IIUM Journal of Educational Studies
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The Challenges of Islamization of Knowledge in Nigerian Islamic Universities
Get PDFA sort of revolution seems to have occurred in the education sector of the Muslim world consequent upon the First World Conference on Muslim Education held at Makkah in 1977, followed by others in different parts of the Muslim world. Part of the successes of these conferences was the establishment of international Islamic universities in some countries, as well as proliferation of intellectual institutions and organizations championing the course of Islamization of knowledge programme. In Nigeria, since 1999 at least four private Islamic universities have received licences of operation. Muslim owned universities tend to pursue the Islamization of knowledge programme rigorously. Nevertheless, certain stumbling blocks seem to have made this a mirage. This paper therefore intends to expose some of the stumbling blocks against the implementation of the Islamization of knowledge programme in Nigerian Islamic universities. To do justice to this, visitations were paid to the concerned institutions in Nigeria while libraries were consulted to have insight into the programme at international levels. Among the challenges encountered are: lack of a universally accepted model of Islamization; shortage of staff who are capable of doing Islamization; problems with funding the Islamization programme; many students not being interested in Islamization; and challenges related to the language of instruction. Based on our findings, some suggestions were made to facilitate effective implementation of the programme in the institutions that are believed to be fertile land for the development and execution of the Islamization of knowledge programme
The Effectiveness of Strategies Used by Teachers to Manage Disruptive Classroom Behaviors: A Case Study at a Religious School in Rawang, Selangor, Malaysia
Get PDFStudies have indicated that there is a positive correlation between disruptive behaviors and low academic achievement which resulted in other problems such as absenteeism, school drop-out and delinquent behaviors. Lack of knowledge and skills and failure in managing classroom disruptive behaviors have caused frustration, stress and burnout among teachers which pushed teachers to leave the profession especially novice teachers. The pervasiveness of classroom disruptive behaviors implied that strategies employed by teachers to manage disruptive behaviors are not effective. This requires immediate attention and action to find effective solutions. Therefore, this exploratory study attempts to discover the common classroom disruptive behaviors; to identify strategies used by teachers in managing misbehaviors; and to find out to what extent the strategies used by teachers were actually effective in managing classroom disruptive behaviors. This is especially critical in religious schools since the majority of teachers teaching in religious schools in the state of Selangor had no formal training in education; and they were not trained in classroom management, thus have no exposure on handling student classroom disruptive behaviors. Participants of this study were 14 teachers from a religious school in the district of Rawang, Selangor. Data collected using self-constructed instrument and semi-structured interviews were analyzed using descriptive statistics and qualitative analysis. Findings of this study revealed that majority of classroom disruptive behaviors were low-level disruptions; nonetheless they were burdensome to teachers which led to teacher frustration. Majority of teachers used ineffective punitive measures to handle student misbehaviors. Implications from the study were discussed.
Challenges Encountered by Community Colleges at Shaqra University in Saudi Arabia: A Documentary Analysis
Get PDFThe principal aim of this study is to investigate to what extent the four community colleges operating under the jurisdiction of Shaqra University: Shaqra, Adduwadimi, Huraymila, and Alquwayiyah, meet the needs of Saudi Arabian society. The research method was a qualitative documentary analysis, which involved examining and interpreting official documents. The following are the primary findings of the study:(a) enrollments at the four colleges have fluctuated over the past 3 years (2012-2014); (b) the number of graduates from the four community colleges has steadily decreased, resulting in an abnormally low graduation rate overall; (c) the faculty to student ratios at the community colleges are typically small; and (d) there was a policy of continuous hiring of additional administrators and technicians between 2012 and 2014, with the result that the ratio of administrators and technicians to enrollees has become bloated. Consequently, the continued existence of these community colleges hangs-in-the-balance, and the concerned authorities need to seek urgent resolution to this problem to avoid huge financial losses and wastage on the part of the government. To resolve the on-going problems, the researcher recommends that the four community colleges at Shaqra University be just combined into two, and if necessity requires, retrenchment of faculty and administrators is conducted to achieve the ideal faculty to student ratio and administrator to student ratio. Finally, the researcher concludes that the best model for a community college system that can be adapted to the context of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the American system of community colleges
Motivation of Saudi Arabia Tertiary Level Students Learning English as a Foreign Language
Get PDFIn this paper the author focuses on the motivation of Saudi Arabian students in learning English at the tertiary level. To show the significance of motivation in this paper the author uses Gardner’s socio-educational model of SLA. It centers on government initiatives, parents’ inspiration, classroom atmosphere, and teachers’ inspirations at elementary and tertiary levels in English language learning. Here a questionnaire has been used to collect data. The attitudinal scale is used with close-ended questions on a four points Likert scale. In the survey it has been revealed that English should be taught from grade one at elementary level and qualified English teachers are required there. In terms of motivation it has been recognized that family awareness plays a crucial role. It is also found that parents should care about the language efficiency of their children rather than grades in examinations
Exploring Teachers’ Creative Teaching Strategies in Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language at a Private Islamic Secondary School in Malaysia
Get PDFArabic is an important language for Muslims but teaching the language is not an easy task. It needs efforts to improve and simplify the learning process through creative teaching strategies. Creative teaching involves the development of materials and approaches that foster students’ interests and motivation in learning. This study explored the experiences of Arabic teachers in fostering students’ interests by developing creative approaches in teaching Arabic as a foreign language at Adni Islamic School, a private Islamic secondary school in Malaysia. In collecting the data, semi-structured interviews were used as part of qualitative research. The findings indicated that teachers have been using creative teaching strategies in the teaching and learning process. These are categorized into three strategies: (1) creativity in making daily lesson plans, (2) creativity during the teaching and learning process, and (3) creativity in evaluating and assessing the outcomes of teaching. The application of these creative strategies is in accordance with the message of the Islamic principles of teaching. Recommendations were made to the relevant authorities, including the teachers themselves, so that creative teaching can be applied to the subject of Arabic language in order to produce a meaningful lesson
Manifestation of Depression Among Undergraduate Students: Implications for Counselling
No full textDepression is a common mental disorder that presents with depressed mood, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite and poor concentration. This study therefore investigates the manifestations of depression among undergraduates of universities in Kwara State. It also examined the influence of variables of religious affiliation and level of study on undergraduates’ responses. Descriptive survey design was adopted for this study and multi-stage sampling procedure which comprises purposive, proportional, stratified and simple random sampling techniques were adopted to draw a total sample of 600 undergraduates from two universities in Kwara State. “Manifestations of Depression Questionnaire (MDQ)” was used to collect relevant data. The instrument was subjected to test re-test reliability co-efficient which yielded the score of 0.78 and the hypotheses were analysed using t-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) at 0.05 significance level. Frequency counts and percentages were used to present the demographic data. The findings of the study identified poor school academic performance, avoidance of responsibility and difficulty in day to day tasks, health problems and loss of self-confidence as major manifestations of depression among undergraduates of universities in Kwara State, Nigeria. The hypotheses tested revealed no significant difference in the manifestations of depression among undergraduates of Universities in Kwara State based on religious affiliation and level of study. In line with the findings of this study, it was recommended among others that members in peer groups should be encouraged to assist one another and encourage prompt reportage of depression
The Role of Postgraduate International Students in the Process of Internationalization of Higher Education
Get PDFThis study was conducted to assess the role of interactions among international students from different nationalities on the process of internationalization of Malaysian higher education. An embedded design of mixed methods with the predominant role of the quantitative method was applied to conduct this study. The participants of this study were 118 international postgraduate students from a Malaysian public university, and based on their personal agreements, six of them were interviewed as well. Based on the results, the presence and persuasions of students from their countries at universities and the emerging reputation of public universities in the host country were the main reasons that encouraged international students to enroll in the university. The findings of this study also illustrated that almost all participants of this study shared some information about the quality and standards of higher education in the host country with their friends in their own countries, and encouraged some students to join the mentioned university and other universities in the country. Generally, the findings of this study confirmed the positive role of foreign students in assisting the increase in the number of international students, and also on the process of internationalization of higher education. The findings of this study may help universities to reap more benefits from their international students, and also may encourage students to have better academic achievements through their interactions with their peers from different nationalities
Internationalization of Higher Education with Reference to the Arab Context: Proposed Model
Get PDFThis study aimed at articulating a model to put internationalization of higher education within the local and regional contexts. The model starts from theoretical premises inter alia: universities are established to advance knowledge which is by its very nature universal but they at the same time exist in nation states which have their own interests; nation states are not only entities of the world order but also parts of their regional orbit; and knowledge could be seen both as virtue sought for its own sake and as power and income generating good that is chased for utilitarian purposes. Expressed otherwise knowledge and education including higher education are not neutral but rather contested terrains. The question is how to be internationalized without being de-regionalized and de-nationalized (or de-contextualized). This is the thrust of this paper. Towards this purpose the author conducted a systematic review of related literature and models, articulated the points of departure and designed his own model. The author presented the proposed model and commented on it following the DDI modeling steps (Denoting, demonstrating and interpretation). The study ended with concluding remarks
Development of Teaching and Learning Materials (TLM) For Islamic Schools in Kenya: What Islamic Universities Can Do
Get PDFThis paper attempts to reveal how the Islamic schools in Kenya are beset by absence of relevant teaching and learning materials and the role Islamic universities can play to provide these materials. Madrasa in Kenya have played pivotal role in producing ulama and teachers of religion for more than a century before the advent of Western education on the shores of East Africa. Islamic Integrated schools on the other hand are recent phenomena that arose to mitigate the challenges posed by Western style education that leaves learners with no time to learn based Islamic sciences. The schools combine both the national secular curriculum and Islamic studies. While the national curriculum subjects have adequate teaching and learning materials developed by the Ministry of Education, the Islamic studies section of the schools face serious shortages of relevant textbooks that are aligned with the target curriculum. Different schools use different textbooks including some that were developed in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Eqypt, Yemen and Sudan. This paper argues that the absence of sufficient, curriculum specific teaching and learning resources in Islamic studies is constraining learning thus contributing to poor performance of students in the subjects. The study utilized qualitative approach to gather views across section of participants involved in Islamic education, on the quality and availability of relevant curriculum support materials and the role played by Islamic Universities in bridging the gap in the development and provision of these materials. Interviews, FGD, observation, and documentary analysis were used to collect data from students, teachers, head teachers, and MoE officials