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www.tojned.net

13

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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16

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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17

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 4XDQWLWDWLYHFKRLFHV

I

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

(9)

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 leadershipskills

(10)

www.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.

REFERENCES

Akkari,A.(2004).EducationintheMiddleEastandNorthAfrica:ThecurrentSituationandFutureChallenges.

InternationalEducationalJournal,5.

Alldredge,M.,Johnson,C.,&Stoltzfus,J.(2003).LeadershipDevelopmentat3M:NewProcesses,New

Techniques,NewGrowth.HumanResourcePlanning,45Ͳ55.

AlͲMutawa,N.(2003).SelfleadingandManagement.Kuwaitcity:alruyah.

Boud,D.(1985).ProblemBasedLearningfortheProfessions.HigherEducationResearchSocietyofAustralasia,

13Ͳ18.

Caine,R.N.,&Caine,G.(1991).Makingconnections:TeachingandtheHumanBrain.MenloPark:Addison

Wesley.

Day,C.S.(2011).Successfulschoolleadershiplinkingwithlearningandachievement.Berkshire,England:

McGrawHill.

Edwards,H.,Baume,D.,&Webb,G.(2003).Staffandeducationaldevelopment:casestudies,experienceand

practice.Sterling,VA,London:KoganPage.

Foskett,N.,&Lumby,J.(2003).Leadingandmanagingeducation(Internationaldimensions).PaulChapman

Publishing.

Hicks,O.(2007).CurriculuminhighereducationinAustralia–Hello?30thHERDSAAnnualConference.

Adelaide:HigherEducationResearchandDevelopmentSocietyofAustralasia.

Johns,C.S.(2013).Projectbasedlearningandstudentengagement.Academicresearchinternational,560Ͳ570.

Joyce,B.,&Showers,B.(1995).Studentachievementthroughstaffdevelopment.NewYork:Whiteplains,

Longman.

Lahkim,M.,&Draganova,A.(2011).IntegratingTechnologyEducationwithLeadershipDevelopment.IETEC.

KualaLumpur.

TrentA,E.(2006).StudentLeadershipProgrammingModelRevisited.Journalofleadershipeducation.

Wheatley,M.J.(1999).LeadershipandtheNewSciences:DiscoveringOrderinaChaoticWorld.SanFrancisco:

BerrettKoehler.

Yeo,R.(2007).ProblemͲBasedLearning:aviableapproachinleadershipdevelopment.Journalofmanagement

development,874Ͳ894.

(1998).Towardsanagenda21forhighereducation.Paris:UNESCO.

Expert Power: Lead from the front. (2012, 11, 28). Retrieved from Mind tool:

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_04.htm

http://www.zu.ac.ae/main/files/contents/docs/Catalog_Errata_2012Ͳ2013.pdf. (2013, 9 19). Dubai, Dubai,

UAE.

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