Al al-Bayt University Research Articles

The role of built environmental design in violence prevention in universities' campuses: Al al-Bayt University in Jordan as a case study

PurposeThe purposes of this research were to review, analyze, synthesize and define the principles, indicators and required design elements of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) and the potential role of the design of the courtyards in preventing campus violence; to examine the relationships between built environment design and campus violence inside Al al-Bayt University (AABU), Jordan; and to examine to what extent the design of the open public spaces and courtyards inside AABU meet the design principles of the CPTED.Design/methodology/approachThis research used descriptive-analytical approach, semi-structured interviews, archival records and videos to collect the location-based data of violent events and incidents that occurred on the campus of AABU (the locations of students' fights). Additionally, this research used AABU images; plans, spatial analysis, site visits and direct observations to analyze and assess the courtyards’ design and to examine to what extent the design of courtyards and open public spaces in AABU achieve the CPTED indicators, and the availability and the quality of the required design elements of CPTED and their role in violence prevention.FindingsThis research found that environmental-based design plays a major role in reducing crime opportunities and promote positive social behavior. This research found that the indicators to achieve the CPTED principles in all courtyard design inside AABU are very low and all the courtyards’ designs are not complied and conformed to the CPTED principles, and as a result, the design of the courtyards encourages and may facilitate violence in the university campus. It has been found that the availability and the quality of the required CPTED design elements are very low in all courtyards. Therefore, the existing design elements in all courtyards in AABU are not preventing the university violence. The correlation result revealed that there is significant relationship and strong/very strong negative linear association between the numbers of the students' fights and the applying of CPTED principles, indicators and required design elements (r = −0.85).Research limitations/implicationsThe data collected from AABU campus only and a larger study is certainly required to underpin these findings. Therefore, future research is needed to replicate and duplicate this research in order to expand the results.Practical implicationsThis research has implications for designing/redesigning the open public space and courtyards inside universities. This research recommended that redesigning all courtyards and applying the principles of CPTED are necessary to prevent campus violence. Redesigning includes adding landscaping elements, fountains, water features, pedestrian furniture, portrait, setting areas, new modern sculptures, shaded areas, lighting, memorial places, digital screens and cameras. Moreover, this research recommended that the university should pay more attention to continuous control, repair and maintenance to all courtyards after redesigning them. Finally, this research introduced a design proposal for one of the courtyards to apply the CPTED principles that promote positive behavior and prevent campus violence.Originality/valueIn the last few years in Jordan, some of the public and private Jordanian universities suffered from a newly emerging negative phenomenon, which is violence between students inside the campus. Many researchers and governmental institutions have stressed the urgency to explore the social, cultural, behavioral and environmental strategies that may effectively prevent campus violence. Additionally, little attention has been paid to the role of built environmental design in preventing campus violence. Moreover, no research assesses the applying of the CPTED principles and their indicators in courtyards’ design in Jordanian campuses.

The Effect of Using IPod Technology on EFL College Students' Writing Skill: أثر استخدام تقنية الآي بود على المهارة الكتابية لمتعلمي اللغة الانكليزية كلغة أجنبية

This study aimed to explore the effect of using IPod technology on EFL students' writing skill. It also aimed to investigate whether teaching writing via using IPod Technology is better than the conventional method of teaching. To carry out the study, 65 male and female undergraduate EFL students who registered for a Writing 2 course at, Al-alBayt University, in the second semester of the academic year 2015/2016 were chosen as participants of the study. They were assigned randomly into two groups: Group one consisted of 35 students, which was chosen as an experimental group and was taught writing using IPod technology and group two consisted of 30 students, which was assigned as a control group and was taught using conventional method of teaching. Both groups were taught the same material, on the same days of the week, and on the same period. Both groups sat for a pre-post-test to assure that both groups have the same linguistic ability level in the aspects of writing. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software was used to conduct the required statistical analysis of the data related to the objectives of the study. Means, standard deviations, one-way ANOVA, and Scheffe tests were used for all the variables of the study. Data were collected within eight weeks. The findings of the study showed that there were statistically significant differences between the mean scores of the experimental group and control group students' writing performance in favor of the experimental group. Thus progress might be due to using IPod technology. A number of related recommendations were presented to the Ministry of Education and the teachers.

Strategic Planning Using Balanced Scorecard an Experience by Al Al-Bayt University, Jordan

The aim of this study is to identify the reality of Balanced Scorecard (BSC) at Al Al-Bayt University. BSC of university performance deals with its major aspects such as goals, indicators, and initiatives necessary to achieve the objectives in quantitative measures. Findings of the study showed that there is a moderate realization by academic and administrative units at the university of the need to adopt BSC in strategic planning. Quality Assurance and Planning is the most administrative unit that applied BSC. These units aware of the capacity of BSC to maximize financial return and moral support as a result of the provision of educational services. The study recommended the need to adopt a BSC by all administrative units, especially those which are newly established, as well as, the assessment of deviation from the targeted standards.

Emotional Intelligence and its Relationship to Job Burnout among Some Administrative Employees at Al Al-Bayt University

Emotional Intelligence and its Relationship to Job Burnout among Some Administrative Employees at Al Al-Bayt University

Factors affecting political participation (Jordanian universities students' voting: field study 2017-2018)

PurposeThis study aims to identify the factors affecting the political participation of Jordanian university students, especially their voting in national and local elections. The study examines the impact of gender, age, family income and regional affiliation that represent important social and economic factors affecting political participation on the voting of Jordanian university students.Design/methodology/approachQuantitative research method was used in this study. The study population contained three Jordanian universities representing the various segments of the Jordanian society: Al-Al Bayt University (Northern Region), Jordanian University (Central Region) and Mu'tah University (Southern Region). The study relied on a purposive sample of 900 students, 300 students per university (150 males and 150 females). The survey was conducted in the academic year 2018-2019. A questionnaire reviewed by two jurors (peer reviewers) was used to collect the data.FindingsThe study concluded that the gender, age, family income and regional affiliation factors affect the voting of Jordanian university students in national and local elections. The more the gender varies, the more the voting shifts in favor of males students. The more the age varies, the more the voting shifts in favor of older students. The more the family income varies, the more the voting shifts in favor of high-income students. The more the regional affiliation varies, the more the voting shifts in favor of Jordanians students.Originality/valueThis study is an approach to interpret the factors affecting voting of Jordanian university students, such as gender, age, family income and regional affiliation, which led to different voting in the national and local elections.

The Affecting Factors in the Improving of Financial Performance Al Al-Bayt University: Evidence from Jordan

The Affecting Factors in the Improving of Financial Performance Al Al-Bayt University: Evidence from Jordan

The Role of Digital Libraries in Enhancing the Knowledge Economy in Jordanian Universities

This study aimed at revealing the role of digital libraries in enhancing the knowledge economy in Jordanian universities. To achieve this objective, the study instrument was constructed exemplified with a questionnaire, where the sample consisted of (19) items in final form. Having verified their validity and reliability, they were applied to a random sample of 370 students from three universities, namely: Yarmouk, Jordan University of Science and Technology and Al Albayt University in the northern region of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. After applying the study instrument to the sample, the data were entered into SPSS programs for analysis, as the results revealed that there is an intermediate role for digital libraries in enhancing knowledge economies. On the other hand, the results revealed that there are no statistically significant differences due to gender and college variables in the role of Jordanian digital libraries in enhancing the knowledge economy in Jordanian universities from the students’ perspectives. In light of the previous results, the researcher recommended the need to raise awareness about the significance of digital libraries in enhancing the knowledge economy. He also recommended that more studies be conducted on this subject through the application of other segments and comparing the results to achieve an integrated vision of the role of digital libraries in the service of knowledge economies.

The Relationship between Learner’s Motivation and Italian Language Proficiency among Jordanian IFL Learners

This study investigates the relationship between the learners' motivation ( integrative/instrumental) and Italian proficiency among Jordanian IFL learners at Alalbayt University. It also sheds lights on the level of proficiency among Italian majors at Alalbayt University. Two instruments are used in this study: the first is a five-point Likert scale questionnaire based on Gardner and Maclntyer ( 1990) to investigate students motivational/attitudinal orientations; the second is a proficiency test based on an official Italian language website. The test was evaluated and modified to suite the purpose of the study. The results show that there is no correlation between Motivation ( integrative and instrumental)/ attitudes and proficiency among IFL learners in Jordan. Further, the results indicate that Italian majors have a fair level of proficiency in Italian as a foreign language at Alalbayt University.

Ant Colony Optimization for a Plan Guide Course Registration Sequence

Students in universities do not follow the prescribed course plan guide, which affects the registration process. In this research, we present an approach to tackle the problem of guide for plan of course sequence (GPCS) since that sequence may not be suitable for all students due to various conditions. The Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithm is anticipated to be a suitable approach to solving such problems. Data on sequence of the courses registered by students of the Computer Science Department at Al Al-Bayt University over four years were collected for this study. The fundamental task was to find the suitable pheromone evaporation rate in ACO that generates the optimal GPCS by conducting an Adaptive Ant Colony Optimization (AACO) on the model that used the collected data. We found that 17 courses out of 31 were placed in semesters differing from the semesters preset in the course plan.

Universities' Role in Addressing Terrorism in Light of Students' Awareness to its Definition, Causes, and Types

The study aims to explore the degree of awareness of Jordanian education college students to terrorism's definition, type and causes, and the universities' roles in addressing terrorism. A five- scale questionnaire was designed by the author and administrated to 130 students studying at the faculty of education, Al-al Bayt University. The external reliability coefficient for the total questionnaire domains was 0.84, and the internal reliability coefficient (Cronbach Alpha) for the total questionnaire domains was 0.88. This indicates that the questionnaire was reliable and suitable for a sample administration. The results indicated that students were aware of the concept and types of terrorism, but they have a misconception of its main causes. These, however, were relevant from the perspectives of economical and social causes. Students' misconception can be interpreted by students' social alienation, and their refusal based on economic and social circumstances. The author suggested that universities must hold intense rehabilitating programs for the youths. This is in addition to holding international conferences on human security as it could raise students' awareness of terrorism and help them in addressing it eventually.

فاعلیة تراکم المعرفة النفسیة التربویة فی تنمیة التفکیر الإبداعی لدى طلبة المستوى الرابع فی کلیة العلوم التربویة فی جامعة آل البیت The Effect of the Accumulation of Psychological and Educational Knowledge on the Development of Creative Thinking among the Fourth Level Students in the Faculty of Educational Sciences at Al al-Bayt University.

هدفت هذه الدراسة إلى الوقوف على فاعلية تراکم المعرفة التربوية النفسية في تنمية مهارات التفکير الإبداعي لدى طلبة المستوى الرابع في کلية العلوم التربوية بجامعة آل البيت، واختيرت العينة بطريقة عشوائية طبقية، وتکونت من مجموعتين: المجموعة الأولى (150) طالبا وطالبة من المستوى الأول، کما تکونت المجموعة الثانية من (150) طالبا وطالبة من المستوى الرابع؛ حيث تعرضت المجموعة الثانية إلى تراکم المعرفة التربوية النفسية من خلال دراسة مجموعة من المساقات التربوية النفسية عبر المستويات الدراسية السابقة؛ بينما لم تدرس المجموعة الأولى تلک المساقات التربوية النفسية. وطبق الباحث مقياس التفکير الإبداعي على المجموعتين. وأظهرت النتائج تفوق طلبة المجموعة الثانية في التفکير الإبداعي ومهاراته: الطلاقة، والمرونة، والتفاصيل، والتصور، والتحليل، والترکيب، بينما أظهرت النتائج عدم وجود فروق دالة إحصائيا في التفکير الإبداعي ومهاراته لدى أفراد المجموعة الثانية تعزى للجنس، ما عدا مهارة الترکيب کانت لصالح الذکور. Abstract: This study aimed to identify the educational effectiveness of the accumulation of educational and psychological knowledge on the development of creative thinking skills among students in the fourth level in the Faculty of Educational Sciences at Al al-Bayt University. The selected sample was randomly stratified, and it consisted of two groups of students of the Faculty of Educational Sciences at Al al-Bayt University. The first group consisted of 150 students from the first level students while the second group consisted of 150 students from the fourth level students. The second group was exposed to the accumulation of psychological and educational knowledge through the study of a range of educational and psychological courses over the previous study levels while the first group had not studied psychological and educational courses. The researchers applied the creative measure on both groups. The results of the comparative analysis showed that students in the second group outperformed their peers in the creative thinking skills, including fluency, flexibility, details, visualization, analysis, and synthesis. The results also showed there were no statistically significant differences among the second group due to gender differences in all creative thinking skills, except the synthesis skill which was in favor of males. Key words: the accumulation of educational and psychological knowledge, creative thinking, the fourth level students in the Faculty of Educational Sciences, Al al-Bayt University

The Effect of an Integration-Based Instructional Strategy on Developing EFL Students' Listening Skills at Al-Al Bayt University

Listening is a language skill that people in general and students in specific may need it more than some of the other language skills such as reading and writing in their everyday life and communication. Yet, the integration of the four language skills should be always emphasized when learning any foreign language since this reinforces each other and represents the natural acquisition of the language. The current study aims to examine the effect of an instructional program based on integrating the four language skills on Jordanian undergraduate EFL students' listening comprehension skills and to find out their attitudes regarding the effectiveness of this program on improving their listening skills. In order to collect the data , the researchers used two instruments: pre-post test and an interview. The study is a quasi-experimental one, and the subjects of the study were 61 students from Al Al Bayt University in Jordan. The subjects were divided into two groups: the control one had 24 students while the experimental one had 37. The findings of the study reveal that there is a significant difference at ( α= 0.05) between the means of the two groups at the listening post-test due to the program. In addition, the instructional program proves to be effective for the students of the experimental group who believe that the program improved their listening skills.

English

This study aimed to investigate the effects of the first part of the CoRT program for teaching thinking (BREADTH) on the development of communication skills among a sample of students from Al al-Bayt University in Jordan. The study sample consisted of all the students enrolled in the training session for the first part of the CoRT program held by the Excellence and Innovation Center at Al al-Bayt University during the second semester of 2014/2015 academic year. It included 36 participants (20 females and 16 males) from different specializations and academic levels at the university. The researcher prepared a training program and a scale for communication skills, for which he extracted validity and reliability. Diagrams for arithmetic averages, standard deviations, T-test and Wilcoxon W test were used to answer the questions of the study. The results showed that there were statistically significant differences (α=0.05) between the pre and post measurements for members of the experimental group on the communication skills scale in favor of the post measurement. This indicates the effectiveness of the first part of the CoRT program (BREADTH) on the development of communication skills as well as the lack of statistically significant differences based on sex in the post measurement. The study recommended the need to implement the training program for more than one person including all the university students to develop their effective communication skills. Key words: The first part of the CoRT program (BREADTH), communication skills, university students.

The Effect of an Integration-Based Instructional Strategy on Developing EFL Students' Listening Skills at Al-Al Bayt University

Listening is a language skill that people in general and students in specific may need it more than some of the other language skills such as reading and writing in their everyday life and communication. Yet, the integration of the four language skills should be always emphasized when learning any foreign language since this reinforces each other and represents the natural acquisition of the language. The current study aims to examine the effect of an instructional program based on integrating the four language skills on Jordanian undergraduate EFL students' listening comprehension skills and to find out their attitudes regarding the effectiveness of this program on improving their listening skills. In order to collect the data , the researchers used two instruments: pre-post test and an interview. The study is a quasi-experimental one, and the subjects of the study were 61 students from Al Al Bayt University in Jordan. The subjects were divided into two groups: the control one had 24 students while the experimental one had 37. The findings of the study reveal that there is a significant difference at ( α= 0.05) between the means of the two groups at the listening post-test due to the program. In addition, the instructional program proves to be effective for the students of the experimental group who believe that the program improved their listening skills.

Knowledge and Awareness of Colorectal Cancer Early Warning Signs and Risk Factors among University Students in Jordan.

In the present study, we aimed to assess the level of awareness regarding CRC warning signs and risk factors among undergraduate students. A cross-sectional survey using standardized questionnaire developed by the Cancer Research Center in the UK was carried out in three different public universities in Jordan including Jordan University of Science and Technology, Yarmouk University, and AL al-Bayt University over a 5-month period. Volunteers were asked about their knowledge regarding CRC symptoms, risk factors, and their behaviors regarding seeking medical advice. Findings revealed that response rate was 80.1%. Vast majority of responders were female (70.9%) and 18.2% of them were studying medical-related specialties. Regarding CRC symptoms, 14.3% of responders experienced poor knowledge, 52.9% have fair knowledge, and 32.8% have good knowledge. Abdominal pain was the most recognized warning signs where 70.8% of responders could recall it. In addition, risk factors awareness was lower than warning signs awareness. About 36.1% of responders have poor knowledge, 47.4% had fair knowledge, and 16.5% had good knowledge. Unhealthy diet was the most recognized risk factor where 32.3% of responders could recall it. Moreover, females were more aware regarding CRC symptoms. Similar findings were obtained for participants who were aged 20years or more and for those who had previous experience of cancer. Students who were studying medical-related specialties were more aware of both CRC symptoms and risk factors than those who studying other specialties. Furthermore, regarding time to seek medical attention we found that 60.6% of volunteers would seek medical advice within 1week of noticing CRC symptoms and 12% would seek it within 2weeks. The mean duration for seeking medical advice was found to be 1.9weeks. University students' awareness level of CRC is poor, and therefore, extended attention should be attempted to enhance the awareness of CRC via continuous education programs, lectures, or campaigns to encourage the early detection CRC.

Importance of integrating a cultural module in the community nursing curriculum

The Bedouin Health module was one of the proposed interventions funded by the European Union in 2007-2008, with a focus on health services and utilisation of these services for the Bedouin people in the north of Jordan. This study aimed to evaluate the sustainability of integrating this module into the community health nursing courses at Al al-Bayt University, Jordan. Two focus group discussions were carried out with five faculty members and five students involved in the implementation of the Bedouin Health module. Leading questions were prepared for both groups. Four main themes emerged across both focus groups: self-expression, sustainability, acceptance, and motivation. The findings of this study identify how crucial it is for nursing students and faculty members to be culturally competent when practising community health care in the Bedouin community.

The Effect of Using Web-Cam Chat on the Undergraduate EFL Students’ Pragmatic Competence

<p>This study aimed to investigate the effect of using web-cam chat on developing of the pragmatic aspects of language by college-level English as foreign language (EFL) learners in Jordan. A quantitative approach was applied to determine first, whether the use of web-cam chats had a positive effect on EFL learners’ pragmatic competence. Second, the effect of presenting pragmatic through two delivery systems face-to-face, in-class activities and computer-mediated communication (CMC) via web-cam chats i.e. Facebook and Skype was investigated in this study. The sample of the study consisted of thirty-two undergraduate students who made up two intact classes in a "Conversation Skills course, which call Penguin Functional English by Peter Watcyn-J0nes .Code N 1302109” at AL al-Bayt University in Jordan, during the second semester of the academic year 2013/2014. The students were interviewed in order to know their actual levels in the pragmatic aspects of English before starting the experiment. The sample was divided into two groups; the control group (15 students) was taught the course content using the regular communicative method through which students received instructor-led lessons from the textbook, while group two, the experimental (17 students) was taught using web-cam chat. After conducting the activities, a post test was administered. Scores were tabulated and prepared for statistical analysis. The results showed that web-cam chat had a positive impact on the EFL learners’ pragmatic competence. Learners who studied via web-cam chat performed better on the pragmatic aspects of English post-test than those who did not. The findings also indicated that technology can be a valuable tool for delivering pragmatic instruction. Moreover, the findings of the study revealed that students acquired the speaking and listening skills in web-cam chat more efficiently and effectively than in the regular communicative method.</p>

Uncontrollable Behavior and Restraints Policy Analysis

Correspondence: Rami Sami ELshalabi, RN, MSN, CNS Master Degree Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing Clinical Nurse Specialist Princess Salma Faculty of Nursing Alalbayt University, P.O.BOX 130040, Mafraq, 25113, Jordan Email: r.elshalabi@yahoo.com Introduction Restraint is often used to control the behavior of people with mental conditions in a variety of settings including hospitals and psychiatric treatment facilities (Haimowitz, Urff, Huckshorn, 2006). Psychiatric settings use medical intervention as a restraint to reduce risk demonstrated by violent patients from harming themselves and others (Regan, Wilhoite, Faheem, Wright, & Hamer, 2006). Restraint is an intervention used in the treatment and management of violent behaviors in psychiatry (McCue, Urcuyo, Lilu, Tobias, & Chambers, 2004).

Constructing the Scale of Faithful Personality Traits among the Students of Al al-Bayt University

This study aimed to build a measure of personality traits faith among university students, a random sample of the University students were selected and they were of (330) subjects, the researcher ensure the validity of the scale items through the indicators of paragraph correlation with total degree and the matrix of correlation coefficients between traits and factor analysis. Reliability of the scale was also ensured using Cronbach Alpha equation and re-test, and in midterm retail, and thus measure of faith personality traits among the students of the university was provided that can be trusted and used as a criterion in the selection of students who apply to study religious sciences.

GIS Applications for Building 3D Campus, Utilities and Implementation Mapping Aspects for University Planning Purposes

In city planning managing, the third dimension is becoming a necessity. Using 3D GIS modeling offers a flexible interactive system while providing one of the best visual interpretation of data which supports planning and decision processes for city planners. As a result, 3D GIS model expresses terrain features in an intuitive way which enhances the management and analysis of a proposed project through 3D visualization. This paper discusses the concept of 3D GIS modeling techniques using a simple procedure to generate a university campus model (real 3D GIS model) which will show the effectiveness of this approach. The 3D GIS model provides access to mapping data to support planning, design and data management. Intelligent GIS models and GIS tools help community planning and apply regional and discipline-specific standards. Integration of GIS spatial data with campus organization helps to improve quality, productivity and asset management. The following study built 3D GIS map and all utility information for Al al-Bayt University campus as an example. The primary objective is to improve data management (e.g., maps, plans, usage of facilities and services) and to develop methods using 3D spatial analysis for specific applications at the university.