Effect of a Classroom-based Intervention on the Social Skills of Students with Learning Difficulties

Children with learning difficulties often face challenges in social skills, hindering their ability to adjust and interact within society. The present study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a training program designed to enhance the social skills of individuals with disabilities. The quasi-experimental study involved 20 primary school students with learning difficulties exhibiting deficits in social skills in the United Arab Emirates. To evaluate the level of social skills of the sample children, a social skills assessment scale was employed, which was developed by the researchers. The assessment scale consisted of 24 statements that were organized into three dimensions based on previous research and theoretical frameworks. The results of the present study showed that the training program significantly and positively impacted the social skills of these children. There were statistically significant disparities between the mean ranks of the experimental group and the control group's scores on the social skills assessment scale after program completion. In conclusion, the study recommends integrating the developed training and similar programs into the public and private education curricula, including both government and private schools, to improve the social communication abilities of children with learning difficulties. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-SIED2-011 Full Text: PD

Assessing Site Selection of College Student Housing : Commuting Efficiency across Time

Universities around the world are promoting walking for their students because it provides many health and environmental benefits at the personal as well as the community level. This paper aims to help universities, city planners and housing investors in the process of efficient site selection for future student housing projects, by analyzing off-campus students’ commuting habits and travel time preferences to and from the university campuses. An online survey is operated to collect responses of students (n= 527) from two Jordanian universities located within the city of Irbid (N-Jordan). Results indicate that the mean value for students’ longest preferred one-way walking duration is 17.04± 8.25 minutes for the whole sample. A statistically significant negative correlation is found between students’ longest preferred one-way walking duration and age. The percentage of students who would accept this duration was represented in a formula in order to calculate the accumulated walking potential of varied sites around university campuses. The paper presented a local scenario using GIS mapping where this process was implemented to evaluate prospect vacant sites' walking potential around Yarmouk University, Irbid, Jordan

Designing The National Spatial Data Infrastructure For Jordan

Pembangunan pengumpulan data ruang (spatial) dan penggunaanya memainkan peranan penting dalam perjalanan aktiviti pembangunan infrastruktur data ruang (SDIs). SDI terdiri daripada teknologi, piawaian dan polisi (i.e. kerangka kerja berinstitusi), sumber manusia (i.e. orang) dan prosedur organisasi untuk memperoleh, menyimpan, memproses, mengagihkan dan mempertingkatkan penggunaan maklumat geo-ruang. Dalam memperkuatkan pembangunan dan liabiliti maklumat data ruang, status pembangunan SDI negara lain amat perlu diketahui. Terdapat banyak agensi awam dan swasta di Jordan yang memberi tumpuan kepada pengeluaran, penggunaan dan perkongsian data ruang bagi memenuhi keperluan komuniti geo-maklumat. Jordan tidak mempunyai kerangka kerja organisasi, dan terdapat lowong institusi terhadap tanggungjawab kepimpinan berkenaan GIS. Kebanyakan organisasi lebih gemar menubuhkan jawatankuasa GIS nasional yang bebas dengan memberikan kuasa, akauntabiliti, dan mandat sah kepada jawatankuasa tersebut dalam pengurusan kerja GIS seluruh negara. Namun demikian, akan terdapat beberapa cabaran untuk NSDI di Jordan seperti isu saling kendali, kurang dana, dokumentasi data, pembangunan polisi ke atas perkongsian data dan strategi nasional. Oleh kerana NSDI tidak serupa di seluruh dunia (Cetl, Roić, et al., 2009) maka adalah penting untuk Jordan membangunkan strategi nasional secara tersendiri. Sebaliknya, terdapat banyak kebaikan seperti menghalang duplikasi data ruang, menghapus keterulangan data ruang, meningkatkan kolaborasi di kalangan organisasi dan memperbaiki pembangunan ekonomi jabatan peringkat yang berlainan. Dalam menghasilkan strategi infrastruktur data ruang (NSDI), langkah pertama ialah kesedaran bahawa persekitaran kerja merangkumi pelbagai jenis pengguna yang memerlukan taraf kefungsian dan capaian data ruang yang berbeza. Langkah kedua ditumpukan kepada kerjasama dan koordinasi yang akan memainkan peranan yang berkesan dalam setiap organisasi. Tidak ada organisasi yang boleh memperbaiki atau menyediakan NSDI sendiri kecuali ia saling berkerjasama diantara pelbagai institusi, organisasi kerajaan, sektor awam dan swasta dalam menjayakan perlaksanaan sistem NSDI yang berjaya. Jordan menggunakan dua sistem koordinat iaitu datum ‘Palestin 1923’ dengan unjuran Cassini-Soldner (CASS), dan unjuran terkini iaitu ‘Jordan Transverse Mercator’ (JTM). Sistem unjuran JTM adalah berdasarkan kepada datum ‘International Hayford 1927’. Jabatan Tanah dan Ukur (DLS) bertanggungjawab menguruskan peta kadastral Jordan. Peta unjuran Cassini-Soldner merangkumi 17% Jordan dan peta unjuran JTM merangkumi kawasan-kawasan lain dalam negara Jordan. Sebahagian daripada kajian ini membuat perbandingan sistem unjuran CASS dengan JTM dalam usaha mencari kerangka rujukan yang boleh menyokong pembangunan infrastruktur data ruang (SDI) di Jordan. Dalam proses pelarasan transformasi afin menggunakan perisian ArcGIS, yang menukar unjuran CASS kepada kepada JTM, hasil yang diperolehi adalah pada ketepatan 10cm. Keputusan tersebut telah memberi dorongan kepada potensi peralihan kesemua peta dari unjuran CASS ke JTM. Menurut kajian ini juga, perselisihan di antara organisasi boleh dihapuskan apabila unjuran JTM digunakan sebagai sistem rujukan standard di Jordan. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Developments in spatial data collection and usage play a pivotal role in developmental activities that perform Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs). SDI consist of the technologies, standards, policies (i.e. institutional frameworks), human resources (i.e. people) and organizational procedures to obtain store, process, distribute, and enhance the utilization of geospatial information. Knowing the SDI development status of other countries is essential to intensify the development and liability of spatial data information. In Jordan, there are many agencies, both public and private, that are concerned with spatial data production, use and sharing to meet the needs of the geo-information community. Jordan has no organizational framework, and there is an institutional void in leadership responsibility with regard to GIS. Most organizations prefer to create an independent national GIS committee and provide the committee authority, accountability, and legal mandate to manage all GIS works throughout the country. However, there are several challenges that NSDI might face in Jordan, such as interoperability issues, lack of funding, documentation of data, development of policies on data sharing, and national strategy. Since NSDIs are not identical worldwide (Cetl, Roić, et al., 2009), therefore it is important for Jordan to develops its own national strategy. On the other hand, there are many advantages like barring the duplication of spatial data, eliminating the redundancy of spatial data, raising the collaboration among organizations and different departments, improving the economic development at different levels. In creating the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) strategy, the first step is the awareness on the fact that most environments have various kinds of users who require different levels of functionality and access to spatial data. The second step is focus on the cooperation and coordination that play significant roles in each organization. No organization is able to improve or establish NSDI by itself unless it cooperates between various institutions, governmental organizations, public and private sectors that will lead to successful establishment of NSDI system. Jordan uses two coordinate systems namely the Palestine 1923 Datum, Cassini-Soldner projection (CASS), and the recent “Jordan Transverse Mercator” (JTM). The JTM Projection System is based on the “International Hayford 1927” Datum. The Department of Land and Survey (DLS) is responsible for managing the cadastral maps of Jordan. Maps in the Cassini-Soldner projection cover 17% of Jordan and maps in the JTM projection cover the rest of the country. Part of the study compares CASS with JTM projection system in Jordan in the effort to adopt suitable reference frame that supports the development of SDI in Jordan. In the affine adjustment process that transformed CASS projection to JTM in ArcGIS software, the result produces an accuracy of approximately 10cm. The result inspires the potentiality to transfer of all maps from CASS to JTM. Likewise, the study has shown that the discrepancies between organizations can be eliminated using the JTM projection as the standard reference system in Jordan

Factors Associated with Contraceptive Use among Jordanian Muslim Women: Implications for Health and Social Policy

The objectives of this quantitative study were to identify factors associated with contraceptive use by Jordanian Muslim women; to estimate factors that predict the variance in contraceptive use; and recommend appropriate health and social policies to enhance quality of life of Jordanian women. A cross -sectional design was used to collect data from 487 married non-pregnant women aged 18 to 49 years who resided in three southern governorates in Jordan using a structured interview guide. Results showed that 63.2% of women used some form of contraceptive method; IUD was the most frequently used method (44.2%). The percentage of women exposed to violence was 5% and 9.2% for physical and verbal abuse respectively. Findings also showed that there was a significant relationship between psychological wellbeing of women and contraceptive use. Furthermore, no relationship between women’s perceived religious stance towards contraceptives and their use. Predictors of contraceptive use were: women aged 40-45 years explained 23.3% of the variance in contraceptive use; and the woman’s approval of contraceptive use for birth spacing explained 21.4% of the variance in contraceptive use. The Islamic stance towards contraceptive use was not significant in these women; however further studies are needed to confirm these findings as well as the generalizability to Muslim women in other countries. The study findings have implications for health and social policies relevant to family planning services in order to enhance and increase the use of contraceptives to reduce the TFR in Jordan. Furthermore, health care providers, social and economical policy makers need to integrate women’s cultural views and contraceptive use in strategies and policies beyond health to improve women’s quality of life and build on the global consensus for women and children to achieve the Millennium Development goals

Indications and outcomes of pediatric penetrating keratoplasty: A retrospective observational study

Background: Pediatric corneal transplantation can be indicated in congenital and acquired conditions. Challenges include preoperative evaluation, multiple intraoperative obstacles, and postoperative problems in follow-up and management. This study was aimed at identifying the indications and clinical outcomes of pediatric penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) in Jordan. Methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted in Amman, Jordan. Using the hospital’s electronic database, all medical records of patients aged < 18 years who underwent PKP between January 2004 and October 2019 were reviewed. Preoperative evaluations included best-corrected distance visual acuity (BCDVA) and anterior and posterior segment examinations. Postoperative complications, BCDVA, and graft survival were examined 1 year postoperatively. Results: A total of 149 cases of pediatric PKP were performed on 141 eyes of 118 patients with an age mean ± standard deviation (SD) of 11.44 ± 4.97 years at the time of surgery. Acquired non-traumatic corneal pathologies accounted for 65.8% of indications for PKP. The most frequent indication was advanced keratoconus (55.7%). Preoperative and 1-year postoperative BCDVAs significantly differed (P < 0.001), with 111 (74.5%) patients showing improved BCDVA, 12 (8.05%) patients showing worsened BCDVA, and 26 (17.45%) patients showing no change in BCDVA. The overall 1-year graft survival rate was 80.54%. Conclusions: This was the largest study in Jordan involving pediatric patients who underwent PKP for various indications, showing a significant improvement in BCDVA, with a high survival rate at 1 year. Future studies with longer follow-up periods could provide stronger evidence for surgical outcomes and graft survival. Further, the option of lamellar keratoplasty in the pediatric age group should be assessed