Kamal Abouchedid

E-Learning Challenges in the Arab World: Revelations from a Case Study Profile.

The overwhelming traditional knowledge delivery system for higher education in the Arab world demonstrates the pronounced information technology (IT) gap between Arab countries and the developed world. This study demonstrates the problems and possibilities of implementing e‐learning in Arab educational institutions through analysing the attitudes of university professors (n = 294) in Lebanon towards three a priori e‐learning dimensions. Favourable attitudes towards e‐learning attested to faculty members’ interest to get engaged in a fully‐fledged e‐learning programme in a country where the primary delivery educational model is essentially traditional. Discusses these attitudes in the light of the social, political and economic hindrances that impede the implementation of e‐learning in the Arab region. A series of K‐independent Kruskal‐Wallis tests yielded significant attitudinal variations between males and females as well as between computer daily users and occasional users. Furthermore, daily computer users documented more favourable attitudes towards e‐learning than their occasional user counterparts. Offers recommendations for the implementation of e‐learning in “traditionally” demarcated educational systems in countries where the deployment of information and communications technologies is not widespread.

Assuring quality service in higher education: registration and advising attitudes in a private university in Lebanon

The first encounter of students at universities is the administrative office, which leaves a lasting imprint for their entire experience in higher education. With the exponential growth of higher education in the Middle East, private universities face hardened competition in the overall retention of students. Registrar and academic advising offices are vital components to the university as well as the front end to the universities’ service quality. This study attempts to measure student attitudes of registration and academic advising across different faculties to assure positive quality service complementing that of the academic. Keeping in mind that many developing universities in the Middle East and other nations have not yet utilized automated services to meet student needs, the present study provides recommendations in the inroads en route to the development of touch‐tone and Web‐banner automated registration for a positive assessment of service quality.

University students' knowledge of services and programs in relation to satisfaction: A case study of a private university in Lebanon

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to survey students on their satisfaction with university services and programs in a coeducational Lebanese Catholic higher education institution. The study attempts to relate self‐assessed knowledge of the university procedures, rules and regulations on six dimensions of satisfaction, being: academic experience, academic advisor, residential life, campus life, personal development opportunities, resources and student services.Design/methodology/approach – A cluster random selection procedure was used to select n=870 students from within the university. Students rated 31 knowledge items and 33 satisfaction items. The study analyses student satisfaction in relation to their knowledge of procedures, rules and regulations. An Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was run to determine differences between university class level, and knowledge level on satisfaction. In addition, a regression analysis was run to determine whether university class (freshmen, sophomore, junior, and sen...

Graduates' Perception of University Training in Light of Occupational Attainment and University Type: The Case of Lebanon.

Purpose – The study examines the level of satisfaction amongst Lebanese university graduates on their training/education in light of their current occupational level.Design/methodology/approach – Focus groups were interviewed to understand factors that helped graduates in their occupation. These factors were turned into a Likert‐scale questionnaire in which a large sample (n=604) of university graduates from public and private universities in Lebanon were asked to report the utility of their university education and training required for their current job.Findings – Findings showed that graduates from private universities documented greater satisfaction in their education and training, especially in the fields of engineering, medicine, and information science, than did graduates from the public sector of higher education. Graduates in the low occupational status category perceived university education as important in the performance of their occupation.Research limitations/implications – The study was int...

Occupational attainment through Lebanon’s higher education: using individual, societal, structural and gender factors as predictors

This study sought to analyze university graduate job attainment in Lebanon through an individualist, societal and structuralist perspectives. Differences appeared between females and males on factors that predicted occupational attainment. In concert with neo‐patriarchal discourse increased occupational attainment among males was significantly predicted by fathers’ occupational status. The data reported that male and female university degree type produced higher occupational attainment between male and female graduates. Further analysis would seek to understand graduate attitudes towards their occupational attainment along individualist, societal and structural dimensions.

Gender Differences on Self-Estimates of Multiple Intelligences: A Comparison Between Indian and Lebanese Youth

Abstract A sample of 648 Lebanese and 252 Indian students estimated their multiple intelligences based on Gardner’s conceptualization. Males rated the body kinesthetic component higher than females while females estimated their verbal and intra-personal intelligence higher than males. Differences appeared between Indian and Lebanese samples on the cognitive components, namely, verbal, spatial and logical abilities. Using the educational level of the parent as a covariate, significant differences were found between the Indian and Lebanese sample on verbal, spatial, and logical abilities. Interaction effects of gender and nationality were observed on the logical component. While Lebanese males rated the logical component higher than the Lebanese females, Indian females rated the logical component higher than their male counterparts but lower than the male and female Lebanese students.

Student–Teacher Interaction in Public Schools in Lebanon: A Symbolic Interactionist Perspective in Grade 6 Classes

This study investigates the patterns of student–teacher interaction in five elementary public schools in Lebanon along four dimensions of classroom environment: teachers’ expectations, teachers’ feedback, use of the students’ ideas, and students’ attitude toward school using Grounded Theorizing and Symbolic Interactionist approaches. Thirty-three teachers were interviewed about their expectations and feedback to students, and their use of the students’ ideas in class. They were also observed in classes during instruction and feedback delivery; 196 students filled questionnaires about the way they perceive their teachers’ expectations, feedback, and use of their ideas in class, and about their attitude toward their schools. Results indicated interpatterns of interaction common to all of the public schools chosen in this study. They revealed positive students’ attitude toward their schools, and a positive perception of their teachers’ expectations and feedback. In addition, results not only pointed to negative teacher expectations accorded to students but also revealed mismatched accounts of positive types of feedback delivery, this feedback regarded negative from the observer’s perspective. Classroom observations revealed a big discrepancy between what has been reported by the teachers and the students and what has been practiced; it also revealed more points of convergence between the teachers’ accounts and the students’ accounts than between both perspectives and the observer’s. Recommendations for improving the classroom environment in the elementary public schools in Lebanon are made.

Problems and the epistemology of electronic publishing in the Arab world: The case of Lebanon (originally published in September 2001)

Publishing in the Arab world is still developing. Scholars need to understand the World Wide Web and recognize the revolutionary elements of electronic journals as pacifiers to the hegemony of traditional publishing.