DESCRIPTIVE MODELS OF STUDENT DECISION BEHAVIOUR IN EVALUATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Sound assessment and evaluation of higher education necessitates deep understanding of the detailed processes underlying student overall evaluation of course and Instructor. The present study employs both correlational analysis and step‐wise multiple regression in an effort to help us understand student decision behaviour and to build mathematical models representing the dynamics of student evaluative Judgement of course and instructor. The resulting models were very strong and were ctually used to improve the performance of the academic programmes in the Institute of Banking Studies In Kuwait.     

The cultural milieu of counseling

This article explores the mono-cultural milieu of counseling. There are four primary contributors to the cultural domination of counseling by the Western culture. They are as follows: (1) the deep historical and philosophical roots of counseling in Western culture; (2) the dominant theories, practices and approaches of counseling make the assumption that counseling will take place within a Western culture; (3) the bulk of research and literature pertaining to counseling concentrates on counseling within the West; (4) the emulation by non-Western nations of Western models of counseling. The concept of cultural dissonance is given to help in the understanding of the relation of culture to a counseling relationship at a given time between counselor and client.     

Robust dissipative control for internet-based switching systems

A class of hybrid multi-rate control models with time-delay and switching controllers are formulated based on combined remote control and local control strategies. The problem of robust dissipative control for this discrete system is investigated. An improved Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional is constructed and the subsequent analysis provides some new sufficient conditions in the form of LMIs for both nominal and uncertain representations. Several special cases of practical interests are derived. A numerical simulation example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the theoretical result.     

Academic and social attributions as predictors of emotional and behavioural difficulties in students referred for learning disabilities and typically achieving students: the female profile in Oman

Identification of children who exhibit emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBDs) has been prioritized in several countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region including Oman. Research showed that cognitive attribution processes are biased and defective in atypical populations such as students with learning disabilities (LD). The current study examined the relationship between school-based attributions including academic and social attributions and the display of EBDs in students referred for having LD and typically achieving students. The Student Academic Attribution Scale (SAAS), Student Social Attribution Scale (SSAS), and the Arabic version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (A-SDQ) were administered to 135 typically achieving students and 89 students referred for LD. The participants were all females from middle school. Stepwise regression analyses showed that academic and social attributions were more predictive of EBDs in students referred for LD compared to typically achieving students. The attribution profile of students with LD reflected negative symptoms that lead to the display of internalizing and externalizing EBDs. The study findings are discussed in relation to how schools can utilize the cognitive process of attribution to support students with EBDs.     

Social media networks and pedagogy at the University of Jordan

This study examined impact of a social media networks course on student use of SNSs performance. Moreover, it examined the associations among course design, course materials, learning experiences and a social media networks course. Survey instrument is used to examine the relationships in the proposed model. A total of 380 questionnaires have been collected from students at the University of Jordan who studied the social media networks course. A structural equation modelling approach based on AMOS 20.0 statistical software is used to study the causal relationships and test the hypotheses between the observed and latent constructs in the proposed research model. The analysis results revealed that course materials and learning experiences directly, positively and significantly impacted the social media networks course, which in turn had a significant impact on students’ use social networks sites performance. Course design, however, did not impact the social media networks course. Our findings have important implications as we demonstrated the validity of the joint two different models and provide information about impact of studying social media networks course on students’ academic performance.     

Contextual and pedagogical considerations in teaching for forgiveness in the Arab world

This study was conducted among Arab teachers in four countries in the Middle East (Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Palestine) to examine their views and methods on teaching for forgiveness in their classrooms. A total of 87 teachers in K-12 classrooms participated in semi-structured interviews as part of a larger study on teaching for forgiveness in the region. Thematic analyses of interviews suggested that teachers created opportunities to model and teach forgiveness as part of their civics education curriculum. They also expressed eagerness for instructional guidance and curriculum materials to systematically teach forgiveness in schools. The strength of religion and historical religious figures as positive sources for teaching forgiveness was also evident. Findings highlight the need to integrate education for peace and forgiveness in the education system, especially as a result of recent political developments in the Middle East, and to provide methods to assist teachers to do so in their classrooms.     

Mixed control of uncertain jumping time-delay systems

In this paper, we investigate a class of linear continuous-time systems with Markovian jump parameters. An integral part of the system dynamics is a delayed state with time-varying and bounded delays. The jumping parameters are modeled as a continuous-time, discrete-state Markov process. Employing norm-bounded parametric uncertainties and utilizing the second-method of Lyapunov, we examine the problem of designing a mixed controller which minimizes a quadratic performance measure while satisfying a prescribed -norm bound on the closed-loop system. It is established that sufficient conditions for the existence of the mixed controller and the associated performance upper bound could be cast in the form of linear matrix inequalities.     

Anatomical sciences: A foundation for a solid learning experience in dental technology and dental prosthetics

Basic science courses are extremely important as a foundation for scaffolding knowledge and then applying it in future courses, clinical situations as well as in a professional career. Anatomical sciences, which include tooth morphology, oral histology, oral embryology, and head and neck anatomy form a core part of the preclinical courses in dental technology programs. In this article, the importance and relevance of anatomical sciences to dental personnel with no direct contact with patients (dental technicians) and limited discipline related contact with patients (dental prosthetists) is highlighted. Some light is shed on the role of anatomical sciences in the pedagogical framework and its significance in the educational process and interprofessional learning of dental technicians and prosthetists using oral biology as an example in the dental curriculum. To conclude, anatomical sciences allow dental technicians and prosthetists to a gain a better insight of how tissues function, leading to a better understanding of diagnosis, comprehensive treatment planning and referrals if needed. Patient communication and satisfaction also increases as a result of this deep understanding of oral tissues. Anatomical sciences bridge the gap between basic science, preclinical, and clinical courses, which leads to a holistic approach in patient management. Finally, treatment outcomes are positively affected due to the appreciation of the macro and micro structure of oral tissues. Anat Sci Educ 10: 395–404. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists.     

The acute effects of resistance exercise on the main determinants of blood rheology

The aim of this study was to examine short-term changes in blood rheological variables after a single bout of resistance exercise. Twenty-one healthy males completed three sets of 5 - 7 repetitions of six exercises at an intensity corresponding to 80% of one-repetition maximum (1-RM). The average duration of the exercise bout was 35 min. Venous blood samples were obtained before exercise, immediately after exercise and after 30 min of recovery and analysed for lactate, red blood cell count, haematocrit, haemoglobin, plasma viscosity, fibrinogen, total protein and albumin concentration. Plasma volume decreased 10.1% following resistance exercise. This occurred in parallel with an increase of 5.6%, 5.4% and 6.2% in red blood cell count, haemoglobin and haematocrit; respectively. Plasma viscosity increased from 1.55 +/- 0.01 to 1.64 +/- 0.01 mPa s immediately after resistance exercise before decreasing to 1.57 +/- 0.01 mPa s at the end of the recovery period. Similarly, fibrinogen, albumin and total protein increased significantly following resistance exercise. However, the rises in all these rheological parameters were transient and returned to pre-exercise values by the end of recovery. We conclude that a single session of heavy resistance exercise performed by normal healthy individuals alters blood rheological variables and that these changes are transient and could be attributed to exercise-induced haemoconcentration.     

Modeling and control of microgrid: An overview

A microgrid (MG) is a building block of future smart grid, it can be defined as a network of low voltage power generating units, storage devices and loads. System of systems (SoS) is another concept involving large scale integration of various systems. In this paper, we provide an overview of recent developments in modeling and control methods of microgrid as well as presenting the reason towards incorporating MG into the existing grid. Various SoS control strategies when applied to MG are discussed.