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"High schools United Arab Emirates"
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Unraveling high-school students' learning experiences in English, Science, and Math: a mixed methods study
For over a decade, the United Arab Emirates has used English as the medium of instruction in government schools. Previous research has concluded that the lack of English proficiency can make learning Science and Math difficult for students; however, research on students' experiences and the challenges they face in this area is limited. Therefore, this study explores students' views and the challenges that they face regarding learning English and Science and Math in English. The study employed a mixed methods approach using a survey with 236 students from 2 large school districts in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates and qualitative data collected through interviews with 9 high-school students. The study found that students valued learning English, were aware of English teaching limitations in the current system, believed that the adopted exam-based system impeded English, Science, and Math learning, and preferred multimodal resources for learning. Many students encountered various challenges while studying including difficulties pertaining to the type of teaching they received and their proficiency in English language. This study calls for educational policymakers to consider students' experiences learning English, Science, and Math when designing curricula and assessments.
Journal Article
The nexus between the attitudes and self-concepts of gifted students in an Arab context
The research literature has reported the need for educators to develop suitable programs geared toward the nurturance of gifted students. Although some non-Western countries have adopted policies to foster the growth of exceptional students, their contributions to research in gifted education are limited. To expand the literature on gifted education, this study was guided by Ajzen's theory of planned behavior to explore the attitudes and self-conceptions of gifted and talented students in the United Arab Emirates.
The revised Self-Perception Profile for Children and Opinions About the Gifted and Their Education scales were used to collect data from 150 high school students in Abu Dhabi, one of seven states (emirates) in the United Arab Emirates. AMOS software version 29 was used to conduct confirmatory factor and path analyses. To evaluate the differences between the background variables on attitudes and self-concepts, t-tests were calculated using SPSS software version 28.
The study found a relationship between the attitudes and self-concepts of students regarding their participation in enrichment programs. The hypothesized moderation effect of demographic variables on the relationship between attitudes and self-concepts was not supported.
The study's limitations and implications for educators in the United Arab Emirates to prioritize programs geared toward developing the attitudes and self-concepts of gifted students are discussed in detail.
Journal Article
Scale validation for the identification of falsified hand sanitizer: public and regulatory authorities perspectives from United Arab Emirates
Background
Since the time of declaration of global pandemic of COVID-19 by World Health Organization (WHO), falsified hand sanitizers surfaced regularly in markets, posing possible harm to public due to unlisted inclusion of methanol. The current research is an attempt to develop and validate a tool to document falsified hand sanitizer in the UAE community.
Method
A descriptive cross-sectional community-based study was conducted among 1280 randomly selected participants. Respondents were sent a web-based electronic link to the survey via email. Content validity, factor analyses and known group validity were used to develop and validate a new scale to identify falsified hand sanitizer. Test-retest reliability, internal consistency, item internal consistency (IIC), and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were used to assess the reliability of the scale. SPSS version 24 was used to conduct data analysis.
Results
A total of 1280 participants were enrolled in the study. The content validity index (CVI) was 0.83 with the final scale of 12 items. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) value was 0.788, with the Bartlett test of sphericity achieving statistical significance (
p
< 0.001). Our factor analysis revealed a 3-component model. The 3-factor solution was confirmed by PCFA analysis and had associations with good fit values. The PCFA for NFI was 0.970, CFI 0.978, and TLI 0.967. All values were in excess of 0.95, with RMSEA values below 0.06 at 0.03; all of these values indicated a good model fit. The Cronbach’s alpha was good overall (0.867). All factors had a Cronbach’s alpha value in excess of 0.70. The instrument demonstrated that every item met the IIC correlation standard ≥0.40. The scale displayed good overall ICC statistics of 0.867 (95% CI 0.856–0.877) with statistical significance (
p
< 0.001). The scale’s test-retest reliability was assessed through correlation of the falsified hand sanitizer identification score of respondents at the two time points. The test-retest correlation coefficient was 0.770 (
p
value < 0.01). Participants with post-graduate education were more likely to identify the falsified hand sanitizer compared to those with high school education. (
p
< 0.001).
Conclusions
This study developed and validated a new scale for the measurement of falsified hand sanitizer. This is expected to improve and promote collaboration between the health regulators and the public and hereby encourage customer satisfaction and participation.
Journal Article
Educating the gifted in Brazil: analysis from a learning-resource perspective
Gifted education in Brazil presents some characteristics due to the reality of South American countries. This study aims to describe the current situation of the programs for the gifted in Brazil from the Education and Learning Capital Model (ELCM) perspective. The procedure utilized was the analysis of documents and publications and an online survey. The participants were 51 educators and psychologists (84% F) from different Brazilian regions, ages 28 to 69 (Mean= 40), working in private (40%), public institutions (90%), and non-governmental organizations (10%). The results indicated positive aspects of exogenous learning capitals reflected in legislation that guarantees rights at the Federal, State, and Municipal spheres for gifted children and special programs at universities for high school and college students. However, there are main challenges from the endogenous Learning Resource, which focus on academic skills and disregard other aspects of physical health. Political discontinuities and societal myths block the advancement of programs for the Brazilian gifted, so information to clarify these children's rights in society is a priority.
Journal Article
Dental caries and their association with socioeconomic characteristics, oral hygiene practices and eating habits among preschool children in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates — the NOPLAS project
Background
Dental caries are a global public health problem and influence the overall health of children. The risk factors for caries include biological, socio-behavioral and environmental factors. This cross-sectional study assessed dental caries and their associations with socioeconomic factors, oral hygiene practices and eating habits among Emirati and non-Emirati children in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Methods
The stratified sample comprised children aged 18 months to 4 years recruited from 7 nurseries. The World Health Organization (WHO) decayed, missing and filled teeth index (dmft) was used to analyze the dental status of the children. Parents completed a questionnaire regarding demographics, food consumption and oral habits. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee at Zayed University, UAE (ZU15_029_F).
Results
A total of 186 children with a mean age of 2.46 years, of which 46.2% were Emirati, participated. Overall, 41% of the children had dental caries. The mean dmft±SD was 1.70 ± 2.81 with a mean ± SD decayed component (dt) of 1.68 ± 2.80 and mean ± SD filled component (ft) of 0.02 ± 0.19. Emirati children showed higher mean dmft, Plaque Index and Significant Carries Index values than non-Emirati children (
P <
0.000). Low maternal education, rural nursery location, infrequent tooth-brushing, frequent consumption of high-sugar food items and Emirati nationality were factors significantly associated with dental caries.
Conclusions
In this study, 4 out of 10 nursery children were found to have dental caries. Sociodemographic factors, dietary and oral health habits were associated with dental caries. Effective oral health interventions tailored to improve eating habits and the dental screening of children in this age group are imperative to mitigate these concerns.
Journal Article
The role of career competencies and proactive personality in early-career employee career adaptability
Purpose
Employees with high career competencies are more successful in career development. However, it is unclear whether proactivity matters for early-career employees. Thus, this study aims to investigate the influence of career competencies and proactive personality on career adaptability and the moderating role of proactive personality in this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts a quantitative methodology, collecting data through online questionnaires from respondents (n = 400) who had less than five years of work experience in the UAE. A measurement model and hypotheses testing were conducted using AMOS software. Multigroup structural equation modelling was used to test the moderation model.
Findings
The results show a direct relationship between career competencies and career adaptability. However, a proactive personality is insignificantly related to career adaptability. Further, early-career employees with low proactive personality benefit from high career competencies.
Originality/value
This study offers contributions to the emerging understanding of career construction by emphasising the important role of career competencies for early-career employees who manifest a low proactive personality.
Journal Article
Accelerometer measured physical activity patterns of children during segmented school day in Abu Dhabi
Background
The overwhelming majority of United Arab Emirates (UAE) school-aged children do not meet the 60 min per day recommendation of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Understanding the different school day segments contribution to children reaching this goal is a crucial step toward developing successful strategies to promote school day MVPA levels. This study aimed to objectively measure children’s’ physical activity levels and to examine the difference in physical activity levels between high active and low active children during the school day in Abu Dhabi.
Methods
A total of 133 school children (56% boys; mean age 10.5 years; grades 4–7) from two elementary schools in Abu Dhabi wore accelerometers (ActiGraph GT9X Link) for up to 5 non-consecutive days during spring 2019. Children’s’ MVPA was estimated during the following school segments: class time, lunch, recess, physical education (PE), and whole school day. Children were stratified as “high active” meeting the ≥30 min/day MVPA school time guideline or “low active” accumulating < 30 min/day MVPA.
Results
On average children accumulated 21.8 ± 22.6 min/day of MVPA on PE days and 22.4 ± 15.9 min/day of MVPA on non-PE days. Only 19% of children met the 30 min or more of school day MVPA recommendation, with higher proportion of boys (27%) meeting such recommendation compared to girls (8%). High active boys, spent the highest percent of time in MVPA during PE (28%), followed closely by lunch (27%). In compression, high active girls spent the highest percent of time in MVPA during lunch (14.2%) followed by recess (9.1%). High active children accumulated 15.06 more minutes of MVPA during PE (
p
< 0.001
)
, 2 more minutes during recess (
p
< 0.001
)
, 3 more minutes of MVPA during lunch (
p
< 0.001
)
and 5 more minutes of MVPA during class time (
p
< 0.001
)
.
Conclusion
The overwhelming majority of school children did not meet the recommended 30 min /day MVPA during school time. Girls substantially accumulated less MVPA and more sedentary minutes across all segments during the school days compared to boys. Further research is needed to investigate school day segments contribution to children MVPA in the UAE.
Journal Article
Genetic analysis of 106 sporadic cases with hearing loss in the UAE population
Background
Hereditary hearing loss is a rare hereditary condition that has a significant presence in consanguineous populations. Despite its prevalence, hearing loss is marked by substantial genetic diversity, which poses challenges for diagnosis and screening, particularly in cases with no clear family history or when the impact of the genetic variant requires functional analysis, such as in the case of missense mutations and UTR variants. The advent of next-generation sequencing (NGS) has transformed the identification of genes and variants linked to various conditions, including hearing loss. However, there remains a high proportion of undiagnosed patients, attributable to various factors, including limitations in sequencing coverage and gaps in our knowledge of the entire genome, among other factors. In this study, our objective was to comprehensively identify the spectrum of genes and variants associated with hearing loss in a cohort of 106 affected individuals from the UAE.
Results
In this study, we investigated 106 sporadic cases of hearing impairment and performed genetic analyses to identify causative mutations. Screening of the
GJB2
gene in these cases revealed its involvement in 24 affected individuals, with specific mutations identified. For individuals without
GJB2
mutations, whole exome sequencing (WES) was conducted. WES revealed 33 genetic variants, including 6 homozygous and 27 heterozygous DNA changes, two of which were previously implicated in hearing loss, while 25 variants were novel. We also observed multiple potential pathogenic heterozygous variants across different genes in some cases. Notably, a significant proportion of cases remained without potential pathogenic variants.
Conclusions
Our findings confirm the complex genetic landscape of hearing loss and the limitations of WES in achieving a 100% diagnostic rate, especially in conditions characterized by genetic heterogeneity. These results contribute to our understanding of the genetic basis of hearing loss and emphasize the need for further research and comprehensive genetic analyses to elucidate the underlying causes of this condition.
Journal Article