A comparative Analysis between the Assessment Criteria Used to Assess Graduating Teachers at Rustaq College (Oman) and Griffith University (Australia) During The Teaching Practicum

This article reports the findings from a study that compares the assessment criteria used to measure pre-service teachers’ professional competencies at Rustaq College of Applied Sciences in Oman, and at Griffith University in Queensland, Australia. The study adopts a discourse analytic approach to deconstruct and critically compare the assessment criteria outlined in documents that report on graduating teachers’ classroom performance used at each teacher education institution. The results of the analysis reveal a different normative vision of graduating teachers in each country. The Omani graduate pre-service teachers are likely to be ‘a compliant student-trainee’, whereas Australian graduate pre-service teachers are more likely to be ‘professionally qualified to teach and classroom ready’. The findings are used to identify practices that may help to improve the current Omani approach to determining pre-service teachers’ classroom readiness to be more credible in terms of valid and equitable assessment processes

Testing the Predictive Validity of the IELTS Test on Omani English Candidates’ Professional Competencies

This study has investigated the relationship between IELTS testing and Omani English teacher trainees’ professional competencies by adopting a quantitative method for data collection. A total number of 94 graduate freshmen Omani English teachers’ IELTS, CGPA and their teaching professional competencies are collected. The results reveal a moderate significant relationship between IELTS and CGPA but a weak relationship between IELTS and teaching competencies.  This study could contribute to the growing body of literature that aims to assess the construct validity of IELTS, and attempts to do so in the new terrain of teaching competencies. This study puts forwards recommendations for IELTS proficiency test in the Omani context.

International Students’ Sponsorships at University of Technology and Applied Sciences (UTAS), Rustaq, Oman: A Case Study

The flow of knowledge resources among nations is interconnected with global political, economic and cultural relationships. One major component of academic interaction is the international exchange at the level of higher education. This paper outlines the existence of international students within the Omani Program for Cultural and Scientific Cooperation (OPCSC) at the University of Technology and Applied Sciences-AL-rustaq, College of Education and explores the merits of the program. Through group interview with nine international students, the study found that the currently enrolled students are from African states solely and were informed about OPCSC by word of mouth disseminated by the International Istiqama Organization, which liaisons between studying opportunities offered by the Ministry of Higher Education and willing international students, and through Omani delegates as well as friends. Therefore, this paper recommends branding the OPCSC and subjecting it to systematic policies and procedures, on the one hand, as well as diversification of international students’ portfolio in order to raise the quality of higher education in Oman