the national curriculum and the course textbooks. In daily planning, teachers assigned the highest level of importance to student characteristics and availability of learning materials, and the lowest level of importance to evaluation procedures and writing objectives. The main problems faced by teachers in planning were: the gap between the national curriculum and the classroom needs, difficulties in using the standard format for preparing plans, shortage of time and resources, insufficient support from principals and inspectors, and lack of cooperation among teachers.     

从接受美学看陈应松小说的魅力

接受美学突出读者的作用,强调文学作品是读者和文本共同作用的结果。陈应松的神农架小说在当今文坛引起了很大震动,从接受美学的角度来看,他的作品既满足了读者的期待视野,又打破了期待视野,而这正是神农架小说的魅力之所在。