Supervised & Directed by: Prof. Maher Abu Hilal

Prepared, Translated &Designed, by: Intisar Nasser

English revised by: Dr. William Schreck

Inside this Newsletter

Dean's message 1

Dean's Office 2

Accreditation & Publication 3

International

Conferences & Workshops

4

College Activities 5

Special Events 6

Goodbye & Special Thanks 7

Distinction & Congratulations 8-9

Seventh International Conference on

on Science, Mathematics & Technology Education

: Transforming society through Sci-ence, Mathematics and Technology: Towards creative, inno-vative generations

VVENUEENUE: M: MUSCATUSCAT, O, OMANMAN, 4, 4--7 N7 NOVEMBEROVEMBER 20122012

Jointly organised by the national Key Centre for School Sci-ence and Mathematics, Curtin University, Australia and Col-

lege of Education, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman

Following the successful conferences in Vietnam, South Af-rica, Canada, Thailand and most recently in Taiwan, this con-ference will provide another intellectually challenging and culturally enriching experience for science, mathematics and technology teachers, teacher educators, researchers, and ad-ministrators from all education levels from around the world.

The conference will include keynote addresses and papers. Papers may be presented either in Arabic or English and par-ticipants will be invited to submit their presentations for con-sideration for inclusion in the conference proceedings. A social and sightseeing program will be organised in conjunc-tion with the conference.

If you are interested in presenting a paper, attending the fol-lowing conference, or need further information, please con-tact either of the following Conference convenors.

Professor Darrell Fisher, Key Centre for School Science & Mathematics, Curtin University of Technology, GPO Box U1987, Perth WA 6854, Australia. Tel +61 8 9266 3110, fax +61 8 9266 2503, Email: D.Fisher@smec.curtin.edu.au

Dr. Ali Al-Shuaili, HoD Curriculum & Instructions, College of Education, Sultan Qaboos University. P.O Box 32 PC 123 Muscat, Oman. Tel +968 24141604 fax +968 24413817, Email: alshuaili@squ.edu.om

May 2011

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"Tell me and I'll forget. Show me, and I may not remember. Involve me,

and I'll understand."

ndeed, we want all to be in-volved in all activities of our endeavors. In this newsletter, I‘d

like to extend my gratitude to those who have worked hard to support our efforts in carrying the college for-ward on its journey to higher levels of performance. In the next newsletter, I hope that I will be in a position to thank an increasing number of passionate contributors who will serve in development committees or research teams that will enhance policy decisions.

o the faculty, I say that your excellent teaching and research is a model for your students who are the teachers of coming generations. Each and every one of you ought to have a share in what we do. Our college is moving ahead and this is noticeable; but we want our work to be as collective and collaborative as possible. We know that faculty can make a difference and I am sure you will.

Our Vision: to be a professional and contemporary centre of excellence that contributes to the quality of life, prosperity of society and inculcation of its values.

Our Mission: to prepare distinguished graduates in teaching, counseling, and research through bachelor and post-graduate programs; and to be a centre of excellence that serves the community and fosters its values and its sustainable development on the basis of scientific research.

Our Main Objectives: Prepare teachers, educational leaders, researchers, counselors, and trainers both at under—

graduate and post graduate studies.

Improve the profession of teaching, training, and other educational and psychological ser-vices on the basis of scientific research.

Authenticate scientific research and enhance its role in solving educational and professional problems.

o the Unknown Soldiers, the staff, let me say that your role in the success story of our college is indispensible. Your support to the development of our framework and the related activities will certainly con-tribute to the success of our teaching, service, and re-search of our faculty. Faculty and students alike will need your diligent service and contribution.

o our students, I say that you are the torch bearers. Your diligence, commitment and motivation to do your best will light our way and that of our children and grandchildren. I do expect that you will take your work seriously and help us achieve our noble mission and goals.

ogether we can hold the torch to light our path and that of future generations. Serious work is ahead of us and I hope to see every name on our large tree of committees. I trust that your contribution, no matter how small it is, will make a difference in the quality and efficiency required to reach our goal of achieving Inter-national Accreditation.

Thank you and may God bless you all.

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New Administrative Proposal to Accommodate the CoE New Developments

The Administrative Director of the College of Education, Mr. Mohamed Al Gealani presented to the college a new proposal that aims at:

Securing all health and safety requirements .

Meeting the requirements of all CoE units and departments.

Establishing new offices that enhance the increasing number of both faculty and staff.

Using all the dead areas of the CoE.

Replacing all old equipment and unused books .

It’s worth noting that the implementation will start this year 2011, and work in parallel with the college’s preparation for accreditation, which will provide a suitable environment to meet the quality standards.

T he CoE has received an approval for establishing a Centre of Excellence in

Teaching and Learning. The center is ex-pected to achieve the following main objec-tives:

Enrich the professional growth of faculty through programs services and resources that promote signifi-cant learning experiences for stu-dents.

Promote and support a community of teacher-scholars where theory and practice of teaching and learning are shared.

Assist faculty to develop, implement and assess a variety of learning-centered approaches and methodolo-gies.

T he CoE is entering a new era of research. In

2011 the college has won funds for 2 strategic research projects out of six for the whole univer-sity (33%), and 1 TRC project. In 2010 the CoE also won funds for 1 strategic research project and 3 internal grants. During this academic year there has been a significant increase in research publica-tions and conference papers. Faculty members have pub-lished 85 journal articles, 6 books, 15 chapters in books, 70 conference publications, and 18 technical reports. Overall, the college has secured an amount of more than

300,000RO for research activi-ties during the past 2 years.

Finally, it is important to note that “Coming together is a beginning, keeping to-g e t h e r i s p r o g r e s s and working together is success”. This year is par-ticularly a fruitful one. Pro-gress and success are the distinctive features of this academic year. Team means: Together Everyone Achieves. Let’s keep on be-ing TOGETHER to keep on our path to success.

The CoE is speed-ing up the process of publications to promote teach-ing, advisement, service and research. Faculty mem-bers, mainly those who advise students, can make use of the guide of courses in different programs. Also, faculty and staff can see themselves and assess how good their efforts are in in both publishing and service by looking into the annual report, and the college journal. The newsletter also periodically documents the activities, service and CoE research productivity.

All those publications have been published on the college website

http://www.squ.edu.om/college-education Also, they are available as hard copies in the dean-ship office.

STEADILY AND FIRMLY, THE STEADILY AND FIRMLY, THE COE IS MARCHING TO-COE IS MARCHING TO-WARD ACCREDITATIONWARD ACCREDITATION

In deed, ‘teamwork divides the task and mul-tiplies the success.’ Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. Our college has achieved success and we do work in accordance with the SQU vision. We are firmly going through the process of quality and accreditation. The COE has taken the following steps to bring accreditation into reality:

The college is the second in the region that has the status of pre-candidacy from NCATE.

As part of preconditions, the college is devel-oping its conceptual framework. Various stakeholders are involved in the process: fac-ulty members from the COE, Ministry of Edu-cation, students, and faculty members from the colleges of Arts and Science.

The COE is enhancing its capacity and human resources. Three faculty members and one staff have attended conferences dealing with the process of accreditation (AACTE and NCATE).

The college has plans to attend and train other faculty in the process of accreditation. The COE has started contacts with an expert in accredita-tion. It is planned that the addition of this ex-pert will expedite the process.

The Quality and Development Committee (QDC) has been in charge of the process. The college plans to keep the QDC monitoring the process but the process itself will be handled by a committee formed for the purpose of accredi-tation.

fter two years of work on quality and ac-creditation, it is a great privilege for the chairman of the the QDC (Prof. Maher Abu Hilal) to thank all those who have been involved, the members: Prof. Hashem Kilani, Prof. Nagi Michael, Dr. Ali Kadhem, Dr. Hisham Muheeb, Dr. Humaira Al-Sulaimani, Dr. Sulaiman Belushi, Dr. Salim Ghanbousi and Mrs. Layla Al Hadhrami. Thanks are due to the Hon. Dean Thuwayba Al-Barwani and Mr. Mohammad Al-Ghilani for their support of the committee’s ac-tivities.

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h t t p : / / w w w . s q u . e d u . o m /college-education

Page 2— Issue 3–2011

forthcoming International Conferences

AACTIVECTIVE PARTICIPATIONPARTICIPATION ININ WWORKSHOPSORKSHOPS AABROADBROAD

Three faculty members from the Dept. of C&I participated in the TAMAM Project in Lebanon, Jan., 14-16, 2011. This project is a collaboration be-tween the American University of Beirut (AUB) and the Arab Thought Foundation to reinforce the support of top-down in order to change the bottom-up in schools systems. The participants were Dr. Abdullah Am-busaidi, Dr. Mohsen Al Salmi, and Dr. Ali Al Bulushi.

he second workshop was the Edu-cation for Sustainable Development, in Lebanon between 18-20 Jan., 2011. This workshop was held as part of the UNESCO’s efforts to achieve the goals of sustainable development in educa-tion 2005-2014. The colleges of Education in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Pal-estine along with the Sultanate of Oman are expected to infuse the topics and concepts of sustainable developments in some courses in the teacher preparation programs. Dr. Abdullah Ambusaidi represented the Sultanate of Oman in this workshop.

In the spirit of speeding up and increasing faculty produc-tivity, several faculty members are participating in interna-tional conferences.

1. S1. SIXTHIXTH SELF BSELF BIENNIALIENNIAL INTERNATIONALINTERNATIONAL CONFERENCECONFERENCE, Q, QUEBECUEBEC CCITYITY, C, CANADAANADA, 19, 19--22J22JUNEUNE 2011. 2011. ( ( will be attended by Prof. Maher Abu Hilal). For more informa-tion go to: http://www.self.sse.ulaval.ca.

2. ICET,2. ICET, GGLASGOWLASGOW, S, SCOTLANDCOTLAND, J, JULYULY 1111--14, 14, 2011, 2011, This international conference will be held in Glasgow, Scotland. The dean of the college is the president of the ICET for 2011. For more informa-tion go to: www.gla.ac.uk\events\ict.

3. 3. AANNUALNNUAL CCONFERENCEONFERENCE OFOF THETHE IINTERNATIONALNTERNATIONAL AASSOCIATIONSSOCIATION OFOF CCROSSROSS--CCULTURALULTURAL PPSYCHOLOGYSYCHOLOGY. . IISTANBULSTANBUL, T, TURKEYURKEY, ,

JJUNEUNE 30 30 –– JJULYULY 3, 20113, 2011..(will be attended by Dr. Said Al-Dhafri) For more information go to: http://www.iaccp2011.org/

4. 34. 3RDRD PPARISARIS IINTERNATIONALNTERNATIONAL CCONFERENCEONFERENCE ONON EEDUCATIONDUCATION, , EECONOMYCONOMY, , ANDAND SSOCIETYOCIETY. P. PARISARIS, , FRANCEFRANCE, J, JULYULY 2020--23, 2011.23, 2011.

(will be attended by Dr. Kashef Zayed) For more infor-mation go to:http://education-conferences.org/dates2.aspx

5. 5. SSEVENTHEVENTH IINTERNATIONALNTERNATIONAL CCONFERENCEONFERENCE ONON SSCIENCECIENCE, , MMATHEMATICSATHEMATICS & T& TECHNOLOGYECHNOLOGY EEDUCATIONDUCATION MMUSCATUSCAT, O, OMANMAN, , 44--7 N7 NOVEMBEROVEMBER 2012. 2012. For more information contact: alshuaili@squ.edu.om

Several faculty members have attended international conferences during 2010/2011 academic year. The confer-ences were held in various parts of the world. They are:

A) Hawaii International Conference on Education, Honolulu, January 4–7, 2011 (attended by Prof. Hashem Ki-lani, Dept. of P.E & Dr. Ibrahim Qary-outi, Dept. of ECE).

B) The American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education (AACTE) in San Diego, California, Feb. 23-26, 2011 (attended by Prof. Maher Abu Hilal, Dept. of Psych.).

C) The regional meeting of the National Council of American Teacher Educa-tion (NCATE) in Georgia, USA, March 19-22, 2011 (attended by Dr. Sulaiman Belushi, C & I Dept., and Dr. Salem Ghanbousi, EFA Dept.).

D) The 4th International Cognitive Sci-ence Conference at Tehran University, Iran, May 10 –12, 2011 (attended by Prof. Maher Abu Hilal, Dept. of Psych.).

Participation in International Conferences

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TTRAININGRAINING THETHE SSTAFFTAFF TOTO IIMPROVEMPROVE QQUALITYUALITY

SSPORTSPORTS DAYDAY: : INFORMALINFORMAL ANDAND FRIENDLYFRIENDLY DAYDAY

In a familial atmosphere, the college of Education members (faculty, staff, students and some families) participated in an entertaining day of sports and social activities. On April 12, 2011, the college members par-ticipated in the annual sports day. The sports and social activities took place in two locations: the male sports complex and the female sports complex.

Regarding the male section, the members were divided into several groups and these groups competed among them in soccer, volleyball,

swimming, basketball, and track. The winning team received the cup of the day which was –along with medals- handed by HH Dr. Fahad

Al Said. The day was organized by the Office of the Director of Ad-ministration (Mr. Mohammad Gailani, Said Jaradi, & Salim

Miqbali) together with a group of students from IT Dept. and PE Dept. The female section was organized by a group of faculty

and staff ( Dr. Yusra Al Sinani, Dr. Badriya Al Hdabi, Dr. Fakhriya Al Yahyai, Mrs. Fayzeh Al Habsi, Mrs. Layla Al

hadrami, and Mrs. Wafa Al Sadi) with help from the female student groups. The day ended at 9 pm with a

dinner.

UALITYUALITY ISIS AA COMPREHENSIVE AND COMPREHENSIVE AND CONTINUOUS INDEAVOUR. CONTINUOUS INDEAVOUR.

In line with this framework, the college is working on improving the capacity of its staff as well as faculty. The college has sent many faculty and staff members to attend training workshops and courses. These ac-tivities have been subsidized by the office of the Assistant Dean of Training and Commu-nity Service.

The staff were sent abroad to attend the fol-lowing workshops:

Library and Electronic Information Ser-vices: Held in Cairo (September 2010) for 1 week ( attended by Mr. Ali Al Baddai).

Preparing , Editing, and Presenting Media Programs: Held in Jordan (September 2010) for 1 week ( attended by Mrs. Salma Al Ha-jri).

NCATE Regional Meeting: Held in Geor-gia, USA for 1 week (7-8 April, 2011). (attended by Dr. Sulaiman Al Bulushi, Dr. Salem Al Ghanbousi & Mrs. Layla Al Hadhrami).

Preparations are underway for the Second Educational Festival of the Educational Group.

At the same the various sub-groups of the Educational Group have worked diligently to achieve distinction and qual-ity. Following is a summary of the activities of these groups:

A) The Technology of Teaching and Learning Sub– group had its fourth technological gathering from April 30-May4, 2011.

B) The Psychology group had its major activities during the current academic year. The Autism Gathering and workshop in sign language were con-ducted in April 4, 2011. The second gather-ing of the group took place between April 16-20, 2011.

C) The Group of Sport and Society organized the sport day for the individuals with spe-cial needs in February 22, 2011.

SSTUDENTSTUDENTS AREARE MARCHINGMARCHING ALONGALONG WITHWITH FACULTYFACULTY ANDAND STAFFSTAFF

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