Review Article: Nationalisms,National Identities and Nation States: Gendered Perspectives

Books reviewed in this article: Nira Yuval‐Davis, Gender & Nation Lois West (ed.), Feminist Nationalism Rick Wilford and Robert L. Miller (eds.), Women, Ethnicity and Nationalism: The Politics of Transition Cynthia Cockburn, The Space Between Us: Negotiating Gender and National Identities in Conflict     

Umm an‐Nar burial 401 at Bat,Oman: architecture and finds

The archaeological site at Bat has an important status with regard to research on the Umm an‐Nar culture. Investigations began there in 1972 and were revived in 2004, when the excavation of tomb 401 was begun. This paper presents the complete corpus of grave‐goods. Despite all the disturbances within the find layers, when comparing the two chambers it is possible to observe some indications of the different burial cycles and detect distinguishing characteristics. Taking into account the divergent earlier and later ceramic styles, burial use must be proposed between 2400 and 2200 BC. This date accords with observations of the architectural details of tomb 401 and with the sequence of tomb construction types in the Bat region. This paper is dedicated to the memory of professor Gerd Weisgerber.     

Learning Styles in Relation to Academic Performance in Middle School Mathematics

Research was conducted with middle‐school Kuwaiti children to assess the effectiveness of student learning styles in predicting students' academic performance in Mathematics. A group of middle school students who had received first quarter grades and enrolled in an after‐school tutoring program were studied, with half of the students in a traditional tutoring program and the other half in a Markova learning style‐tutoring program. Results show that the students in the experimental group (mean = 45.91), whose learning styles were accommodated for, performed better than the students in the control group who studied using the traditional method (mean = 43.80) of teaching. Gender, type of school attended, and area in which the students lived were all analyzed within the experimental group. The experimental group results show that the highest‐grade improvement in Mathematics was found to be predominately male students attending private institutions, and living in the urban areas of Kuwait. Students learn in a variety of ways, and their ability to attain this information also varies. A student's capacity to learn is impacted by the teacher's style of conveying information. Unfortunately, little attention has been given to how children think (Markova, 1992). Often, it is assumed that students' minds operate in the same way as the teacher's does. So much of student failure in school comes directly out of the larger failure to stimulate all those areas in the children's brains, stimulation which could open up their minds in so many ways (Markova, 1992). Student's academic performance is a matter of concern to educators, parents, and students themselves. The ways in which an individual characteristically acquires, retains, and retrieves information are collectively referred to as his or her learning style (Felder and Henriques, 1995). Unfortunately, the manner in which children acquire the information to perform well academically is too often ignored. Considerable research has examined the relationship between students' learning styles and their academic performance (Witkin, 1973; Gregorc, 1979; Claxton and Murrell, 1987; Brunner and Majewski, 1990; Schroeder, 1993; Klavas, 1993). These studies have consistently found that when learning styles were considered in the teaching process, academic performance increased. Schroeder states that accommodating the variations in learning styles could improve curricula and the teaching process (1993). The results of a study by Dunn et al. (1995) suggested that students whose learning styles are accommodated would be expected to achieve 75% of a standard deviation higher than students for whose learning style had not been accommodated. Many researchers have reported that students often classified as poor achievers, learning disabled, at‐risk youth, or dropouts were able to improve their academic performance when instruction was redesigned to respond to their particular learning style preferences (Stone, 1992; Perrin, 1990; Elliot, 1991; Andrews, 1990). Children suffer deeply when their natural way of thinking, of absorbing and processing information, of creating and expressing is criticized, mocked, or ignored (Markova, 1992). However, learning efficiently empowers children to gain confidence since many believe they have learned a skill only after they can perform it easily. Markova acknowledges that many approaches to understanding individual differences include something about the fact that most of us have one sense we are most comfortable using in the learning process. Understanding these patterns of processing information is crucial to finding the most effective ways to educate our children. Markova has identified six patterns of personal thinking, which are different combinations of the perceptual kinesthetic (K), auditory (A), and visual (V) channels. He posits that information is first received by the conscious mind, sorted by the unconscious mind and finally integrated by the subconscious mind (Markova, 1992). The six different combinations (KAV, KVA, AVK, AKV, VKA, and VAK) are referred to as personal thinking patterns and determine the most comfortable and effective way for each learner to learn.     

Community of Practice in the Kuwaiti Medical Sector: An Exploratory Study

Community of Practice (CoP) is a relatively new concept in the Middle East and North Africa. The concept has been used for a number of years in the business sector; however, the use of CoPs in the health sector has not been as widespread. The aim of this study is to provide insights into the status of CoPs in the health sector and the knowledge sharing practices that take place among members of such CoPs in Kuwait. Ninety‐eight questionnaires were distributed among medical practitioners. Results showed that the majority of members perceived the CoP as a source of increasing professional knowledge. Respondents focused mainly on the COPs fostering social interactions at the workplace or during task‐oriented activities. They mostly discussed specific problems and immediate concerns. The desire to learn and the desire to help others were the main motivators for doctors to share their knowledge. Lack of time and lack of technology and knowledge transfer mechanisms were reported as the primary obstacles to sharing knowledge. Nearly 65 percent of the CoP members responding to the survey stated that they did not receive any financial support from their management. In recent years the role of communities in learning and knowledge sharing has attracted much attention among those interested in knowledge as a situated practice. The concept of Communities of Practice (CoP) was originally developed by Lave and Wenger (1991 ), who suggested that learning took place in social relationships rather than the simple acquisition of knowledge. Lave and Wenger's observations have formed the basis of the “situated learning theory,” which describes that learning takes place in a setting functionally identical to a space where the knowledge is applied ( Lave & Wenger, 1991 ). The CoP concept has been used in the business sector for over 20 years, but the use of CoPs in the health sector has been recent ( Li et al., 2009 ). In addition, results of two studies, conducted by Traboulsi (2002 ) and Johnson and Kalidi (2005 ), revealed that the CoP is a relatively new phenomenon in the Middle East and North Africa. This article aims to provide insights into the status of CoPs in the health sector and their knowledge‐sharing practices in Kuwait.