Examining Teachers\u27 and College Students\u27 Perspectives Toward E-textbooks as an Educational Tool

The purpose of this research was to understand the perspectives of teachers and students regarding their use of specific e-textbooks in a higher education learning environment. The e-textbooks used by the teachers and students were examined in order to determine functions and features to focus on during the inquiry. This study was particularly interested in the design of e-textbooks and how they are used by both teachers and students in the learning process. The participants in the research were also prompted to suggest improvements to e-textbooks. A case study approach was used as the methodology to examine three teachers represented three majors in three different colleges and a small sample of their students to gather information to answer the research questions. Qualitative data from multiple sources such as in depth interviews and document reviews were used to analyze and examine the overall utility of e-textbooks toward learning/teaching, and functions related to the instructional and navigational design of e-textbooks. Results of this study showed that there was overall agreement that choosing books needs to be based on the quality of the material contained within the book, regardless of the format, print or electronic. E-textbooks facilitate teachers’ and students’ interactions and access to the materials and resources. However, both teachers and students viewed their e-textbooks as supplementary materials, even thought these e-textbooks allowed them to interact with the text using different tools. One recurring finding was how flexible e-textbooks are in individualizing student learning. Recommendations by students/teachers included the improvement of page layout, the interface, increasing window size, providing more complex tasks, keeping up with technology, and insuring the quality of information within the e-textbook. Implications for future research include further investigation into the use of e-textbooks as supplementary materials, and whether printed texts are also being considered as supplementary. Finally, there are indications that advanced technology may be changing how students learn and if e-textbooks reflect this change. Further research into this possible change in ways that students learn would shed additional light on this question

An Aspect Refactoring Tool for The Observer Pattern

Current integrated development environments such as Eclipse provide strong support for object- oriented automatic refactorings; however, the same cannot be said about aspect-oriented refactor- ings. Refactoring of design patterns is one area where aspect refactoring automation remains to be explored in depth and few current tools are available to support it. To support aspect refactoring tools we present the AJRefactor plug-in, a semi-automatic refactoring tool for the observer pattern, a widely-used solution in the design of object-oriented programs. Aspect refactoring of the observer pattern allows aspects to capture pattern-specific code into a more modularized unit, and local- izes the code of participating classes. After applying AJRefactor on two Java projects JHotDraw and Prevayler, the results showed that AJRefactor was able to refactor 75% of the total observer instances found in both projects. Also, the refactoring enhanced the modularity and loosens the coupling of the pattern classes. Finally, the results showed a significant time savings and a small reduction in code size when refactoring with AJRefactor

Every Day You Are Improving: How College Students View the Educational Impact of World of Warcraft

The purpose of the study was to explore college students’ experiences with playing World of Warcraft (WoW) and their views on the application of WoW in educational settings. A qualitative case study design was used to interview three participants who were selected purposively from a Midwestern university. Findings revealed that players thought that playing WoW was fun, relaxing, motivating, but sometimes almost to the point of addiction. The findings also support student perceptions of generalization of teamwork, cooperating, socializing, academic skills, and time management skills learned and practiced in playing WoW to academic settings. Playing WoW games can provide an important link between the virtual world and the real world as players develop academic, time management, collaborative, and critical thinking skills

Effect of tooth brushing on color changes of esthetic restorative materials

Background: The major problem of dental restorative material over time is color changes, and this discoloration is caused by either intrinsic or extrinsic factors. Intrinsic factors include the staining of the material itself caused by changes in the resin matrix and the interface between matrix and fillers.Methods: The study was conducted using resin composite material (shade A2), and four solutions (distilled water, strawberry, pomegranate, and red grape juices). The specimens were distributed into four groups for immersion in one of the four solutions. Authors divided each group into brushing and non-brushing subgroups.Results: When immersed in water, shade was changed from A2 to A3.5 and A4 (light to dark) in brushing group and no overall change was noticed in non-brushing group. However, there was statistically significant difference between the two groups.Conclusions: All types of juices caused distinct color change. However, brushing caused more color change as compared to specimens with no brushing

Aspect extraction for sentiment analysis in Arabic dialect

The increase of the user-generated content on the web led to the explosion of opinionated text which facilitated opinion mining research. Despite the popularity of this research field in English text and the large number of Arabic speakers who contribute continuously to the web content, Arabic opinion mining has not received much attention due to the lack of reliable NLP tools and an accepted/comprehensive dataset. While English opinion mining has been studied extensively, Arabic opinion mining hasn’t received as much attention. The work that exists in sentiment analysis is limited to news, blogs written in Modern Standard Arabic and few studies on social media and web reviews written in Arabic dialect. Moreover, most of the work done has been done at the document and sentence level and to best of our knowledge, there is no work on a more fine-grained level. In this work, we take a more fine-grained approach to Arabic opinion mining at the aspect level through experimentation with methods that have been used in English Aspect extraction. Further, we are also contributing a dataset that can be used for further research on Arabic dialect

Right internal mammary artery for the management of anomalous right coronary artery from the left sinus of Valsalva; a case report

Background: Anomalous origin of the right coronary artery from the left sinus of Valsalva (ARCA) is a rare anomaly. Surgery is recommended in symptomatic patients, while the optimal surgical approach is controversial. Case presentation: We present a case of an ARCA in a 56-year-old male who was managed with coronary artery bypass grafting using the right internal mammary artery and ligation of the proximal right coronary artery.  The patient remained asymptomatic after 1 year of follow-up. Conclusions: ARCA can be managed using the right internal mammary artery with ligation of the proximal right coronary artery to prevent the competitive flow

The Competencies of the Teacher in the Islamic Educational Legacy كفايات المعلّم في التّراث التّربوي الإسلامي**

The aim of this study is to extract the competencies of the teacher from Islamic educational heritage sources and link them to Islamic principles (the Quran and Sunnah). It seeks to highlight the distinctiveness of these competencies in the Islamic perspective compared to other educational systems. The study also explores the benefits of incorporating these competencies today and how to utilize them to enhance our Arab-Islamic educational system. The research was conducted by conducting an exhaustive review of seven of the most important ancient Islamic educational books. It revealed that Muslim scholars showed great concern for teacher competencies and extensively discussed them under the topic of Teaching Etiquette. The study concluded that teacher competencies in Islamic educational heritage possess unique characteristics. They are closely associated with monotheism, faith, and the hereafter, and their implementation serves the interests of life and livelihood within this framework. Furthermore, these competencies hold valuable insights for contemporary Muslim educators. يتن هدفت الدّراسة إلى استخراج كفايات المعلم من مصادر التّراث التّربوي الإسلامي، وربطها بالأصول الإسلاميّة (القرآن والسّنّة)، وبيان ما تتميز به تلك الكفايات في المنظور الإسلامي عن غيرها في النظم المعرفية الأخرى، وبيان الفوائد المرجوّة من استحضارها اليوم، وكيفية الإفادة منها في تجويد نظامنا التّربوي العربي الإسلامي. تمّت الدّراسة من خلال إجراء استقراء على سبعة من أهم الكتب التّربوية الإسلاميّة القديمة. وأظهرت اعتناء العلماء المسلمين بكفايات المعلم وبحثهم لها بتوسع تحت عنوان آداب المعلم . وخلصت الدّراسة إلى أنّ لكفايات المعلم في التراث التربوي الإسلامي سمات تميزها عن غيرها، فهي تتسم بارتباطها الوثيق بالتوحيد والإيمان والآخرة، وتحقيقها لمصالح الحياة والمعاش في إطار ذلك، وأنّ في تلك الكفايات ما يفيد كثيراً علماء التربية المسلمين المعاصرين

Comorbidities Associated With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Children and Adolescents at a Tertiary Care Setting

Studies have revealed high rates of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric comorbid conditions among individuals diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, research on this topic in the Arab world has been limited. This study evaluates the medical, neurodevelopmental, and psychiatric comorbidities in children and adolescents diagnosed with ADHD in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). A total of 428 pediatric patients diagnosed with ADHD were included. Children and adolescents with ADHD had high rates of comorbid disorders. Twenty comorbid conditions were identified. More than 3 quarters of the study sample had at least 1 comorbid disorder. The most common comorbidity among children was autism spectrum disorder, and among adolescents was anxiety disorders. Comprehensive assessments are highly warranted to identify and manage associated comorbid conditions. Further research is needed in exploring the biopsychosocial factors contributing to the elevated rate of comorbidity in children and adolescents with ADHD