Motivation of Emirati males and females to study at higher education in the United Arab Emirates

his article reports on a study into the motivation of young Emirati undergraduate students for studying in a higher education institution in the United Arab Emirates. The participants were male and female undergraduate students in their first or second year of studying. The aim of the study was to examine their motivation using a framework that recognized the unique sociocultural context of the UAE. Data were analysed according to an adapted framework encompassing both Self-Determination Theory and Personal Investment theory. SDT was chosen due to its focus on different types of extrinsic motivation, and PI theory was chosen for its non-culture specific applicability. A major finding of the research is that an examination of motivation according to dichotomous relationships of intrinsic vs. extrinsic, collectivist vs. individualistic, self as individual vs. self as part of society are over simplistic in this specific context. A more useful paradigm is one in which the individual is influenced by personal and professional goals, as well as social and familial expectations. Unexpectedly, use of language (Arabic or English) did not influence the results. These findings will provide teachers and university administration with a better understanding of their students, and will replace certain stereotypes that teachers may have about their students and their motivation for studying

Encounters with Interactive Technologies in UAE Museums

For the past several decades, audio guides, frequently referred to as handheld guides, have become expected aids to the museum visitor’s enjoyment and understanding of the museum experience. At one time such devices were available only in major institutions, but now even smaller, less visited museums and historic sites regularly offer a handheld audio experience for their visitors. The approach to the development of audio guides and their content has altered substantially as our understanding of the museum visitor’s experience has changed. Advances in technology have enabled a range of technical possibilities that may enhance the visitor’s experience by, for example, allowing the visitor to customize their tour, providing multiple versions of a tour on one device, and linking tour content to interactive features via a visitor’s mobile phone. The potential for an audio guide to be much more than a “talking label” is infinite, and mobile phone technologies and apps provide a unique opportunity for museums to engage new audiences. Often these guides can be downloaded and reviewed even before the visitor physically encounters the museum. Although some museums in the United Arab Emirates employ audio guides as part of their visitor engagement strategy, many have yet to fully exploit this opportunity. Moreover, UAE museums in general have yet to develop the kind of interactive technologies that can be integrated with visitors’ own handheld digital devices, such as smartphones. These technologies can prepare the visitor for their museum experience, enhance that experience while at the museum, and encourage ongoing exploration of the objects and themes encountered after the visit is completed. This essay provides a brief overview of trends in the use of handheld audio and digital technology in museums internationally, surveys the current state of such technology in major UAE museums and historical sites, and offers some thoughts on how such technology might be further developed and deployed by these and other institutions in the future

The challenges of EMI for art and design students in the UAE

While there are a variety of reasons for implementing English medium instruction (EMI) at higher-education institutions (HEIs) worldwide, this decision is often made without consideration of its potential impact on student learning. Federal HEIs in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are no exception. With English language admission standards at between 5.0 and 5.5 IELTS, students are frequently challenged to successfully complete the tasks required of them and faculty can be frustrated by the level of work they receive. This article describes the findings of a research project, conducted with Emirati art and design students at one of these HEIs, which identified challenges experienced by students and faculty in an EMI setting. A subsequent initiative investigating writing genres students need to be familiar with is also discussed. Finally, collaboratively developed teaching materials are also described. With appropriate contextual modifications, these initiatives could be replicated in EMI contexts elsewhere

Partners in learning: ‘An exploration of multi-cultural faculty and Emirati students\u27 perspectives of university learning experiences’

Numerous articles have been published referring to differences in the way expatriate faculty members at universities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and their Emirati students perceive the customs and nature of teaching and learning. Faculty members and students come to class from two varying educational and often cultural backgrounds. As the UAE is a dynamic, young country that is rapidly changing with a diverse residency population, it is necessary to frequently research how Emirati students currently perceive effective classroom practices in order to best support their needs. A possible model to adopt and adapt is culturally relevant and responsive pedagogy. This qualitative study explores perspectives of learning held by local Emirati students and expatriate faculty members at a public university in the UAE. Ten Emirati students and ten faculty members describe their views through interviews. Findings centered around disconnection and misapprehension between faculty members and students in several regards: culture, motivation, concepts of teaching and learning and student needs. Recommendations include developing training on implementing culturally relevant pedagogy by showing faculty how to view teaching and learning through the lens of the student and check their own preconceived notions. It allows for students to have power over their own learning by implementing strategies relevant to their own cultural and background norms. Limitations and suggestions for future studies are also provided

Tutors’ beliefs about language and roles: practice as language policy in EMI contexts

It has been well established that for all students, but particularly second language (L2) English speaking students, academic English speaking skills are key to developing specialist terminology and disciplinary content in an English as a medium of instruction (EMI) context. However, what is less clear in many contexts is the institutional language policy necessary to guide and support both L2 English speaking students and disciplinary tutors. In this paper, we focus on disciplinary tutors’ beliefs of language and their roles with respect to language support to surface implicit and covert language policies. We argue that in the absence of explicit policy, showcasing the range of tutor perspectives and practice around language support can provide a way forward in explicating good practice and highlighting an approach in which all stakeholders take responsibility for supporting students’ academic speaking skills in an EMI context

Evaluating whole grain intervention study designs and reporting practices using evidence mapping methodology

Consumption of whole grains have been associated with reduced risk of chronic diseases in many observational studies; yet, results of intervention studies are mixed. We aimed to use evidence mapping to capture the methodological and reporting variability in whole grain intervention studies that may contribute to this inconsistency. We conducted a reproducible search in OVID Medline for whole grain human intervention studies (published 1946 to February 2018). After screening based on a priori criteria, we identified 202 publications describing a total of 213 unique trials. Over half (55%) were acute trials, lasting ≤1 day, 30% were moderate duration studies (up to 6 weeks) and 15% were of longer duration (more than 6 weeks). The majority of acute trials (75%) examined measures of glycaemia and/or insulinemia, while most of the longer trials included measures of cardiometabolic health (71%), appetite/satiety (57%) and weight/adiposity (56%). Among the moderate and long duration trials, there was a wide range of how whole grains were described but only 10 publications referenced an established definition. Only 55% of trials reported the actual amount of whole grains (in grams or servings), while 36% reported the amount of food/product and 9% did not report a dose at all. Of the interventions that provided a mixture of whole grains, less than half (46%) reported the distribution of the different grain types. Reporting of subject compliance also varied and only 22% used independent biomarkers of whole grain intake. This evidence map highlights the need to standardize both study protocols and reporting practices to support effective synthesis of study results and provide a stronger foundation to better inform nutrition scientists and public health policy

Measurement of diets that are healthy, environmentally sustainable, affordable, and equitable: A scoping review of metrics, findings, and research gaps

IntroductionResearch on the impacts of dietary patterns on human and planetary health is a rapidly growing field. A wide range of metrics, datasets, and analytical techniques has been used to explore the role of dietary choices/constraints in driving greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, environmental degradation, health and disease outcomes, and the affordability of food baskets. Many argue that each domain is important, but few have tackled all simultaneously in analyzing diet-outcome relationships.MethodsThis paper reviews studies published between January 2015 and December 2021 (inclusive) that examined dietary patterns in relation to at least two of the following four thematic pillars: (i) planetary health, including, climate change, environmental quality, and natural resource impacts, (ii) human health and disease, (iii) economic outcomes, including diet cost/affordability, and (iv) social outcomes, e.g., wages, working conditions, and culturally relevant diets. We systematically screened 2,425 publications by title and abstract and included data from 42 eligible publications in this review.ResultsMost dietary patterns used were statistically estimated or simulated rather than observed. A rising number of studies consider the cost/affordability of dietary scenarios in relation to optimized environmental and health outcomes. However, only six publications incorporate social sustainability outcomes, which represents an under-explored dimension of food system concerns.DiscussionThis review suggests a need for (i) transparency and clarity in datasets used and analytical methods; (ii) explicit integration of indicators and metrics linking social and economic issues to the commonly assessed diet-climate-planetary ecology relationships; (iii) inclusion of data and researchers from low- and middle-income countries; (iv) inclusion of processed food products to reflect the reality of consumer choices globally; and (v) attention to the implications of findings for policymakers. Better understanding is urgently needed on dietary impacts on all relevant human and planetary domains simultaneously

A reference library for Canadian invertebrates with 1.5 million barcodes, voucher specimens, and DNA samples

The synthesis of this dataset was enabled by funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation, from Genome Canada through Ontario Genomics, from NSERC, and from the Ontario Ministry of Research, Innovation and Science in support of the International Barcode of Life project. It was also enabled by philanthropic support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and from Ann McCain Evans and Chris Evans. The release of the data on GGBN was supported by a GGBN – Global Genome Initiative Award and we thank G. Droege, L. Loo, K. Barker, and J. Coddington for their support. Our work depended heavily on the analytical capabilities of the Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD, www.boldsystems.org). We also thank colleagues at the CBG for their support, including S. Adamowicz, S. Bateson, E. Berzitis, V. Breton, V. Campbell, A. Castillo, C. Christopoulos, J. Cossey, C. Gallant, J. Gleason, R. Gwiazdowski, M. Hajibabaei, R. Hanner, K. Hough, P. Janetta, A. Pawlowski, S. Pedersen, J. Robertson, D. Roes, K. Seidle, M. A. Smith, B. St. Jacques, A. Stoneham, J. Stahlhut, R. Tabone, J.Topan, S. Walker, and C. Wei. For bioblitz-related assistance, we are grateful to D. Ireland, D. Metsger, A. Guidotti, J. Quinn and other members of Bioblitz Canada and Ontario Bioblitz. For our work in Canada’s national parks, we thank S. Woodley and J. Waithaka for their lead role in organizing permits and for the many Parks Canada staff who facilitated specimen collections, including M. Allen, D. Amirault-Langlais, J. Bastick, C. Belanger, C. Bergman, J.-F. Bisaillon, S. Boyle, J. Bridgland, S. Butland, L. Cabrera, R. Chapman, J. Chisholm, B. Chruszcz, D. Crossland, H. Dempsey, N. Denommee, T. Dobbie, C. Drake, J. Feltham, A. Forshner, K. Forster, S. Frey, L. Gardiner, P. Giroux, T. Golumbia, D. Guedo, N. Guujaaw, S. Hairsine, E. Hansen, C. Harpur, S. Hayes, J. Hofman, S. Irwin, B. Johnston, V. Kafa, N. Kang, P. Langan, P. Lawn, M. Mahy, D. Masse, D. Mazerolle, C. McCarthy, I. McDonald, J. McIntosh, C. McKillop, V. Minelga, C. Ouimet, S. Parker, N. Perry, J. Piccin, A. Promaine, P. Roy, M. Savoie, D. Sigouin, P. Sinkins, R. Sissons, C. Smith, R. Smith, H. Stewart, G. Sundbo, D. Tate, R. Tompson, E. Tremblay, Y. Troutet, K. Tulk, J. Van Wieren, C. Vance, G. Walker, D. Whitaker, C. White, R. Wissink, C. Wong, and Y. Zharikov. For our work near Canada’s ports in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, and Halifax, we thank R. Worcester, A. Chreston, M. Larrivee, and T. Zemlak, respectively. Many other organizations improved coverage in the reference library by providing access to specimens – they included the Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids and Nematodes, Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History, the Canadian Museum of Nature, the University of Guelph Insect Collection, the Royal British Columbia Museum, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Pacifc Forestry Centre, the Northern Forestry Centre, the Lyman Entomological Museum, the Churchill Northern Studies Centre, and rare Charitable Research Reserve. We also thank the many taxonomic specialists who identifed specimens, including A. Borkent, B. Brown, M. Buck, C. Carr, T. Ekrem, J. Fernandez Triana, C. Guppy, K. Heller, J. Huber, L. Jacobus, J. Kjaerandsen, J. Klimaszewski, D. Lafontaine, J-F. Landry, G. Martin, A. Nicolai, D. Porco, H. Proctor, D. Quicke, J. Savage, B. C. Schmidt, M. Sharkey, A. Smith, E. Stur, A. Tomas, J. Webb, N. Woodley, and X. Zhou. We also thank K. Kerr and T. Mason for facilitating collections at Toronto Zoo and D. Iles for servicing the trap at Wapusk National Park. This paper contributes to the University of Guelph’s Food from Thought research program supported by the Canada First Research Excellence Fund. The Barcode of Life Data System (BOLD; www.boldsystems.org)8 was used as the primary workbench for creating, storing, analyzing, and validating the specimen and sequence records and the associated data resources48. The BOLD platform has a private, password-protected workbench for the steps from specimen data entry to data validation (see details in Data Records), and a public data portal for the release of data in various formats. The latter is accessible through an API (http://www.boldsystems.org/index.php/resources/api?type=webservices) that can also be controlled through R75 with the package ‘bold’76.Peer reviewedPublisher PD