Service-oriented flexible and interoperable assessment: towards a standardised e-assessment system

Free-text answers assessment has been a field of interest during the last 50 years. Several free-text answers assessment tools underpinned by different techniques have been developed. In most cases, the complexity of the underpinned techniques has caused those tools to be designed and developed as stand-alone tools. The rationales behind using computers to assist learning assessment are mainly to save time and cost, as well as to reduce staff workload. However, utilising free-text answers assessment tools separately form the learning environment may increase the staff workload and increase the complexity of the assessment process. Therefore, free-text answers scorers have to have a flexible design to be integrated within the context of the e-assessment system architectures taking advantages of software-as-a-service architecture. Moreover, flexible and interoperable e-assessment architecture has to be utilised in order to facilitate this integration. This paper discusses the importance of flexible and interoperable e-assessment. Moreover, it proposes a service-oriented flexible and interoperable architecture for futuristic e-assessment systems. Nevertheless, it shows how such architecture can foster the e-assessment process in general and the free-text answers assessment in particular

Jordanian Teachers' Attitudes toward Foreign Language Teaching and their Relationship to these Teachers' Classroom Practices

This study aimed at exploring Jordanian public school teachers’ attitudes toward teaching English as a foreign language and the factors that may influence these attitudes. It also aimed at investigating the relationship between their attitudes toward the English language and their classroom practices. The participants of the study were twenty female teachers of the English language. They were purposefully chosen from the schools in Ajloun Directorate of Education in the second semester of the academic year 2012/2013. To answer the questions of the study, the researcher designed a questionnaire, and adopted an observation checklist. Proper statistical analyses were used to analyze the results. The results of the study showed that the EFL teachers' attitudes toward teaching English as a foreign language were moderate. The results also showed that teachers' actual pedagogical competences were moderate with a mean of 2.736. The correlation coefficient between the teachers' attitudes and their actual pedagogical competences was negative and low. Key Words: Attitudes, pedagogical competence, classroom practices

Peer Assessment System for Modern Learning Settings: Towards a Flexible E-Assessment System

According to the rapid changes in our life styles and in order to cope with the new requirements for modernlearning settings and activities, several applications have been developed to provide our modern society with theselearning settings. E-assessment as a main part of e-learning has been affected by these new settings and new aspects such as peer assessment have become more and more important. In this paper, we will present a computer-assisted peer assessment system that can be used to improve the learning process. An overall architecture will be presented and an experiment has been conducted. First findings will be discussed and future work will be mentioned

Globalization and English Teaching in Jordan

This study discusses globalization and its effect on both education and culture. English as a global language is discussed and how attitudes of people in Jordan have changed according to this fact. Many people in Jordan are keen on learning and even using English in different aspects of life. The positive and negative sides of globalization are elevated and the importance of not letting the negative effect of globalization erase our identity was a point that this study raised. The study concludes by emphasizing the role of teachers in enlightening their students and making them aware of how to proceed into their future as envoys of their own culture to the rest of the world. Key words: globalization, education, culture, English teachin

The Effect of an Integrative Skills Program on Developing Jordanian University Students' Select Multiple Intelligences

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of an integrative skills program on developing Jordanian university students’ select- multiple intelligences. It also aimed at investigating the effect of gender and the interaction between gender and the instructional program on intelligences. The participants were 122 university students. The study adopted a quasi-experimental design. The experimental group was instructed using the integrative program.  An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to analyze the students’ full degrees on the intelligence test. The results showed that there was a statistically significant difference between the adjusted mean scores of students’ intelligences due to the teaching method in favor of the experimental group. The data revealed that there was a statistically significant difference between the adjusted mean scores of students’ intelligences due to gender in favor of the females in the linguistic and interpersonal intelligences and the males in the logical and intrapersonal intelligences. The results showed that there was a statistically significant difference between the adjusted mean scores of intelligences due to the interaction between the teaching method and gender in favor of the females in the linguistic intelligence and the males in the logical intelligence

Islamic Banking Institutions and their Role in Economic Development of Jordan

Purpose:  This study aimed to demonstrate the importance of economic financing at Islamic banks in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.   Theoretical framework:  This study came to answer the following main questions: What is Islamic banking finance, its meaning, and its characteristics? What is the reality of Islamic banking finance in Jordan? What is the impact of Islamic banking finance in Jordan on increasing investment and saving? What is the impact of Islamic banking finance in Jordan in reducing inflation and unemployment? What is the impact of Islamic banking finance in Jordan on the gross domestic product? What is the main difference between Islamic banking and the conventional banking system?   Design/methodology/approach: The study measures several areas in terms of income, unemployment, inflation, investment, as well as gross domestic product during the period from 2015-2020, where the regression approach was adopted in order to measure the effects.   Findings:  The study showed no statistically significant effect of financing in Jordanian Islamic banks on the gross domestic product and inflation while it showed a statistical effect of financing in Islamic banks on the public commercial sectors, housing, and construction. The study also revealed that largest part of financing in Jordanian Islamic banks is directed toward construction and housing sector, followed by the public services sector to achieve the desired economic goals of Islamic banking finance.   Research, Practical & Social implications:  This study was limited to explaining the economic importance of Islamic banking finance in Jordan, and to some economic variables; such as gross domestic product, inflation, and unemployment.   Originality/value:  Study stems from the importance of financing provided by banks, where commercial or Islamic financing in banks considers one of the most important services provided to society, and accordingly this study hopes to present a practical vision of financing importance in Jordanian Islamic banks on economic development, and hopes to provide recommendations for Jordanian Islamic Banks

Assessment of Air Pollutants Emissions from a Cement Plant: A Case Study in Jordan

This paper presents predictions of air pollutants (dust, SO2, NOx and CO) emitted from a cement plant that will be constructed in Wadi Alabyad area located about 100 km south of Amman, Jordan. The Gaussian air pollution model is used and the predicted concentrations of the air pollutants are compared with the Jordanian air quality standards (JS 1140/2006). It is found that the month of September represents the worst-case scenario where the atmospheric stability condition is classified as A and the average wind speed is 1.7 m/s. The predicted SO2 hourly and the 24-hour concentrations -when using fuel oil- reached 0.8 ppm and 0.42 ppm, consequently, at a distance of 750 m from the plant, which exceed the standard values of 0.3 ppm and 0.14 pmm, consequently. In case of natural gas as source of energy, the SO2 concentration is predicted to be negligible. The hourly concentration of NOx is 0.32 ppm at a distance of 750 m from the plant exceeding the standard limit of 0.21 ppm. It is found that the maximum TSP 24-hour concentration will be expected to reach 359.61 μg/m3 exceeding the standard value of 260 μg/m3. The TSP, PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations exceeded the values set by the standard near the vicinity of the cement plant at a distance closer than 300 m. The proposed mitigation measures should limit the ambient air pollutant concentrations to be in compliance with the standard values

Assessment for complex learning resources: Development and validation of an integrated model

Today's e-learning systems meet the challenge to provide interactive, personalized environments that support self-regulated learning as well as social collaboration and simulation. At the same time assessment procedures have to be adapted to the new learning environments by moving from isolated summative assessments to integrated assessment forms. Therefore, learning experiences enriched with complex didactic resources - such as virtualized collaborations and serious games - have emerged. In this extension of [1] an integrated model for e-assessment (IMA) is outlined, which incorporates complex learning resources and assessment forms as main components for the development of an enriched learning experience. For a validation the IMA was presented to a group of experts from the fields of cognitive science, pedagogy, and e-learning. The findings from the validation lead to several refinements of the model, which mainly concern the component forms of assessment and the integration of social aspects. Both aspects are accounted for in the revised model, the former by providing a detailed sub-model for assessment forms

The Effectiveness of a Training Program in Developing The Auditory Perception Skills and its Effect in Improvement reading Skills Of Students with Learning Disabilities.

The study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of a training program in developing the auditory perception skills and its effect in improving reading skills of students with learning disabilities (LD). The sample of the study were 40 students who were chosen purposively from students who have learning disabilities and who were attending 4th grade resource rooms. These participants were divided into two groups: the first group was an experimental group while the other was a control group. Each group consisted of 20 male students with LD. Moreover, the study used the auditory perception scale prepared by Al-Kailani and Al-Waqfi (1998) which was standardized on the Jordanian environment. In addition, a reading achievement test prepared by the researchers was used. The training program was applied on the experimental group to develop auditory perception skills for a period of two months. The Shared Variance analysis (ANCOVA) was used to analyze the data. The results were as follows; there were statistical significant differences at (α \u3c 0.05) in auditory perception skills between the subjects of both groups; the experimental and control group being better for experimental group on the total auditory perception scale, also on its dimensions in favor of the experimental group. Moreover, there were statistical significance difference in academic (reading) achievement between both groups at the level (α \u3c 0.05) in favor of the experimental grou

Safety Management in the Jordanian Construction Industry

The Jordanian society and economy have suffered human and financial losses as a result of the poor safety record in the construction industry. The purpose of this study is to examine safety management in the Jordanian construction industry. The study collects data from 70 general contractors, who are involved in all types of construction. Collected data include information regarding organizational safety policy, safety training, safety meetings, safety equipment, safety inspections, safety incentives and penalties, workers’ attitude towards safety, labor turnover rates and compliance with safety legislation. The study reveals several factors of poor safety management. Among these are lack of safety training, occasional safety meetings, occasional safety inspections, unavailability of safety protection measures, hesitance of workers to use safety equipment, high labor turnover rates and non-compliance with safety legislation. The paper concludes by providing a set of recommendations to contractors and governmental bodies to improve safety performance