Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / David S. Allen / Haijun Kang / Using technology effectively has been proven to enhance education. The status quo in Saudi Arabia reflects low-level usage of technology in K-12 classrooms. Preparing 21st Century teachers to integrate technology in their future classrooms for meaningful learning requires College of Education faculty to model using technology effectively. This study investigated the technology integration practices of faculty members in the College of Education at Taibah University, particularly to what extent these practices are aligned with ISTE NETS-T standards and what factors predict these practices. Based on the literature, the factors examined include attitudes towards technology use, pedagogical beliefs, technical skills, workload, professional development, technology access, technical support, and leadership support. The population of the study was the 257 faculty in the College of Education at Taibah University. The study used a web-based survey containing 66 closed-ended items to collect data, and 170 valid responses were obtained (66% response rate). Descriptive and multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to analyze data. Findings from the first research question revealed that faculty members’ technology integration practices were well-matched with ISTE NETS-T standards since the overall mean of these items was (M= 4.25, SD= .64). This indicates that faculty members had awareness of using technology effectively based on these standards to engage students in meaningful learning. Results from the multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the overall model was significant as it explains 43% of the variability in faculty members’ technology integration practices. Three significant factors statistically predicted faculty members’ technology integration practices based on ISTE NETS standards. Faculty members’ attitude toward technology had a positive relationship with faculty members’ technology integration practices [β=.35, p=.00]. Faculty technical skills had also a statistically significant positive relationship with faculty members’ technology integration practices [β=.19, p=.00]. However, leadership support was found to have a statistically significant negative relationship with faculty members’ technology integration practices in teaching based on ISTE NETS-T standards [β=-.23, p=.00]. These results, in addition to the means of the independent variables, showed that the highly rated technology integration factors, including technology attitudes and technical skills, predict their high technology integration practices based on ISTE NET-T standards. However, faculty members still need more support in several technology integration factors including professional development, technology access, workload, and leadership support. The study recommends education faculty members to model the effective use of technology for pre-service teachers through providing them with opportunities to observe it in a variety of instructional models and practice the constructivist use of technology in lesson plan assignments and projects during the program, which helps in developing positive attitudes toward technology use among pre-service teachers. College of Education leaders are recommended to have a clear shared technology vision and offer the resources and support needed to make instructional technology integration successful. Recommendations for future studies are also discussed.

The higher education sector in developing countries is currently facing several challenges generated by a dynamic environment and characterised by rapid technological change and increased demand. This thesis aims to examine the direct and indirect associations between the components of the strategic management, as well as its impact on service quality of university institutions within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Additionally, this thesis tests a mediation effect regarding organisational commitment within the relationship between strategic management and service quality. This thesis employs a quantitative method, and a theoretical model is built based on thorough literature reviews concerning strategic management and service quality. With regard to the findings of the empirical research, six main constructs were successfully validated as multi-dimensional constructs. These were used as within structural equation modelling to analyse influencing factors—be they positive or negative—and the degree to which the creation and operations of such collaborations were successful. The structural paths support hypotheses suggesting that strategic management process has a direct positive influence on organisational commitment and that commitment makes a positive, though weak, contributions to service quality. However, the direct impact of strategy implementation and evaluation upon service quality is insignificant. Furthermore, the result showed a partial mediation between strategic planning and service quality, as well as between strategy formalisation and service quality. However, the relation between implementation and service quality, as well as between evaluation and service equality is fully completed. The proposed model was tested empirically using survey data obtained from those 404 senior managers and academic staff from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Universities who were involved on this study. This thesis synthesises the Social Exchange Theory, Perceived Organisational Support theory and a relational view to explain how commitment influences the Strategic Management process as well as the attributes of Service Quality.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) faces an increasing chronic disease burden. Despite the increase in numbers of primary health care centres (PHCCs) current evidence from the KSA, which is limited overall, suggests that access and utilisation of PHCCs, which are key to providing early intervention services, remain unequal with its rural populations having the poorest access and utilisation of PHCCs and health outcomes. There is a dearth (lack) of information from the KSA on the barriers and facilitators affecting access and utilisation of primary health care services (PHCS) and therefore this study aimed to examine the factors influencing the access and utilisation of primary health care centre (PHCC) in urban and rural areas of Riyadh province of the KSA. The behavioural model of health services use (Andersen’s model) provided the contextual and individual characteristics and predisposing, enabling and need factors which assist with an understanding of the barriers and facilitators to access and utilisation of PHCCs in Riyadh province. A mixed methods approach was used to answer the research questions and meet the objectives of the study. The converged qualitative and quantitative findings show that there are a number of predisposing (socio-demographic characteristics; language and communication and cultural competency) enabling barriers such as; distance from PHCCs to the rural residence, lack of services, new services, staff shortages, lack of training, PHC infrastructure, and poor equipment. Facilitators: service provider behaviour/communication, free PHCS, service provision and improvements, primary health care (PHC) infrastructure, manpower, opening hours, waiting time, and segregated spaces and need (increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, PHC developments in the KSA) factors influencing access and utilisation of PHCS. This study highlights important new knowledge on the barriers and facilitators to access and utilisation of PHCS in Riyadh province in the KSA. The findings have some important policy and planning implications for the MOH in the KSA. Specifically, the findings suggest: the need for clear documentation/guidance on minimum standards against which the PHCS can be measured; an audit of service availability at the PHCCs, regular patient satisfaction evaluations of PHCS, that the MOH take a parallel approach and continue to resource and improve buildings and equipment in existing PHCCs, the recruiting of more GPs, nurses, pharmacists, nutritionists and physiotherapists to meet patient demand and more Saudi health care staff, more targeted health education and interventions for the prevention of chronic diseases in the KSA and the need for an appointment system for attending the PHCCs. There is a need for further research into the barriers and enablers to accessing and utilising health care in Riyadh and the KSA overall. This research would be made easier with a clearer definition of rural and urban in the KSA context which would allow a greater comparability between urban and rural PHCS for future research, audit and evaluation as well as comparison with PHCS in other parts of the world. The Andersen model provided a useful conceptual model to frame this research and provided a structure for contrasting and comparing the findings with other studies that have used the Andersen model to understand the barriers and enablers to accessing and utilising health care services.

This thesis analyses economic change among the bedouin of northern Arabia by examining four factors: the trade in camels; intertribal raiding; large-scale attacks by the Akhwan (Ikhwan); and trade and smuggling. Many writers have assumed that the sale or hiring out of camels for transport by camel-herding tribes was their main source of income, and that the spread of modern transportation caused a decline in the demand for camels, resulting in lower prices for the animals and an economic crisis for the bedouin. The well-documented case-studies in this thesis demonstrate that this assumption is flawed. The bedouin economy was more complex than the portrayals in many sources, and the reasons for economic hardship and political decline among the camel-herding tribes are more varied. In the story of how the wheel overcame the camel, it is clear that while transportation technology had some effect, even more important were such factors as drought, the rise of new states, colonial policies, intertribal politics and the varied factors pulling nomadic peoples to become sedentary.

This study was conducted in the ‘Uruq Bani Ma’arid Protected Area, on the western edge of the ‘Rub al Khali of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The dispersal of different groups of Arabian oryx Oryx leucoryx (Pallas, 1777) was investigated, along with the seasonal range use patterns of the animals. The dispersal distances from the release site stabilised after a period of one year. The animals show seasonal differences in their range use patterns, associated with changes in their mobility. The dynamics of the relationship between the oryxes and their habitat were investigated. The structure and the condition of the vegetation, as well as some climatic variables were important determinants of seasonal habitat use. The diurnal activity patterns of the animals correspond with that characteristic of ungulates generally and the animals showed seasonal changes in their feeding preferences. The productivity of the population was high during the study period, with 34 live births, while six of the reintroduced animals died. Population viability analysis, however, shows that the population is vulnerable over the medium term (100 years) and that management should target the juvenile and especially adult females as they are keys to population growth and recovery. / Dissertation (MSc (Wildlife Management))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Centre for Wildlife Management / unrestricted

Electronic learning (e-learning) has recently introduced by the Saudi government to expand educational opportunities at higher education level, especially for women. However, due to the status of women in Saudi society, understanding the ability of women to take advantage of such technology rather than just making it available to them is required and should not be ignored. In this regard, this study aims to illuminate the ability of Saudi women to convert the opportunity offered by e-learning into a valuable educational achievement, by identifying the factors that affect their ability and the dimensions that characterise their capability requirements. To achieve this, the study adopts the capability approach as a guiding theoretical framework to provide a strong foundation and address the developmental theoretical insights as well as to demonstrate the ability of Saudi women to access and use e-learning freely in order to achieve their higher educational goals. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data from twenty-four women living in the Najran and Northern Border regions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia using a proxy interview approach. Alkire’s and Robeyns’ techniques, with the support of the Straussian grounded theory procedures, were used to analyse the data collected. The study finds that the ability of Saudi women to convert the opportunity offered by e-learning into a valuable educational achievement is limited and affected by four factors: tribal society culture, cultural use of the internet, family willingness and government stimulation factors. It also identifies thirty-four dimensions that empower or prevent Saudi women’s freedom to access and use e-learning efficiently as a means to attain a valuable educational outcome. The value of the capability approach to inform an analysis on Saudi women's access to e-learning as well as the usefulness of applying the grounded theory to support the capability approach in the process of selecting the valuable dimensions for Saudi women to access e-learning, were also found. The study concludes that e-learning could probably be a bridge to enable women in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to access higher education. However, the issue is not just about technical availability, it is also about the capability of women to benefit from such a technology. Therefore, it is not enough to provide Saudi women with an opportunity to complete their higher education via e-learning without giving them the power to access and use it freely, whenever they are able to and want to do so. The study contributes by helping to open the window in front of women so they can make their voices heard and draw the attention of the government on the dimensions that characterise their capability requirements to access and use e-learning freely, as well as to give a better understanding about their situation within Saudi society and its role in affecting their ability. It also introduces a distinctive analytical framework to combine practical and theoretical strands in order to develop practical capability approach dimensions.

This study focuses attention on the multinational organization, an emerging phenomenon, in which people from different cultural backgrounds work together to produce a product or render a service. The purpose of this study is to enhance the available information about the potential for increasing productivity through the use of participatory programs, such as Quality Control Circles, in multinational organizations, especially those operating in Saudi Arabia.

This study assesses consumer behavior toward online shopping in Saudi Arabia by studying the factors that affect whether or not they shop online. The sample consisted of 206 Saudis approached using the “snowball” technique. Participants were all above eighteen and Internet users. Participants were asked to give the frequency of their online shopping transactions using a four-point Likert scale. They used a seven-point Likert scale to rate their opinions about trends affecting electronic commerce, companies’ marketing approaches, and other aspects of online shopping. Participants also were asked about their feelings regarding traditional and online shopping using a nine-point bipolar scale. Using the Six Dimensional Achievement Motivations Scale, they were asked to describe themselves, and finally, they were asked to rank the Rokeach Terminal Values based on their importance. The version of the Rokeach Value System used in this study is the one shortened to nine terminal values, by Munson & McQuarrie, 1988, since it reflects better relevance to consumption. Results show that, when compared to traditional shopping, participants have relatively negative perceptions of online shopping. In addition, participants’ demographics and values related to their online shopping frequency, while their achievement motivations were less related. The major limitation of this research is that it was conducted in only one city, Jeddah. Therefore, additional research should be carried out in other cities with larger samples. The research results suggest that businesses in Saudi Arabia should use online shopping as a second channel to distribute their products in addition to their physical stores. This thesis makes a distinctive contribution to the literature, as it is the first to examine the correlation between the Rokeach Value System (1973); the Six Dimensional Achievement Motivation Scale (Jackson, Ahmed, and Heapy, 1976); and online shopping behavior in the world, let alone Saudi Arabia.

ABSTRACT An Explorative Analysis Evaluation of Electronic Retailing Customer Adoptions In the Context of Saudi Arabia To learn more about what people in Saudi Arabia thought about online shopping, a survey was distributed throughout public locations in three major cities: Riyadh, Jeddah, and Medina. The questionnaires investigated consumers’ intersecting views regarding online and in-store shopping, and attempted to learn more about the perceived usefulness and attractiveness of online shopping in Saudi Arabia, as well as privacy or trust issues related to online shopping that are relevant for Saudi customer. The main findings of this study revealed several important tendencies. For one, the study found that males favoured shopping online more than females. Moreover, respondents appeared to find online shopping to be relaxing due to reduced sales pressure. Also, proficiency in the English language seemed to be a determining factor in the consumer’s preference to shop online. In addition, people who seemed to dislike physical shopping favoured the idea of e-shopping. The findings above are exploratory in nature due to the limited sample size and sampling process. Additional study with expanded sample across a broader Saudi Arabian geographic base could be used to confirm the use initial exploratory findings.

This thesis aims to assess the supporting role social networks provide to divorced Saudi women who face after divorce challenges. After reviewing the impact that online social networks have on Saudi society and the legal context of divorce in Saudi Arabia, this study explores key issues faced by divorced Saudi women using a qualitative approach. Upon reviewing the limited amounts of literature and following two methodological phases, the key findings are: (1) identifications of primary challenges faced by divorced Saudi women namely; social, economic, psychological, and legal issues; (2) extraction of themes based on each identified issue, leading to the identification of four qualitative models; and (3) assessment of the supporting role social networks have in the identified themes of each issue.