Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2010. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 241-257). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 1990. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliography (leaves 145-150). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Wisconsin -- La Crosse, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 82-88)

No description available.

This dissertation analyzes transformation in early 21st century educational practice through the lens of information technology (IT) use at a private, women's university in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Academic and extracurricular Internet use, which is enabled through ubiquitous mobile devices, students' attitudes toward information and communication technology (ICT), and the nature and purpose of their activities in social network sites (SNS) will be discussed alongside critical analysis of peer-to-peer teaching and learning in relation to knowledge production and educational practice. Richly ethnographic discussion delves into emerging global education paradigms that are (re)configuring the experience of women's higher education in Saudi Arabia and influencing women's participation in public, economic, and political spheres from which they might have been previously excluded. This dissertation also seeks to engage bigger questions about young people's intimate relationships with ICTs and the nuances of the networked spaces in which they experience life online as students and citizens coming of age as members of the digital generation.

No description available.

This study analyzes the sociocultural factors that affect Saudi students in the U.S. as they seek information and explores to what extent these factors impact their everyday life information seeking (ELIS) behavior and their information technology behavior (ITB). The factors in this study illustrate the unique sociocultural values that distinguish Saudi students from other international student groups: gender segregation, emphasis on religion, social support, and utilization of the consultation concept. After collecting data from an online survey, the data from linear regression analyses revealed that only one culture factor (the language barrier) showed a significant impact on Saudi student ELIS in the U.S., while the other factors were not statistically significant. Also, the findings indicated that perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEU) were statistically significant to the ELIS of Saudi students. Furthermore, the study showed that after academic information, food and drink, entertainment, and health were the top student needs, the top ranking sources for everyday life seeking information were social media and the Internet. The findings of the study help to shed light on a sizable user group. As the fourth largest group of international students in the U.S., Saudi students have been underrepresented in research. Also, the study's findings and recommendations provide a more profound understanding of Saudi students for both the hosting American university officials and stakeholders who provide scholarships.

There are a considerable number of Saudi Arabian students who attend U.S. schools. To date, no published studies exist that relate to the Saudi Arabian students, their families, and how they acculturate to the American society. Acculturation affects parents and children in different ways, and it can affect the way parents raise their children. Using semi–structured interviews, this study examined Saudi mothers' perspectives on acculturation to American society and how those perspectives affect their childrearing beliefs and their children's behaviors. The descriptive qualitative study acknowledges mothers' perceptions about adaptation of Saudi children to American society and if those parents observe behavioral changes in their children. The results showed there are some changes that occurred regarding parental beliefs of parents due to acculturation, but there were not any behavioral problems caused by acculturation to the American culture in the Saudi children.

Since the inauguration of the King Abdullah-Aziz Foreign Scholarship Program in 2005, the number of Saudi university students in the United States has increased exponentially, and an unprecedented amount of Saudi women are seeking international degrees. The absence of scholarly research within these women���s home and host countries highlights the need for an ethnographic account of their transnational experiences, which can elucidate ways in which knowledge, values, and customs are in a constant process of contextual negotiation. This in turn influences available sources of social support and psychological well-being. Drawing on data from free-lists, a focus group, and in-depth semi-structured interviews, this ethnographic research aims to uncover and examine the social determinants of psychological well-being as described by the narrative experiences of Saudi Arabian women studying at Oregon State University. After providing a detailed analysis of specific sociocultural structures operating in these women's lives, two sides qualifying Saudi Arabian women's experiences are examined: stakes of their international education projects and challenges in maintaining good mental health. These stakes, formed by sociocultural structures, circumscribe their experiences, decisions, and behavior in the U.S., where they must navigate through new challenges and sources of distress. The challenges they face cause distress, but also delineate possible sources of support and create avenues for agency. Finally, this thesis is concluded by recommending applications for mental health care providers and examining macro-level theoretical underpinnings of social determinants of psychological well-being. / Graduation date: 2012

Every year many immigrant families become members of United States communities. Among these are international graduate students whose lives and identities, as well as those of their families, are changed as they negotiate between cultures and experiences. In this study, three Saudi graduate students share their stories about culture, education and literacy. This research employs narrative inquiry to answer the following question: What stories do Saudi immigrant students tell regarding their educational beliefs and experiences, as well as the experiences of their children in the U.S. and in Saudi Arabia? The participants' interview texts are the main data source. The three-dimensional narrative inquiry spaces of temporality, sociality, and place help identify the funds of knowledge in place throughout these narratives. Data analysis uses funds of knowledge as a theoretical lens to make visible the critical events in each narrative. These events point to themes that support the creation of a third space in which the participants negotiate being in two cultures as well as their storying across time to understand their own experiences. Themes of facing challenges, problem solving, adaptation, and decision-making connect these stories and support the discussion of findings within the personal, practical, and social justifications for this narrative inquiry. The participants' negotiation of being in two cultures as revealed here serves as a resource for educators in understanding the instructional needs of immigrant families. The findings also have the potential to contribute to changing existing misconceptions about this minority group and other immigrant groups. In a rapidly growing global community as the United States, such narratives provide insights that invite personal understandings and connections among diverse people.