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Development
of
Educational
Leadership
Skills
In
A
Project
Based
Data
Modeling
Course
At
Zayed
University
AnwarHajjaj president@aou.edu ABSTRACT
Thisstudyaimstoinvestigatethedevelopmentofeducationalleadershipskills
inageneraldatamodelingeducationcourseusingtheProjectBasedLearning
approach(PBL)atZayedUniversity,UAE.Theresearchgoalwascompletedfirst
byreviewingthemostimportanteducationalleadershipskillsthatuniversity
studentsneedtohaveinordertomeetcareerandjobchallengesandsecond,
byinvestigatingtheimpactofemployingthePBLmethodologyonstudents’
perceptionofeducationalleadershipskills,andultimatelyontheirperformance.
Theresearchusedaclassobservationmethodaswellasaquantitativesurvey
methodthatwasconductedtowardstheendofthestudyperiod.Findingsand
resultsindicatedthatacquiringeducationalleadershipskillsviaaPBLapproach
ishighlypossible,andpositivefeedbackwasrecordedasperthestudents'
perceptionandperformance.
Keywords: Educational leadership skills, Project based learning approach,
Generaleducationcourses.
INTRODUCTION
Educationisaninternational/globalscaleenterprise.Accordingtoliteratureineverycountryintheworld,
educationisafirmlyestablishedcomponentnomatterwhatthesocial,economicandpoliticaldirectionsare.Also,in
comparingeducation,ingeneral,acrossmanycountriesandsocieties,itcanbeobservedthattheeducational
provisionischaracterizedbymanycontraststhatcanbeattributedtosocial,economic,ethnicandreligiousfactors.All
thesefactorsshapethepatternsthatareobservedintheorganization,managementanddevelopmentofthe
educationalsystem.Thesefactorsalsomakeeducationanappropriatefieldtodevelopskillswithinstudents,faculty
membersandadministrators’population(Foskett&Lumby,2003).Regardingdifferenteducationalsystems,further
analysisandcomparisonamongdifferenteducationalsystems,andthereasonsbehinddiscrepanciesbetweenthe
developedcountries’educationalsystemandtheArabeducationalsystem,especiallyattheuniversitylevel,hasledto
theargumentthathumanresources,financialsupportandtypeofcurriculumarebehindthesegreatdifferencesin
thetwosystems(Akkari,2004).Yet,asateacher&aresearcher,Istronglybelievethattherealreasonbehindthese
discrepancies,isthelackofpropereducationalleadershipskillsindevelopingcountries’educationalsystems.
Currently,educatorsareunitedaroundthefactthatstudentsineducationalinstitutionsneed"21stcentury
skills"tobesuccessfulintheircareers,jobsandlives.Indeed,criticalthinkingandproblemsolvingaswellasother
skills,havebeencomponentsofhumanprogressthroughouthistory(Rotherham&Willingham,2009).Theconceptof
educationalleadershiphasemergedinrecentyears,andmanybusinessorientedconcepts,suchascommunication
andpresentation,havefoundtheirwayintothefieldofeducation.Fromdifferentliteraturesources,themost
importantoftheseeducationalleadershipskillscanbeidentifiedasbeing:missionͲstating,goalͲsetting,teamworking,
monitoringandevaluating(AlͲMutawa,2003;Adair,2007).Manyoftheseskillshavebeenheavilydevelopedwithin
students’populationintheeducationaldomain,inmanyWesternandEasterncountriesandverygoodresultshave
beenobtainedbyeducationalinstitutionsthathaveemployedthem(Trent,2006)
Thisworkinvestigateseducationalleadershipskills(mainlygoalsettingandteamworking)asbeingeducational
componentsthathavetobepresent,notonlywithinmanagersandconventionalleadersasoftenreferredtofroma
traditionalperspective,butratherwithinallcontributorstotheeducationalsysteminhighereducation,namelywithin
themangers’level,thefacultymembers’levelandespeciallywithinthestudents’community.Therefore,thisstudy
aimstoexploretheimportanceofeducationalleadershipskillsinthedomainofhighereducation,andtoinvestigate
thedevelopmentoftheseskills,withinstudents’population,byusingtheprojectbasedlearningapproach(PBL),as
wellasadailyawarenessexercise.Thisexercisewasdesignedtohelpstudentsunderstandtheobjectiveofthecourse,
theobjectiveofdifferentunitsofthecourseandtheobjectiveofthecourseproject.Thisstudyalsoaimsto
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performance(gradecomparison)andstudents’involvement(classobservation).Theworkconcludesbyproviding
summariesandrecommendationsforfurtherworkinthisfieldofhighereducationinordertopreparecapableand
competentgraduateswhowouldhelpindevelopingtheirsocieties,theircountriesandtheregion.
Insum,ourmajorgoalforthisstudyinvolveddetermining:
Ͳ WhetherPBLapproachcanbesuccessfullyusedtodevelopeducationalleadershipskillswithinthestudents’
population.
Whetheracquiringeducationalleadershipskillswillaffectstudents’courseachievements.
LITERATUREREVIEW
Nobodyarguesaboutthefactthatknowledgeandskillsarewhathelpsinstitutionsandleadscountriesand
societiestodevelop.(Alldredge,Johnson,&Stoltzfus,2003)Forinstance,leadershipskillsalongwithotherskills
(linguistic, communication and technical) were originally business oriented skills, but have been smoothly
implementedinthefieldofeducationandonceimplemented,verygoodresultshavebeenobtainedasperthe
performanceofeducationalinstitutionsinmanycountries(Trent,2006).Manycomparativestudieshaveshownthat
theconceptofdevelopingleadershipskillsisveryrelativeasitchangesfromwesttoeast,thusdevelopingeducational
leadershipskillswithineducationalinstitutionswoulddepend,inasimilarway,onmanyfactorssuchastheculture,
thepoliticsandtheeconomyofthesecountries.
Inrecognizingthatleadershipdevelopmentinvolvesmorethanjustdevelopingindividualleaders,hasnowled
toagreaterfocusonthecontextinwhichleadershipisdeveloped.Infact,thoughtfulandcarefulconsiderationsabout
howtobestuseleadershipcompetenciesinvariousdomainshavebeencarriedoutandprogramsandcurriculum
havebeendevelopedallovertheworld.Furthermore,newwaysofthinkingaboutthenatureofleadershipand
leadershipapplicationhavebeenexploredbyinspiringideasandconceptsfrombusinessͲlikefieldsanddomains.
Recently,effectiveleadershiphasbeencommonlyviewedascentraltoorganizationalandinstitutionalsuccessand
morepriorityandimportancearenowplacedonleadershipdevelopmentthaneverbefore(Alldredge,Johnson,&
Stoltzfus,2003)
Lookingattheeducationalsystemingeneralandthatoftheuniversitylevelinspecific,manytypesof
educationalinteractionscanbenoticedwithindifferent institutions.Examples ofthese interactions are:the
interactionbetweenprofessorsandstudents,administrationandprofessors,administrationandstudents,students
andcurriculum,andprofessorsandcurriculum.(Towardsanagenda,1998)Inthiswork,thefocuswouldbegivento
curriculumandstudents,andthestudywouldtrytodemonstratehowacurriculum(usingthePBLapproach)canbe
usedasavehicleforeducationalleadershipskillsdevelopment(goalsettingandteamworking).Thisstudycanalso
showhowstudents’dailyinvolvementandawarenesswitheducationalleadershipskillscanhelpthemacquiresome
oftheseskillsandadaptthemintheirlearningstylesthushavinganimpactontheiroverallacademicperformance. Curriculum
Besideadministrationandprofessors,universitycurriculumhasbeenrecognizedtohaveagreatinputandrole
intheacademicenvironmentineducationalinstitutions.GoodandwellͲdevelopedcurriculumhelpsuniversity
professorsandstudentstoachievetheiracademicgoalsandoutcomes.Furthermore,thecurriculumhasbeen
consideredtobetherealheartoftheimprovementofeducation.Itisnotonlyalistoftopicstobetaughttostudents
ineducationalinstitutions;itcanserveseveralpurposessimultaneously.Indeed,Hicks(2007)hasstatedthat
curriculummaybeviewedasapowerfultoolfortheadministrationandprofessorsintheirattemptstodeveloptheir
owneducationalinstitutions,toincreaseequalaccessforallstudentsandtoraisethequalityofteachingandlearning.
Hickscontinuesinstatingthatallofthatcanbefulfilledbyusingthecurriculumasachannelforskillsdevelopment.
Also,itisworthnotingthattoproceedwithcurriculumdevelopmentfromthetraditionalapproachtothePBL
approach,inaleadershipenvironment,itisnecessarytounderstandthatacurriculuminvolvesprocessthinking
ratherthanprojectthinking.Thiscurriculumdevelopmentisingeneralaprocessthatrequiresexpertiseand
continuousproductionofnewknowledgeandskills.Inaddition,asJoyce(1995)haspointedout,therewillalwaysbe
aneedforstrongresearch,potentialdirectionsandcurriculummodels,aswellasasystematicassessmentand
analysisontheimplementationofthenewcurriculumwithineducationalinstitutions(Joyce&Showers,1995).
Furthermore,foracurriculumthatismeanttobeadoptedinanacademicleadershipenvironment,directcopyingand
transferofanycurriculumtypes,ofanydevelopededucationalsystemsinothercountries,wouldnotbesuccessful
duetocultural,social,andotherdifferences.Arealchallengingandrelevantacademiccurriculumcouldmovefrom
onetypetoanother,orcantakepartofonetypeandpartsofothertypes.Courseoutlinesandcourseoutcomes
shouldbecarefullyplannedanddesignedaccordinglyandtestedafterwards.
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requiredtosearchforinterestingexperiences,problemsandtheirsolutionsthatmaybeusefulasresourcesinthe
ongoingcurriculumdesignandassessment.Forinstance,inZayedUniversity,thisspecificapproachwascarefully
taken into account in the developmentofgeneral educationcourses.For example, in “Theintroduction to
environmentalsciences”acoursethatdealswithenvironmentalproblems,solutionsandissuesrelatedtotheUAE
environmentwereheavilydiscussedandUAEstatisticaldatawerepresentedandstudied.Students’enthusiasmand
involvementduringallthosediscussionswereverynoticeableand,studentsshowedinterestinthecoursematerialas
variouscasesandexampleswererelevanttotheirsocietyandculture.(Catalg)
ConcerningthePBLapproach,Boud(1983)hasfoundthatitisacurriculumdesignandateaching/learning
strategywhichsimultaneouslydevelopshigherthinkingorder,disciplinaryknowledgebasesandpracticalskillsby
placingstudentsintheactiveroleofpractitioners(orproblemsolvers).StudentsinthePBLapproachareconfronted
withasituationwhichreflectstherealworld(Boud,1985).ProjectBasedLearning(PBL)hasbeenprovedtobethe
mosteffectiveapproachtolifelonglearningandassessment.Thisacademicapproachcantrainstudentsandlearners
ingeneral,insuchcharacteristicsas:enthusiasm,motivation,leadershipskills,interpersonalskillsandorganizational
skills.Alltheseskillsareverydesirabletalentsinthe21stcenturybothintheeducationaxis,jobsaxisandlivesof
peopleingeneral(Johns,2013).AlthoughthePBLapproachhasbeenextensivelyusedinacademiaallovertheworld,
Yeo(2007)andothershaveshownthatthismethodinterestinglyhasrecentlyemergedasatoolforthedevelopment
ofleadershipskillsgiventhenewchallengingrolesofleaderstoactinthefastchangingglobalsocieties(Yeo,2007).
ThebasiccharacteristicsofPBLarethatitiscontextbasedusingreallifecases,itfocusesonthinkingskillsand
reachinggoals,itrequiresintegrationofinterdisciplinaryknowledgeandcanbeappliedinsmallgroups.Studentsare
drivenbyaposedreallifeprojectandbecomeinterestedinitsdifferentphases.Asfortheuniversityprofessor’srole,
itisconsideredasoneofsupport,ratherthandirection,andfacilitatingratherthaninstructing.Itisobvioustherefore
thatPBLisastudentͲcenteredteachingandinstructingapproachratherthanprofessorcenteredteaching.
Inconclusion,thefactthatUAEisayoungcountry(around40yearsold),anditseducationalsystemsand
highereducationinspecificareevenyounger,thereisahighexpectationthatleadershipskillswillbeoverwhelmingly
embracedbyeducators,administratorsandresearcherstointroducetheseneweducationalconceptsandprocedures
withintheircurriculumanddevelopmentactivities,aswellastoutilizeanddevelopknownapproaches(suchasPBL
approach)inordertohelpgraduatingstudentswithcompetence,knowledgeandeducationalleadershipskills. Students
Atthecollegeanduniversitylevel,itisworthmentioningthatdifferentrelationsandinteractionsamongall
educationalcomponentsareevenstrongerandcriticalasstudentsembracetheworldofworkwithinjustafewyears.
Inrecentyears,mostleadershiptrainingprogramsespecially,thoseconductedandestablishedinthewesternworld
werebasedonthetraditionalconceptofleadership(ExpertPower:Leadfromthefront,2012).Withinmany
educationalinstitutions,onlyasmallpopulationofstudentsmayhavehadthechancetoacquireleadershipskillsthat
theyneedfortheirfuturejobsortoservetheircommunities.Inmostuniversitiesaroundtheworldandinspecificin
theArabcountries,thedevelopmentofstudentleadershipskillsisnottrulyseenaspartoftheacademiccurriculum,
butitismostlyattributedto“extraͲcurricular”activities.Thus,leadershipskillsaremostlyregardedaspartof
students’nonͲacademicactivitiesinclubsandorganizationsratherthanbeingpartofthestudents’dailylife.(AlͲ
Dabbagh&Assaad,2010)
Intheliterature,CaineandCaine(1991)havefoundthatthemosteffectiveleadershiptrainingsandprograms
occurineverydaysettingsthatmainlyincludethecourseoflearning.Theseeverydayvenuescanpotentiallyserveas
opportunitiesforleadershipskillsdevelopmentforalluniversitystudents.Inthisregard,coursesinadditionto
studentorganizations(studentcouncilsandstudentclubs)containmanygoodopportunitiesfordevelopingleadership
skills.Infact,ifduringeachsemesteruniversitystudentsareexposedtoeducationalleadershipdevelopment
exercises,andiftheseexercisesbecomepartofthatorganization’songoingactivities,manynewleadershipskillswill
beimplementedanddevelopedwithinthestudents’populationbythetimeheorshegraduatesfromcollege.The
successwouldbetremendousifsimilarstrategiesareadoptedineveryclassoftheuniversity,andinallother
universitiesandinstitutionsofthenation.Wheatley(1999)hasexplainedthatthesetrialsofimplementingleadership
skillswithincourseswillcertainlyhaveagreatimpactoninstitutions,communitiesandsociety’sdevelopment.
Asasummary,developingleadershipskillswithintheeducationalfieldatuniversitiesandcolleges(Thatiswhy
theywillbecalledfromnowoneducationalleadershipskills)isacomplicatedmatterandprocess.Manycomponents
areoverlappedandthereforeshouldbetakenintoconsideration.Alotofthefocuswasdirectedinpreviousstudies
on preparing administrators (Day, 2011) and instructors throughout educational programs and professional
developmentactivities(Edwards,Baume,&Webb,2003).Littleworkhasbeenusedtoinvestigatethecurriculumand
students,asbeingeducationalcomponentsthatneedtremendousimprovementanddevelopmentwithineducational
institutions.Thefocusofthisstudy,aspereducationalleadershipskills(goalsettingandteamworking),hasbeen
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METHODS
ThisstudywasconductedatZayedUniversityinDubai,UAE,toanalyzetheoutputofdevelopingcurriculum
usingprojectbasedlearning(PBL)asanimplementingchannelofeducationalleadershipskills.Inparallel,another
partoftheworktookplaceonadailybasisintheformatofanawarenessexercise.Thestudyhastakenintoaccount
ZayedUniversitystudents’backgroundandtheirculture.Generaleducationstudentswhoweresimultaneouslypartof
thestudyconsistedof50femalestudentsintheirthirdandfourthsemester.Thecourseusedinthestudywasthe
“Datamodeling”course,andthestudytookplaceduringthefallsemester2010intheDubaicampus.
Curriculum.ToinvestigatethedevelopmentofeducationalleadershipskillsviaPBLapproach,acarefulstudy
wascarriedoutusingcoursesofferedinZayedUniversity.ThediscussedcoursehereisaPBLgeneraleducationcourse
andthemainobjectivebehindusingsuchapproachistodevelopeducationalleadershipskills(Goalsettingandteam
working)withintheundergraduatestudents’population.Thedatamodelingcourseisageneraleducationcoursethat
isnormallydeliveredthroughclassroomlecturesandactivities.Inthisstudy,thecoursewasredesignedusingPBL
approachinordertoallowstudentstoworkonaprojectthroughoutthesemester.
Thecourse(DataModeling)is,originally,designedtoprovideZayedUniversitystudentswithabroadgeneral
educationinquantitativereasoningandcriticalthinking.Italsoprovidesafoundationforthedevelopmentoftheir
abilitytofunctioncompetentlyandconfidentlyinmajorprograms.Thecourseisfocusedonanalyticalreasoningand
thinkingtosolverealworldproblemsinbusiness,finance,economics,computerscience,educationandthenatural
sciences.Thecontentofthecourseisdeliveredthroughclassroomactivitiestointroducethestudentstothevarious
topics.Forsometopicsorcasestudies,datacanbefromprimarysourcesconnectedwithothercourses,suchas
EnvironmentalScience,HealthScienceandothergeneraleducationcourses.Ineacharea,knowledge,analyticalskills,
criticalthinkingandunderstandingaredevelopedusingrelevantexamplesfordiscussion,analysisandinterpretation
inclasswithfollowupexercisesorassignmentsofasimilarnaturetobedoneindividuallyoringroupsoutsidethe
classroom.Tobeabletotakethiscourse,studentsshouldhavesuitablemathematicsplacementtestresults.The
courseemphasisisonapplicationsofquantitativereasoninginthecontextofrealworldcasesthataremostlyrelated
totheUAE.Usingtheknowledgeandskillslearnedanddiscussedintheclassroom,studentswereprovidedwitha
courseprojectearlyinthesemesterandthestudentswereintroducedtotheapproachofPBL.Therationalebehind
usingthisapproachtolearningisthatrealͲworldcasestendgenerallytocapturestudents'interestandenhance
seriousthinkingasthestudentsacquireandapplynewknowledgeinaprojectbasedlearningcontext.
Thisdatamodelingprojecthadthreedifferentsetsofdataandstudentsneededfirsttocompletethesesetsby
collectingprimarydatausingeitherdatacollectionorsurveys.Afterwards,studentsneededtomodelallthedataand
makesenseoutofitbyusingsomeorallknowledgeandskillslearnedinclassroomactivities.Studentsneededto
organizethedata,tousemathematicalandlogicalfunctions,tocreategraphsandscatterplots,tousestatistics,data
descriptorsandhistogramsaswellastoconductdataanalysis.AllthatwasperformedbyusinganopenͲended
methodinwhichstudentsandtheirgroupscouldchoosedifferentconceptsandskillsaslongastheirworkisclear,the
analysisiscorrectandtheconclusionisrelevant.Studentsneededtoworkingroups,andthereforegetinvolvedin
projectgroupplanning.Results,discussionsandprojectchallengeswerelookedatinsideandoutsidetheclassroom
onaregularbasis(Atleastonetimeperweek).
ThetwomaineducationalleadershipskillsthatweredevelopedusingthisPBLdatamodelingcoursewere:goal
settingandteamworking.Duringthesemester,studentswereencouragedtoworkontheiropenͲendeddata
modelingprojectinsideandoutsideclassrooms.Necessaryskillsandknowledgewereprovidedviarealisticactivities
thatareapplicabletostudents’experiences.Studentsalsohadtheopportunitytostayfocusedandappreciatethe
factthatthereisacourseingoalsettingandagoalbehindacquiringcertainknowledgeandskillswhichhelpsthemin
workingontheproject.Furthermore,studentsweredividedintosmallgroupsoftwotothreemembersandtherefore
haveworkedasateamordividedtheprojectdutiesamonggroupmembers.Thisworkingmethodologyhashelped
studentsshareknowledge,skillsandraisedfurtherissuestobesolved.Thus,allofthoseexperiencesandassestments
wouldhelpPBLstudentstodeveloptheirteam’sworkingskillsandwouldhelpthembeengagedinalongactive
learningenvironment.
Students.InatrialtoreinforcetheacquisitionofeducationalleadershipskillswithinZayedUniversitystudents’
population,anawarenessexercisewaslaunchedinthedatamodelinggeneraleducationcourse.Theaimbehind
conductingthispartofthework(awarenessexercise)isbasicallytohelpZayedUniversityundergraduatestudents
focusononeortwoeducationalleadershipskills(goalsetting),beawareofitandhavethechancetoexerciseitona
dailybasispattern.
Anexampleofhowthecourseobjectiveandunits’specificobjectivewerediscussedisillustratedintheflow
chartbelow(asperthedatamodelingcourse).Thiseducationalleadershipskillexercisewaslaunchedatthe
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thecoursematerialandtheprojectwork.Itisalsomeanttohelpstudentshaveaclearvisionofthegoalandthe
objectivebehindstudyingaspecificunitandhowdoesitconvergetothecourse’soutcomesinspecificandZayed
Universitylearningoutcomesingeneral.
Figure1:Exampleofflowchartusedtoillustratecourseandunitobjectivesonadailybasis(Awarenessexercise).
Furthermore,andinordertobetterquantifytheeducationalleadershipskillsdevelopmentimpactonstudents
inthedatamodelingcourse,adailyobservationwascarriedoutandnumbersofstudentswitheducationalleadership
skillsornoeducationalleadershipskillswererecordedthroughoutthe2010fallsemester.Threecategorieswereset
aspereducationalleadershipskills.Thefirstcategoryshowedstudentswhoarebelievedtohaveeducational
leadershipskills(goalsettingandteamworking).Thesestudentsshowedimmediateandaspontaneousstartintheir
projectworkduringtheallocatedtimeinsidetheclass.Thesecondcategoryofstudentsshowedsomeinterestandis
believedtohaveatleastoneoftheeducationalleadershipskills(goalsettingorteamworking).Thissecondcategory
normallytooklongertostartworking,butstudentsspentmostoftheirallocatedtimeworkingontheirproject.The
lastcategorypresentedstudentswhohadnoeducationalleadershipskills.Thesestudentslostalltheallocatedtime
andwere either talking ordoingsomething else otherthan workingontheirproject. The aim behindthis
observationalpartofthestudywastoinvestigatetherelationshipbetweenthetrialofdevelopingeducational
leadershipskillsandstudents’attitude.Thissimpleobservationalexercisemaygiveagoodindicationofhow
implementingeducationalleadershipskills(viaPBL)canaffectstudentsandtheirattitudestowardthecoursematerial
andtheprojectworkandultimatelytheirperformance.Theobservationalexercisewaslaunchedatthebeginningof
thesemesterandeachtimetheclassmeetsforprojectwork,numbersofstudentswererecorded.Attheconclusion
oftheobservationalexercise,themonthlyaverageofstudents’numberwascalculatedasperthethreecategories.
Thedatabasedontheobservationalpartofthestudywerecomparedandonlythefirstandthelastmonthlyaverages
werepresented.
ToevaluatetheimpactofdevelopingeducationalleadershipskillswithinthepopulationofZayedUniversity
students,agradecomparisonwasconductedforthedatamodelingcoursestudentswhowerepartofthestudy.For
thisreason,sectionsofthesamegeneraleducationcoursewereinvestigated,andstudents’gradeswerecompared.
Gradepercentagesforthiscourseweredividedamong:Test1,Test2,ProjectandFinal.
Inordertofurtherinvestigatetheimpactthedevelopingeducationalleadershipskillswithinthepopulationof
studentshad,asurveywasadministeredforthe“Datamodeling”coursestudentstowardtheendofthe2010fall
semester.Theaimofthesurveywasexplainedtothestudentsandthentheyweregivenflexibletimeoutsidethe
classtoanswersurveyquestions.
ThefigurebelowillustratesdifferentcomponentsandstepsofthestudyconductedattheDubaicampusof
ZayedUniversityforfemalestudentsatthegeneraleducationlevel(Priortotheirmajors).
'DWDPRGHOLQJ 8VLQJEDVLFPDWK IXQFWLRQV6XP&RXQW 8VLQJDGYDQFHGPDWK IXQFWLRQV/RJLFDO IXFQWLRQV *UDSKVDQG+LVWRJUDPV &UHDWLQJDQG ,QWHUSUHWLQJ 6WDWLVWLFV0HDQ 0HGLDQ6'
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Figure2:Asummaryoftheeducationalleadershipskills’developmentstudyconductedatZayedUniversityin
Dubai,UAE.
LIMITATIONSOFTHESTUDY
Leadershipskillshavebeenknowntoholdagreatimportanceindeterminingthesuccessofstudentsintheir
career(Lahkim&Draganova,2011).Nevertheless,resistancetothenewapproachfromboththeprofessors’sideand
thestudents’sidealongwiththelackofawarenessoftheimportanceoftheseskillscouldbeachallengeinthetrialof
developingtheseleadershipskillswithintheeducationalinstitutions.AnothermajorchallengetoapplyingPBL
conceptsingeneraleducationcoursesisthattherearemanysections(around50sectionsperfallsemesterforthe
datamodelingcourse)andanaverageof20Ͳ30studentspersection.Also,languageskills,variedbackgrounds,
attitudestowardteachingcouldbetakenaschallengesandlimitationsofdevelopingeducationalleadershipskills
withininstitutions.Inanefforttomaintainqualityteachinginallsections,generalcourseoutcomeswerespecified
andgeneralassessmentswasapplied,yetallthatlimitstheflexibilityandopennessofthePBLnature.
RESULTSANDDISCUSSION
Educationalleadershipdevelopment
Curriculum Students
PBLapproach Awarenessdaily
exercise
Studyevaluation
Students’
performance Students’survey
Class
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Developingeducationalleadershipskillswithinstudents’populationinZayedUniversitywashopedtohavea
positiveimpactonthestudents’performances.Forthisreason,agradecomparisonwascarriedoutwithinsectionsof
thesamegeneraleducationcourseandstudents’gradeswerecompared.Thefigurebelowshowsanexampleof
grades’comparisonbetweenTest1takenatthebeginningofthesemesterandTest2takentowardtheendofthe
semester.Thecomparisonwasconductedasperindividualstudents’grades.(22studentsfromonesectionofthe
datamodelingcourse)
Figure3:Exampleofthedatamodelingcoursegradecomparisonasperindividualstudents.
Thegradescomparisonlaunchedforthedatamodelinggeneraleducationcourseduringthesamesemester,
hasshownthatmostofthestudentshaveperformedbettertowardtheendofthesemester(Test2)ascomparedto
theirperformanceatthebeginningofthesemester(Test1).Thegradeswerelookedatperindividualstudents,and
overall,apositivechangehasbeennoticedwhilecomparingTest1gradeforeachstudenttoTest2grade.Theclass
averagewascalculatedforbothtests,andwasfoundtochangefrom76%to79%(withastandarddeviationof1.26
andarangeof5.08forTest1andastandarddeviationof1.81andarangeof6.84forTest2).Therefore,itisbelieved
thatdevelopingeducationalleadershipskillswithinthestudents’communityhasplayedagreatroleinhelping
studentsstayingfocused,learningbetterandthereforegettingbettergrades.Thegrades’comparisonhasshownthat
morethan77%ofstudentshadperformedbettertowardtheendofthesemester.
TostudyfurthertheimpactofdevelopingeducationalleadershipskillsviathePBLapproach,asurveywas
administeredforthe“Datamodeling”coursestudentstowardtheendofthesemester.Thefollowingchartspresent
students’perceptionandattitudetowardthecourseproject(PBLapproach)andhowtheprojecthashelpedthem
acquirecertainskills.(Educationalleadershipskills)
Figure4andFigure5:Statisticsofeducationalleadershipskillsperceivedby2010ZUundergraduatestudents.
(1,2,3,4,5)wereconvertedrespectivelyfrom(Stronglyagree,Agree,Neutral,Disagree,Stronglydisagree).
Theaimbehindusingtheprojectbasedapproachintheabovegeneraleducationcoursewastoenhancethe
qualityofstudentlearningcomparedwithothertraditionalinstructionalmethods.Afterall,thePBLapproachwasa
vehicletodevelopeducationalleadershipskills(namely:goalsettingandteamworking)withinthecommunityof
students.Thus,evaluatingthestudents’perceptiontowardthePBLapproachisanindirectwaytoevaluatestudents’
perceptiontowardeducationalleadershipskillsacquisition.
7,00 8,00 9,00 10,00 11,00 12,00 13,00 14,00 15,00 16,00 17,00 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Grades (/15) Numberofstudents
Test1
and
Test2
grades
comparison
Test1 Test2 0% 50% 1 2 3 4 5 6WXGHQWV DQVZHUV Quantitativechoices
I
believe
this
type
of
project
expand
my
knowledge,
skills
and
creativity.
0% 50% 1 2 3 4 5 6WXGHQWV DQVZHUV 4XDQWLWDWLYHFKRLFHVI
have
learned
a
lot
from
the
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Surveyresultshaveshownthat,students’perceptiontowardthisstyleoflearningwasmostlypositive.Agood
percentofstudentshavelikedtheprojectandbelievedtohavelearnedalotfromit.Anotherpercentageofstudents
(aminority)wereeitherneutralortheydisagreedabouttheprojectconcept.Also,morethan60%ofstudents
believedthattheprojecthashelpedthemacquireknowledgeandskills.Thisstudyhassuggestedthateducational
approachessuchasPBLcancertainlyimprovestudents’learningandstudents’attitudetowardacquiringeducational
leadershipskillsthatwereembeddedwithinthePBLapproach.Thedatahasalsoshownthatmoreeffortstillneedsto
bedirectedtocurriculumdevelopment,andthatmost,ifnotall,generaleducationcoursesinZayedUniversityshould
bedevelopedtowardthePBLapproachorsimilaracademicmethodologies.
Inadditiontoconductingasurveyandaskingstudentsfortheirfeedbackaspertheprojectandhowithelps
themtoacquireeducationalleadershipskills,otherquestionswereusedtoinvestigatethestudents’acquisitionofthe
discussededucationalleadershipskillsinthecoursework(goalsetting).Theanswershaveshownaninterestingtrend.
Agoodpercentage(around70%)ofthestudents’populationhasshowngreatappreciationofidentifyingcourse
objectiveandthecontinuousemphasisonitsimportance.Thefollowingfiguresshowdatapresentationforafew
selectedquestionsofthesurvey:
Figure6andFigure7:Statisticsofeducationalleadershipskillsawarenessperception(goalsetting).(1,2,3,4,5)
wereconvertedrespectivelyfrom(Stronglyagree,Agree,Neutral,Disagree,Stronglydisagree).
Theabovefiguresshowthat,ingeneral,studentshaveapositiveattitudetowardeducationalleadershipskills
awareness(goalsetting).Theresultsareveryencouragingandtheyareshowingverygoodstudents’perceptionofan
importanteducationalleadershipskillanditsimportancetostudents’learningthroughoutthesemester.Other
questionsofthesurveyhaveshownthatthemajorityofstudentshavefoundthatfocusingontheobjectiveofthe
courseandotherspecificobjectiveshelpthemunderstandbetterandperformbetterintheclassroom.Mostofthe
studentsbelievedthatitwillhelpthemalotifotherinstructorsremindedthemabouttheirrespectivecourse’s
objective.
Finally,tofurtherevaluatetheimpactofdevelopingeducationalleadershipskillsviathePBLapproach,the
classobservation,conductedthroughoutthe2010fallsemester, hasshown apositive increasein students’
involvementwiththecourse’smaterial,aswellasachangeinstudents’behaviorinacquiringknowledge.Asthe
semesterwenton,studentshaveseemedtobemoreinvolvedwiththecourse’smaterial.Theyhavecomeupwith
manyquestionsraisedwhileworkingontheirproject.Theyhavelookedmoreenthusiasticaboutlearningandfinding
solutionstoproblems.Furthermore,itwasnoticedthattheteam’sworkingskillhadbeenimprovedwithtime.Atfirst,
studentssharedtheirconcernsabouthowtotakedifferentresponsibilitieswhileworkingontheproject.But,over
time,manychallengeswereovercomeandstudentsseemedtoappreciatetheconceptofworkingingroups.These
attitudeswerecertainlyrelatedtothePBLapproachandtherationalebehindusingitasavehicletoimplement
educationalleadershipskillswithinZayedUniversitystudent’spopulation.
Figuresbelowillustratehowstudents’behaviorandattitudehavechangedthroughoutthesemester.Indeed,
theaveragenumberofstudentswitheducationalleadershipskillsrecordedtowardtheendofthesemesterhas
increasedcomparedtothesamenumberrecordedatthebeginningofthesamesemester.Thesamepatternwas
recordedforstudentswithsomeeducationalleadershipskills.Thosestudentswhohaveshownsomeinterestinthe
projecthaveseemedtoincreaseinnumbersattheendofthesemester.Thispositivechangeasperthenumberof
studentswhohaveshownmoreinvolvementandwhohaveseemedtochangetheirbehaviortowardthecourseand
theprojectismostprobablyrelatedtothedevelopmentofeducationalleadershipskillsthroughoutthePBLapproach
withinstudents’populationofthedatamodelingcourse.
0% 50% 1 2 3 4 5 Students ' answers % Quantitativechoices
During
my
every
day
learning,
the
course
objective
is
clear
and
well
…
0% 50% 1 2 3 4 5 Students ' answers % Quantitativechoices
It
helps
me
a
lot
when
my
instructor
often
reminds
me
www.tojned.net
21
Figure8andFigure9.Statisticsofeducationalleadershipskillsdevelopmentusingtheclassobservation.
Theaboveclassobservationresultsshowclearlythatdevelopingeducationalleadershipskillswithinthedata
modelingcoursewasfairlypositive.Thepercentofstudentswitheducationalleadershipskillshasincreasedwith
time.Indeed,atthebeginningofthesemesteranaverageofaround14%ofstudentshasshownsomeindicationof
goalsetting(objective)andreadinessforteamworking.Asthesemesterevolves,morestudentswerefallingintothis
groupandtowardstheendofthesemester,anaverageofaround32%ofstudentswasbelievedtoacquiresome
educationalleadershipskills.Theresultshavealsoshownthatalotofeffortandworkarestilltobedirectedto
students,asthenumberofstudentswhohaveshownalmostnoinvolvementwiththematerialofthecourse(Project)
andwerenotinterestedisstillhigh(47%towardtheendofthesemester).
Asasummary,thisexampleofcoursesthatareofferedatZayedUniversityisareallygoodcasewherestudents
canacquireanddevelopeducationalleadershipskills.Theconceptsembeddedinthisprojecthavecertainlyhelped
manystudentsacquireeducationalleadershipskills(goalsettingandteamworking)andhelpedthemtobettermodel
theirthinkingandenhancetheirlearning,andultimatelyimprovetheiracademicperformance.
CONCLUSIONSANDRECOMMENDATIONS
InConclusion,theentirestudyconductedinZayedUniversitywithinageneraleducationstudents’population,
hasfoundthatthedevelopmentofeducationalleadershipskillsishighlyeffectiveandmostpositive.Indeed,these
skillshaveproventohelpstudentsimprovetheirlearningskillsaswellastheirperformancesbothviaapproaches
suchasPLBandviaadailyclassroomawarenessexercise.Educationalleadershipskillscanthereforebevital
parameterstoimproveeducation,andwhentheseskillsbecomeintegralpartsoftheinstructionalprocess,the
benefitsforstudents,professorsandinstitutionswillbetremendous.
Nevertheless,theprocessofdevelopingeducationalleadershipskillscanfacevariouschallenges,suchasthe
natureofgeneraleducationalcourses(highnumberofsectionsandstudents,corecurriculum,assessment,numberof
professors),students’resistanceandignoranceofthelearningconceptaswellasthelackofspecifictrainingneeded
forinstructors.Therefore,atZayedUniversity,alotofworkandeffortshouldstillbedirectedtocurriculum
development,toapplicationofneweducationalapproaches,tostudents’educationalleadershipawareness,andto
educationalleadershipworkshops.
Also,inadditiontocurriculumandstudents;professorsandadministratorsshouldalsobepartofthe
educationalleadershipdevelopmentexperiment.Thus,establishingasynchronizedmediumandcreatingaleadership
environmentwithintheeducationalinstitutionwouldwithoutadoubtpositivelyaffecttheperformanceofstudents,
professorsandadministrators.Therefore,ongoingleadershipworkshops,ongoingcurriculumdevelopmentand
ongoingeducationalleadershipresearchshouldbepartofZayedUniversityprioritiesinordertoraisethelevelof
education.Furthermore,developingeducationalleadershipskillsthroughcoursesandclassroomactivitiesshouldbe
inconjunctionwithoutsideclubs,extracurriculumactivitiesetctoaccelerateimprovingstudents’recruitment,
training,evaluationandongoingdevelopments.Implementingsuchoutsideofclassroomactivities shouldbe
consideredhighlycosteffectiveapproachestosuccessfulstudents’improvements.Theseeffortswillbeincreasingly
importantforuniversitystudentsasthosepracticesconvergeintoestablishinganeweducationsystem,improvingits
overallqualityandsubstantiallyaddingvaluetostudents’learning.
Inadditiontoapplyingnonclassicalpedagogicalwaysofinstructingsuchasprojectbasedlearning(PBL)and
problemsolving,anddirectincorporationofafewoftheeducationalleadershipskillswithintheuniversitycourses.
Specialcoursescouldbedesignedtohelpdevelopingtheseskillswithinthestudentpopulationattheuniversitylevel.
Forinstance,oneleadershipcoursecouldbeincorporatedeachsemesterforstudentsduringtheirgeneraleducation
periodorpriortoenteringthegeneraleducationuniversitylevel.Thesecoursescoulddevelopeducationalleadership
skillsandemphasizetheirimportanceintheeducationfieldandthejobmarket.Forinstance,themesrelatedto
14% 18% 68%
Observation
1
(Start
of
the
semester)
Averageof studentswith educational leadershipskills 32% 21% 47%Observation
2
(End
of
the
semester)
Averageof studentswith educational leadershipskillswww.tojned.net
22
students’culture,backgroundandenvironmentcouldberecommendedforeachcourseandwithintheuniversity
courseoutlines.
Toconclude,inZayedUniversity,muchworkisstillneededatthelevelofcurriculumdevelopment,students’
readiness(educationalleadershipskills),professor’scompetenceandadministrativecooperation.Furtherresearchis
plannedattheuniversitytoincreasetheeducationalleadershipskills’developmentwithintheuniversitystudent
population,andusingothercourses.Also,furtherresearchwouldbeconductedoncurriculumdevelopment,
professorandadministrators’involvementinthedomainofeducationalleadershipskills’development.Allofthatis
hopedtohelpdevelopingeducationinZayedUniversityandintheUAE.
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