Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / This study measures to what extent students of Al-Dharra Madressor (ADM), a private school in Kuwait, achieve American, Western "cultural proficiency," defined as the ability to understand and function in another culture. ADM operates as its own self-contained bilingual school system with a kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high school. Native speakers of English and Arabic conduct subject and language classes in both languages, and cultural proficiency forms an implicit, if not explicit, part of school design. ADM graduates attend American, British, and Arab universities, and many eventually run Kuwaiti businesses that have a multi-cultural work environment, so American cultural proficiency holds instrumental value. The study's first half, building on the cultural and organizational theories of Hofstede, Ali, and Patai, develops a model of Arab culture in general and that of Kuwait. A historical and social survey of Kuwait focuses on the role and position of the Asil, a cohesive, affluent, long established, merchant group. The study depicts the Asil as politically and economically liberal but socially conservative. ADM functions as a representative Asil institution. The study's second half uses qualitative research and a mixed methodology to measure Arab and American (Western) cultural proficiency. The study triangulates the results of three instruments: the KATWII, adapted from the ARSMA II (Arnold, Cuellar, and Maldonado, 1995), an accepted measure of biculturality; the AWSIT, interviews of ADM students, Arab teachers, and Western teachers to access their reaction to American and Kuwaiti cultural situations; and the AGS, a general cultural survey. A series of student observations provides supplementary means of analysis. The study concludes that, though ADM students remain fundamentally Arab, most obtain an important, secondary American, Western cultural proficiency with some arguably "bicultural." While students show an awareness of some Western social norms and beliefs, when forced to choose, they typically choose Arab norms over Western. All design methods reach similar conclusions. This supports the findings of other studies of Arab groups in similar situations of cultural contrast. / 2031-01-01

Kuwait is undergoing rapid economic growth involving substantial developments along its coastal shores and the marine environment. Many of the activities in the region are associated with oil industry, which can pollute the shores leading to contamination from oil residues, tar balls and trace metals. About 2 million barrels of oil are spilled annually from routine discharges into the Gulf, which derives mainly from dirty ballast waters and tank washing. The comprehensive literature review of hazardous substances in Kuwait’s marine environment has concluded that for the majority of these pollutants, contamination is localized around industrialised areas, and elsewhere is generally below the permitted international standards. These finding have been supported by a fieldwork. This has been conducted to assess the use of biomarkers (bile metabolites and EROD activities) for 60 fish consisting of two native species Giant sea catfish (Arius thalassinus) and (Pelates quadrilineatus) to demonstrate the potential for the concentrations of oil based contaminants present to induce detectable levels of biological effects in fish species living in Kuwait’s marine environment. Therefore, the focus of this research has shifted its attention to another anthropogenic source that chronically pollute Kuwait’s marine environment. One of the main sources of contaminants is the continuous discharge of sewage, which impacts many locations around Kuwait. Sewage is known to contain wide array of substances that could pose an ecotoxicological impact at different levels of the ecosystem. One such threat is posed by antimicrobial agents that contribute to the growing global concern surrounding the prevalence of antimicrobial resistant (AMR) bacteria. Therefore, a major theme of this research project was to conduct a novel survey of the prevalence of AMR bacteria isolated from Kuwait’s marine environment. The AMR screening, including 598 E.coli isolated from seawater and bivalves samples during summer and winter seasons against 23 frontline antibiotics, revealed that resistance was observed from a number of locations (particularly associated with sewage outlets) for the majority of antibiotics (seawater: summer 89 - 64%; winter 90 - 57% and bivalves: summer 77%; winter 88%). A baseline screening for the class 1 integron which is known to be implicated in disseminating the antimicrobial resistance among bacteria was conducted for the isolated 598 E.coli. The findings highlighted the prevalence of such molecular genetic elements especially around the sewage outlets (36% of tested E.coli). The whole genome sequencing was conducted for a representative E.coli (26 E.coli) and it showed that E.coli derived from Kuwait’s marine environment possessed a variety of genes implicated in antimicrobial resistance potential against wide spectrum of antibiotics and suggesting that genes are exchanged via the horizontal gene transfer. These observations and recording of antimicrobial resistance phenomenon support the notion that marine environment could act not only as a reservoir for antimicrobial resistance but could also play a significant role in driving it. The AMR bacteria is considered as an effective tool for monitoring the impacts of sewage pollution. Furthermore, it highlights one of the key human health risks sewage pollution poses and its assessments allows a fully integrated health assessment of Kuwait’s marine environment to be undertaken. This will ultimately lead to recommendations outlining the future monitoring and remediation requirements required by Kuwait to tackle this issue including rational antibiotics consumption and stewardship; developing effective wastewater treatment processes to improve removal efficiency of these pollutants in sewage treatment plants; more researches on this area will provide scientific information for responsible authorities to make up regulatory standards and guidelines to control environmental dissemination of these emerging contaminants.

E-learning exposes students and instructors to different learning models such as constructivism rather than the traditional learning. E-learning as a part of today's technology has proven that it is appropriate for most students' mentalities and is a mind tool which promotes different learning models, such as problem solving strategy, collaborative learning, and critical thinking. The Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET) in Kuwait consists of more than 10 academic colleges with a total number of 120 faculty members. The College of Basic Education (CBE) is one of them. The implementation of e-learning at the College of Basic Education requires that all the learning community members, instructors and students, understand that an e-learning course is like a learning community with the privilege of sharing knowledge, opinions, experiences related to class subject, and productive outcomes that are beneficial to this learning community. This study indentified the statistically significant differences in demographic characteristics of e-learning adopters and non-adopters among faculty members at CBE, examining faculty members' attitudes and skills toward e-learning readiness. The study will explore perceived barriers that face e-learning at CBE. Applying the Rogers diffusion of innovation theory, the influence of 4 factors was examined regarding faculty readiness for e-learning at CBE. Chi-square techniques, t-tests, and factor analysis were conducted to analyze the data and answer research questions. Statistically significant differences were identified among e-learning adopters and non-adopters regarding age difference and department discipline, both technical and non-technical.

<p>Syftet med detta arbete var att jämföra den officiella bilden av demokrati i Kuwait, så</p><p>som den beskrivs i konstitutionen från 1962, med den bild som externa oberoende</p><p>aktörer ger vad gäller demokrati i landet. Den externa bilden hämtades från olika FN</p><p>rapporter, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International och The Bureau of</p><p>Democracy, Human Rights and Labour. Dessa kompletterades sedan med en analys</p><p>av det politiska systemet i Kuwait. Arbetet grundade sig på en demokratisk</p><p>analysmetod som utarbetats av International IDEA (Institute for Democracy and</p><p>Electoral Assistance).</p><p>Det visade sig att konstitutionen innehöll många demokratiska och individuella</p><p>rättigheter och garantier ofta i linje med IDEA:s principer. Konstitutionen beskrev</p><p>inte en fullvärdig demokrati, men många av dess komponenter fanns ändå där. Vid en</p><p>jämförelse med de externa aktörernas utsagor visade sig många av dessa rättigheter</p><p>och garantier ej fungera i praktiken. De största diskrepanserna återfanns i det civila</p><p>samhället och speciellt vad gäller yttrandefrihet, i samhället genom diskriminering av</p><p>vissa grupper och i staten genom en ofullständig demokratisk organisation av styret.</p><p>Alla dessa punkter hade långtgående garantier i konstitutionen men visade sig vid en</p><p>granskning i många fall ha förbisetts.</p><p>Samtidigt fanns några ljuspunkter. På många områden följde Kuwait konstitutionen.</p><p>På senare tid hade man även förbättrat vissa punkter. Kvinnor hade fått rösträtt,</p><p>bidoun (statslösa) hade börjat få tillgång till välfärdssystemet och ett flertal val hade</p><p>ägt rum enligt principer värdiga en demokrati. Arbetet avslutas med en fråga; Om inte</p><p>en långsam, men försiktig utveckling av demokrati så som sker i Kuwait är bättre och</p><p>mer långsiktig än dagens mer moderna snabba reformiver som ofta förs fram av USA och väst.</p>

Syftet med detta arbete var att jämföra den officiella bilden av demokrati i Kuwait, så som den beskrivs i konstitutionen från 1962, med den bild som externa oberoende aktörer ger vad gäller demokrati i landet. Den externa bilden hämtades från olika FN rapporter, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International och The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour. Dessa kompletterades sedan med en analys av det politiska systemet i Kuwait. Arbetet grundade sig på en demokratisk analysmetod som utarbetats av International IDEA (Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance). Det visade sig att konstitutionen innehöll många demokratiska och individuella rättigheter och garantier ofta i linje med IDEA:s principer. Konstitutionen beskrev inte en fullvärdig demokrati, men många av dess komponenter fanns ändå där. Vid en jämförelse med de externa aktörernas utsagor visade sig många av dessa rättigheter och garantier ej fungera i praktiken. De största diskrepanserna återfanns i det civila samhället och speciellt vad gäller yttrandefrihet, i samhället genom diskriminering av vissa grupper och i staten genom en ofullständig demokratisk organisation av styret. Alla dessa punkter hade långtgående garantier i konstitutionen men visade sig vid en granskning i många fall ha förbisetts. Samtidigt fanns några ljuspunkter. På många områden följde Kuwait konstitutionen. På senare tid hade man även förbättrat vissa punkter. Kvinnor hade fått rösträtt, bidoun (statslösa) hade börjat få tillgång till välfärdssystemet och ett flertal val hade ägt rum enligt principer värdiga en demokrati. Arbetet avslutas med en fråga; Om inte en långsam, men försiktig utveckling av demokrati så som sker i Kuwait är bättre och mer långsiktig än dagens mer moderna snabba reformiver som ofta förs fram av USA och väst.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2002. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 157 p. : ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 118-127).

Kuwait is an arid country situated at the head of the Arabian Gulf and its water resources can be classified into three significant types: (1) natural (groundwater) and (2) artificial (desalinated sea water and treated wastewater). In the absence of surface water bodies, groundwater constitutes the most important natural water resource in Kuwait with TDS [less than or equal to]10000 mg/L in central and south Kuwait. Only in the north can one find fresh water lenses. Brackish groundwater are used for irrigation, landscaping, construction work, non-potable use in households and mixing with desalinated water up to 10%, to make it potable. The occurrence of usable groundwater is limited to the Kuwait Group and Dammam Formation. Due to over-pumping of groundwater over the last few years, the levels and quality of groundwater are deteriorating. Kuwait is described as the poorest country in terms of water availability (UN World Water-2003). The current rates of water consumption are very high, with 459.6 L/C/d and almost 91 L/C/d for fresh and brackish water, respectively. The water budget of the water resources, represented as percentages is 59% from desalination sea water plants, 32% from groundwater with the possibility to increase the use of this resource and 9% from waste water reuse plants. Although Kuwait does not have any surface water, but it depends on technology to produce water recourses to meet the demand. The best solution for solve the issues of declining water levels and increasing salinity is artificial recharge. Artificial recharge has been applied in Kuwait in different groundwater fields since the 1980s. In addition, the available surface storage capacity of 11.7 Mm³ freshwater is sufficient to meet demand for about 7 days. So, Aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) can be used to store the water in aquifers instead of surface storage. ASR entails storing water in aquifers during wet times and recovering the water from the same well during drought times. Surface storage needs construction resources and vast land. In contrast, storing water in aquifer storage does not need that and it can decrease salinity and keep the water table constant. The water availability for artificial recharge can come from desalination and wastewater plant. The capacity and production of desalination plants are 1.425Mm³/day (525.125Mm³/yr) and 1.31Mm³/day (478.15 Mm³/yr), respectively from 5 stations. The excess capacity is 115000 m³ per day and could reach 290000 m³ per day in the winter season. Wastewater treatment plants produce from 3 plants around 0.337 Mm³/day (123.342 Mm³/yr) and the newest plant (operating by RO system) produces 0.32 Mm³/day (117.12 Mm³/yr) and will reach 0.643 Mm³/day (235.338 Mm³/yr) in 2015. The water produced from wastewater treatment plants has good quality and can be used for irrigation, greening enhancement, landscaping, recreation (artificial river and lakes) and artificial recharge. Also, using water treated for artificial recharge will improve the quality of injected water that has been successfully treated with soil aquifer treatment technology. Groundwater pumping is 200 Mm³ annually and is likely to reach 280 Mm³ in the future. This research will explore and create a database for water resource by GIS software using its tool to select and display suitable areas for ASR operation. Artificial recharge in Kuwait has used the concept of injection and recovery of water in one cycle, while here we will apply the multi-cycle concept to avoid increasing the piezometric head and clogging the porous media. The injected water will be from wastewater treatment plants with a TDS content of less 500 ppm and the TDS of recovered water in each well less than 1500 ppm. Moreover, there are criteria for selecting a domain for artificial recharge, for example, moderate transmissivity, The TDS of the aquifer should not exceed 5000 ppm, and the horizontal and vertical hydraulic gradient should be as small as possible and close to the stations suppler and demand center. The success of artificial recharge will depend on the recovery efficiency (RE) in every cycle which will increase if artificial recharge done in the correct way. The RE increases with a decrease in time between the stopping of injection and the starting of the recovery operation. Aquifer storage and recovery can play an important role as sustainability tool to resolve water resource problems, improving water quality, better than surface water storage since it minimizes construction of new infrastructure and uses that cost to initiate new desalination or waste water plants. At the end of this research we will have demonstrated the concept of the process of ASR including the volume and time for injection and recovery of water in multi-cycles and in different suitable sites. / text

The University of Kuwait is a new university founded in the latter part of the twentieth century in an oil-rich, developing nation. This inquiry deals with the purposes of such a university and the extent to which it is able to fulfill them. / The role of the University has been determined by the evolution of the purposes of universities in the West and the Arab Muslim Middle East, by the development of Kuwait, and by the growth of modern formal education there. The University's establishment and its development during the first eleven years are documented and analysed in the light of these influences. / The University initially served a primarily utilitarian role in Kuwait. The question is raised as to whether, given the peculiarities of Kuwait's economy, this role will be sufficient to ensure its future. The conclusion reached is that, as the University develops a broader role in Kuwait, it will find long-term support.

No description available.

This investigation was designed to research the Islamic education curriculum (I. E. C.) for secondary schools in Kuwait. The investigation covered the major elements of the Islamic education curriculum, namely the aims, the textbooks, teaching methods, aids and activities and the styles of assessment. The methods which were used to collect the data for this research were the questionnaire and the interview. The research population included: teachers of the I. E. C., supervisors, students of the 10th grade secondary schools. The findings indicated that in theory the I. E. C.’s aims seem to be comprehensive, covering all the aspects of student development. But, unfortunately, there were no real applications for all those aims in the practical teaching of the I. E. C., whether one examined the textbook, teaching methods, or styles of assessment. The topics of the textbook generally focused on the theoretical aspects of the I. E. C. and some of those topics were repetitive. Teaching methods were traditional and focused on telling by the teacher, with a lack of modern teaching methods to encourage the student to take an active role in the learning process. In addition, there was a clear lack of modern educational aids like audio visual equipment. Finally, the style of assessment was traditional aimed at measuring the students' knowledge, without paying attention to measuring other aspects of student achievement. This thesis is divided into eight chapters. Chapter One, outlines the general approach for studying problems related to the Islamic education curriculum in Kuwaiti secondary schools. There are clear weaknesses in the Islamic education curriculum in secondary schools. One of the most important is the absence of any explanation of the way in which the I. E. C. deals with the negative changes that are taken place in Kuwaiti society after the Iraqi aggression in 1990 and this is the main focus of the chapter. In Chapter Two, the educational system in Kuwait is discussed in detail from Al-katatib to the modern schools. The aims of each stage of the Kuwaiti educational system are also discussed. Chapter Three examines the background of the Islamic education in general and its sources, examining in particular what is the general aim of Islamic education and how this relates to the Kuwaiti context. Chapter Four, identifies previous studies of the curriculum in general. It examines definitions of the curriculum in general, the aims and their classification, the content of the textbook, the types of teaching methods and their importance in the learning teaching process and finally the style of assessments and their role in the learning process. This material is then related to the learning process in Kuwait and particularly its connections to the I. E. C. In the second section of this chapter previous studies which evaluated the Islamic education curriculum in Kuwaiti schools (especially the I. E. C.’s role in confronting the negative changes taken place in the Kuwait society) are examined. Chapter Five critically discusses the methodology, which was used in this research. Chapter Six examines the statistical result of the research. Chapter Seven then discusses and analyses the research findings. Chapter Eight ends the thesis with make a series of recommendations and conclusions based on the research findings.