Teaching of Academic Subjects in English and the Challenges Kuwaiti Students Face

This thesis explores students’ views concerning the current English as medium of instruction (EMI) policy at Kuwait’s two public higher education institutions, Kuwait University (KU) and the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET). In line with the exploratory nature of this study, an interpretivist and social constructivist epistemological stance was implemented to elicit and analyse students’ views and gain their insights on the current situation. The study employed a sequential mixed method design using quantitative (questionnaire) and qualitative (focus groups, semi-structured interviews and semi-structured observations) methods to present a holistic picture. The number of the participants were 12 for the focus groups, 100 for the questionnaire, 11 for the in-depth interviews and 10 teaching sessions were observed. Descriptive statistics were calculated for the quantitative strand data and thematic analysis was used for the qualitative data. The study revealed that although most participants preferred to learn through English, the current EMI policy raised many concerns. These related to students having to endure an ‘extra burden’ and the additional effort needed to study a subject being taught in a language that was not their mother tongue. The students expressed the view that this resulted in them being unable to gain a deep knowledge of the subject and not attain high grades which then affected their career prospects. These issues arose due to the students not being sufficiently competent in the use of English at the high level expected for degree level work. Students also expressed concerns relating to EMI policy effects on Arab identity and on the use of Arabic as a language of science and academia. Students would prefer a policy that promoted the use of both Arabic and English in their courses which would enable them to benefit from developing their understanding of both languages. The thesis concludes by presenting a recommendation to modify the medium of instruction policy such that it incorporates both English and Arabic. These recommendations have implications for policymakers, teachers and students

Introducing the Business Judgment Rule in Select Countries of the Arabian Gulf

Examining the corporate practices of the Gulf Corporation Council (GCC) member states, this paper demonstrates the imperative that GCC nations implement rational board practice models and improve current laws and regulations that pertain to corporate boards of directors. GCC member countries increasingly need to diversify revenue-generating streams; improved corporate board practices are likely to increase income from foreign corporations and investments. Rational board policies protect board members from frivolous challenges related to legal culpability because they operate on a “good faith” model, augmenting corporate growth. Providing a coherent analysis of the business judgment rule, a significant as pect of rational board practices, this paper examines how the rule has worked in the United States and provides a standard for GCC countries to emulate. Shifting domestic policies to this rational model will promote foreign investments and result in financial stability, benefits that current reform practices initiated by the GCC have not yet accomplished

Total quality management within the construction industry of Kuwait: the role of Total Quality Management and its usage

The aim of this research is to understand employees’ contribution to the successful implementation of total quality management (TQM) within construction companies in Kuwait. A research model was developed based on previous studies to guide the research and understand the different factors that contribute to employee contribution and implementation of TQM. The research begins with reviewing different literatures on employee contribution and TQM. The factors studies the implementation and usage of quality management in the construction companies and factors such as leadership, employee, teamwork, and information technology on TQM. To understand employee contribution, data was collected from employees in the construction companies in Kuwait. The data was collected using quantitative survey and using questionnaires that were distributed by hand to the companies. The collected data was entered in statistical software to generate different types of analyses. The types of analyses were descriptive, crosstab, correlation, factor, regression, Kruskall Wallis and Mann Whitney. Based on the results leadership, employee, teamwork and information technology were found to be significant to the role of TQM in the construction companies. The recommendations were towards practicing continuous improvement, strengthening employee training, increasing and enhancing communication between managers and employees. The future research recommendations are towards gathering information from senior managers and CEO. The data needs to be compared with this study to understand the role of senior managers towards success of TQM in construction companies. ii ACKNOWLED

Characterizing the Performance of a Ferrofluid-Based Electromagnetic Energy Harvester under Direct and Parametric Excitations

When a container carrying a magnetized ferrofluid is subjected to external mechanical stimuli, the sloshing motion of the magnetized ferrofluid generates a time-varying magnetic flux, which can be used to induce an electromotive force in a coil placed adjacent to the container. This process generates an electric current in the coil, and therewith, can be used to transduce external vibrations into electric energy providing a unique approach for vibration energy harvesting using liquid-state transduction materials. As compared to traditional vibratory energy harvesters that employ soli transduction elements, this approach offers several advantages including, but not limited to, conformability to different shapes and increased sensitivity to external excitations. In this dissertation, a bench-top experiment was first constructed to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed concept for vibratory energy harvesting. A rectangular plastic container carrying ferrofluid was placed inside a pick-up coil which is wound around a ferrite core. The whole setup was mounted on an electrodynamic shaker table which provided a controlled acceleration at the containers base. The external magnetization is applied using permanent magnets with maximum magnetic field intensity of 92 mT. Series of experiments were carried out to determine the optimal configuration of coil windings with respect to the sloshing and magnetic field directions. It was found that the output power of the device increases an order of magnitude when the coil is wound perpendicular to the sloshing motion and magnetic field lines. For the optimal configuration determined experimentally, a nonlinear analytical model which governs the electro-magneto-hydrodynamics of the harvester was developed. An approximate analytical solution of the model was obtained using perturbation methods for two different types of excitation; namely for a case involving the primary resonance excitation of the first mode and a case involving the principle parametric resonance of the first two modes. For the case involving the primary resonance of the first mode, it was observed the approximate analytical solution fails to capture the qualitative behavior of the harvester’s response for some ferrofluid height to container width ratios. Upon further inspection, it was observed that for those critical height-to-width ratios, the sloshing conditions are such that a two-to-one internal resonance between the first two sloshing modes can be activated. To account for the internal resonance, a modified version of the perturbation solution was devised and used to obtain a solution of the governing equations capable of capturing the influence of the internal resonance on the dynamics. Overall, it was shown that the developed model is capable of capturing the qualitative behavior of the dynamics of the harvester for both cases of excitation and for various magnetic field distributions. It was observed that the orthogonality of the magnetic field distribution along the width the container to the shape of the mode being excited plays a critical role in determining the output power of the harvester. Specifically, regardless of the input excitation level and the size of the induced sloshing waves, very little energy can be harnessed from the environment when the magnetic field distribution is an even (odd) function of the containers width while the mode shape being excited is an odd (even) function of the width. It was shown that, unlike the primary resonance scenario, a threshold excitation level must be achieved in the principle parametric resonance case before the harvester can produce measurable voltage levels. This threshold increases with the strength of the applied magnetic field

Postgraduate Students’ Knowledge of and Attitude towards the SMART Board in the Education Department of Kuwait University

The Aim of this study is to investigate postgraduate students’ attitude towards the SMART board and their knowledge of it. A sample of 20 students of education in Kuwait University took part. Two questionnaire constructs were developed, for attitude and knowledge, and demographic data was also gathered. It was assumed by the researcher that there would be a relationship between the attitude and the knowledge scales, and that the gender of students would affect their attitude and knowledge. Also, it was hypothesised that their education/degree level would influence their attitude and, finally, that these demographic variables (age, gender and degree level) would be significant predictors of SMART board knowledge. It was found that female participants showed more knowledge of SMART boards, as did those specialising in science. Gender was the only significant predictor of variance in knowledge. Explanations for these outcomes were suggested and critical discussion of the study was presented

Exploring Pre-Service Special and General Education Teachers’ Beliefs and Attitudes in Mathematics and Learning and Teaching Mathematics

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine and compare the beliefs and attitudes of pre-service special and general education teacher candidates regarding mathematics and the learning and teaching of mathematics and explore factors including student learning, teaching math, math rated affect (math anxiety and confidence), effectance motivation, usefulness of math, and the effect of previous teachers’ perceptions. The interrelationship among these factors was explored and compared to participants’ academic level and majors (i.e., special education and general) to determine whether these factors influenced the approaches pre-service teachers thought they would use when teaching math. The participants were 362 special and general pre-service teachers (elementary education and secondary math education) at all four academic levels (freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior). Statistical analysis methods employed to obtain the results included multivariate analysis of variance, chi square, and multiple linear regression. Findings revealed statistically significantly differences in beliefs and attitudes toward mathematics among pre-service teachers across their academic majors. In comparison to the other two participant groups, special education pre-service teachers had more anxiety and less confidence in their math abilities and had the lowest mean scores in usefulness of math, effectance motivation, teacher perception, and student learning of all three participant groups. Findings also indicated the relationships between major and planning to teach math and major and desire to teach math were both statistically significant. In this study, special education pre-service teachers were less likely to plan or want to teach math when compared to elementary and secondary math pre-service teachers. Furthermore, findings suggested math rated affect and teacher perception could predict pre-service teachers’ beliefs in student learning. Findings suggested pre-service teachers who had less math anxiety and were more confident in their math ability were more likely to believe in a constructivist approach in student learning. Finally, a significant relationship was found between pre-service teachers’ beliefs in teaching math and effectance motivation, which implied pre-service teachers who had more interest and motivation toward math were more likely to believe teaching math involved constructivist practices. Implications and suggestions for future research were provided based on the results of the current study

The impact of digital learning resources on developing the educational process for faculty members at the PAAET

The study aimed to identify the impact of digital learning resources on the development of the educational process for faculty members at the PAAET, and its role in developing the academic capabilities of faculty members, including the areas of academic advancement and the quality of scientific research in the international publishing observatories, where the study applied the curriculum standards survey descriptive; The questionnaire was applied as a main tool to measure the impact of digital learning resources on the development of the educational process for faculty members through a sample of (78) faculty members from various disciplines. The study concluded that digital learning resources are one of the most important sources for developing the educational process for faculty members. Teaching, whether at the level of scientific research or academic promotion, with its active role in the development of the educational process. The study recommended the need to expand the use of faculty members for digital learning resources, with the need to intensify training courses and workshops in this field, with the need to develop policies and decisions related to their field of work, which In turn, it enhances the development of the educational process

Work Stress Management in Constructions Industry and the Contractors' Commitment Level with the Labor Law

Stress was defined as the challenges that excites and weaken the individual, these challenges, when removed, most people's lives will become easier. The methodology of this work was based on two types of collecting data methods; the qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative method was based on conducting a critical literature review and investigating case studies related to the main reasons of work stress. While the quantitative method was based on collecting and analyzing data obtained from distributing 450 questionnaires to the employees in a private construction company as a casestudy. The results of the data analysis showed that the stress's effect has many consequences on employee such as: low job involvement, a lack of interest for the organization, low performance (quality and quantity), a loss of creativity and responsibility, accident prone behavior as well as voluntary turnover. Also, the results have showed that the stress reduces the performance of workers and also decreases the quality of service by 33.9%, adversely impact on health of employees by 42.2%. Also, the stress leads to lack of the employees' interest of the organization and reduces their affiliation to it by 66%. Finally the results illustrated that the rate of the contractor’s commitment to the texts of the Kuwaiti Labor Law was 68% as well the contractors are fair and give the employees their specified rights in the Kuwaiti Labor Law by 42.6%