Qatar Foundation Annual Research Conference Proceedings Volume 2014 Issue 1

Background & Objectives Previous project research identified three challenges for Qatari middle school students studying science: 1) a curricular and "real world" need to learn from both Arabic and English texts; 2) poor student reading comprehension across languages; 3) teaching methods that require reading comprehension and oral fluency without attention to reading processes. To help students improve their reading comprehension Qatari teachers need 1) a deeper understanding of reading as a strategic, goal-oriented process and 2) practical techniques for helping students read more strategically. There are also challenges for teacher learning. The baseline research found that teachers have a general idea of what they should report they do, but when observed in the classroom the strategic reading practices were not evident. A key objective, therefore, of teacher development in this project was helping teachers make connections between their learning and practice. Lesson Study (Lewis & Perry, 2006) is an approach to teacher development in which teachers collaboratively study an idea for improving their practice, plan a lesson together that incorporates the idea, observe student learning while the lesson is being taught by a member of the group, and then reflect on the lesson's effectiveness. This cycle is implemented multiple times to promote greater understanding. Pilot Lesson Study programs were initiated at one boys' and one girls' Qatar independent preparatory school. The programs aimed to promote science and English teachers' knowledge of strategic reading processes and their repertoire of techniques for incorporating this knowledge into teaching. This presentation examines the programs' contribution to teacher development. Method The programs in each school brought together three English and three science teachers with two members of the research team and met for six weeks. The teachers were interviewed using the same protocol before, in the fourth week, and in the week following the program. Group meetings were audiotaped, and the weekly lessons taught by group members observed. Researcher notes also provide triangulation. Transcripts of the interviews and session meetings were coded for comments indicative of the ways in which participants' knowledge, perceptions, and practices changed over the course of the six weeks. Results Areas of development identified include conceptual knowledge of reading, reading strategies, and means of professional development; perceptions of reading-related challenges faced by students and teachers; and teachers' repertoire of instructional and assessment techniques. The key components of Lesson Study that seemed to foster this development are: the reflective cycle linked to teachers' actual practice, a focus on student learning, and support provided for a community of practice. Furthermore, the inclusion of teachers from two disciplines (English and science), a unique component for Lesson Study programs, enabled participants to gain a wider perspective on their practice. Conclusions The qualitative analysis identifies a number of positive outcomes for participants and provides insight into the characteristics of Lesson Study that promote these outcomes. Future research using a more controlled experimental procedure will address whether these outcomes also lead to improved student reading.

The purpose of this study was to raise awareness about and understanding of the meaning and significance of Jinn, black magic and evil eye for undergraduate nursing students studying at the University of Calgary in Qatar. Nursing students are educated using a Canadian curriculum that purports nursing as a science through evidence-based best practice. Based on instructor experience, it was apparent that many Muslim nursing students attribute the person's mental or physical health disorder to the presence of Jinn, black magic and evil eye. These concepts do not fit within the context of evidence-based care, yet are important considerations in developing nursing education that will result in client-centred, culturally competent nursing practice. The researchers administered the survey "Beliefs about Jinn, Possession, Black Magic and Evil Eye" developed for use in previous studies regarding beliefs about possession among Muslims in Dhaka, Leicester, and Bangladesh (Khalifa, Hardie, Latif, Jamil, & Walker, 2011; Khalifa, Hardie, & Mullick, 2012; Mullick, et al, 2012). One hundred and twenty-eight (128) approximately 41% of the nursing student population of undergraduate nursing students participated in the study. Participation was voluntary and only those who self-identified as Muslim were invited to take part. The results of the survey were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) to generate descriptive statistics and frequencies data. The benefits of this research may include enhancement of teaching strategies and curriculum by improving cultural sensitivity and competence of nursing faculty related to increased knowledge and understanding of Jinn, black magic and evil eye. This research will also enhance and add to the limited literature available on nursing education for Muslim students in the Middle East. The scholarly benefit will be more culturally inclusive content related to Islamic beliefs of Jinn, black magic and evil eye, and the potential impact on nursing care. The researchers will report on the findings of the study within the context of nursing education and share recommendations for consideration of other health science programs in Qatar. Khalifa, N., Hardie, T., Latif, S., Jamil, I., Walker, D.M. (2011). Beliefs about Jinn, black magic and the evil eye among Muslims: Age, gender and first language influences. Journal of Culture and Mental Health, 4, 68-77. Khalifa,N., Hardie, T., &Mullick, M.S.I. (2012). Jinn and psychiatry: Comparison of beliefs among Muslims in Dhaka and Leicester. Royal College of Psychiatrists. Mullick, M.S.I., Khalifa, N., Nahar, J.S., & Walker, D.M. (2012). Belief about Jinn, black magic and evil eye in Bangladesh: The effects of gender and level of education. Mental Health, Religion & Culture. DOI: 10.1080/13674676.2012.717918

Background & Objectives This study investigates effects of source texts and writing prompts on university students' writing. In courses across the curriculum, students are required to write analytical, argumentative essays based on sources and in response to prompts provided by the instructor. However, variation in source texts and prompts can greatly impact students' written productions. Much existing research on these effects has focused on quantitative measures of writing quality, such as number of words and clauses, or on raters' scores of writing quality. In addition, most research has focused on high-stakes assessment situations, such as TOEFL or IELTS testing. These leave us with little information about the effects of source texts and prompts on university classroom writing. Drawing on data from a larger 4-year longitudinal study of academic writing development at an English-medium university in Qatar, this study investigates effects of source texts and essay prompts on students' writing of argumentative history essays. Methods Student essays written based on two source texts, and in response to one of four prompts for each source (N=90 essays), were qualitatively analyzed using an established taxonomy of history genres. Students' essays were classified as Textual Recounts (include information directly from the source text), Descriptive Explanations (focus on causes and effects), and Arguments (argue for a claim using evidence from the source text). To supplement our analysis of the student writing, we also draw on interviews with students, interviews with the history professor, assignment descriptions, and grading rubrics. This additional data provides insight into the professor's and the students' perspectives, and informs and enhances our interpretations of the analysis of student writing. Results Results showed dual constraints of source text and prompt on produced genres. Overall, the analysis found that although the professor expected students to write Arguments, only 45% of the essays were Arguments. Many students in the study resorted to writing Recounts and Explanations, engaging in "knowledge telling" rather than "knowledge transformation" through argumentative writing. When the source was non-argumentative, prompts asking students to synthesize or evaluate information more often resulted in argumentative essays than prompts asking for description or comparison. However, when the source itself was argumentative, few students wrote an argument, and only in response to prompts that explicitly invited an evaluation of the source text. With argumentative source texts, most students simply mimicked the argument of the source text in a Recount. Conclusions Consistent with previous research, our findings suggest that students are drawn to and can achieve better results in their writing depending on the source text genre and also the wording of the prompt. Based on these findings, we make recommendations for source text selection and prompt construction for eliciting argumentative writing. We also suggest additions to history genre typology that take university-level writing expectations into account.

Eye movements are now widely used to investigate cognitive processes during first language (L1) reading. However, comparatively few studies have been conducted on second language reading (L2). This presentation will describe a study which used eye tracking technology to investigate the differences in eye movements between English L1 and Arabic L1 speakers when reading English texts. A total of 75 participants were involved in the study: 36 faculty and staff members and 39 students from the College of the North Atlantic in Qatar. Reading materials were presented on a 23-inch monitor attached to an HP Z400 Workstation PC interfaced with a Tobii TX 300 eye tracking system. Participants were presented with 16 images of common signs such as street signs or shop signs. They were then asked to read at their own pace and say which of two ensuing sentences referred to the sign they had just seen. Data were exported into R, a system for statistical computation and graphics, and outcomes from 6 metrics were calculated using Wilcoxin rank-sum tests. The critical value for hypothesis tests, p, was set at 0.05. Results showed that the two groups differed significantly in 5 of the 6 metrics calculated: 1) number of fixations per individual 2) fixation duration 3) saccade length 4) number of saccades per individual and 5) length of regressions. The sixth metric calculated (number of regressions per individual) approached but did not meet significance levels. The study found that the Arabic L1 participants displayed eye movement patterns that were significantly different from, and potentially less effective than, the patterns executed by the skilled English L1 speakers. The aim of the presentation is to illustrate the results, discuss the pedagogical implications and suggest possible classroom interventions to help Arabic L1 students develop effective word-level reading skills in English.

Purpose: Although a great number of research studies for service quality take place in the context of developed countries, the similar studies in the context of developing countries like in Egypt are limited. The purpose of this study is to modify a service quality scale for measuring the performance of Islamic Banks in Egypt using the SERVQUAL multi-item scale after adapting it to fit the Egyptian culture. Research design: The popular multi-item scale of measuring service quality used in this study is SERVQUAL (developed and modified by Parasuraman et al.1985, 1988, 1991,1994). Qualitative research in the form of focus groups was conducted to modify the SERVQUAL scale to fit the Egyptian Islamic banking culture. Three focus groups were conducted with managers and employees working in Islamic banks. Furthermore, a convenience sample of 30 Islamic bank clients was surveyed in order to measure the reliability and validity of the new SERQUAL dimensions derived from the focus groups conducted. Findings: Transcriptions from the 3 focus groups were analyzed using initial and focused coding techniques. Exploratory and factor analytic techniques were used to explore the dimensionality of the scale. The study developed 22 statements for measuring the five different dimensions of service quality in Islamic banks that included: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, Empathy, Assurance and two new dimensions of trust and Shariah- compliance. Research Implications: After the 25th of January revolution, there has been a significant rise of Islamic banking and finance in Egypt. However, this trend is still considered in it's growth stage in Egypt compared to other countries specifically in the Gulf and parts of Europe where Islamic finance and banking is very well established and understood amongst vast amounts of both Muslims and non Muslims. Thus understanding points of weakness and strengths through analyzing the SERVQUAL scale dimensions is essential for Islamic banks as well as the perceptions of current clients about the service quality delivered by such banks. This paper shows that the SERVQUAL after modifications is valid and reliable in the banking industry in Egypt. Based on this study and other studies cited, it appears that future research on Service Quality should involve the development of industry specific measure of service quality.

Family is the pillar of a sustainable society. Despite the debate on the decline of the family in western societies, family still matters in achieving sustainable society in East and West. Especially, family values and intergenerational relations are key of the family for development and sustainability of a society. This research aims at investigating the current state of family values and intergenerational relations and their interplay in a few Asian societies including Qatar from a comparative perspective. East Asian sociologists in Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan launched an East Asian Social Survey (EASS) in 2006. The first EASS adopted a family module consisting of questions on family values, intergenerational relations, marital history and a couple's relation. The first author of this research paper was a convenor of the family module in EASS 2006. Later, another group of researchers from Korea, Japan, Qatar, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and India also launched a new family survey research project called Comparative Asian Family Survey (CAFS) in 2010. With generous grants from Doha International Family Institute and Kyoto University in Japan, we could replicate the overall questions of family module of EASS 2006 to surveys of Thailand, Qatar, Vietnam, Malaysia and India. As a part of CAFS project, Dr. Badria Al-Amari of Qatar University conducted a Qatari Family Survey in Doha and surrounding areas in 2010, which resulted in a sort of the first Qatari Family Survey data which makes it possible to investigate current Qatari family, family values and intergenerational relations in Qatar. In other Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and India, the same surveys had been conducted between 2010 and 2012. Thus, we come to have a good quality of comparable family survey data across Northeast Asian countries (Korea, Japan, Taiwan and China), Southeast Asian countries (Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia), a South Asian country (India) and a Middle East country (Qatar) from EASS 2006 and CAFS project. Although we can utilize nine survey data in Asian context, this research employs only five country survey data from Korea, Qatar, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. Qatar and Malaysia represent Islam culture, Korea and Vietnam(Hanoi area) some Confucian culture, and Thailand(Bangkok area) Southeast Asian and Buddhist culture in this research. Five countries selected for this research, therefore, can represent diverse cultural effects on family values and intergenerational relations in Asia, and validate our comparative family research in Asian context. In this research, we investigate current state of family values and intergenerational relations by gender, age and education in culturally diverse Asian societies in a descriptive way. This will show how differentially family values and intergenerational relations exist in culturally diverse Asian societies. This will also reveal the impact of culture or religion on family values and intergenerational relations in Asian societies from a comparative perspective. We also investigate the interplay of family values and intergenerational relations in five Asian countries in an analytic way. This will show how family values affect intergenerational relations, and thus imply the sustainability of each society.

At this point there is little question about whether online social networks have occupied (and occupy) a central spot as the backbone of modern civil protests. This agreement has triggered a whole research avenue, in which social structure (who is friends with whom) and content analysis (what is said online) have been central -though generally approached separately. Countries in the MENA region are prominent examples of turmoil online case studies: Iran (2009), Tunisia, Lybia, Egypt and Bahrain (2011), ongoing Gaza conflict and Syria (2011-present), have witnessed social revolts, violence and even some government changes. Focusing on Egypt, its society is known to be highly polarized with two dominant poles typically labeled as "Islamist" and "Secular". Since the coup/revolution in July 2013, a new pro-military intervention vs. anti-military intervention (pro-MI/anti-MI hereafter) dimension has emerged, though it is widely considered in mass media to be aligned with the previous polarization in the sense that Islamist/Secular coincide with anti-MI/pro-MI. However, during the violent aftermath of the army's ascent to power some observers speculated that certain parts of the pro-MI supporters might have changed their opinion due to what some view as excessive use of force against protesters, with at least several hundred killed. In this work, we examine how these events have transpired on Twitter, exploiting a set of nearly 6 million Arabic tweets authored by over 120,000 users. We question whether opinion changes are due to (i) people actually switching sides, or (ii) the relevant camps becoming increasingly louder or more muted. In addressing these questions, we learn about the underlying psychological and sociological mechanisms which are at play in conflictive contexts. For instance, it might be more benefitial -or less costly- for an individual to withdraw from a conflict than to actually switch sides: with a similarly minded social neighborhood, an actor is faced with the ``volunteer's dilemma'' (who switches side first); from which the rational outcome is to become mute. We approach these questions both from the structural (network) side and the semantic (content) side. Concerning content, we used a set of manually labeled hashtags to build a pro- or anti-MI classifier, which is used to classify tweets based on its textual content. On the network side, we used retweets of hand-labeled seed users to derive a Secular vs. Islamist leaning for users. We find that despite -or because of- the dramatic events there is little evidence of users changing sides. We look at switching between Secularist and Islamist camps and between pro-MI and anti-MI camps. Our network and content analyses indicate that less than 5% of users switched sides. Instead, the narrative seems to be one of pro-MI and Secular users being dominant in terms of volume leading up to July 3, and anti-MI and Islamist users gaining in volume afterwards. Furthermore, in contradiction to the dominating narrative in mass media, the correlation between being a secular and pro-MI is far from perfect. However, some correlation was noticed between being an Islamist and against the military intervention.

Protecting cyberspace has become one of the most common problems dealt with safety issues. The stability of functioning and development of the global information society depends on an open, reliable and secure cyberspace. Raising awareness in this field is combined with a sharp increase of computer incidents and other new cyber risks. While cyberspace is a virtual reflection of physical reality, it also penetrate into the negative form of human activity. Internet network gives a great sense of anonymity and is often used by criminals. Qatar, like other states is in danger of cyber attacks. Qatar currently takes up the challenge of how to develop a legal and organizational changes, to ensure the proper level of security in cyberspace and safe functioning of its citizens in cyberspace. Hence, it is important to develop an appropriate awareness among users. The aim of the study is to analyze the provisions laid down in Qatar and examine how they compare to similar regulations existing in the European Union as well as to examine how Qatar could effectively spread awareness of the dangers in cyberspace among Internet users, so that the newly introduced regulations were effective. The main task posed by the author is, therefore, an attempt to answer the question: how effectively protect the network user (individuals) against attacks in cyberspace, what activities and types of social campaigns, relating also to Muslim tradition, may help to enter into force new regulations. For this purpose, the author will examine the provisions on protection against cyber threats in Qatar and Poland (comparative study) - where legislative action in this area has only recently been made; also appropriate EU directives will be examined. The statistics will also be taken into account.

Emerging neuroscience research shows that environmental-related activity such as wayfinding, perception, cognition, and their behavioral consequences—anxiety, stress, happiness, and arousal—are both reflected in our brains' neural structures and electro-chemical processes (Amor, Oboyle, Pati, Pham, & Jou, 2014; Amor, Pati & OBoyle, 2013; Pati, Amor, & OBoyle, 2012; Eberhard, 2007; Mallgrave, 2011; Swanson, 2011; Zeisel, 2006). Behavioral evidences indicate that fluorescent lighting, among the indoor environmental variables, plays a critical role in facilitating or hindering daily activities for a neuro-typical population (Rashid & Zimiring, 2008). For a neuro-diverse population (ADHD), this becomes more complex. While there is a growing body of debatable environment behavior literature relative to the impact of fluorescent lighting on cognitive, behavioral, and psychosocial outcomes, little is known about the correlation between neural activity and fluorescent lighting. The purpose of this research is to 1) explore and compare behavioral and neural responses of twenty ADHD subjects, when exposed to 3 types of fluorescent lighting color temperature: a) Warm White WW with a 2800 CCT, b) Cool White CW with a 4100 CCT, and c) Daylight DX with 6000 CCT when presented in three different settings—commercial, educational, and healthcare (see figures 1, 2, and 3), and 2) explore the impact of different color temperatures on the activation of the prefrontal and parietal areas, brain regions associated with cognition that experience minimal neural activity for people with ADHD (see figure 4). A purposive sampling strategy was used to generate twenty ADHD subjects. This permitted the selection of subjects including gender, age, ethnicity, brain lateralization, as well as the exclusion of color blindness. The participants underwent 1) an anatomical scan T1 (5 minutes) and 2) an Eco-Planar Imaging (EPI) functional scan (17 minutes), while a random sequence of 72 digitally generated high resolution illustrations from the aforementioned settings were projected by a computer controlled visual presentation system (E-Prime). Concomitantly, the participants were asked to respond to each image by fiber optics Button Response Unit (BRU)rating each image on a seven-point Likert satisfaction scale of 1=very dissatisfied and 7=very satisfied. Behavioral data was analyzed using t-test factor analysis and one-way analysis of variance, while the neural data maps were analyzed using Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM8). The comparison of neural and behavioral data indicated that the least satisfying color is the White Warm Color Temperature 2800K. The Cool White 4100K and Full Spectrum 6000K correlated color temperatures generated better levels of satisfaction. Important to note that under the Cool White and Full Spectrum, the activation of the Cerebellum, the Superior Temporal Gyrus, the Middle Frontal Gyrus, and the Angular Gyrus respectively responsible for critical structure of social interaction, analytical tasks, and memory retrieval are very suggestive for the activation of the neural cognitive processes. This study is provides fresh neural benchmark data for designers, architects, planners, decision makers, academicians, and industry professionals to assess, design, and produce built environments using neural evidence-based data.

Background & Objectives Global food chains have become longer and more complex owing to the decoupling of geographical locations where food is produced and consumed. Increases in global food prices, lower levels of production in grain-producing nations and rising costs of oil, fertilizers and transportation have raised concerns about food security in many countries, including Qatar. The population of Qatar has dramatically increased from 660,238 in 2003 to 2,077,357 in 2014. As a food-import-dependent nation, Qatar heavily relies on food coming from other countries. However, reports on food security and observations of the project team suggest that food supply chains have not been re-designed to accommodate this rapid increase in population and to account for the increased complexity due to globalised distribution. Distribution of food is challenging because it has to ensure that the product maintains its quality and safety while it is transported downstream on the chain and until it reaches the consumer. Inappropriate conditions and poor handling result in food being wasted. An awardee of the National Priorities Research Program 2014, this research project aims to provide strategic input for management of food supply chains considering characteristics of distribution and consumption of food in Qatar. Methods This research will incorporate food quality and food safety considerations into distribution optimisation models because transportation of food between various supply chain members affects food quality and food safety as well as food waste originating from deteriorating quality and emerging safety risks. It will focus on operational problems occurring during transportation and storage of food and provide an estimate of the waste occurring in distribution. Moreover, it will build a simulation model to establish the link between distribution frequencies and the food quality and food safety, exploring key interrelationships among quality and safety in food supply chains. Results In the distribution of food, management challenges faced by organisations delivering food to Qatar are related to limited shelf lives of food products, temperature and humidity requirements, possible interaction effects between products, and delivery time windows of products. Food wasted at the end of the food supply chain incurs the highest costs and uses the highest level of energy because the food has already been grown, processed, transported, stored, and sold before ending up in the trash. This research project will investigate consumers' contribution to the generation of food waste in an attempt to reduce the waste originating from variations in demand. Conclusions Waste in the food supply chain results in inefficient use of natural resources such as water, energy and land through supply chain operations such as production, processing, distribution, consumption and disposal. The problem of food waste is emotive because it raises ethical issues about the accessibility of food while millions of people around the world live in hunger. The waste, cost and environmental impact due to production, distribution and consumption of food occur globally. The significance of this project lies in its focus on food waste as complementary to the ongoing efforts in Qatar for achieving food security and environmental sustainability.