Curriculum and instruction

The teaching of English as a foreign language has a promising outlook in the nation of Kuwait. Recent policy reflects language development theories that see early childhood as an especially good period for the learning of a foreign language. Thus, English is now taught at 30 public kindergartens in Kuwait. However, the program apparently was implemented quickly, with little consideration for how teachers and other stakeholders would respond to it. This paper explores that program in the context of the perceptions and views of teachers affected by it. A review of the existing curriculum points towards deficiencies, and investigation of the perceptions of teachers clarifies them. For this study, surveys were distributed to kindergarten teachers tasked with teaching English in 30 kindergartens in five different school districts, in Kuwait. 631 surveys were completed, providing information about teachers’ perceptions and views towards: 1) learning English at an early age, 2) the current...

This study examines the existing literature on information and communication technology and establishes that although there is a strong potential for these resources to generate improved student science concepts outcomes, many teachers fail to recognize that potential. The study then presents qualitative data acquired from teacher questionnaires, which identifies strong positive correlations among student performance, student self-assessment, and teacher assessment in cases where kindergarten-level educational tasks were presented through e-portfolios. Discussion of these findings suggests that the existing institutional pressures for e-portfolio adoption are well-justified and could result in improved student outcomes, as well as a higher instance of self-directed learning both at school and at home. The authors also conclude that ongoing implementation of these resources in early childhood education, together with relevant teacher training and parent engagement, may naturally overcome lingering resistance by certain stakeholders to the project of adopting these technologies.

This study examines the information and communications technology (ICT) resource known as interactive whiteboards (IWB) and seeks to determine whether their effective use in Kuwaiti kindergartens generates better student outcomes. A review of the literature suggests that it is quite possible for IWB and ICT in general to further improve upon effective pedagogy. But the literature also indicates that this effectiveness is not a natural result, but is instead derived from effective training in how to utilize new resources. The study compares the ICT knowledge and skills of 30 kindergarten teachers before and after receiving relevant training. Comparing these to a control group, the study finds that the ability to implement IWBs in the classroom is greatly improved through training and that students who are instructed with these resources achieve a better grasp of scientific concepts. The study concludes with recommendations for future teacher training in other contexts.

Background: The rise of authorized marijuana use in the U.S. means that many individuals are using cannabis as they concurrently engage in other forms of treatment, such as substance abuse counseling and psychotherapy. Clinical and legal decisions may be influenced by findings that suggest marijuana use during treatment serves as an obstacle to treatment success, compromises treatment integrity, or increases the prevalence or severity of relapse. In this paper, the author reviews the relationship between authorized marijuana use and substance abuse treatment utilizing data from a preliminary pilot study that, for the first time, uses a systematic methodology to collect data examining possible effects on treatment. Methods: Data from the California Outcomes Measurement System (CalOMS) were compared for medical (authorized) marijuana users and non-marijuana users who were admitted to a public substance abuse treatment program in California. Behavioral and social treatment outcomes recorded by clinical staff at discharge and reported to the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs were assessed for both groups, which included a sample of 18 reported medical marijuana users. Results: While the findings described here are preliminary and very limited due to the small sample size, the study demonstrates that questions about the relationship between medical marijuana use and involvement in drug treatment can be systematically evaluated. In this small sample, cannabis use did not seem to compromise substance abuse treatment amongst the medical marijuana using group, who (based on these preliminary data) fared equal to or better than non-medical marijuana users in several important outcome categories (e.g., treatment completion, criminal justice involvement, medical concerns). Conclusions: This exploratory study suggests that medical marijuana is consistent with participation in other forms of drug treatment and may not adversely affect positive treatment outcomes. These findings call for more extensive sampling in future research to allow for more rigorous research on the growing population of medical marijuana users and non-marijuana users who are engaged in substance abuse treatment.

The purpose of this research was to assess the effectiveness of reflective journaling on students' perception of culture from an anthropological perspective in one of the professional preparation courses offered by the College of Education, Kuwait University. To conduct this research, the researchers used Pretest/Posttest Control Group Design. Participants in the experimental group enrolled in pre-training sessions on writing reflective journals. A total of 102 students were taught by one instructor five consecutive classes, with a control group)n = 50(taught by a traditional teaching method; and an experimental group (n = 52) taught by writing reflective journals. On the sixth class, participants from both groups completed the posttest. Results were analyzed using descriptive statistics and ANCOVA with the pretest serving as a covariate. Findings of this research showed a significant mean difference in posttest scores between groups, suggesting that the use of reflective journals increased students' perception of culture in the experimental group. Interpretations and recommendations were included at the end of the research.

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 iv 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. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I thank Allah for giving me the power and strength to reach an essential moment in my life and earn my doctorate. In this regard, I would like to dedicate my success to my beloved country, Kuwait-may Allah protect it against all disasters. Allah provided me with a great opportunity to be surrounded by amazing people who helped me get to this point of my life. I would like to thank my parents-may Allah extend their lives. Mom and Dad, your prayers over nights and sweet words encouraged me to reach my goals and be what I always dreamed about. Special thanks to my husband and the lights of my life, Fahad, Shahad, Alwaleed, and Mohamad. My journey would not be easy without all of your support and love. All of us went through very challenging situations throughout this experience but thank Allah, these situations have extended our strengths and power and we were able together to pass them successfully. Also, I dedicate the fruit of my humble efforts to all my brothers and sisters who supported me and were with me as I needed. I also express special thanks to all my truthful and faithful friends who believed in me and in my abilities and were there at all hours, supporting and encouraging me. I am truly grateful to have such blessed friends. I would like to express my honest gratitude and appreciation to my advisor, Dr. John Luckner, for your support and encouragement and for guiding me through the process of getting my degree. Also, thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise vi with me. In addition, special thanks to all my committee members, Dr. Jackson, Dr. Rude, and Dr. Larkins. You all provided me with insight and advice and supported me to be successful through my education journey. Dr. Jackson, I owe you many thanks as you believed in me and helped me with my unique circumstances. Also, special thanks to Dr. Larkins who motivated me, believed in my abilities, and guided me in this process. vii

Kauffman, Felder, Ahrbeck, Badar, and Schneiders (this issue) call for a more temperate approach to inclusion, arguing against its use in educating all students with disabilities. We argue in response that the issue should not be framed as “inclusion versus non-inclusion,” asserting that our field would benefit by examining the alternatives that actually exist across the globe for educating children with and without disabilities. We first provide four concepts that are central to understanding how education is conceptualized and practiced on a global scale: (a) education for all (EFA), interpreted as nations valuing an educated citizenry; (b) primary and secondary education, discussed to make clear real differences in how these two periods of schooling are handled across nations; (c) tracking, the worldwide practice of ability grouping that affects the education of all students; and (d) comprehensive local schools, regionally centralized facilities educating all children, which offe...

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 iv 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. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I thank Allah for giving me the power and strength to reach an essential moment in my life and earn my doctorate. In this regard, I would like to dedicate my success to my beloved country, Kuwait-may Allah protect it against all disasters. Allah provided me with a great opportunity to be surrounded by amazing people who helped me get to this point of my life. I would like to thank my parents-may Allah extend their lives. Mom and Dad, your prayers over nights and sweet words encouraged me to reach my goals and be what I always dreamed about. Special thanks to my husband and the lights of my life, Fahad, Shahad, Alwaleed, and Mohamad. My journey would not be easy without all of your support and love. All of us went through very challenging situations throughout this experience but thank Allah, these situations have extended our strengths and power and we were able together to pass them successfully. Also, I dedicate the fruit of my humble efforts to all my brothers and sisters who supported me and were with me as I needed. I also express special thanks to all my truthful and faithful friends who believed in me and in my abilities and were there at all hours, supporting and encouraging me. I am truly grateful to have such blessed friends. I would like to express my honest gratitude and appreciation to my advisor, Dr. John Luckner, for your support and encouragement and for guiding me through the process of getting my degree. Also, thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise vi with me. In addition, special thanks to all my committee members, Dr. Jackson, Dr. Rude, and Dr. Larkins. You all provided me with insight and advice and supported me to be successful through my education journey. Dr. Jackson, I owe you many thanks as you believed in me and helped me with my unique circumstances. Also, special thanks to Dr. Larkins who motivated me, believed in my abilities, and guided me in this process. vii

The purpose of this study is to highlight benefits and provide applications for using the Analysis Model for Learning Outcomes (AMLO). This study involves entering and analyzing data on students' academic achievements, course requirements, and learning objectives in order to assess education quality and student outcomes in academic courses in Kuwait. Results allowed the researcher to derive applications for use by professional educators interested in analyzing, extracting, and improving learning outcomes in their academic courses. Both applications and results highlight best practices for ensuring consistently strong learning outcomes. Conclusions point to the benefits of AMLO use by interested educators.

This research paper purposes to develop a technology attendance tool, based on CAMTs and CARs. The paper itself briefly describes the importance of using technology-based research results in university settings regarding the improvement of student attendance. The importance of this topic explained first, by selecting some research results found in an experimental research study on student attendance in university classrooms; second, by describing CAMTs and CARs as the fundamental elements of a technology attendance tool for the implementation of attendance strategy-based, conducted research; and third, by explaining the technical procedures of developing a technology attendance tool based on CAMTs and CARs. Finally, a conclusion addresses the most important research results and the development of an attendance system to refine recommendations for administrators in universities and researchers for future research.

A meta-synthesis study was conducted of 60 research studies on educational data mining (EDM) and their impacts on and outcomes for improving learning outcomes. After an overview, an examination of these outcomes is provided (Romero,Ventura, Espejo, & Hervás, 2008; Romero, 2008). Then, a review of other EDM-related research published after 2008 (88 studies) was completed. Thirty-nine of those studies also offered an overview of EDM’s impact on learning outcomes. In addition, 12 of the 39 studies investigated the efficacy of EDM for learning outcomes. EDM characteristics (i.e., tools, techniques, models, procedures, measures, and results) were examined in each of the 12 studies. Ninety-four of the total 148 studies showed positive results for EDM. Directions for future research are discussed.

1(1) is an issue consisting research studies published in International Journal of Applied Educational Studies (IJAES). IJAES is a refereed international journal, and focuses on publishing research studies in the field of education in areas related to management, assessment and evaluation, curriculum and instruction, technology, applied linguistics in education, educators, students, and development of education. IJAES is published three times a year in April, August, and December. Each publishing time is given a deadline for receiving manuscripts that is announced on the website of IJAES (www.ijaes.com).

2(1) is an issue consisting research studies published in International Journal of Applied Educational Studies (IJAES). IJAES is a refereed international journal, and focuses on publishing research studies in the field of education in areas related to management, assessment and evaluation, curriculum and instruction, technology, applied linguistics in education, educators, students, and development of education. IJAES is published three times a year in April, August, and December. Each publishing time is given a deadline for receiving manuscripts that is announced on the website of IJAES (www.ijaes.com).

4(1) is an issue consisting research studies published in International Journal of Applied Educational Studies (IJAES). IJAES is a refereed international journal, and focuses on publishing research studies in the field of education in areas related to management, assessment and evaluation, curriculum and instruction, technology, applied linguistics in education, educators, students, and development of education. IJAES is published three times a year in April, August, and December. Each publishing time is given a deadline for receiving manuscripts that is announced on the website of IJAES (www.ijaes.com).

5(1) is an issue consisting research studies published in International Journal of Applied Educational Studies (IJAES). IJAES is a refereed international journal, and focuses on publishing research studies in the field of education in areas related to management, assessment and evaluation, curriculum and instruction, technology, applied linguistics in education, educators, students, and development of education. IJAES is published three times a year in April, August, and December. Each publishing time is given a deadline for receiving manuscripts that is announced on the website of IJAES (www.ijaes.com).

6(1) is an issue consisting research studies published in International Journal of Applied Educational Studies (IJAES). IJAES is a refereed international journal, and focuses on publishing research studies in the field of education in areas related to management, assessment and evaluation, curriculum and instruction, technology, applied linguistics in education, educators, students, and development of education. IJAES is published three times a year in April, August, and December. Each publishing time is given a deadline for receiving manuscripts that is announced on the website of IJAES (www.ijaes.com).

8(1) is an issue consisting research studies published in International Journal of Applied Educational Studies (IJAES). IJAES is a refereed international journal, and focuses on publishing research studies in the field of education in areas related to management, assessment and evaluation, curriculum and instruction, technology, applied linguistics in education, educators, students, and development of education. IJAES is published three times a year in April, August, and December. Each publishing time is given a deadline for receiving manuscripts that is announced on the website of IJAES (www.ijaes.com).

9(1) is an issue consisting research studies published in International Journal of Applied Educational Studies (IJAES). IJAES is a refereed international journal, and focuses on publishing research studies in the field of education in areas related to management, assessment and evaluation, curriculum and instruction, technology, applied linguistics in education, educators, students, and development of education. IJAES is published three times a year in April, August, and December. Each publishing time is given a deadline for receiving manuscripts that is announced on the website of IJAES (www.ijaes.com).

A recent research study explored the potential of a proposed student systematic learning theory. This theory was examined in a review of theoretical principles developed to identify and gain insight into the ways in which students learn and gain meaningful understanding. The discussion
provides selected findings on student learning based systematic learning. Conclusions address recommendations
for examining the proposed theory and its theoretical principles.