Abdullah Ambusaidi

Middle East meets west: Comparing children's attitudes to school science

This study compares the attitudes of primary children to school science between children from the Northern Ireland (UK) and Oman. Previous research has indicated that pupils in the more senior primary classes showed a marked decline in their enjoyment of school science, although most of this research was carried out in Europe, North America, and Australia. In this study, an instrument that had been used to measure attitudes of pupils in UK schools was adapted for use in Oman. Results reveal some striking similarities and interesting differences between attitudes of children towards school science. These findings are discussed in relation to the respective challenges facing primary teachers in regard to teaching science in the two regions.

Omani students’ views about global warming: beliefs about actions and willingness to act

A 44-item questionnaire was designed to determine students’ views about how useful various specific actions might be in helping to reduce global warming, their willingness to undertake these various actions and the extent to which these two might be related. The instrument was administered to students in Grades 6 to 12 (N = 1532) from 12 schools in the Sultanate of Oman. The findings indicated that the majority of Omani students believe that global warming is happening now, and are concerned about it. Students are willing to undertake some actions, such as switching off unused domestic appliances, more than others, such as using public transport, despite the fact that they believe the latter would reduce global warming. Novel indices were constructed to explore the relationship between belief and willingness to act for specific actions. The findings suggest that the link between belief and willingness to act is stronger for some actions, such as increasing recycling, than others, such as using smaller, more fuel-efficient cars. This approach allows us to identify pro-environmental actions that may, in terms of effecting behaviour change, be useful to include in teaching schemes.

An international study of the propensity of students to limit their use of private transport in light of their understanding of the causes of global warming

Previous studies have shown that there is what has been called a ‘gap’ between environmental knowledge and a willingness to act in a pro-environmental manner. For the individual, this gap is probably the result of the huge complexity of factors that affect behaviour. The way in which this ‘gap’ is sometimes identified in the literature, however, is also partly a function of the fact that much of the research in this area has compared environmental attitudes in general with a willingness to take actions that are specific. In the present study, we have circumvented this latter issue by exploring links between a declared willingness to undertake specific actions and the level of belief in the efficacy of those particular actions in reducing global warming. Here we report findings on actions concerning personal transport. Because the questionnaire was designed to provide quantitative measures, novel indices could be constructed that indicate, for example, the extent to which persuading people that an action is effective might increase their willingness to undertake it. Responses were obtained from students in 11 countries with different cultural mores. This enabled us to explore possible associations between a readiness to undertake specific actions and previously published socio-cultural indices. The implications for education about these issues are explored.

Health Education in The Sultanate of Oman

Geographically, the Sultanate of Oman is one of the Gulf Co-operation Countries. It is surrounded by three Arab countries—the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia. The population is almost three million, of which around one million are expatriates, mainly from South Asia (India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh). The Omani government has a long-term vision to shift the country’s economy from one that is highly dependent on oil and gas to one that is more diverse, with tourism as a key contributor.

Using Drawing to Reveal Science Teachers’ Beliefs about Science Teaching

The twenty-first century has brought many challenges in economic, social, and political aspects of life. These challenges put great pressure on educational systems across the world to review the knowledge, skills, and values presented to students, and how they may create a skillful and educated person able to cope with the challenges of the new century (Ambusaidi, 2014). This educated person has to know more and acquire the skills to enable him/her to better understand and use his/her imagination and intelligence to work and interact with others.

Prospective Teachers' Perceptions about the Concept of Sustainable Development and Related Issues in Oman.

This study aims to investigate, from the Omani’s prospective, teachers’ perceptions about the concept of sustainable development (SD) and three related issues (cultural diversity, renewable energy and equity). The sample consisted of 159 prospective teachers from Sultan Qaboos University. Data were collected via a questionnaire comprising a list of 41 SD points. The results showed that the main source of knowledge for prospective teachers concerning the concept of SD is school textbooks. They also showed that prospective teachers had high perceptions of the concept of SD and the three related issues. In addition, there are no statistical differences found between male and female prospective teachers’ perceptions about the concept of SD, cultural diversity and renewable energy. However, the results showed significant statistical differences between male and female prospective teachers in the equity domain. Finally, the results showed no statistical differences due to prospective teachers’ specializations (humanities versus science).

Science Education Research in the Sultanate of Oman

This chapter sheds light on science education research in Oman. More specifically, it analyses the representation and diversification of socio-cultural factors by science education researchers in Oman. To achieve this goal, a survey study was conducted with 16 science education researchers. They all held PhD degrees and conducted science education research.