Search Results (7)

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) has been one of the top educational priorities of several countries to promote 21st-century skills with creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, communication together with problem-solving. This study aimed to identify university students’ preference for STEM subjects and the percentage of those who earn a university degree in any STEM field. The sample consisted of 16,134 male and female students who had graduated with a degree in any of the STEM fields between 2008 and 2018. Data analysis revealed a disparity in preferences and percentages of males and females who enroll in STEM education, whilst male students prefer to pursue a degree in almost every field of engineering, female students prefer to study fields related to medical sciences, basic sciences, and mathematics. The study attributes that disparity to the job market’s hiring preferences. The study suggested certain multisectoral suggestions to address gender disparity and spark Jordanian women’s interest in pursuing STEM education. Full article

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of teacher burnout on collegial relationships among faculty members in two higher education institutions- one in Kuwait and the other in the United Arab Emirates. A quantitative methodology was employed using a self-constructed online questionnaire. The results of the study showed that there was no statistically significant difference between the teachers’ perception of burnout and collegiality by gender, age group, and years of experience in teaching at a 0.05 level of significance. However, there was a statistically significant difference between the teachers in Kuwait and the UAE in their perception of burnout, although the difference was not significant for collegiality at a 0.05 level of significance. The findings also showed that the participants’ gender, age, and work experience were not predictors of collegiality, but the perception of burnout was a significant predictor of collegiality. Conclusions were drawn from the study’s findings, with implications for policy, practice, and future research. Full article

This study aimed to explore school factors that influence students’ achievements in Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) in schools in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. The study sample for TIMSS 2015 consisted of 4838 students in eighth grade; 2172 girls, 2666 boys, and 156 schools from Abu Dhabi attended and participated in TIMSS 2015. Principal component analysis (PCA) was run on 77 items of school questionnaires administered to school principals to provide information about the school contexts for teaching and learning. The five factors from the school questionnaire were general school resources, school discipline and safety, parental support, principal experience and education, and library and instruction resources. Multiple regression models were implemented to examine the impact of school factors on student achievement in TIMSS 2015. The models are statistically significant, indicating that they fit the data well. This also demonstrates a significant linear relationship between students’ achievement in TIMSS 2015 and the variables related to school factors. Full article

Mathematics teachers’ perceptions and awareness of different kinds of assessments (e.g., diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments) may affect their classroom practices. In this context, the current study explored mathematics teachers’ perceptions and self-reported practices teaching mathematics for Trends of International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) in Abu Dhabi schools in the United Arab Emirates. A teacher perception questionnaire was designed, then was administered to 522 mathematics teachers in Abu Dhabi schools in the academic year 2020–2021. A One-Sample t-test, Independent Sample t-test, and ANOVA tests were performed for the four-component variables of teacher perceptions, namely, teachers’ perceptions of TIMSS, their instructional practices in relation to TIMSS, the readiness of students for TIMSS, and the school and classroom environment for TIMSS. The results showed no statistically significant difference between male and female teachers in mathematics teaching practices with a focus on TIMSS or their perceptions of student readiness for TIMSS; however, there were differences in their perceptions of the school and classroom environment that were statistically significantly. In addition, there was no statistically significant difference between public and private schools in the practice of mathematics teachers for TIMSS, while the difference was statistically significant on views regarding student readiness for the TIMSS as well as on the school and classroom environment. The findings of the present study have both pedagogical and policy implications, which are discussed at the end of this paper. Full article

Higher education institutions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) adopted a distance/online learning approach during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to ensure that students were safe while they received an uninterrupted, high-quality education off-campus. This was the first time that all of the higher education institutions adopted this approach. Therefore, it is crucial to conduct this study to gain insight into graduate students’ experiences in distance learning and to verify whether these experiences are linked to their achievements. The purpose of this study was to examine graduate students’ experiences toward online and distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in the academic year 2020–2021 and their academic achievement. A questionnaire was developed for this study and sent online to graduate students’ emails with the coordination of the College of Graduate Studies at a higher education institution in the UAE. The study received 138 responses. The data was analyzed using IBMSPSS-26. The findings of the study showed that graduate students’ level of Engagement, ease of Communication, and quality of learning Experience with online/distance learning were related significantly to their overall academic achievement. Full article

All private and public schools in the UAE had to run online classes as they closed their face-to-face classes due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2021. In this context, the purpose of this study was to investigate the indicators of high school students’ performance in online chemistry classes in a private school in Al Ain, UAE. A quantitative study with an online survey questionnaire was carried out with 101 participants. The data were analyzed using One-Sample Wilcoxon Signed Ranked Test, Independent Sample Mann Whitney U, Independent Sample Kruskal Wallis H, and Spearman’s Rank Correlation in the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM SPSS 26). The findings revealed that there was a statistically significant positive impact on critical thinking, collaborative skills, creativity and innovation, technology application, class participation, and overall achievement during online and distance learning of chemistry. There was a statistically significant difference in students’ critical thinking, collaborative skills, creativity and innovation, class participation, and achievement by gender and nationality. These skills were not statistically significantly different across students of grades 10, 11, and 12, except for creativity and innovation, which were significantly different between students of grades 11 and 12. All the six indicators of students’ performance had a significant correlation between each other, with the highest correlation between collaborative skills and participation level. These findings indicated that students’ performance in online chemistry classes during the COVID-19 pandemic provided opportunities to develop creativity and collaborative skills, together with better learning achievement as perceived by the students. Full article

Managing household solid waste is a growing challenge for many cities. To tackle this problem, cities are turning to recycling, which is an effective tool for solid waste management. This research seeks to understand the public perceptions and practices of recycling in the City of Laramie, Wyoming. Recycling in Laramie began in 1983 with the establishment of the Ark Recycling Center. Laramie officially started its curbside recycling services in September 2011, and in April 2012 the city declared its long-term goal to achieve a 40% diversion rate by 2030. The study involved a mail-back survey to understand the public participation landscape and the factors affecting recycling behaviors and attitudes of residents in Laramie. The quantitative results of the survey responses were used to create a civic engagement score, a recycling importance score, and recycling satisfaction and recycling behavior scores to measure residents’ perceptions of the recycling program. In addition, three key informant interviews were conducted to explore the efforts of the city, the University of Wyoming, and Ark Regional Services. The results show that more than 80% of the survey respondents indicated that environmental concern was the major motivation to recycle, which was related to a high level of recycling importance and satisfaction. The study further indicated that Laramie should develop an aggressive educational policy, incentive policies, and a Master Plan to encourage stronger public participation to meet its 40% waste diversion rate by 2030 goal. Full article